Red 7

She was in a great mood despite having essentially died in the simulation. Her fictional crew weren't so happy with her decision however and she could already tell she was going to end up with a nasty reputation because of her solution. The commander had been impressed or at least she thought he was. You never could really tell with a Vulcan. She wasn't sure what to make of the admiral she didn't really know anything about the man. She passed a girl she knew was one of Lela's former customers. She looked upset.

"What's wrong?" said Sam

The girl glanced at her then nervously rang her hands.

"Nothing" she said quickly

Then hurried away before Sam could ask any more questions. Frowning Sam watched her hurry away. Something was up and for some reason she had a bad feeling Kirk was somehow involved. Speaking of which where was he? He had promised to be there for her test why wasn't he? Sam spotted one of the engineering students that was Kirk's roommate. She walked towards him.

The man watched her approach with widening eyes. When she got close enough to talk he fumbled the Padd in his hands and it hit the ground. She sighed the man had always been a complete nervous wreck, you think after hanging out with James he would pick up something useful. Like some confidence.

"Have you seen Kirk?" said Sam

The man retrieved his Padd and was looking it over to make sure it was not damaged. He sighed with relief then nearly dropped it again when she spoke. He quickly wrapped both arms around the device and hugged it to his chest. His eyes widened and he licked his lips. Sam tapped a foot impatiently.

"He... ah... he's...um" stammered the man

Sam waved her hand in clear prompting for the rest of the sentence

"Yes he what spit it out man" said Sam

He shoved his glasses back up his nose.

"He's scheduled for the Kobayashi Maru" said the man

Sam nodded and turned back towards the building she had just left. Kirk, McCoy and Sulu walked out as she approached, Kirk was grinning ear to ear. Sam frowned something was seriously wrong someone doesn't walk out of a test like that with a grin on their face. McCoy looked worried and Sulu looked shocked. Just what was going on here?

"Kirk?" said Sam

He spotted her standing there and smiled in her direction

"Sam!" he said

He put his arm over her shoulders. She gave him a strange look because she was certain he was dating Gailia. He hugged her close he was laughing.

"Come on join us we're celebrating" said Kirk

His good mood was infectious but some part of her still nagged that something was wrong. He walked towards one of the shuttles that went back and forth into the city. A few weeks ago they had lifted the ban keeping her on Starfleet property, so Sam was more than happy to leave for a while. Her classes were done for the day and she could use a bit of relaxation.

"Sure what are we celebrating?" said Sam

Kirk smiled at her and led her onto the shuttle.

"He beat the test" said McCoy

He nervously sat down next to her and strapped in. she could tell he detested flying almost as bad as she did.

"Beat the test?" said Sam

Sulu sat down opposite them. He leaned back with a sigh.

"The Kobayashi he beat it, somehow" said Sulu

He sounded shocked still or at the least disbelieving. She turned back towards kirk. He was staring at her for some reason. She opened her mouth to ask how and kirk suddenly leaned forward and touched his lips to hers.

"I never noticed before how beautiful you were" said kirk when he withdrew.

She opened her mouth to protest because she felt he was only trying to redirect her.

"I thought you were dating Galia?" said Sam

McCoy chuckled beside her. Jim drew back, his eyes were practically glowing with mirth. She never noticed how very blue they were almost an electric blue or aqua.

"She was fun for a while but we were never officially dating per se" said kirk

McCoy rolled his eyes at the man's audacity. Sam smirked at him.

"Does she know this?" said Sam

Kirk paused and bit his bottom lip. He nodded more to himself.

"yeah I fairly certain she won't be talking to me for a while" said Kirk

She wondered why he sounded so certain of that but the pilot touched down and the doors slid open. Kirk was already unlatching his harness and she followed suit. McCoy rushed past her on the way to the door. Kirk smirked at his passing.

"come on, enough talk we're here to have fun" said kirk

He pulled her to her feet and steered her out the shuttle door. She could guess by that smirk what he was hoping for in the way of fun. She made a mental note not to get too plastered in his presence. There were quite a few hotels that rented by the hour in this city and she had no intention of being another notch on his bedpost. Kirk led them down the street and they boarded public transit. They got off in downtown and Kirk led them inside to a seedy night club. The music was pounding and she could barely hear what her companions were saying.

She didn't recognize the song but techno was all the same in any century. She stood there swaying to the beat trying to decide if she wanted to go out there on that dance floor alone. Kirk solved her dilemma by grabbing her hand and dragging her towards the floor. She glanced at her other companions and found they had already paired off with partners.

"Now don't laugh at me too badly I'm just a farm boy from Iowa remember" said kirk

"Really I'm from Oklahoma originally" said Sam

Kirk smiled at her and pulled her close. She was swaying her hips to the beat and kirk was simply staring at her.

