9
Chapter 17
David quietly sauntered into the classroom…and took seat at the back of the class. He dropped his books on his desk…and glanced around haphazardly.
Students filled the seats…the noise of mouths buzzing around the room.
David spotted Dickie out of the corner of his eye; he sat at the opposite end of the room. The two made brief eye contact…feigning a mutual glare.
As the teacher entered…the buzz quickly died to murmur.
The professor set her belongings on her desk…and turned her attention to the sea of youths.
"Good afternoon,"
The students chorused an appropriate response.
"I'm sorry I was a bit late to my own class…I was up all night grading your papers,"
She headed to her desk…flipping through drawers…pulling out stacks of padds.
She glided around the room…handing a padd to each student gracefully.
"I was very impressed with most of your papers…"
She stopped in front of Dickie.
"I was especially impressed with you, Mr. Stern. You seem to grasp the material so naturally,"
Dickie blushed a bit as he accepted the padd and glanced around at the other students a bit awkwardly.
She continued on. David vaguely paid attention.
She eventually paused at his desk…holding a padd out in front of him. David's eyes were on a bookshelf in the corner of the room.
"Mr. Moore,"
David snapped out of his daydreaming and glanced up at his teacher.
"Excuse me," he muttered…grabbing the padd out-stretched in front of his face.
A few students giggled; the teacher shot him an irritated look…then headed towards the front of the class.
David glanced down at his padd; his heart sunk a little.
He'd failed the assignment.
The teacher took a seat at her desk…pulling out a large and heavy textbook. Printed on the front page in bold lettering read "Introduction to Combat Theory".
"Please turn to page 36."
The sounds of pages flipping filled the air; David glanced down at his book…but didn't touch it.
The teacher set her open book down on her desk…and looked up at the class.
"Who can summarize last night's reading for us?"
The students gingerly glanced at one another; David rolled his eyes off into the distance.
He noticed an elegant, white dove flapping its wings just outside of the window.
He watched it for a moment…intrigued by its behavior.
A human girl at the front of the class raised a finger in affirmation; the teacher nodded to her silently.
"Last night's reading detailed the few pivotal battles that turned the tide in favor of the Federation in the Four Years War,"
The teacher nodded her head again…getting up from her desk.
"Yes. Very good, Ms. Payne."
The teacher pressed a few buttons on the wall behind her; it lit up with all sorts of luminous colors.
David glanced at it…squinting his eyes to make out the image.
After a moment…the blurred image became an interstellar map…with star systems and their names.
David lost interest after a few seconds…picking at his fingernail underneath his desk.
"Here," their teacher said pointing to a star system on the map. "This was where the war irrevocably changed."
A young Andorian male raised his hand. The teacher nodded to him.
"The…" he rambled. "Battle of Rigel Three?"
A cold chill ran up David's spine at the very uttering of the name. He knew he'd heard it somewhere before. He racked his brain for a moment…the thought just on the tip of his tongue.
But all he drew were blanks.
He brushed it off…thinking it was probably a fluke.
"Correct," she replied, folding her hands on top of each other.
"Can anyone tell me why?"
David amused himself by balancing a padd stylus on his index finger. His teacher caught him out of the corner of her eye…and inwardly groaned.
This time Dickie raised his hand; the teacher's face lit up a bit at the sight of him raising his hand.
"Ah1 Mr. Stern!"
Dickie coughed a little to clear his throat.
"The battle of Rigel Three was the first engagement that pitted Klingon D6's against Starfleet's brand new Ares-class warship,"
The teacher nodded again.
"And why was that so important? Anyone?"
The teacher shot a quick glare at an unsuspecting David.
"Mr. Moore?" she fumed.
David shot his eyes forward…a look of slight panic on his face.
"Uhmmm…because…Klingons are bad?"
The whole class burst into laughter. David's cheeks turned slightly crimson…but sly smile stretched across his lips.
The teacher slow-clapped a couple of times…her face bearing an ironically amused look. After a moment…she chuckled a bit to herself…but tried to hide it behind her teeth.
"Anyone else?"
"Because the Ares-class was the first starship that could hold it's ground against the Klingons. Up until then…they kicked our butts," blurted out another Human female.
"Thank you, Ms. Allen," the teacher replied.
She glanced around the classroom for a moment…taking a step forward, eventually perching herself on the edge of her desk.
"What exactly happened?"
The class was silent for a moment. At this point…David was twiddling his thumbs.
The teacher looked from student to student.
"Anyone?"
Students glanced at each other.
"Really?"
"I mean…" one student called out from the back row. "It was kind of a long paragraph."
More chuckles filled the room.
"Come on guys…you need to know this."
Dickie raised his finger.
"Yes, Mr. Stern?"
"I read it,"
Her face lit up again.
"Oh good!" she exclaimed, sarcastically. "My class isn't full of invalids."
Students gave each other sheepish looks.
"Lets hear it!"
Dickie glanced around at the other students.
"The battle itself took place in orbit; the Klingon's had planned a massive ground troop bombardment….hoping to catch the colonists off guard. Most of Starfleet was at the time…scattered across the border attempting to at least impede the encroaching threat. They anticipated no resistance.
"One ship had been posted to patrol the Rigel system in the event the Orions decided to take advantage of Starfleet's vastly weakened position. When the Klingons arrived…Starfleet's presence…threw a bit of a cog in their plans. The Captain in command ordered all three ships to bombard the planet's surface, rather than risking committing themselves to a conflict. They would hit and run; at the very least striking a blow."
The cold chill ran up David's spine again; he tried to ignore it…but this time it wouldn't go away. The strangest feeling started slowly building in the pit of his stomach.
Dickie paused for a moment…mouth wide open…glancing at other students. He mouthed the word "More?" to the teacher. She nodded her head excitedly.
"It was here that the U.S.S. Leonidas engaged them,"
The pit in his stomach; David tried to drown out the words with images…but it was useless. He sat there…powerless.
"After a heavy firefight with massive casualties on both sides…the Captain ordered the Leonidas be taken into the upper-atmosphere…hoping to gain an upper hand. He knew from experience that Klingon ships are far less maneuverable. Using this advantage…he managed to sling-shot the Leonidas into position to destroy one of the D6s."
David could see the image of him clearly in his mind; he tried to wrestle the feelings back…but they were too powerful.
"At some point…the Leonidas had exhausted its resources. Her shields failing and one D6 remaining…the Captain ordered self-destruct and a collision. Most escaped the blast…including the Captain. The ship itself was lost obviously. Starfleet command was not too happy about that; but the Klingon ship was destroyed. Had the Captain and his crew failed…not only would Rigel 3 have suffered massive casualties…but the Federation might have lost the war."
Dickie took a deep breath and relaxed. David was swimming in a pool of his own uncontrollable emotions.
The teacher pursed her lips into a small smile; her eyes were wistful.
"That battle will live on in infamy; the heroism displayed was truly one of legend. And the strategies used are hailed still today as standard."
The teacher glanced back at David with that strange…wistful look.
"Mr. Moore. What was the name of the Captain of the Leonidas?"
David was lost in his mind. He'd completely forgotten where he was.
The room was dead silent; all eyes pierced him sharply.
David felt a sea of guilt drown him; he tried to picture the times he'd shouted at him for no reason for messing up a combo. Or for reading science fiction books rather than about history, or mathematics or military tactics.
He tried to remember the feelings of bitter rage…that longing desire that he was still alive…just so that David could beat him with his bare hands.
But they were lost…in just one feeling.
He felt proud of him…for the first time since he was a child.
It terrified him.
"Captain Saul Moore," he replied softly.
"My father," he thought to himself.