THE GENETIC DUPLICATE—Day 10 Part 3
Kyra, Kim and Seth were waiting outside Capt. Shevron's quarters as Capt. Shevron and Pres. Roslin were stepping up.
Capt. Shevron stepped up to the door and unlocked it. Once everyone walked inside, Pres. Roslin held out a photo of Cmdr. Adama for Kim to take and said, "Kim, I hope this helps."
"Thanks," said Kim
As Kim took the picture she got a vision. Kyra and Seth saw Kim having the vision. Pres. Roslin also noticed Kim as being motionless and in a trance like state. Pres. Roslin looked at Kyra in a concerned manner and asked, "What's happening with Kim?"
"She's having a vision, Madam President," said Kyra.
As Kim was coming out of her vision, Kyra asked, "Kim, what did you see?"
Kim glanced at Pres. Roslin in a nervous manner before answering, "I saw Cmdr. Adama and Pres. Roslin in my vision… and what I saw was private… they were having a private discussion."
"Can you tell me what the discussion was about?" asked Pres. Roslin.
"The discussion you and Cmdr. Adama were having was private, so I really think that I shouldn't answer that question," said Kim.
"You could whisper what the discussion was about in my ear," said Pres. Roslin.
Kim looked at Pres. Roslin in a leery manner and hesitated for a second before saying, "Okay." Kim then whispered what her vision was about in Pres. Roslin's ear.
Kyra, Seth and Capt. Shevron saw Pres. Roslin blushing slightly before she said, "Let's keep that a secret between you and me. Okay?"
Kim grinned and said, "Wild horses won't drag it out of me."
Kyra slightly grinned and shook her head. Pres. Roslin gave Kim a curious look. She then said in an uncertain tone, "Okay. Well, we need to get back to why we are here."
"Kim, I understand that you need privacy, so you and Seth can use my bedroom," said Capt. Shevron. He then pointed to a door. "The bedroom is right through there." As an afterthought he held out a piece of paper. "Oh and here's what I need Cmdr. Adama to know."
Kim took the paper and when she quickly read it she blurted out, "Oh my god. There's a comet heading our way."
Capt. Shevron looked at Kim in a curious manner before saying, "Yes, but with the help of Galactica's crew we'll have plenty of time to leave this area before the comet gets here. That's why we have to get a message to the Galactica."
Kim said in a sarcastic manner, "Okay, no pressure there."
"Kim, don't get focused on that you must astral project," said Seth. "When we get in the room, just relax as you did last time."
Kyra caught the uncertain tone in Kim's voice when Kim said, "Okay."
"Kim, this is something we want you to do and not something we need you to do," said Kyra.
Kim nodded and said, "Okay."
"Okay, Kim, are you ready?" asked Seth.
"I'm ready," said Kim.
"Let's go then," said Seth. He then opened the door to the bedroom and gestured for Kim to go in.
As the door shut behind Seth, Pres. Roslin said, "Captain, you should have left the comet out of what you wanted Cmdr Adama to know."
"I thought Kim knew about the comet already," said Capt. Shevron. "I don't see how that would matter anyway, Madam President."
"You don't know too much about meditation, do you?" asked Pres. Roslin.
"A meditation is a form of relaxation," said Capt. Shevron.
"It's much more than that," said Pres. Roslin. "It's a mental exercise for the purpose of spiritual awareness. To be able to meditate, that person must remain free from distractions, and dwelling thoughts such as the threat of the comet destroying this ship is very much a distraction."
"If Kim gets focused on the idea that she must astral project to save this ship, there's a good chance that she won't be able to relax enough to astral project," Kyra added.
"I didn't know," said Capt. Shevron.
"Well, let's hope that Kim will be able to astral project," said Kyra.
Forty minutes later, aboard the Galactica, Dr. Clu-Isic was in the Galactica's library taking notes and was learning all he could of human medicine. He had a picture of human innards on the screen when Kim astral projected behind him. Kim saw the picture and said, "Okay, that's another appetite killer."
