"Bev? Do you have the notes from yesterday? I forgot mine." Mina Coldwell leaned over the red head, trying to copy some last minute information before their exam.

"Mina, please. I'm trying to study, and I can't with you looking over my shoulder." Beverly Howard's words came out in a whisper through her clenched teeth. Professor Jarcok had given them two minutes of review time, but if she caught them talking, it would be an automatic zero, for both girls.

"Beverly, I'm going to fail without your help! Come on roomy." Mina was talking louder than before, and Bev was almost certain that they'd get caught any moment. With a sigh, she turned her head to the left, and spoke to her roommate, whom she was growing less fond of by the minute, in a firm voice.

"Mina, shut up. If you wanted to do well on the test, you should have paid attention in the first place, instead of just assuming I would give you all the material." She turned back to her computer PADD, groaning as Jarcok signaled the end of time with a short ring on his ancient bell.

"Cadets," he began in his flat, boring lecture voice, "I am very disappointed in a few of you." His gaze fell on Howard, and her cheeks flushed every shade from peach to crimson. "Some of you," he continued, after a moment's hesitation, "don't seem to know what the words 'study quietly' mean." Several other fell under his eye, and Beverly let out a sigh of relive. "From now on, there will be no more review time in this classroom, is that clear?" Jarcok's gaze was hard and firm, and it didn't move an inch, even when the room sighed collectively. "For those of you not guilty of these crimes, I'm sorry. Perhaps you should discuss proper behavior with your peers. This is Starfleet, people, not grammar school." He turned to the window, and said, only half aloud, "I don't see a playground, does anyone else?" The question, which wasn't a question at all, remained unanswered.

No one spoke as Jarcok handed out the tests, they were all too grateful at his decision not to fail them. They set to work, and Beverly could feel sweat droplets forming on her face as she concentrated on the questions, trying to remember all of the material she had gone over countless times the night before.

At last she finished all of the questions, sat back, and waited for the rest of the class to complete their exams. She had done fairly well, no blank spaces, all answers somewhat logical. Her placement depended on how the rest of the class had fared.

"Okay, Cadets, scores are up." Jarcok sounded as though he could care less, a fact Beverly would not be surprised at in the least if it were true. There was a cluster at the front of the room, and she had to wait through several groups of people before she could see the screen. The results were factored not only be time used, but by number of correct answers. Her student number, JK-76580, was third on the list. Numbers were supposed to be confidential, but there was no doubt in her mind who the second place was.

Mina cast her a superior glance, and Beverly felt a rush of anger to her already flushed cheeks. Students all around her were moaning in frustration, and one girl on the far side was whacking herself on the head with her hand. Bev watched and listened to her for a moment. "How could I (whack) be so (whack) stupid? (whack) (whack) (whack). I'll never (whack) pass this class! (whack) (whack)."

She felt a twinge of sorrow for the girl, and threaded her way through the group until she was standing by her. She was unsure of what to say at first, so she just stood nearby, waiting for her to say something. Several moments passed, and at last she began talking. "Hi, I'm Beverly Howard, I don't think we've met yet."

The girl looked up at her slowly, seeming almost to stare through her. Beverly shivered slightly. "Korbin, Korbin Hessful. Do you think you could help me out with this stuff, I just don't understand it?"

She smiled at her. She was interesting looking, soft of boyish almost, slightly messy long blandish hair, strange, almost glowing green eyes. "Sure. Sometime after dinner tonight?"

"Why don't I just meet you at o-nineteen-hundred-hours in the dining room?"

"Deal. See you." Beverly smiled at her once more, shook her head softly, and walked back to the screen, waiting for a chance to apologize to Jarcok for her rudeness earlier.

Several minutes passed before the professor appeared, and when he did, his face was red, his eyes wild with anger, and he was looking straight at her. She nearly fainted. When he spoke his voice was like sandpaper, and he nearly screamed "Howard, you're wanted in the superintendent's office, on the double!"

She didn't know what to make of it, and her confusion kept her from thinking clearly, so she stood still, as though anchored to that spot by some strange force, though, in a sense, she was. He spoke again, the intense madness doubled, "What are you waiting for, an escort? I said leave, and that is a direct order! Don't you know how to follow orders? Good. Now go, or you can kiss Starfleet good-bye."

Beverly didn't need any further prompting. She left as fast as her feet could carry her, without, of course, running. Something told her she was in enough trouble anyway.

* * *

The reception room was just as Beverly remembered it, from the first two times she had gotten herself in trouble since the beginning of her first year. Her probation had just worn off, and she had a sickening feeling that she was about to get another one, and this time Claire wouldn't be there to help.

Her old roommate, who had recently quit the Academy to pursuit her career elsewhere, had been the one who had gotten her into most of the trouble in the first place, and therefore had suffered the punishment right along side her. The though of Mina and her staying up late on weekends when everyone else was out caused her to snort. A hard glare from the gigantic security officer silenced her.

