Mina Coldwell entered the room, her eyes darting around looking for Beverly. She looked stunning tonight in a burgundy satin dress, but she wasn't searching for compliments. She was looking for Howard. It was time to make her pay.

Like a cat, she prowled in the shadows. It seemed like hours before Howard became visible. When at least she spotted her, Mina moved in to attack.

She sidled up next to Beverly, who was now holding a tray full of crystal goblets, all of the filled with red wine. "Oh, Beverly," Mina said, a wicked grin on her face.

Beverly turned and looked at her.

"I tried to warn you not to come. I tried to be a friend, because I knew you would only make a fool of yourself. You were just too stubborn to listen." With that, Mina slid her hand under the tray and pushed up quickly, causing all of the glasses to cascade down upon the red head's dress.

Beverly shrieked in horror. Mina stepped back into the shadows and made her way deliberately from the room. She doubted she had been seen. Everyone had been too busy staring at Beverly, who was now dripping with wine and reeking of alcohol.

Picard looked up as a sudden scream, followed by a cautious silence filled the room. he couldn't see anything, but he was out of his chair and across the room in a matter of moments. "Beverly," he said softly, coming up behind the girl. he put his hand on her arms, and walked her out of the puddle of mess gathering on the floor. She came with him, following like a lamb to the slaughter. "Come on now, easy does it." they walked out the back door, and he sat her down on a bench.

Crusher and Keel same sprinting up behind him, followed at a close distance by Tafton, who appeared to be unable to move quickly in heels. "Get some towels," Picard barked at the cadets. the three of them turned away, as though controlled by some freakishly overwhelming sense of duty. "Shh," he whispered to Beverly, who was crying softly. he ran his hand up and down her back, trying to soothe her.

Her sobs were abating by the time her friends returned. Jack handed Beverly a towel, and helped to mop the mess off. Walker stood, staring as though lost in thought, an angry expression upon his normally placid face. Tafton glowered. "What happened," asked Picard.

Beverly said a single word. "Mina."

"What the devil is that supposed to mean," asked Picard. He only enjoyed mystery in the abstract.

"I'm going to get that hag if it's the last thing I do," Walker growled. Their companion looked as though he were merely awaiting a call to arms.

"Mina is Beverly's roommate," Jack said softly. "She played a cruel trick on Beverly a few days ago, and now I think she's afraid of getting caught."

"I'm going to kill her," Beverly hissed.

"No, you're not," said Picard. "She's probably hoping you will try to do just that. Then you can be expelled before what ever it is she has done is discovered."

Beverly glared at him. He thought he heard her snarl. No one ever ever addressed him with such clear contempt, but he made an exception in her case. In fact, he found it alluring.

Jack had finished cleaning Beverly off. "Bev, why don't you go back and take a shower. get yourself cleaned up and go to bed. Don't kill Mina. Don't touch her. Don't even talk to her. Just leave her alone."

"I'll go with her," Tafton offered, "Just to make sure everything's okay."

Jack nodded, kissed Beverly on the cheek, and sent the pair on their way.

Picard, seeing that his chance had run out, excused himself. He had a boring party to attend, after all, and the two cadets before him had other fish to fry.

* * *

Beverly and Tafton walked down the hall towards Beverly's quarters. Suddenly Tafton stopped at the door to her room. Beverly felt a sudden surge of panic. She didn't want to face Mina alone, but she couldn't beg her friend to come back with her. Howard women did not beg. "Wait here a minute," Tafton said.

Beverly stood in the hall alone, feeling quite conspicuous in her stained dress. She stood against a wall, trying to figure out how to best cover the giant splash of purple that had ruined her outfit. She was grateful when Tafton returned and they continued on their way. "What did you do," Beverly asked her friend.

Tafton smiled conspiritally and pulled a small device from her bag. "It's a voice recorder," she said. "Let Mina say what ever she wants. We've got her now."

Beverly smiled. Mina was in trouble now.

* * *

"I can't believe she did that to Beverly," Jack roared once he and Walker had returned to their quarters. He had managed to maintain his composure throughout the rest of the reception, introducing himself and Walker to the other Stargazer officers who were present. Now, though, in the privacy of their quarters, he was coming unglued.

"Calm down, Jack," Walker said.

"I don't want to calm down!" Jack was livid.

"Okay. Just sit there and be angry then. It's your life." Walker shrugged and walked into the bathroom.

Jack opened his mouth to protest, thought better of it, and went back to his silent rage. How could she have done that? Hadn't she done enough damage already? He thought not only of the test, but also of the way she had degraded Beverly, who looked so stunning this evening, before his girlfriend had even left their quarters. Then she had to ruin the rest of Bev's evening. Jack's eyes narrowed.

Walker recognized the look on Crusher's face, though it wasn't one he had seen there very often. Quickly, because he knew what was good for them, he moved to intervene. "Jack, stop this senseless fuming and get a grip. You can't do anything about what Mina did. I'm angry too. I wish that little jerk would get what's coming to her as much as you do, but tonight we need to forget about it and get some sleep. Tomorrow we have to go tour the Stargazer, remember?"

The pique cooled a little inside Jack. "Yeah. I guess I can't do that from behind a forcefeild in the brig."

"Not hardly." Walker smiled. "You and Picard seemed to hit it off fairly well."

"Yeah. I like him. He's pretty cool." Jack was understating his feelings a bit. Picard was everything he wanted to be.

"Well, get some sleep. Maybe you can make another impression on him tomorrow. It can't possibly hurt. His ship's one of the most difficult assignments for a cadet to get." Walker was hoping that Picard could put in a good word for him and Jack if they hit it off as well as they had today again.

"Goodnight, Walker."

Jack's dreams were confused that night. He sat in a captain's chair, holding the hand of a pretty red head, and firing the phasers at a vessel that looked strangely like the head of Mina Coldwell.