AN- Welcome to the new chapter of this fine story. I'm really sorry that I haven't posted a new chapter to this story in a long time! I have been so busy with my other stories that I completely forgot this one!
Chapter Seven
Elaine muttered a particularly vulgar Andorian curse. Why did Terra Prime re-surface now? Why not years ago? And why with the same name? People are so confusing.
"What's the plan again?" Elaine hissed at her companion. Her companion was a woman of Vulcan descent named T'Les. She was T'Pol's niece, apparently.
"We're supposed to get their attention," T'Les whispered.
"Got it!" Elaine replied. She had accidentally fallen asleep during the briefing. T'Pol hadn't been very happy with her when she had woken up.
Below them, Terra Prime agents moved around beneath the ledge they were scouting from. The agents were loud and obnoxious and had no obvious training. Maybe they were pretending to be amateurs. Most likely not. No one could foul up that bad.
"Maybe we can jump down and attack one of them. That would get their attention all right!" Elaine whispered excitedly to T'Les. The Vulcan woman shook her head.
"That is not a good idea. Perhaps we can distract them by moving something somehow. We don't want to draw their attention to us," T'Les suggested. A light bulb went off in Elaine's head.
"Got it! I'm telekinetic. I can use my abilities to move a box of explosives and make it look like it was unbalanced. That wouldn't draw any attention to us, right?" Elaine whispered.
"Perfect!" the older woman said, "But which box to move?"
Elaine closed her eyes. There was an unstable box about sixty meters from their position. It would be hard to move, but Elaine could do it.
"Maybe that box about sixty meters from us. I could move that," Elaine stated.
"Do it. But wait for my mark," T'Les whispered.
They waited for a crowd to develop around a speaker who stood underneath the box.
"Three, two, mark!" T'Les said in a low voice. Elaine closed her eyes and envisioned the box moving forward. When she opened her eyes, she was rewarded by the box pitching forward and falling into the crowd gathered underneath it. Screams echoed through the cavern as Elaine and T'Les slipped out.
! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !
Pavel sat in his class, feeling nervous for his friend. Elaine was usually in this class, but had not been for the past two days. Pavel was worried she might be sick, or kidnapped. By Academy rule, he had to wait another two days before he could report something like this. These were the thoughts he was thinking when the door opened and Elaine walked in as if nothing was wrong.
"Cadet. Do you have any explanations as to why you have been absent the last two days?" the instructor asked her.
"If you have any questions, you may speak to former Commander T'Pol. I was assisting her in a rather touchy matter. Sir," she replied. The instructor glared at her as she set her bag down and pulled her jacket off, revealing a simple workout outfit consisting of tennis shoes, some tight black pants, and a tight tank top that was also black. Some of the students stared at her.
"Is there a problem? Or are you too cowardly to say anything?" Elaine smirked at them. Their eyes averted.
"Well, Cadet Kirk, since you think you can miss my classes and then lie to me about the rea-" the instructor tried to say.
Elaine's eyes flashed, "Excuse me? Did you just call me a liar? I don't think so. What I was doing is classified under Article Fourteen, Section Thirty-One of the original Starfleet Charter. If you think you have the authority to question me further, you may speak with Commander T'Pol herself. Now if you would refrain from calling me a liar, I would appreciate that!"
The instructor paled slightly, "I see your point. Let's continue. How about you show us some moves that you know since you feel fit to skip this class for two days?"
Elaine sighed. She muttered something under her breath as she beckoned the instructor forward. He smirked and stepped forward. She smiled and kicked him in the side of the head, knocking him down.
He jumped back up, furious.
"Is that how you want to play, Cadet? Let's go!" the instructor snarled. He swung at her. Elaine ducked and grabbed his fist as he swung a second time. She then proceeded to flip him over her shoulder and slam him to the ground. She then swung him up into the air and sent him sailing, only to slam hard into the wall.
"That form is called bitch mode. I hope you remember that. Of course, some of that was Suus Mahna, a Vulcan martial art. I find myself proficient in that. Lesson over," Elaine said. Her eyes flashed. Pavel backed up a step. She looked scary as hell. Why was she so angry?
"Elaine, why are you so angry?" Pavel asked the young woman. She frowned.
"Because the same people who broadcasted across campus are trying to hurt a friend of mine. So yes, I am entitled to be a bit of a bitch. And that douche of an instructor called me a liar and refused to trust me. That leads to him getting his ass kicked," Elaine said, fuming.
The instructor stood, a little shaky, "Cadet. Would you mind explaining yourself? Where did you learn that?"
"I spent two years at a… private school. One of the main focuses was self-defense. I also took some mixed martial arts lessons from a friend," Elaine said sweetly. He scowled at her.
"You will regret this! You can't just walk in and beat the stuffing out of an instructor," he said.
"Sir, you invited that. I can't help you were stupid enough to piss off a hormonal teenage girl. Just saying!" Elaine said as she put her hands up, "If you like, I'll walk myself to Pike's office right now. Anything to get the hell out of this class."
"Go ahead. I'll be filing a report. You might as well pack your bags on the way there, because I'll make sure you are thrown out!" he said as she walked out, stopping to grab her bag and her coat. She smirked as she walked out.
! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !
