Chapter 9
"Cadet Torres, please state the step by step procedures for an emergency warp core shut down while traveling at warp 8." Professor Jameson asked, standing in front of B'Elanna's desk.
B'Elanna couldn't stand Jameson, he always picked on her and the way he looked at her made her uncomfortable. She couldn't wait until next year when she was through with his Basic Warp Theory class.
But Jameson wasn't the only one-all of her professors acted like that towards her. A few of them were impressed with her knowledge on engineering, but no one except her track coach treated her fairly.
Taking a deep breath, B'Elanna stood and recited each step perfectly. Just as she finished the last step, the bell signaling class was ending, rang and B'Elanna gathered her padds and quickly escaped the look from Professor Jameson. If she was lucky, everyone would leave her alone during lunch and she could study for astrophysics.
B'Elanna replicated a bowl of tomato soup and then sank down into a chair of a back table.
"Hey mongrel." A human by the name of Dylan called out to her. Dylan loved to harass her. Not to mention, he was gorgeous, with dark brown hair, blue eyes and a very fit body. He was the most popular first year cadet-which was why he was able to get away with harassing B'Elanna. After 18 years of being harassed, however, B'Elanna found that the best strategy was just to ignore it.
"Bitch, I was talking to you." Dylan said a little louder. As he did, he moved closer and took up a slightly aggressive stance. B'Elanna kept ignoring him, hoping he would get the idea. He didn't and moved closer.
The muscles in B'Elanna's body tensed and the adrenaline pumped through her. It was the fight-or-flight response. How people, as a group, were so advanced but still had yet to overcome their basic instincts baffled B'Elanna.
"You know, I heard back on the home world you used to throw some pretty wild 2 person parties. So I got to thinking maybe you'd like to come over and we could uh…celebrate." Dylan said in a husky voice for her ears only. Sexual harassment was a big no-no at the Academy, but if no one heard it, no one could be punished.
That last comment was the last straw for B'Elanna. She could deal with the names, but bringing up her past really caused her to lose control. She shot out of her chair, causing it and her tray to crash to the floor. Quickly, she assumed a fighting stance and waited for Dylan to throw the first punch.
"Oh, so you want to play games. Well, that's cool with me." Dylan said in his usual cocky manner. He was the son of some high ranking 'Fleeter and he thought that made him exempt from everything. B'Elanna despised people like that, people who never worked to get where they were now. People who got their life laid out and then handed to them on a silver platter.
Assuming a fighting stance, Dylan jabbed his right hand straight for B'Elanna's face. Silently B'Elanna chuckled to herself, bullies in every culture had some of the exact same traits. Before he could regain his balance, B'Elanna slammed her left fist into his stomach. Amazingly he didn't double over in pain. Before he could throw another punch, B'Elanna's right hand rocketed form her side and made direct contact with Dylan's face. The impact caused him to step backwards to avoid falling. Barley half a second later, Dylan's right hand flew towards B'Elanna's face. B'Elanna wasn't prepared for him to swing back so quickly and his fist made solid impact with her left eye.
B'Elanna lifted her arm as though to punch him again, when she felt someone grab her from behind. Without even looking, she knew it was security. Deciding that putting up a big fight would only get her into more trouble, she allowed the guards to drag her out.
A large crowd of student parted to allow the security guards to pass. B'Elanna hadn't ever realized people had been watching. She began scanning the crowd for people she knew. One guy particular caught her eye. She didn't know him, but he had the most gorgeous blue eyes she had ever seen. His pale skin and ruffled blond hair accented his eyes perfectly. She didn't realize she was staring until he looked over at her. She felt so embarrassed for getting caught, she was sure her cheeks immediately turned five shades redder. Quickly, she smiled then turned her head straightforward she was concentrating on the door ahead. The door that lead to the dean's office, where she would undoubtedly receive another one of her infamous lectures.
In the few short months she had been attending the Academy, B'Elanna had visited the dean more times than the average cadet ever did during their time Academy. She had been there twice for fighting and at least eight times for arguing with an instructor. This time wouldn't be the first nor would it be the last. It was just one the string of visits B'Elanna paid to the dean.
