Having just enough time to stop by his quarters and get himself cleaned up, Elnor jogged towards his last course of the day, History of the Early Federation, while thinking what to say to Nathan. Seriously, he didn't need any attention drawn to his close relationship with an Admiral who was also Chancellor of the Academy. He put those thoughts out of his mind as he entered the classroom. The Qowat Milat sisters had taught him the importance of putting his full attention on one subject at a time. Paying close attention to the subject matter really wasn't a problem as he did find it interesting. Nothing like this had ever been taught anywhere on Vashti. As the class drew to a close, Elnor didn't try to engage any of the other students in conversation. Instead, he returned to his quarters to drop off his padd, then headed to the huge, ancient oak tree near the center of campus where he knew Nathan would be waiting for him as they usually went to the mess hall together right after classes were over for the day.
Sure enough, as he approached the tree he spotted his friend. As usual, Nathan was chatting with a pretty girl. Nearly as tall as himself, the blond-haired, blue-eyed, confident and extroverted Nathan never had any problem chatting with pretty girls, sometimes several at a time. Feeling uncomfortable, Elnor waited to the side until Nathan noticed him.
"Elnor! About time! I'm starving!" Nathan called out and waved to him. Turning his attention briefly back to the girl, who was short with curly blonde hair, Nathan said, "See you later, okay." The girl smiled and nodded as she went on her way.
Not wanting to waste any time, Elnor stated, "Nathan, we need to talk."
"What? Are you finally ready for me to start introducing you to some girls?" Nathan asked only half jokingly with a twinkle in his eye.
"No!" At the moment, Elnor found that prospect terrifying. He had no idea how to navigate the complex social currents always in motion at the Academy. Another thing the nuns had taught him was to learn how to swim before jumping into deep water. He was definitely finding social life at school to be deep water.
"What has you so worked up then?" Nathan asked as they walked towards the mess hall.
Elnor was pretty sure Nathan was one of the few people on campus who could handle his tendency to be blunt. "Why did you tell anyone about my weekend project of preparing a meal for Admiral Picard and Laris? And who all did you tell?"
"Whoa! What? I didn't say anything to anyone!" Nathan seemed sincerely puzzled. "I know you don't like for other people to know much about your business, especially your weekend getaways. Besides, why would I tell anyone? It's not that interesting!"
Now it was Elnor's turn to look confused. "But if you didn't say anything to anyone, how did Professor Safaath know about it?"
Nathan shrugged. This was clearly not his problem, but if he could help Elnor figure it out he would. "Maybe someone else told him? Is Safaath perhaps friends with either Picard or Laris? Or someone who knows them that they might have mentioned this special dinner to?"
More social currents. Elnor found them dizzying, but was grateful that at least his best, and so far only, friend had kept quiet about it. He knitted his brows together as he thought hard. "As far as I know, they have no common friends and don't have direct contact. But it's true that there's a lot I don't know about who knows whom and what they talk about."
"Well, there you have it. This is probably a case of Laris mentioning it to one of the housekeepers at that huge, old chateau. The housekeeper mentioned it to his niece, who happens to be an administrative assistant here on campus, who. . . well, you see how things can get around." Having mollified his friend, Nathan brightened considerably at his next thought. "Or maybe senior officials have your room bugged and are monitoring all your communications!" He knew he shouldn't be trying to make a Romulan paranoid, not even in jest, but Elnor was different. Besides, teasing his friend was just too much fun to pass up.
Elnor looked appropriately paranoid for a moment, then punched his friend in the shoulder, lightly so as not to knock him over, before Nathan asked, "So how do you know Safaath knows about it anyway?"
"He brought it up after my holodeck session. He advised me not to serve raw taspar eggs. What are taspar eggs anyway?"
Elnor's innocent question momentarily stopped Nathan from joking. "You haven't heard about the time Picard was held captive and tortured by a Cardassian?"
Elnor was speechless. His mouth took on a grim set as he shook his head no.
"Look, I don't know that much about it," Nathan continued. "I think some of the files may still be classified. I've just heard rumors, and you know how undependable those can be. If you really want to know what happened, you know who to ask. You might be the only person who could ask the source directly and get an answer."
Elnor and Nathan walked in subdued silence for a few moments, before Nathan asked, "So how did your holodeck session go?"
Elnor grimaced, snorted, and rolled his eyes all at once. "I fell out of an open airlock of a hostile alien spacecraft just as it was about to leave Earth's atmosphere. I'd be dead now if it hadn't been a simulation. So. . ." he grinned at Nathan, "not well."
"Good Lord, man! What kind of simulations are you doing? And why!"
"Anything creative and unusual that Safaath or I can come up with. As for the why, I guess I'm trying to learn everything I can about how to handle unpredictable situations. If I can think of it, and devise a way of handling it, then it's no longer quite as unpredictable." Elnor thought for a moment before adding, "I know I can never think of every strange situation that might possibly happen, but by thinking of as many as I can, I'm hoping to learn how to be more creative at achieving my goals when the odds aren't in my favor. In my admittedly limited experiences, sometimes it seems like creative thinking is all that saves the day."
"If you say so, man." Nathan shook his head. "Personally, I want to have some fun while I'm here."
Their friendly banter continued as they entered the mess hall, but the clamor of so many voices obscured what they were saying to anyone other than each other.