"So you're the girl next door then?" said kirk

He was teasing and she knew it. She smirked back

"No honey I'm the girl from the wrong side of the tracks" said Sam

"Tracks?" said Kirk

Sam smirked at him sometimes she forgot how old some of the expressions she used were. She rolled her hips through some belly dancing moves and watched as Kirk licked his lips. Men were so predicable no matter what century they were from.

He moved forward and soon they were grinding against each other. He was so close she could reach him with teeth or tongue. So tempting

"It means I'm the girl your mother warned you about" she whispered into his ear.

He smiled again and nuzzled into her hair.

"Well then it's a good thing I didn't heed her warnings" said Kirk

He put his hands on her hips and pulled her back against his front. She gave a throaty chuckle when she felt the hardness. She was about to turn around and tease him about it.

"Cadet Kirk?" said a male voice.

Kirk looked slowly up and frowned. The other dancers had moved away from the two newcomers who were obviously Starfleet police corp.

"Umm yes" said Kirk

His hands still on her hips as they continued to sway to the music.

"You need to come with us cadet" said the cop

Sam slowly stopped swaying because her stomach was suddenly in knots.

"Step away from your fellow cadet please, cadet Kirk" said the cop

"What's going on?" said Sam

McCoy and Sulu were slowly making their way towards Kirk and Sam.

"Miss I have to ask you to stand aside I do not want to hurt you" said the blond cop

"Hurt her, whoa what the hell!" said Kirk

She watched him clench his fists and she was pretty certain he meant to fight the two cops. Sam slowly stepped back but she watched the two cops closely, just to make sure they didn't do anything out of line.

"Thank you miss" said the dark haired cop.

Sam took a quick snapshot of his name tag while Kirk was being handcuffed. Her old cell phone didn't get service for calls but it still made for a decent camera.

"Enjoy the rest of your evening miss" said the dark haired one.

Sam glared at him until he turned away. They were leading Kirk away when McCoy and Sulu finally reached her side.

"What's going on why are they arresting Kirk?" said Sulu

McCoy gave him a level look and Sam finally figured out the good doctor was in on Kirk's little plan. "Come on lets follow them" said Sam

"What's that?" said McCoy

He nodded towards the phone in her hands. She almost laughed because a few centuries ago one of these was practically glued to everyone's hands.

"It's a cell phone, it also takes pictures and records video" said Sam

"Records? You were recording them?" said Sulu

"Yeah one of them threatened me and I don't entirely trust them with Kirk" said Sam

Sulu nodded in understanding.

"So what are you going to do about it?" said McCoy

"Turn their ass in, I'm pretty sure threatening another cadet is against regulations" said Sam

"Yeah, especially if you weren't doing anything illegal" said Sulu

"Come on we should follow them" said Sam

The other two nodded and they made their way out of the club. The cop's car was already gone. So Sam and the others caught public again and got off where the academy shuttles landed. They could see the tail end of the MP's shuttle heading back to Starfleet.

Sam flopped back on the waiting bench and resigned herself to waiting for the next one. It shouldn't be too long of a wait. The waiting area was deserted except for them. Sam killed the phones recorder.

"All right McCoy out with it what did he do?" said Sam

He gave her a wide eyed attempted innocent facial expression. Sam gave him her fiercest glare yet. McCoy sighed and deflated when she didn't fall for his innocent act.

"You remember when he sent us that text saying he was going to change the rules?" said McCoy

"Yeah" said Sam

She remembered the feeling of dread right along with it.

"Well he did" said McCoy

Sam blinked for a second then McCoy's words clicked into place.

"Wait you mean to tell me he hacked the Kobayashi and changed it so he could win?" said Sam

McCoy nodded yes.

"Then they will most likely kick him out" said Sulu

"Or put him on a really long probation so long as he's contrite about it" said Sam

As soon as the words left her mouth she knew they were false. Kirk and contrite just didn't go together. Both men gave her a level look and she knew they weren't buying it either. The knowledge just seemed to fuel her worry. She stood and impatiently tapped her foot. The approaching running lights of the incoming shuttle were not moving fast enough in her opinion.

The shuttle touched down and she was already racing onboard before the doors were fully open. She strapped in and waited while the others did the same at a much slower pace.

"Calm down he's going to be alright" said McCoy

He didn't sound as convincing as she wanted him to. She tapped her foot while the pilot waited for any latecomers. She almost unstrapped and shoved him aside so she could drive, that was the extent of her patience right now. McCoy's hand on her knee stopped her as her hand reached for the latch. She turned slightly towards him. He was almost white as a sheet and he was trying to get her to calm down.

"So doc why does he call you bones? He never said" said Sam

McCoy smirked wanly and she could see him relax just a little bit.

