Captains' Lounge, Starfleet Command

Wednesday 7th July 2382

A loud burst of laughter from the gathered captains caught Kehlan's attention and she lifted her head from the padd she was reading, to listen, at first half-heartedly and then with increasing interest, to the conversation. She'd only stopped by to pick up the padds with her teaching notes that she'd left here earlier, before the conference but someone had brought in a large tray of cupcakes and had ended up staying for a while.

Teaching at the academy was, in her opinion, nerve-wracking and not something she really enjoyed. As the senior captain of Starbase 24's rapid response fleet, she'd been asked to teach a short postgraduate course on Advanced Fleet Tactics and of course, Mackenzie had agreed on her behalf. She still hadn't quite forgiven her husband for that, even if she did understand the necessity of passing on vital knowledge to the next generation of captains.

As if that weren't bad enough, she'd been dragged into some stupid trade conference, again as part of her role as fleet captain. At least she'd had back-up from some of her colleagues, notably, Captain Alexander Corbus of the USS Soulwolf, who like her, was based at Starbase 24 and who, for his sins, had ended up representing the captains of that fleet.

Her old friend, General Khetara epetai Rustadh was also present, representing the interests of the Klingon ships who defended the trade routes. The presence of the two of them had made the conference bearable if not enjoyable. Although, she seemed to have spent half her time trying to stop Khetara from losing her temper and killing the arrogant petaQ who had spoken (loudly, argumentatively and at great length) on behalf of the Merchant Fleet Association.

Mercifully, all that was done now and she could go back to teaching for a couple more days and then, finally… thankfully… it would be time to go home to Starbase 24.

"… I can't believe you did that!" The voice was Captain Taylor's. One of the older captains present in the room, he taught advanced navigation and subspace theory here at the academy. "What on earth possessed you to think that a space-suit and a few gravitic mines were going to beat the scenario?"

"Seemed like a good idea at the time," Reilly said cheerfully. "At least it was original." He gave a sidelong glance at T'Viss, the lone Vulcan in the group. "It's not like logic was going to do the trick."

An American born and bred in Boston, Edward W. Reilly (and what the 'W' stood for, Kehlan could not remember) was the captain of the Nova class science vessel, USS Eirene. He was here to pick up a group of final year cadets and take them out on a training cruise. When the cadets returned, they would all face their Kobayashi Maru test, and it was this fact that had sparked off the current conversation.

Reilly was not a captain that Kehlan got on with particularly well. She considered him to be loud and brash, which was saying something considering her Klingon heritage. He didn't always play well with others and had, in her opinion, an inappropriate sense of humour. He had good qualities as well, she admitted, and was a good person to have at one's back in a firefight. A couple of years ago, Reilly had applied for a place in the Starbase 24 rapid response fleet but there had been stiff competition and Kehlan had been relieved when he'd been turned down in favour of the captain of the Soulwolf. Kehlan hadn't thought he would fit well into the close-knit team, feeling that he was more suited to independent action than fleet service, and luckily, Admiral Mackenzie had agreed with her.

The Vulcan woman that he was baiting, or attempting to bait, was someone that Kehlan knew only by reputation. Born on Earth to parents working at the Vulcan embassy, rumour had it she'd attended a human school as a child before applying to Starfleet. Her record was a good one. She had served with distinction during the war and now taught interspecies ethics and comparative religion here at the academy.

Captain T'Viss inclined her head, her expression remaining calm and neutral as befitted one of Surak's followers, but Kehlan thought she detected a flash of annoyance in her dark eyes. "Captain Reilly is correct," T'Viss acknowledged. "Since there is no logic in the planning and execution of the Kobayashi Maru scenario, it is evident that logical tactics would be ineffective… as I found to my cost when I attempted the test."

"And what was the logical solution?" The captain who asked that was another one of the lecturers. He was not someone Kehlan knew but she thought his name was Ionescu.

T'Viss was silent for a moment as she allowed herself to remember the mess she had made of the test. "I attempted to use my ship as a decoy to lure the Romulan vessels away from the Kobayashi Maru, whilst simultaneously sending in a shuttle with my engineer and medical officer on board. The attempt was unsuccessful."

Ionescu laughed. "It sounds better than my attempt." Hailing from Romania, he spoke English fluently, but with a soft accent that betrayed his Eastern European origins. He glanced over at Kehlan before admitting sheepishly, "I took the Klingon solution and went in, guns blazing. Safe to say, it was equally unsuccessful."

Putting down her padd, Kehlan joined in the laughter. "I suppose you could say it was a good day to die!"

"What about you, Kehlan?" Captain Reilly said lazily, "Want to tell us about your glorious defeat at the hands of the no-win scenario?"

Kehlan frowned. "I've never taken the test. I know of it, of course, but..."

"What do you mean, you've never taken the test?" Reilly queried sharply." "It's compulsory. All command track cadets have to take it."

"All command track cadets in Starfleet," Kehlan corrected. "You are forgetting, I never went to the academy… at least, not your academy. I attended the VeS DuSaQ." Seeing their blank expressions, she added by way of explanation, "The Klingon military academy."

