Chapter Three
Billy Nolan was thoroughly bored with his Defense class. He had been startled enough to find out that the attractive girl Wes Crusher had been trying to kiss was in his class with him, and all he could think about was pursuing her. He wished the class would end so he could talk to her, find out her name, convince her that Crusher was a dork. How could she even allow him to get that close to kissing her when there were guys who were so much more attractive right under her nose? Like himself, for example.
Lieutenant Worf taught this Defense class, and very well, as a matter of fact, but he hadn't called upon Billy to defend himself in the ring yet, and Billy's attention was wandering -- wandering to the girl Wes had been attacking in the hall.
She was doubtless the prettiest girl in the class, at least in Billy's opinion. She was of an average height, but thin, and she had long auburn hair that she had pulled back into a tight braid for this class. In the hall with Crusher, it had hung in long, shining copper waves around her shoulders. She had emerald green eyes -- huge, beautiful eyes. At this moment, she was wearing a loose-fitting martial arts gi, whereas in the hall, she had been wearing a black and security-mustard one-piece stretch suit. She was thin, but not so thin that she might be passed off as weak. She had a certain... well, spark about her. Billy couldn't think of a word for it. It was like a sense of adventure, a subtle warning that she might not be as benign as she appeared. This intrigued him. He pegged her for 21 years old, and he was excellent at guessing age. Especially since he knew she had just graduated from the Academy this year, and most cadets enter at 18 and graduate at 21. If they pass the first test, which he had not. Nor the second. He knew she was taking extra classes even though she had already graduated with full honors, but what he couldn't figure out was why. The idea of self-betterment never occurred to him.
He was determined to meet her after class, then set up a meeting after hours. It was against the rules for a good-looking young man such as himself to lose a girl to a dork like Wes Crusher. Billy Nolan was self- proclaimed to be one of the most attractive young men on the Enterprise, which was pretty much the truth anyway. But Wes Crusher wasn't too far behind him, and not by the young ensign's own polls, either.
"Remember," Worf's bass voice rumbled, "whenever someone approaches with this tactic, they will not succeed if you counter with this..." Worf's voice sounded to Billy's ears as if it trailed off into the distance. He was not paying attention. Rather than learning the defense tactic, he had made a formal study out of exactly which tactic to use on this girl when he met her after class. Not that he would have to try very hard. If Crusher wasn't having much trouble, for Billy it would be a snap.
Suddenly the girl stood up and stepped into the ring. Worf had called on her to demonstrate the technique. And Billy had missed her name! He replayed the last few seconds of time in his mind but could not find anywhere in his short-term recall the name Lieutenant Worf had said just seconds ago. Oh well. He'd learn it soon enough.
Worf was talking, narrating, but Billy wasn't listening. Worf and the girl stood in battle-ready positions and stalked around each other. The girl did not appear very harmless now. She was narrow-eyed and nothing but concentration -- there was that "spark" Billy had seen earlier, but now it was prevalent. Worf kicked and the girl used a low block, catching Worf's ankle against her wrist, her palm flat down. There was a soft "thunk" sound at the contact and one of the boys kneeling around the outside of the ring sucked air through his teeth. That had to hurt. But the girl's face gave no evidence of it if it had. She threw a middle punch and Worf dodged easily. They sparred for a few moments, the girl getting in one good punch that Worf almost allowed through his guard. The Klingon stopped to explain how one should never underestimate an opponent.
Billy heard one of the younger girls near him whisper to a boy derisively, "Teacher's Pet." Billy was unaware that Klingons played favorites, but apparently they thought Worf had a favorite student in this girl. Billy could see why.
Worf decided it was time to demonstrate the new tactic. He grabbed her wrist as she was throwing a punch and pulled her towards him, throwing her off balance. Then he flipped her over his shoulder and she landed on her back on the sparring mat with an "oof!"
The girl leaped up and prepared again. This time, Worf threw the punch. The girl successfully flipped Worf onto his back, evoking quite a reaction from the rest of the class.
Worf stood and completed the round with a Klingon obeisance of respect to the girl, which she returned, then sat back in her place at the edge of the ring. Worf went on to explain why someone of the girl's size could flip someone so much larger then she, comparing the tactic to the martial art Aikido.
"You are not lifting them. You are simply aiding their own force of momentum. The only force you need is the inertia they are already providing by moving towards you. It requires little mass or strength to..."
For Billy Nolan, time dragged on.