"That's because when he met me on the shuttle in, it was just after my divorce so all I really had left was my bones" said McCoy

"Ouch that bites" said Sulu

Sam raised her eyebrow because Sulu was picking up quite a bit of twentieth century slang from her lately and it was actually kind of funny.

"Oh that's completely horrid" said Sam

McCoy smiled at her display of sympathy and Sam realized belatedly that she had partially hugged the man without realizing it. She reluctantly drew back some. McCoy was staring at her.

"He's right you are quite pretty, I never realized it before now" he said

She gave him a worried look. Jim she expected that behavior from but not Leonard.

"Ah thanks" she said awkwardly.

The shuttle touched down and she quickly unstrapped. McCoy looked disappointed but then shrugged it off because in the end he was worried too. Sam headed straight for the detention center, she knew exactly where it was from her many brushes with Starfleet's security force. She walked right in the front door. The commanding officer on duty stood up to meet her.

"Miss Morningstar to what do I owe this little visit?" said the commander.

Sam smiled at him. Fortunately it was the nice one on duty, so all she had to do was be nice and he would normally be accommodating.

"What I can't miss you guys?" said Sam in a mock pout.

The commander smiled then looked towards the lock up area.

"I can't let you see him regulations, sorry" said the commander

Sam sighed in defeat.

"Well can you at least tell me what he's charged with?" said Sam

McCoy and Sulu walked in behind her and she saw the commanders gaze shift briefly to them then back to her.

"Yeah that I can, cheating and violating academic ethics. Hey look they're treating this kind of seriously so I can't tell you more" said the commander

Sam frowned at him.

"What can you tell me?" said Sam

"Just that his hearing is tomorrow morning, now unless you want to report something I have to ask you to leave" said the commander

McCoy cleared his throat and Sam turned. He gave her a meaning filled look and glanced at her pocket. "Oh yeah as a matter of fact I do" said Sam

She dug out her phone and the man frowned at it.

"What is that? Some sort of antique pad or something?" said the commander.

"Close but I use it as a camera now since there's no wireless service anymore" said Sam

She tapped a few buttons and pulled up the video of what happened at the night club. The commander watched in stony silence as it played. He tapped his fingers on the counter.

"I take it you wish to report their behavior?" said the commander

"No just the one the other guy was polite, the blond was the rude one" said Sam

The commander nodded and typed something into his Padd. Then dug in a drawer for something. After a few moments he held up a cable in triumph.

"You said this does wireless transmissions?" said the commander

"Yes why?" said Sam

"Do you mind if I download this?" said the commander

"No Ethan I'm fine with it" said Sam

The commander smirked at her.

"You remembered my first name" he said

Sam shrugged.

"I've been in here enough times to remember everyone's name, if I cared to" said Sam

He smiled and tapped in a few things in his Padd then plugged the cable into her phone. He saved the video and sent it via text message to his Padd.

"Got it, I'll handle it from here and try not to worry too much Sam I am sure it will all work itself out" said the commander

Sam nodded and reluctantly walked away. At least with Ethan there kirk was in no danger of being hurt. They didn't talk on the way back to her dorm. Sulu and McCoy both escorted her to the dorm building door and thankfully didn't try to make small talk or tell her any false platitudes.

She watched them walk away and knew they must be thinking the same thing she was. Sam walked towards the lift and hit the button. When it showed up she climbed on board and leaned her head back against the lift wall. She could feel the tears begin to gather in her eyes. The door slid open and she angrily wiped the moisture away.

Damn it she refused to feel sorry for him, he did this to himself. She punched in her door code and walked into her room. The empty side of the room that used to be Lela's seemed like it was mocking her tonight. She flopped down on her bed and gave into the tears where no one could see them.

She drifted off into a fit full sleep. She found herself back on the bridge of USS Cadet or at least she thought she was. Except the Kobayashi was already on fire and it wasn't alone. She wasn't the captain this time someone she didn't recognize was and they were shouting orders over the cacophony of the sirens.

Sam's fingers moved across the control panel in front of her, which looked like the helm. The ship shook then suddenly the orders stopped and silence reigned so deep her ears rang from its loss. She glanced to where the captain had been and he was gone. She looked around the bridge. With dawning horror she noted everywhere she looked the stations were empty.

She turned back around and a gaping hole where the view screen had been greeted her. Filling the hole and getting closer by the minute was an alien ship. Something green flashed from the alien ship and Sam sat up with a scream.

Her chest hurt like the oxygen had really been sucked out of the room. She shoved back the sheets that had entangled themselves around her legs and glanced at the clock. It read 0400. Great it was four o'clock in the morning. She must have slept through dinner last night.