Dr. Clu-Isic looked back and when he saw Kim's astral projecting spirit he asked, "Kim, what are you doing?"
"I'm on Cloud Nine," Kim began. "From a fluke incident Cloud Nine made a FTL jump. Now we're stranded and we're in danger. I'm astral projecting here to give Cmdr. Adama our position so he can send help."
"Kim, perhaps you should explain in detail as to what's going on," said Dr. Clu-Isic as people in the library looked at Dr. Clu-Isic in a manner as if he was losing his mind for talking to himself.
Dr. Clu-Isic wrote down every word that Kim told him and when Kim was done, she said, "And that's all I know."
"Okay, Kim," said Dr. Clu-Isic. "I'll get this to Cmdr. Adama immediately."
"Thanks," said Kim. "I should wake up now and tell everyone that help is on the way."
Dr. Clu-Isic stood up and said, "Okay. Bye."
"Bye," said Kim as Dr. Clu-Isic turned to walk away. Just before focusing to wake up Kim mumbled. "Actually, I want to visit Beth before I wake up." Kim closed her eyes and concentrated on Beth, but nothing happened. She opened her eyes and saw that she was still in the Galactica's library. "Okay, fine. I'll try grandma." She closed her eyes again and concentrated. Again when nothing happened she tried concentrating on a list of five people on Earth one by one. When she failed to astral project on the fifth person, she gave up and concentrated on waking up.
Kyra, Seth, Pres. Roslin and Capt. Shevron were in the room when Kim came out of her meditation. Kyra saw Kim moving, but waited until Kim opened her eyes to ask, "Kim, were you able to contact with Dr. Clu-Isic."
Everyone heard the depressing tone in Kim's voice when Kim said without attempting to stand up, "Yeah. Dr. Clu-Isic is on his way now to give Cmdr. Adama the information he needs to find us."
Kyra stepped closer to Kim and said, "That's good news, Kim."
"I know that," Kim said in the same depressing tone.
"Kim, what's wrong?" asked Kyra.
"After I gave Dr. Clu-Isic all the information that you wanted Cmdr. Adama to know, I tried to astral project to Earth to talk to Beth," said Kim.
"Did Beth give you some bad news?" asked Kyra.
"Beth didn't give me any news," said Kim. "I wasn't able to get to Earth. I did the exact same thing to get to Beth that I used to get to Dr. Clu-Isic and I wasn't able to get to Beth."
Kyra sat down in the floor next to Kim and said, "Perhaps Beth is just too far away to get to without meditating on a photograph."
"But I'm able to get to her and the others while I was sleeping," said Kim. "I mean when I realized that I was astral projecting and not dreaming I was able to visit a couple of people on Earth just by concentrating on them."
"I'm no expert on the topic, Kim, but I think I read somewhere that people's brain waves measure differently when they're sleeping than when they're meditating or in a hypnotic state," said Seth. "That may count for the reason you can astral project to Earth when you're sleeping."
"I guess," said Kim.
Kyra rubbed Kim's back and said, "I'm sure Beth would have contacted you already if there was something wrong with your grandma."
Kim gave Kyra a surprised look. When Kyra gave Kim a look for her to debate what was said, Kim said, "I'm not liking that you can guess what I'm thinking."
Kyra and even Pres. Roslin slightly laughed. Kyra then said, "To stay ahead of my students, Kim, I must have a good idea of what they're thinking." Kim just gave Kyra a grin. "Well, I believe we imposed on Capt. Shevron long enough. We should go back to the garden."
"I find what Kim and Seth were doing fascinating, so no one was imposing," said Capt. Shevron.
"We're finished here, so Kyra's right," said Pres. Roslin. "We should go back to the garden."
After Kyra and Kim stood up, everyone left Capt. Shevron's quarters. Capt. Shevron went to the pilot's cabin as the others went back to the garden. However, before reaching the garden, Hilton, Julian and Casimir joined them.