* * *
Counselor Deanna Troi appeared in the doorway of Doctor Crusher's office in sickbay. Crusher, half-drowned in work, files on computer PADDs, data clips, tricorders, records and the like, peeked up slowly from the mountain of work at her friend.
"I'm disturbing you, aren't I?" Deanna started to take a step backward.
"Yes, but please do," Beverly smiled wearily and gestured to a chair in front of her desk.
"Are you sure?" Troi sat slowly. "I could come back later if you're busy. It's nothing important, really. I just felt like talking."
"If you don't save me from this mess, no one will. What's on your mind? And don't tell me 'nothing' because I know there's something."
"Sometimes I wonder if it's me or you who is the empath," the Betazoid laughed.
"I'm not an empath, I'm one better: a mother." Then the smile fell away from Doctor Crusher's face. "It's the mission, isn't it," it wasn't a question. "The distress call."
"Now I'm certain you're empathic," Troi's humor was gone, too. "I'm not certain of what it is, but I have a bad feeling about this mission. I don't think I would be able to sense danger to the ship from so far away, so it's probably only my own apprehension, or perhaps the apprehension of the majority of the ship's complement... but I feel worried."
"What do you think you're worried about?"
"I'm not sure," Deanna glanced meaningfully up at Beverly. "I just felt like I should tell you about it. Talk to you about it."
"You're worried about me?" Beverly's eyebrows went up and her green eyes widened slightly.
"No," Deanna was not really lying. She wasn't worried about Beverly, but was for some reason worried about... Wesley. It had just occurred to her this very second. Then, as quickly as the idea had come, like deja vu, it left. "I just had to talk to someone. Someone who would tell me that I'm being foolish and to stop worrying about nothing."
"You're being foolish and stop worrying about nothing," Beverly's mouth curled into a smirk. Deanna had to smile back, even though she wasn't really relieved at all.
"But what if it isn't just apprehension?" Deanna's smile fled again. "What if it's something so telepathically powerful that I can sense it from light years away?"
"I doubt it, Deanna," the ever-practical Doctor Crusher tossed her orange hair and it tumbled over her shoulders. "Nothing like this has ever happened before, even when you've been in close contact with Q."
At the mention of the Q Continuum, a thought occurred to Deanna, but she dismissed it so instantly that she barely remembered the thought.
She shrugged. "I suppose you're right."
But she knew she wasn't.
* * *
The alien knew at the time that it had been less than wise to "warn" them of the coming danger. They themselves had a rule they called the "Prime Directive" which labeled such actions as "wrong". The alien, in a loose comparison, had something similar. But he could not allow them to so blindly speed toward danger, especially with his valuable charge in tow. He had risked much to get that single warning through, and it had been dismissed as apprehension that was "foolish". Now all he could do was watch.
* * *
Robin Wallace was gathering her things from the corner of the holodeck when a hand reached down and picked up her bag for her. She straightened up to see who had assisted her.
"Thanks," she said to a tall, well-built, attractive young man who had just hander her bag to her.
"No trouble at all," the young man used a well-rehearsed smile. Robin had recognized him as the young man who had been harassing Wes in the corridor just two hours ago. She stared coldly at him.
But to be completely fair... She raised an eyebrow appraisingly, an expression that did not go unnoticed by Billy. He was an extremely attractive young man, with brown hair, perfectly combed, handsomely chiseled features, and ice blue eyes. He had an Adonis-like physique, and a clever wit, despite the lack of evidence in his class marks to back that up. Also there was the fact that he was twenty years old and had not yet made it into Starfleet Academy. His Acting Ensign uniform was the yellow of Engineering. She wondered how many times he'd failed the entrance exam -- you're only allowed to fail it three times. She wondered if somewhere beneath the marble-statue perfection of his body, the enchantment of his face and the cool confidence and superiority complex, was he terrified of utter failure? She glanced into his eyes for a hint of that, but was startled to find that presently she couldn't see past the charming ice- blue.
Billy took her scrutiny as encouragement. Apparently, this girl appreciated the company of a real man after having been with The Boy all afternoon.
He was wearing a cocky grin that Robin could read like a book. Over- confidence. Not asking himself if she would say yes, but asking himself when. And being sure it would be soon. It would be hard to convince this gorgeous guy that he was really a loser, but she loved a challenge.
"I'm Bill Nolan," the young man said. "Haven't I seen you around here somewhere before?"
"Yes, in the corridor where you shoved my friend."
Not enough to stump him. "Oh, yes," he smiled. "He was obviously bothering you. I've known Crusher for years, and he has a habit of boring the wits out of any beautiful woman who, unwittingly, gets too close. No need to thank me."