She groaned and shoved the blankets off her legs and swung them out of the bed. She had just enough time for a morning run and a shower before they started serving breakfast and she had to report to her first class. She grabbed her running gear and quickly changed clothes.

A fog had rolled in overnight so she could barely see the running trail in front of her or the lights that still lit it up. Only a few other students seemed to be using it this morning so she was absurdly grateful for the silence.

She was still worried about kirk and was wondering if she still wanted to remain if they kicked him out. Sam was rapidly losing friends in this place and it was beginning to take its toll. Her dream last night didn't help any either. She steered around a fellow cadet and then back to where she was running.

"Your moving quite fast this morning, is there any particular reason why?" said a voice to her right.

She turned her head and almost ran into the wall surrounding a flower bed.

"Commander?" said Sam

He had been watching her rather closely as of late and it was starting to bother her. She forgot this was the time he usually ran or else she would have gone later. He raised an eyebrow at her when she changed stride and position so she wouldn't collide with the scenery.

"You startled me, sir" said Sam

"My apologies I forgot the limitations on human eyesight" said Spock

She gritted her teeth to keep what she wanted to say in check. She wished she knew why if he held such a low opinion of humans was he teaching them.

"Your face is already flushed cadet yet you have been running for only twenty minutes, surly I did not startle you that badly" said Spock

She knew what he was asking but she really did not want to give him that opening so she redirected it into subject matters he would be uncomfortable with.

"Just trying to run off the effects of that dream" said Sam

He looked intrigued.

"What dream?" said Spock

She mentally giggled at how ridiculously easy it was to lead him into that question. She brought up some decidedly naughty images from a more pleasant dream and she could feel her face flush in response. She nervously cleared her throat.

"Ah, I don't think I should discus that with you sir" said Sam

He looked momentarily shocked. Sam used that shock to break away from him and run just a bit faster. She knew he would probably catch her but right now she just didn't feel like dealing with nosy Vulcan's. She heard him come up beside her a few minutes later and mentally cursed Vulcan stamina. She almost kicked herself when she saw him flinch. Damn she forgot about the psychic thing.

"Have I done something to offend you cadet Morningstar?" said Spock

She frowned because honestly he hadn't.

"Not that I am aware of sir" said Sam

He stared at her for a few minutes and she could swear he was looking right through her. She deliberately thought about the feel of Kirk's body sliding against hers on the dance floor last night. The sensation abruptly stopped and she could swear his cheeks looked a bit greener.

"Why is it that whenever I speak to you I sense hostility towards my person?" he said

She raised an eyebrow all but mimicking his earlier eye lift.

"I have no hostile feelings towards you sir perhaps you are simply catching me at a bad time" said Sam She couldn't remember being any more hostile towards him than she was towards anyone else, except for when her cycle hit.

Then she was pretty much horrible to everyone. He gave her a strange look and she smirked at him.

"I see" he said

Did he? Did he really? She would be willing to bet he was seeing just how hazardous it was to read her mind right now. He looked confused. Welcome to the world of women sweetie, she thought. He opened his mouth to say something more and Sam cut him off.

"What is it you are really after sir?" said Sam

He tilted his head sideways just a bit. She wondered, if he knew just how much he was giving away in just body language alone.

"I do not understand your meaning cadet" said Spock

Sam glanced to her side and saw Uhura heading in their direction. He knew exactly what she was saying.

"Perhaps you can figure it out later commander, good day" said Sam

She nodded in his direction and jogged away before he could respond. Uhura jogged past her and gave her a strange look as she passed. Sam smiled at her as she passed. She may not be overly fond of Uhura but she didn't deserve to be cheated on. Sam reached her dorm and vanished inside to change clothes. By the time she came back down both of them were gone. She draped her bag strap over her shoulder and headed for the mess hall.

Her thought were half on Kirk and half on Spock. She just couldn't figure the Vulcan out to save her life. If he was single she would say he's possibly interested but she couldn't tell for sure. He has never made any intention known either way. If anything he has been nothing but polite.

She would say his interest was purely academic if her marks were any higher but in all honestly they were quite average. So what gives? Was it that she challenged him on that first day or was it because she kept doing so every chance she got?

She got in line behind the other cadets and grabbed a tray. A quick glance around the room yielded Alex sitting next to Sulu. A very subdued McCoy was picking at his food next to him. Sam picked up her tray and made her way towards the group.

She sat down without a word but she caught Alex's worried look. Everyone looked like they had gotten just as much sleep as she did. At least she wasn't alone in this. The food tasted like dust today but she managed to choke it down. The others ate about as much as she did.

She put up her tray when she was done and just like the others trays her was half full. They started towards their first classes of the day when the announcement speakers came on.

"All cadets and instructors are to report to the main auditorium" said the message