"So you just kicked his ass because he insulted your honor! Kirk, you can't just do that!" Pike sighed, "Sometimes I wonder why the hell they even let you in Starfleet."
"They let me in because of my skill sets," Elaine said briskly, "He was trying to get me to reveal information that is classified under Article Fourteen, Section Thirty-One of the original Starfleet charter. I told him that, too. He just didn't want to listen. That and he told me to show him what I know. As a cadet, I am supposed to listen to orders, right? That's what I did."
Jim, who was sitting next to her because he had picked another fight, looked slightly miffed, "So what exactly was all that bullshit about a private school? You went to the Starfleet branch on Betazed. Where else were you?"
Pike looked at Elaine, "My question exactly."
"I met a boy there. He was very gifted, and not in that way, Jim! He was telekinetic, like me. He said he knew someone who could teach me to control my abilities. He introduced me to a Romulan woman, who then introduced me to a Klingon. The Klingon's name is Kora. She was an instructor to others. She took me in and taught me a lot about how to control and use my abilities. Since then, I have gone back every summer and learned more. For a Klingon, Kora's actually pretty cool," Elaine explained.
Pike looked startled, "So that rogue Klingon IS in Federation space. Well, that helps us."
"Wait, so you actually met a Romulan? What do they look like? Is it true that they look kind of like Vulcans?" Jim shot questions at her rapid-fire.
"Give me a damn second, Jim! Yes, I met a Romulan. And they look a helluva a lot like Vulcans, except they have an eye-brow ridge. So, yes, they do look kind of like Vulcans," Elaine answered with a huff.
Pike sighed, "I'm keeping you in Starfleet for one reason, Elaine. That's because when the time comes for the Enterprise to launch, you will be graduating. I can't think of anyone else I would want to serve as a Security officer on Enterprise."
Elaine blushed, "Captain Pike, there are other people! I'm hardly qualified!"
Pike smiled, "Because you're still a first-year Cadet. When you hit about your third year, you will truly understand why people tend to gawk. Because they know you have potential. And you will use it."
Elaine looked confused for a minute, "What do you mean?"
"What I mean is that there are some people in Starfleet who want to bring BOTH of you down. Because of who you are. There are differences between the two of you that they pick up on easily. This is what they will use against you. So be careful. Got it?" Pike told them rather matter of factly.
Both Jim and Elaine nodded. Elaine sensed something suddenly.
"Captain Pike, can you please keep a channel open with Starfleet Security just in case. I sense something hostile nearby. Very close to this room," Elaine whispered, "I think they heard this entire conversation. That could be bad."
Pike muttered a few curses under his breath, "Dammit. Alright, just start talking like you guys are asking about what classes to take next year. Got it?"
Elaine and Jim nodded. The two cadets started pestering Pike like any cadet would a supervisor.
"So what engineering class do you think I should take next year, Captain? I was thinking the Shuttle Engineering 101 class. Maybe it could help me get my secondary career path sorted out, don't you think?" Elaine rattled off questions. Jim grinned. The girl was a damn good actor. Where did she get the skills?
Pike nodded, playing the part of an unconcerned supervisor, "Perhaps. Take whatever class you want. Just don't flunk it, Cadet Smith, like you did your first year engineering class. God, what the hell did I do to get such genius cadets?!"
Jim jumped in at that point, "I'm concerned that Cadet Smith may not be ready for it. She seems to pay little attention in her language classes as it is. I do not think that this cadet has the skills to do anything but clean decks."
Elaine put on a pouty face, "But sir! I really want to be an engineer. The stupid aptitude test put me in communications because I knew some Andorian that my friend took four years to teach me! And it was two words! I want to be an engineer!"
"Not with that attitude you won't, Cadet Smith. So stop your whining and get to work. You will be a communications officer. You have no other skills. The aptitude tests put you in communications because you simply have no other skills. Honestly, you would be best as a ship's cook, but we have replicators, so we don't need cooks. Starfleet could have turned you away, but with your home life, we weren't going to be that cruel. So suck it up and move on. You are a Starfleet cadet. Show some pride," Pike yawned, "So, Instructor Harris, what do you think about the weather that Florida is having to deal with?"
"It's pretty bad. My family just moved there. Last I heard, they were sleeping in the back of that old pickup Dad used to use for work. Thank God that they have a cover over the back of it, or they would wake up soaking wet every day," Jim played along. Elaine held up seven fingers. So there were seven morons at the door. Elaine then proceeded to make a gesture that looked like she was breaking a door down. Lovely. They HAD to try to bust down the door!
Pike nodded and reached under his desk. He came up with a phase pistol. Pike nodded at Elaine and said, "You might as well keep doing what you do, Cadet Smith."
Elaine grinned and pulled a pistol out of her boot. She tossed this one to Jim and pulled another one out of her belt. She nodded and Pike and made a series of quick gestures. He sighed and nodded.
"Since, you are confused, Instructor Harris, that meant 'Queen to E-3 and King to F-2'. Got it?" Elaine whispered to him.
"Got it," Jim replied in a low voice. They were gonna be holed up here for a few hours it looked like. Yay.
AN- Oh yea! Cliffhanger! How you like me now? *giggles* Just kidding. There's still a cliffhanger, though. See y'all next time. Jolan'tru.