"I won't. I actually like Wes."
"You never did tell me your name," Billy changed the subject quickly.
"There's a reason for that," Robin snapped.
"See you later, Robin!" a girl from the class walked past and through the door. Robin scowled.
"Robin," Billy mused. His intense eyes bored right into hers. She felt a bit warm. "What a beautiful name, very classic, almost Victorian era. It suits you. You have very regal features, very beautiful."
"Thanks," Robin answered a little less flatly than she had intended. She tried to drag herself free from his spell.
"Are you busy tonight?"
"Oh, very."
Billy's eyebrows went up. "All night?"
She nodded.
"Tomorrow?"
"No, I'm completely free tomorrow."
Billy smiled. Gotcha. "Then what would you say to dinner?"
"Oh, I well intend to have dinner tomorrow."
"Would you permit me the singular pleasure of joining you?"
"Mm, no."
Billy was startled again. He opened his mouth as if about to ask her to repeat herself, since he obviously hadn't heard properly. She spared him the trouble.
"You're not quite my type. Nice enough on the outside, but..." she tapped her temple with her forefinger, "nothing on the inside, know what I mean?" She shrugged innocently, as if she were the helpless victim of her mind's decision.
Billy's jaw dropped, stunned and insulted.
"Thanks, though." Robin left.
Billy stood there, still too startled to know what to do next. Billy's friend Jason approached, hanging his bag over his shoulder.
"Way to go, Ace," he punched Billy in the shoulder.
Billy shook his head, still watching the door Robin had left through. "Crusher musta done something to her," Billy concluded.
"Yeah, like treated her like a Human being?" he graced Billy with a sarcastic grin.
"But look at him!" Billy protested angrily, throwing his towel at Jason. "He's this scrawny little science freak. He's barely half as good- looking as I am, and half my width. What's he got that I don't?"
Jason tapped his temple with his forefinger in a perfect imitation of Robin's recent gesture. Then he hurled the balled-up towel back at his friend as he backed up toward the door. "B-ball in Holodeck A at 1500?"
"I'm there, m'man," Billy answered half-heartedly while stuffing his towel into his bag.
"Bring your rock, I hate those holodeck ones -- they just don't bounce the same. Later," Jason walked out.
Billy Nolan was thoroughly bored with his Defense class. He had been startled enough to find out that the attractive girl Wes Crusher had been trying to kiss was in his class with him, and all he could think about was pursuing her. He wished the class would end so he could talk to her, find out her name, convince her that Crusher was a dork. How could she even allow him to get that close to kissing her when there were guys who were so much more attractive right under her nose? Like himself, for example.
Lieutenant Worf taught this Defense class, and very well, as a matter of fact, but he hadn't called upon Billy to defend himself in the ring yet, and Billy's attention was wandering -- wandering to the girl Wes had been attacking in the hall.
She was doubtless the prettiest girl in the class, at least in Billy's opinion. She was of an average height, but thin, and she had long auburn hair that she had pulled back into a tight braid for this class. In the hall with Crusher, it had hung in long, shining copper waves around her shoulders. She had emerald green eyes -- huge, beautiful eyes. At this moment, she was wearing a loose-fitting martial arts gi, whereas in the hall, she had been wearing a black and security-mustard one-piece stretch suit. She was thin, but not so thin that she might be passed off as weak. She had a certain... well, spark about her. Billy couldn't think of a word for it. It was like a sense of adventure, a subtle warning that she might not be as benign as she appeared. This intrigued him. He pegged her for 21 years old, and he was excellent at guessing age. Especially since he knew she had just graduated from the Academy this year, and most cadets enter at 18 and graduate at 21. If they pass the first test, which he had not. Nor the second. He knew she was taking extra classes even though she had already graduated with full honors, but what he couldn't figure out was why. The idea of self-betterment never occurred to him.
He was determined to meet her after class, then set up a meeting after hours. It was against the rules for a good-looking young man such as himself to lose a girl to a dork like Wes Crusher. Billy Nolan was self- proclaimed to be one of the most attractive young men on the Enterprise, which was pretty much the truth anyway. But Wes Crusher wasn't too far behind him, and not by the young ensign's own polls, either.
"Remember," Worf's bass voice rumbled, "whenever someone approaches with this tactic, they will not succeed if you counter with this..." Worf's voice sounded to Billy's ears as if it trailed off into the distance. He was not paying attention. Rather than learning the defense tactic, he had made a formal study out of exactly which tactic to use on this girl when he met her after class. Not that he would have to try very hard. If Crusher wasn't having much trouble, for Billy it would be a snap.