"But…" He gestured towards her Starfleet uniform. "So, how did that happen?"

She looked down at the black and grey gabardine. "What? Oh… I was transferred to Starfleet back in the war. Admiral Mackenzie… well, he was a captain then… needed a first officer and I got the job on a temporary basis and ended up staying. Technically, I am on permanent loan from the Defence Force."

"So, you really didn't go to the academy?" Reilly couldn't quite get past this fact.

Kehlan shook her head. "No, not as a cadet. I've been here a couple of times to attend meetings or seminars – and more lately to teach, but no… I was never a student here."

"You were lucky," Ionescu said. At her raised eyebrow, he added, "Not the academy, that was fine... I meant the test."

Kehlan considered that. "Is it really that bad?"

Reilly nodded, his expression unusually serious. "It's literally unbeatable. The programme is adaptable – whatever you do, it will counter it. There is no possible way to simultaneously rescue the freighter, avoid the Romulans and escape from the neutral zone intact."

"So, after four years of intensive training, you're set the cadet up to fail?" Kehlan frowned again. That didn't sound reasonable or logical to her and she suspected she was misunderstanding something.

"That is exactly the point of the exercise," T'Viss said. "For the cadet to handle their fear and for the instructors to see how the cadet… the potential future captain… copes in the face of failure and certain death."

Kehlan remembered some of the life and death situations she'd faced during the war. Inevitably her mind went back to the time Endeavour, with the aid of the Klingon ship Hegh'Ta, had attacked the Jem'Hadar weapons facility. Had that been Mackenzie's Kobayashi Maru moment? Had he thought of the no-win scenario when he'd given the order to attack? They'd been sure it was a suicide run and it would have been if the cavalry, in the form of the Klingon fleet hadn't arrived. Kehlan shivered slightly at the memory. She was a fleet captain now, and over the years, she'd had to make some difficult decisions of her own and people had died as a result.

Slowly she nodded. "Not everyone can handle that type of decision," she admitted. "Yes, I think I can see the purpose of the test."

"You've never faced that scenario," Reilly taunted her. "How can you expect to teach if you've never…"

"I faced that scenario every day," Kehlan snapped, her temper roused by his needling. "I was out there on the front-lines, fighting the Jem'Hadar and the Breen while you were playing computer games on the academy holodeck!"

"Go ahead then," Reilly shot back. "Prove it! Put your money where your mouth is and take the test!"

Kehlan took a deep breath and counted to ten. No, it didn't work. She still wanted to kill the arrogant glob fly. Stay calm, she admonished herself, don't give him what he wants. "What do you mean, take the test?"

"Exactly what I say," Reilly said, eying her warily. "You're the only captain in Starfleet who's never done it. So, go ahead, Kehlan… show us how it should be done."

"And if I accept?" It was her turn to be wary now. "What would be required of me?" She listened carefully while Reilly laid out the terms and conditions of the challenge, interrupted occasionally by Ionescu or Taylor who added in the odd missing detail. Satisfied by their explanation, she nodded her understanding. "So, I may choose my own senior officers? And the rest of the crew will be supplemented by holographic characters?"

Reilly nodded. "Correct. You'll do it then? You accept the challenge"

"I will do it," Kehlan confirmed. She'd had nothing better planned for this evening than writing a report about that g'dayt conference. This would be much more interesting and it would give her a valuable insight into an important aspect of the training her cadets underwent. "I accept your challenge, Reilly."

Reilly was already checking information on his padd. "There's a slot available this evening, at 21:00 hours. I'll book the simulator now."

Glancing at the time, Kehlan rose to her feet and tugged her jacket straight. "I'll take my leave, then." With a polite nod to her fellow captains, she headed towards the exit.

"Hey… Kehlan…"

About to step through the door, into the corridor, Reilly's voice called her back and she turned back to face him.

"You will find this a real challenge," he warned her with a sly smile. Now that the spotlight of the conversation had moved safely away from his own failures in the testv, he was in his element and having fun.

I should hope so!" Kehlan retorted, baring her teeth in a fierce grin as her love of battle started to stir. "I am a Klingon warrior; I do not accept defeat." Allowing the door to close behind her, she went on her way, never hearing his final, parting comment.

The other captain stared after her, an odd look on his face. "If you want to take on the No-Win Scenario, Kehlan," he said to the empty air, "then you might just have to... because I always play to win!"

Here you go... a light hearted look at Kehlan's brush with the Kobayashi Maru scenario. Written because I needed a break from some of the heavier themes in Dominion (Captain's Honour). It's a fairly short story and is finished, so will be posted quickly once I've proof read it.

This was originally written with a couple of friends, many years ago and I use their characters and work with permission... Thanks Stefan and Dan1. It's gone through a lot of alterations and adaptions since then, but still, thanks is due.

I don't own the Kobayashi Maru or anything else from the Star Trek universe (apart from my own characters) and I am not being paid or making money from this story.

The war that is mentioned occasionally is of course, the Dominion War. The suicidal attack on the Jem'Hadar that Kehlan remembers is documented more fully in Captain's Honour.