Someone pounded on her dorm door and B'Elanna jumped straight in the air. "Come on, B'Elanna, we are going to be late for practice!" A voice screamed from outside.
B'Elanna shot off her bed and began digging through the piles of stuff on her floor. Her roommate T'Lara sat across the room, looking as smug as a Vulcan ever got. She was always telling B'Elanna that her untidiness would be a problem. Actually, she said that untidiness was illogical and unproductive. Grabbing her track uniform and shoes, she tossed them into a duffel bag and charged out the door.
"About time. Hurry up, the transport is activating in 5 minutes. The operator won't be pleased if we're late and coach will give us extra laps." Tam explained as they hurried down the corridors. Tam was a petite Chinese human that B'Elanna had met during track. Tam was one of the few people that could almost match B'Elanna for endurance. Many people could run as fast as B'Elanna, but very few that ran as long as she could. Tam's easy-going-take-everything-in-stride manner directly contrasted with B'Elanna's manner. Which is why she and B'Elanna were such good friends. Tam helped B'Elanna keep her temper in check and B'Elanna made sure people didn't take advantage of Tam. Tam had been a little wild before she entered the Academy and gotten into some illegal stuff. Nothing big, she had gotten her life straightened out and entered the Academy. By mutual agreement, B'Elanna and Tam didn't much discuss their lives before the Academy. The both knew each had done things they regretted.
Running through the hallway, they made it just in time. They jumped into place just before the operator activated the beam.
"Torres, Lee, nice of you to show up." The coach said as they appeared on the track. B'Elanna and Tam had never quite figured out what species or mix of species their coach was. It didn't matter to them, though, he was a good coach and most of all, and he was fair. Unlike so many other professors, he never picked on anyone because they were different.
When B'Elanna arrived back to her dorm, she found it in quite a different state of that when she left. The clothes and other items that been strewn throughout her half were now neatly put away. Her bed was perfectly made.
"T'Lara, you didn't have to do this." B'Elanna called without thinking. She regretted that when she glanced over to see T'Lara snap out of the meditative state she was in. T'Lara slowly brought her hands down from their position palms together in front of her face. Then she replied telling B'Elanna that her method was illogical so she had made it more logical.
Sometimes T'Lara could make B'Elanna absolutely furious. Her calm manner could be so irritating. Sometimes there would be a huge test or paper and T'Lara never even seemed a bit nervous. It was almost inhuman. B'Elanna swore T'Lara never had a bad day, not even a bad hair day. Her dark, coarse boyish hair was never out of place. Nothing about T'Lara was ever out of place, she was so close to perfect as possible. It drove B'Elanna up a wall.
"My parents will be arriving at 17 hundred hours tomorrow. Are you expecting any visitors?" T'Lara said in the standard dull Vulcan monotone, just to change the subject.
The question caught B'Elanna by surprise. It took her a moment before she remembered tomorrow was Parents Day at the Academy. "No." She replied quickly and went to go shower. There was no way she was going to try and explain her family to a Vulcan who had spent so little time around humans…and other species.
After a quick shower, B'Elanna began yanking a brush through her now shoulder length hair. After arriving on earth, she had cut her hair in one final act of defiance against her mother. She thought her short hair made her look much less Klingon.
After slipping into some comfortable clothes, B'Elanna sat down with a padd. If she was ever going to pass interstellar history, she was going to have to start studying tonight for the final next week.
***
What you own is your own kingdom,
What you do is your own glory,
What you love is your own power,
What you live is your own story,
In your head is the answer,
Let it guide you along,
Let your heart be the anchor,
And the beat of your own song.
-Rush
-2112
***
CRASH!!
Tom and half the students in the cafeteria looked up from their lunches at the sound.
Tom quickly located the source of the sound. It had come from the section of the cafeteria were the 1st year cadets ate.
What looked like a girl of about 18 was facing a boy her age, fists tightly clenched.
Her back was to Tom and he leaned forward to get a better look.
"Tom, let's get out of here." One of his two best friends, Darren Hawking, spoke up, standing.
"But it's a fight." Tom protested. And it was. Tom knew a fight status when he saw one.
"Yeah, I know." Darren sounded disappointed-he, too, wanted to stay. "But Professor T'Mor gets angry when we're late."
