Korbin Smith and Tafton Hessful were sitting on a bench in the outdoors common area, discussing Beverly's situation. "I feel bad for her," Tafton said, "But I'm still angry about the way she acted at lunch today. I don't care what her problem is, nothing gives her the right to treat her friends that way."

"She was kind of scary," Korbin agreed. "Is she always like that when she's angry?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Tafton shook her brown head ruefully. "You would think I'd be used to it by now, but.." Her voice trailed off.

"But, there are something's you can never get used to." Korbin whispered this in a way that said she knew. Tafton was surprised. For a moment the blonde girl had actually sounded mature and worldly. The spell was broken momentarily, however.

"Tafton, look at that. Look at the trees, I mean look over by the trees. There' on the ground."

It was Mina. Tafton shot the girl her nastiest glare, and then gasped in surprise. Walker was seated beside her, and the two were talking amiably as though they were old friends. "That's interesting," Tafton said. 'Did you notice who was with her?"

"Yeah. I thought he was on our side." Korbin's eyes narrowed, and for a moment Tafton was eerily reminded of Beverly.

"That no good liar." Tafton had half a mind to walk over and jam the heel of her boot in Walker's stomach. She was just about to rise from the grass when a peculiar looking cadet walking near by gave her a better idea. "Psst. Cadet Data."

data turned his golden eyes towards the two friends. "Ah, greetings Cadet Hessful. Cadet Smith." He nodded politely at the pair, walking towards them.

"Shh," warned Tafton, trying to keep from being noticed by walker. Her plan would never work if he saw her sitting nearby. "Come here."

Data obediently knelt in the grass beside the brunette. "How is your investigation progressing," he asked politely. Both Lennie and Scott had inquired him that morning. The two had told him about their "project" and he had agreed to offer any assistance he could. The night Mina had spent sitting at his dinner table spreading lies about Cadet Howard, who had always treated him no less than kindly had been enough to convince him of the truth. Besides, he knew Mina had never studied for the test. She had told him that same night that she had no plans to.

Tafton smiled slyly. "It's about to get better."

"How so?"

"take a look at that." Tafton pointed to the tree against which Walker was leaning.

"Is that not your friend Cadet Keel?" Data asked. "Is he questioning Cadet Coldwell?"

"That's what I want to know," said Tafton.

Data was confused for a moment. "You wish for me to ask him what their conversation entails?"

"With your hearing, you don't need to ask," said Tafton. "All you need to do is listen."

Data's ethical programming would allow him to do no such thing. "I am sorry Tafton, but I am afraid that will not be possible. My ethical programming prohibits such covert actions."

Tafton scowled. "Well, then do you think you could walk by slowly and see what kind of conversation they're having. If I come that close, he'll see me and they'll go silent. I need to know. I have to know whose side he's on."

Data considered for a moment, and then replied. "All right."

Tafton grinned wickedly.

* * *

Jack paced around Beverly's quarters, his hands clasped behind his back, and a pained expression upon his face. He was thinking, and the only thing that his quest for answers had led to so far was more questions. Beverly, who was now considerably calmer, had stared at him thoughtfully for a while, but was now reading the PADD he had brought with him, her finger tapping the plastic edge.

"I just don't understand why," he said.

"The Newpoint looks like a good prospect," Beverly replied. "She as a fairly small crew, a good track record, and very few complaints against her commanding officer. It looks like a lot of Starfleet's more prominent officers have had their start on board."

"Why would he do something like that, and not even tell me? Walker always tells me everything."

"How about the Gottuso? The crew's a little larger, so you'd have a little less active duty to tackle once on board. You would have a little more time to make the connections and enjoy your first tour."

"It just doesn't make any sense. He never said anything about having a relationship with her when this whole thing started. he seemed all for it. In fact, he was the one who instigated the whole thing! If he was with her, I can't see why he would have. And he had to have been with her. I mean, it hasn't been that long."

"Ooh! I think this is the one! The Stargazer. Not much of a crew compliment, but they all look like outstanding officers. And just look at the captain!"

Jack stopped making the rounds for a moment. "Why are you so interested in my future? I can't even think about what ship I want to serve on right now."

Beverly shrugged. "I think better when I stop worrying about something. I'm still furious with him, don't worry, but I know that the answer will present itself." She went back to staring at the PADD's screen. Jack reminded her of the best friend she had left behind on her homeworld. Slow to hurt, slow to heal.

Slowly, he sat down in the chair beside her bed, comparing the list she had made with the one Walker had left for him. That exchange seemed so long ago. He wondered what he would say to Keel when he saw him again. The two lists were almost identical. Jack read over the statistics for each of the ships. He wondered how Beverly could know him so well after such a short time. "This is due tomorrow." His voice was soft. "This is the beginning of the rest of my life, and it's due tomorrow."

Beverly, who was unable to be rational with herself was often the voice of reason for others. "All it is is a list Jack. It just tells Starfleet what you're interested in. If those ships happen to be in the sector you get a chance to visit. Just because you show interest in a posting doesn't mean you have to pack your bags and beam up."

She was right. He entered his choices and closed the program. "How is it that you know so much about me," he asked her, a smile beginning to spread across his face once again.

She returned his grin. "I'm psychic."

"Earlier, I would have said you were physco."

She reached over and swatted him playfully on the arm, for a moment all of their problems forgotten. Their jovial mood changed, however, when the door chimed. "Come in," Beverly said, her face a stony mask. Jack stepped towards the entrance in order to be able to catch Walker. He needn't have bothered, however. Tafton and Korbin burst into the room, their cheeks red and their breathing heavy.

"We saw him. He's brilliant!" Tafton smiled gleefully. "You should see the way he's getting her to confess everything she did. He's acting like he wants to pull the same scheme, and he's in awe of what she's done. He's a regular Dixon Hill!"

"Who's a regular Dixon Hill? For that matter, who is Dixon Hill?" Jack asked.

"A private investigator from Earth's 20th century," Tafton waved the question away impatiently. "And it's Walker that is." She explained to them how she had gotten data to casually observe the couple's conversation, and relayed the information he had acquired.

Korbin nodded enthusiastically. Beverly sighed with visible relief. Jack pursed his lips and said nothing.

The friends sat and made small talk, wondering what Walker would discover from his little chat with Mina, but Jack couldn't bring himself to join in. Something just didn't feel right here.

If Walker had had a plan like this, he would have shared it with Jack.

Wouldn't he have?