Suddenly the girl stood up and stepped into the ring. Worf had called on her to demonstrate the technique. And Billy had missed her name! He replayed the last few seconds of time in his mind but could not find anywhere in his short-term recall the name Lieutenant Worf had said just seconds ago. Oh well. He'd learn it soon enough.
Worf was talking, narrating, but Billy wasn't listening. Worf and the girl stood in battle-ready positions and stalked around each other. The girl did not appear very harmless now. She was narrow-eyed and nothing but concentration -- there was that "spark" Billy had seen earlier, but now it was prevalent. Worf kicked and the girl used a low block, catching Worf's ankle against her wrist, her palm flat down. There was a soft "thunk" sound at the contact and one of the boys kneeling around the outside of the ring sucked air through his teeth. That had to hurt. But the girl's face gave no evidence of it if it had. She threw a middle punch and Worf dodged easily. They sparred for a few moments, the girl getting in one good punch that Worf almost allowed through his guard. The Klingon stopped to explain how one should never underestimate an opponent.
Billy heard one of the younger girls near him whisper to a boy derisively, "Teacher's Pet." Billy was unaware that Klingons played favorites, but apparently they thought Worf had a favorite student in this girl. Billy could see why.
Worf decided it was time to demonstrate the new tactic. He grabbed her wrist as she was throwing a punch and pulled her towards him, throwing her off balance. Then he flipped her over his shoulder and she landed on her back on the sparring mat with an "oof!"
The girl leaped up and prepared again. This time, Worf threw the punch. The girl successfully flipped Worf onto his back, evoking quite a reaction from the rest of the class.
Worf stood and completed the round with a Klingon obeisance of respect to the girl, which she returned, then sat back in her place at the edge of the ring. Worf went on to explain why someone of the girl's size could flip someone so much larger then she, comparing the tactic to the martial art Aikido.
"You are not lifting them. You are simply aiding their own force of momentum. The only force you need is the inertia they are already providing by moving towards you. It requires little mass or strength to..."
For Billy Nolan, time dragged on.
* * *
Counselor Deanna Troi appeared in the doorway of Doctor Crusher's office in sickbay. Crusher, half-drowned in work, files on computer PADDs, data clips, tricorders, records and the like, peeked up slowly from the mountain of work at her friend.
"I'm disturbing you, aren't I?" Deanna started to take a step backward.
"Yes, but please do," Beverly smiled wearily and gestured to a chair in front of her desk.
"Are you sure?" Troi sat slowly. "I could come back later if you're busy. It's nothing important, really. I just felt like talking."
"If you don't save me from this mess, no one will. What's on your mind? And don't tell me 'nothing' because I know there's something."
"Sometimes I wonder if it's me or you who is the empath," the Betazoid laughed.
"I'm not an empath, I'm one better: a mother." Then the smile fell away from Doctor Crusher's face. "It's the mission, isn't it," it wasn't a question. "The distress call."
"Now I'm certain you're empathic," Troi's humor was gone, too. "I'm not certain of what it is, but I have a bad feeling about this mission. I don't think I would be able to sense danger to the ship from so far away, so it's probably only my own apprehension, or perhaps the apprehension of the majority of the ship's complement... but I feel worried."
"What do you think you're worried about?"
"I'm not sure," Deanna glanced meaningfully up at Beverly. "I just felt like I should tell you about it. Talk to you about it."
"You're worried about me?" Beverly's eyebrows went up and her green eyes widened slightly.
"No," Deanna was not really lying. She wasn't worried about Beverly, but was for some reason worried about... Wesley. It had just occurred to her this very second. Then, as quickly as the idea had come, like deja vu, it left. "I just had to talk to someone. Someone who would tell me that I'm being foolish and to stop worrying about nothing."
"You're being foolish and stop worrying about nothing," Beverly's mouth curled into a smirk. Deanna had to smile back, even though she wasn't really relieved at all.
"But what if it isn't just apprehension?" Deanna's smile fled again. "What if it's something so telepathically powerful that I can sense it from light years away?"
"I doubt it, Deanna," the ever-practical Doctor Crusher tossed her orange hair and it tumbled over her shoulders. "Nothing like this has ever happened before, even when you've been in close contact with Q."
At the mention of the Q Continuum, a thought occurred to Deanna, but she dismissed it so instantly that she barely remembered the thought.
She shrugged. "I suppose you're right."
But she knew she wasn't.