"Darren." Tom turned to look at his friend. "Professor T'Mor is Vulcan…she can't get angry."
Darren shuffled his feet. "No, but she can give us another report about the life span of a targ or…"
Yelling cut him off.
Both cadets whipped around. The fight between the girl and the guy was now underway.
Tom settled in, ready for a fight, ready to see who would come out the victor. He had all his money on the girl, though he didn't know why. Maybe it was because she seemed to be winning at the moment.
"Tom." Darren said, though he didn't sound like he wanted to go. "Who do you think will win?" He finally asked, caving. He took a spot beside Tom.
"Defiantly the girl." Tom responded, trying to get a better look.
They were further away than everyone else, and Tom wished he were taller. Darren was, however, and he just had to get up on his toes to see.
"You may be right." He said. "She looks pretty tough."
Tom tried to get a better look by getting up on a table, and a few others followed his example. But he still couldn't see what the girl looked like.
Just as the fight was getting good, security guards rushed in and broke it up, causing moans and complaints from the spectators.
As Tom was climbing down from the table, he noticed the side of the girl as the guards led her past. She had shoulder length dark brown hair and was quite tall. Tom thought she looked very exotic, almost beautiful, for a 1st year cadet and wondered how he could find out her name, something that quickly disappeared from his thoughts when he realized she probably wasn't his type. She looked tough, but then again, she had also just gotten into a fight, so she was sweaty and probably worn out. From where Tom was standing, he noticed her forehead looked a little big for a human.
Tom dismissed it and noticed that her eyes had wandered and that they were looking directly at him.
He smiled and looked away, as she was taken out of the cafeteria.
"First year at the Academy and she already gets in a fight?" Darren chuckled.
"She'll never make it."
"You're going to France?" Kevin asked when Tom announced the news to his roommate.
Tom laughed. "Just the response I expected from you." He looked up from his packing. "Yes, I'm going to France. Marseilles, actually. They've got a physical training base out there and Darren and I volunteered to go."
"Well, I wish you'd have let me in on it." Kevin muttered, approaching the replicator. "Root beer." The replicator hummed and a glass of root beer appeared.
"Hey, it's not going to be so bad." Tom pointed out. "Think of it, no roommate for an entire semester. You get it all to yourself."
Kevin cocked his head. "Hm. Good can come of this. Unfortunately, I'm not going to be here, either."
"Where are you going?"
"Venus."
Tom nodded. "Nice place. Great atmospheric storms."
"I'm not going for the storms. They've got a need for engineers. I'm going in response to that need. But it's only for a few months."
The chime to the dorm beeped.
"Come in." Tom called.
Darren entered, grinning. "You ready?"
Tom swung his duffel bag over his shoulder. "As ready as I'll ever be."
Marseilles sure wasn't what Tom had expected. It looked like California, only…more old looking.
On the way over, he had brushed up on its history. There wasn't a lot on it, it pretty much went along with the rest of history. On thing Tom found interesting was that it was a major resistance city during WWIII. Other than that, Tom didn't know why he bothered reading about it. But it made time pass more quickly.
After Darren and Tom received their form assignments, they had time to look around the city. Finding the city a bit crowded, the two headed for the outskirts of Marseilles.
They found a small bar called Chez Sanderine and decided to go in.
The bar was brick and Tom knew it was old when he saw the ancient fireplace in the corner, and an authentic pool table in the middle of the almost empty bar. There was no replicator, just a wet bar to the left of the entrance and Tom felt like he was in heaven.
"Monsieur's, welcome to Chez Sanderine." A woman approached them, smiling. "I am Claire Sanderine, the owner of this great establishment." Tom smiled politely. Claire had a thick French accent and the words sound very together and nicely accented.
"Tom Paris. And this is Darren Hawking." Tom held out his hand and Claire took it. "We're staying at the Starfleet physical training center in Marseilles."
"Oh, yes, I get a lot of customers from there." Claire smiled. "Please, help yourselves to anything you please."
Tom looked at the pool table, then at Darren. "You want to play?"
Darren, who was already inspecting the cue, looked up and nodded.
Tom grinned. He was defiantly going to like it here.