After what seemed like hours, Admiral Parsons called her inside. He was new, different from her old supervisor, in fact a replacement due to an illness on the other Admiral's part, Beverly gulped involuntarily. "Sir," she began uncertainly, "have I done something wrong?"

His voice was unpleasant, and, given the chance, she would have run to her quarters and locked the door, however, she doubted that option would present itself anytime soon. "Have you done something wrong? Why else would I call you down here? This isn't preschool. Since when would someone here say, 'Congratulations, Cadet Howard, you just got third place in your class, how would you like to celebrate?' I don't think so."

Beverly was nervous now. Mina must have told on me for punching her, she realized. She stood silently, letting him leak the information to her at whatever speed he liked, although it was quite obvious he enjoyed giving it as slowly and painfully as possible. "How long did you study for your exam last night, Ms. Howard? An hour, two? Answer me!"

"Two hours, Sir." She did not offer further information, for to do so would just open herself up to further complications. As it was, she could barely take this.

"Don't lie to me! I know exactly how long your studying took, Cadet! Two hours, please, be realistic."

"Sir, I am telling the facts as they are, nothing more, nothing less." Definitely not her normal attitude, but she was fighting her boiling anger down with every word, trying to make this crazy conversation sound logical somehow.

"Try not at all, Howard! You didn't crack a book! Spent all of the time you were supposed to be working hanging around in the dining room, improving your social life! This comes first!"

Beverly was confused, and extremely upset. It took every once of her not to cry, as it was the tears had settled atop her lower eyelids. "Sir, why am I being falsely accused of this? Doesn't my score prove to you that I spent quite some time reviewing the material."

Parsons glared at her with undisguised anger. "What your scores show, Cadet Howard, is that you cheated. Plain and simple, or, as you say, nothing more, nothing less."

Beverly tried to sound adult, but her voice gave away the fact that she would like nothing more than to run away and cry on her Grandma's shoulder. "With all due respect, Sir, what evidence do you have?"

Parsons's bald spot gleamed brightly in the intense, harsh lighting. He said nothing, just turned the computer screen to face her. On it were two test, identical except for the times, one was slower by about three seconds. Hers. "Is it not true that Cadet Mina Coldwell sits directly next to you in your Terran Anatomy class?"

"Yes, Sir." She gulped out the words in a choked voice, as though she were drowning in the tears which were now making their way down her cheeks.

"Are these answers, including wrong ones, not exactly identical?" His eyes were unforgiving, his tone unreadable, except for the slight undercurrent of anger, which he had hidden surprisingly well.

"Yes, Sir." Beverly felt much like a parrot, speaking the same phrase time and again, as though any other choice of words was beyond her, which, in a sense, it was.

"In fact," he started again, and she had to force herself to listen, "The only difference would be the times, and yours appears to be slower, suggesting that either you copied from Cadet Coldwell, or there is some kind of psychic link between the two of you. I don't believe that garbage for a moment. However, what I do believe is that wrong-doers should be punished."

He paused for what seemed like an eternity, and Beverly waited, her heart falling into her standard issue boots. "You, Cadet Howard, are on serious probation. That would be set lights out times, constant supervision, and no leaving the grounds for the next three months, do I make myself clear?"

The parrot inside of her spoke again, in a voice as defeated and saddened as she had ever heard herself use. "Yes, Sir."

"There's a great big universe waiting for you, Cadet. Space is a cold, unforgiving thing. Maybe its time for you to get that mirror away from you face, and stop going me me me me and think about everyone else for a change. When you get out on a ship somewhere, everything is just going to pass you by, life doesn't revolve around you. The only officers who succeed in Starfleet are those who do their duties efficiently, and however they are asked to do them. Cheating is not an option. Do you want to be left behind, Cadet?"

The parrot disappeared, and her mental image was of a defeated Beverly Howard slinking home to the moldy stone house she and her Grandma had lived in for the past few years. She could see the disappointed scowl on the old woman's face, and hear her point out that it wasn't the end of the world, even though their mutual thought would be that it was a fairly good start. She straightened visibly, and the old defiance and stubborn will that drove her returned. "No, Sir, I do not."

"Very good Cadet, very good indeed. Strong personality is a good trait for any officer."

"Thank you, Sir."

"Quiet, Cadet. When I mean to compliment you, I'll give you notice."

The parrot was back. "Yes, Sir."

"Dismissed."

"Yes, Sir, " she chirped obediently.

"Oh, and Cadet? One more slip, in the next seven-and-a-half years, and you're gone. There's a little button right here that says 'delete' and it only takes a nanosecond to press it, and poof, you never existed, as far as Starfleet is concerned. Is that clear?"

"Clear as glass, Sir."

"When I want your opinion, I'll give it to you, Cadet. Now get out of here, or I may hit the little button a bit early."

Suddenly, her quarters looked like a very inviting place to go, despite that Mina, whom Beverly was most certain had created this problem somehow, might be there. She left with no further delay.