Chapter 2

Threv preferred to work out in one of the tower's gymnasia instead of in the MACO Barracks with his fellow soldiers. Although they had been welcoming and friendly towards him, part of him still felt undeserving to be in their company. They were real heroes, he was just a cowardly fool with a gun.

The gym he used most often was relatively small and close to his quarters, giving him another place of respite from his bondmates and their daily arguing. He also chose to work out near the shift changeover, so it was scarcely occupied.

However, there was another base resident who had a similar idea, and as Threv jogged on a treadmill in his workout gear, Ensign Kat Dehner entered and made her way over to him.

He had met Dehner a few times now, both of them enjoying the solitude of the quiet gym, and had inevitably got to talking with her. Like Threv, she was a very inward and self-criticising person, so they had got along well as they tried to one-up each other at who was most pathetic. Threv had not, of course, shared with her his failures in combat, just vague doubts and worries. He also got the sense that she was similarly avoiding returning to her quarters.

"Morning Threv," she said to him as she started her pre-exercise stretches.

"Morning," he puffed, keeping his pace.

"How's the family?"

"Oh, you know. Still making me want to tear my antennae out." He smirked. Dehner was one of the few people he could be so open with, even if only jokingly.

Dehner laughed. "I can believe it. Most Humans can barely get along with one partner, never mind three."

"How's Ed?"

Dehner's smile faded a bit. "He's alright. Busy since this promotion." She always seemed reluctant to discuss her boyfriend, and Threv had chosen not to pry.

"It's good to be busy." He couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Yeah. We've both been invited to take part in these psychological tests too, so I guess that's something to look forward to."

"Tests?" Threv asked, stopping the treadmill and climbing off to let Dehner take his place.

While Threv sat on a bench and drank some water, Dehner restarted the running machine and explained about a visiting psychologist who was conducting some sort of research on the Human personnel.

"He's from the Duke Foundation," said Dehner, starting to pick up speed. "They've done a lot of great work with mental health."

"Oh," said Threv, dabbing at his brow with a towel. He knew Humans discussed such things casually, but mental health was still a hushed topic for Andorians and it made Threv slightly uncomfortable.

"Yeah," Dehner continued, oblivious to Threv's unease. "My uncle had Albright-Salzman syndrome. Made him see things that weren't there. The Foundation helped him, both medically and with therapy. They developed this treatment; now you barely hear about anyone with Albright-Salzman's."

"Sounds like they're effective," said Threv, again struggling for words.

"They started out about a hundred years ago," said Dehner. "Helping victims of World War Three. More recently, they've been handling cases from the Romulan War. They've really helped people deal with the trauma of war."

Threv silently wondered if the Duke Foundation could do anything for an Andorian.

In one of the Infirmary's medical labs, T'Ling was helping Dr. Heidelburg set up some of the items from the case he had brought. It was mostly several sheets of handwritten notes, cortical monitoring equipment, and what looked like plastic cards of some kind. Heidelburg had requested a table and some chairs be set up in the lab as well, for interviews with the research subjects.

"What will be the nature of the interviews, Doctor?" T'Ling asked as she linked the cortical monitoring devices with a computer station in the corner.

Heidelburg, sat at the table, waved his hand as he leafed through his notes. "Ach, just questions about their background to develop a psychometric profile, then tests of general intelligence, intuition and memory. We will be comparing the results with their original Starfleet psychological examinations as well as that of subjects on Earth, to see if being out here on the border of the unknown has had any effect."

"I am curious as to what the results would be," T'Ling said. "Humans have rapidly developed in almost every other measurable area."

"There's something to be said for taking things slowly though. Perhaps, in time, Humans will reach the mental perfection of Vulcans."

T'Ling was about to protest the use of the word "perfection" when Heidelburg spoke again. "Is the monitoring station set up?"

"Yes, Doctor."

"Gut, gut. I will ask you to stay on the other side of the room to monitor each subject's brain circuitry patterns as I test them. I know you will not display emotion, but if they picked up on even the slightest micro-expression regarding their readings, it may alter their behaviour. So best to stay where they can't see you."

"A logical scientific method."

Heidelburg nodded. "Ah, send in the first subject, please."

T'Ling stepped over to the intercom on the wall and activated it. "Technician Keller, you may enter."

The door opened a few seconds later to admit a short, stocky young man with a shaved head, wearing a Starfleet jumpsuit with red piping. He stood to attention.

Heidelburg consulted his notes, then looked up. "Technician Third Class Joseph Keller, ja?"

"Just Joe's fine," said Keller, with a smirk. T'Ling found him typically informal for a Human, but remained silent. Keller had not even looked in her direction.

Heidelburg nodded and gestured for Keller to sit opposite him. He explained the tests while T'Ling attached the cortical monitors to Keller's temples. He flinched from her touch, exaggerating the reaction.

"Cold hands," he said with a faint sneer.

"Apologies, Mr. Keller," T'Ling said. She returned to the computer station behind Keller at the other end of the room.

Keller leaned across the table to Heidelburg and she heard him whisper, "Vulcans. Cold everything."

T'Ling chose to ignore the comment, the likes of which was less common among Humans nowadays, but a negative attitude towards Vulcans was still occasionally encountered.

Heidelburg leaned towards Keller and similarly whispered, "They have excellent hearing though." With a smug grin, he leaned back. T'Ling couldn't see Keller's reaction, but assumed he was suitably admonished.

Heidelburg began by asking questions about Keller's early life. There were a few more subtle indicators of anti-alien sentiment, but nothing out of the ordinary, and his BCP readout was within Human norms as well.

There then followed a few logical puzzles - simplistic by Vulcan standards - and what Heidelburg called "guessing games." The latter consisted of Heidelburg describing a scenario with multiple potential outcomes - a man deciding what to have for lunch out of three possible choices, for example - and Keller having to deduce the answer with very little to help guide his reasoning.

Regardless, Keller answered with a 75% success rate by T'Ling's estimate. She reflected that Humans must naturally excel at illogical deductions.

Then Heidelburg produced the plastic cards from his case - five of them, each approximately 10 centimetres by 15 centimetres. He explained that there would be a memory test; he'd show Keller the images on the cards in a random order just once, then Keller would have to recall the sequence.

He showed Keller the basic images one by one - a green square, a blue circle, a red triangle, a yellow diamond and an orange star - then held up the cards with their backs to Keller. The young technician easily recited the images in the correct order.

On the third attempt, however, Dr. Heidelburg held up the wrong card in the sequence. The fourth card should have been the blue circle, but Heidelburg held up the orange star. Positioned behind Keller, T'Ling only noticed because she saw the card reflected in Heidelburg's glasses.

Perplexingly though, Keller named the 'correct' card; the orange star that Heidelburg was holding as opposed to the blue circle from the original sequence. He then named the reverse - circle instead of star - for the next card as well. From the angles that both men were sitting at, Keller could not have seen the reflection.

T'Ling initially assumed that both Heidelburg and Keller had coincidentally made the same error, but Heidelburg repeated the mistake three more times in a total of twelve tests. With improbable odds, Keller guessed 3 out of 4 of these errors correctly.

What was more curious was that Keller's brain activity readings spiked during each of these 'false' tests.