* * *
The alien knew at the time that it had been less than wise to "warn" them of the coming danger. They themselves had a rule they called the "Prime Directive" which labeled such actions as "wrong". The alien, in a loose comparison, had something similar. But he could not allow them to so blindly speed toward danger, especially with his valuable charge in tow. He had risked much to get that single warning through, and it had been dismissed as apprehension that was "foolish". Now all he could do was watch.
* * *
Robin Wallace was gathering her things from the corner of the holodeck when a hand reached down and picked up her bag for her. She straightened up to see who had assisted her.
"Thanks," she said to a tall, well-built, attractive young man who had just hander her bag to her.
"No trouble at all," the young man used a well-rehearsed smile. Robin had recognized him as the young man who had been harassing Wes in the corridor just two hours ago. She stared coldly at him.
But to be completely fair... She raised an eyebrow appraisingly, an expression that did not go unnoticed by Billy. He was an extremely attractive young man, with brown hair, perfectly combed, handsomely chiseled features, and ice blue eyes. He had an Adonis-like physique, and a clever wit, despite the lack of evidence in his class marks to back that up. Also there was the fact that he was twenty years old and had not yet made it into Starfleet Academy. His Acting Ensign uniform was the yellow of Engineering. She wondered how many times he'd failed the entrance exam -- you're only allowed to fail it three times. She wondered if somewhere beneath the marble-statue perfection of his body, the enchantment of his face and the cool confidence and superiority complex, was he terrified of utter failure? She glanced into his eyes for a hint of that, but was startled to find that presently she couldn't see past the charming ice- blue.
Billy took her scrutiny as encouragement. Apparently, this girl appreciated the company of a real man after having been with The Boy all afternoon.
He was wearing a cocky grin that Robin could read like a book. Over- confidence. Not asking himself if she would say yes, but asking himself when. And being sure it would be soon. It would be hard to convince this gorgeous guy that he was really a loser, but she loved a challenge.
"I'm Bill Nolan," the young man said. "Haven't I seen you around here somewhere before?"
"Yes, in the corridor where you shoved my friend."
Not enough to stump him. "Oh, yes," he smiled. "He was obviously bothering you. I've known Crusher for years, and he has a habit of boring the wits out of any beautiful woman who, unwittingly, gets too close. No need to thank me."
"I won't. I actually like Wes."
"You never did tell me your name," Billy changed the subject quickly.
"There's a reason for that," Robin snapped.
"See you later, Robin!" a girl from the class walked past and through the door. Robin scowled.
"Robin," Billy mused. His intense eyes bored right into hers. She felt a bit warm. "What a beautiful name, very classic, almost Victorian era. It suits you. You have very regal features, very beautiful."
"Thanks," Robin answered a little less flatly than she had intended. She tried to drag herself free from his spell.
"Are you busy tonight?"
"Oh, very."
Billy's eyebrows went up. "All night?"
She nodded.
"Tomorrow?"
"No, I'm completely free tomorrow."
Billy smiled. Gotcha. "Then what would you say to dinner?"
"Oh, I well intend to have dinner tomorrow."
"Would you permit me the singular pleasure of joining you?"
"Mm, no."
Billy was startled again. He opened his mouth as if about to ask her to repeat herself, since he obviously hadn't heard properly. She spared him the trouble.
"You're not quite my type. Nice enough on the outside, but..." she tapped her temple with her forefinger, "nothing on the inside, know what I mean?" She shrugged innocently, as if she were the helpless victim of her mind's decision.
Billy's jaw dropped, stunned and insulted.
"Thanks, though." Robin left.
Billy stood there, still too startled to know what to do next. Billy's friend Jason approached, hanging his bag over his shoulder.
"Way to go, Ace," he punched Billy in the shoulder.
Billy shook his head, still watching the door Robin had left through. "Crusher musta done something to her," Billy concluded.
"Yeah, like treated her like a Human being?" he graced Billy with a sarcastic grin.
"But look at him!" Billy protested angrily, throwing his towel at Jason. "He's this scrawny little science freak. He's barely half as good- looking as I am, and half my width. What's he got that I don't?"
Jason tapped his temple with his forefinger in a perfect imitation of Robin's recent gesture. Then he hurled the balled-up towel back at his friend as he backed up toward the door. "B-ball in Holodeck A at 1500?"
"I'm there, m'man," Billy answered half-heartedly while stuffing his towel into his bag.
"Bring your rock, I hate those holodeck ones -- they just don't bounce the same. Later," Jason walked out.