Pres. Roslin and the others barely got a few feet in the garden when Zarek stepped up and said, "Madam President, it's been about an hour and I don't see any help from the Galactica."
"The message to the Galactica was sent not too long ago so we need to give them a little time to get here," said Pres. Roslin.
"How do we know that the Galactica will even get the message?" asked Zarek.
"They've gotten the message and they should be here shortly," said Pres. Roslin.
"By what means did you send the fleet a message?" asked Zarek.
"I'm not ready to disclose that information at this time," said Pres. Roslin.
"In the next few weeks, when you are no longer the president, I'm going to miss our enlightening conversations," said Zarek.
Kim looked at Zarek in a curious manner as Pres. Roslin said, "I'm sure you will."
Zarek just politely nodded and turned to walk away.
As Zarek was walking away, Kim asked, "Is your term of being the president ending soon?"
"It is and there be an election soon," said Pres. Roslin. "I'm not running in this election though. This time I nominated Aryan Kellogg to run for president."
"Who's Aryan Kellogg?" asked Kim.
Pres. Roslin looked over the crowd of people for a moment. When she saw Aryan, she pointed to him and said, "He is the man talking to the representative of Canceron, and young lady, I want you to give him a chance if or when he becomes president."
Kim smiled real big and said, "Yes, Ma'am." She then faced Kyra. "So mom, can Julian and I go back with Adonis and the others?"
"You can, but you'll have to talk to Hilton about Julian," said Kyra.
Before Kim was able to ask, Hilton said, "Go, Julian. Have fun."
"Okay," said Julian.
"Bye," said Kim as she and Julian were walking away.
As Kim and Julian were walking towards the groups of eight teenagers, Pres. Roslin, Kyra and Hilton joined the others.
As soon as Kim and Julian were walking up to the group Kim was talking to earlier, Starlette, a fifteen-year-old girl, said, "Welcome back, Kim."
"Thanks," said Kim. She then gestured towards Julian. "This is Julian."
Poppie, a fifteen-year-old boy, said as he pointed to twelve kids between the ages five and ten, "Julian, go over there with those kids." The kids Poppie pointed to were running around and playing tag.
Before Julian was able to respond, Kim said, "Julian stays here with me."
"Your little brother will be okay over there," said Poppie.
"He's actually my buddy, and I'm not shooing him away or abandoning him," said Kim.
"You want to be with kids your age, right Julian?" asked Poppie.
"I want to stay with Kim," said Julian.
"You heard him," said Kim. "Julian stays with me."
"Kim, my dad's wife's son Miguel will be over here irritating us, if he sees Julian with us," said Poppie.
"On Earth we call that stepbrother and perhaps he just wants you to play with him," said Kim.
"Kim, you're welcome to stay, but…" Poppie was able to get out.
"You don't have to finish saying it," said Kim. "Julian and I are going to go and join Miguel." She then put her arm around Julian's shoulder. "Come on Julian."
Adonis had a worried expression on his face as he watched Kim and Julian walking away. After a brief moment he gestured towards Kim and said, "I'm going to joined them."
"You don't have to go with Kim," said Poppie.
"Actually, I think I better," said Adonis. He then caught up to Kim. Kim gave Adonis a smile when she saw him. "So what are we going to do, Kim; play 'Chase and Touch' with the Julian, Miguel and Miguel's friends?"
"Actually, I'm going to see if they would want to learn an Earth game," said Kim.
"Well, we can't play 'Hide or Evade' or what you called it, hide-and-seek," said Adonis.
"Actually, I was thinking of the game Simon says," said Kim.
"How do you play that game?" asked Adonis.
Kim explained the rules to Adonis as they were walking towards Miguel and the other kids. When Kim, Adonis and Julian stepped up, Kim asked, "Who wants to learn an Earth game?"
The twelve kids stopped what they were doing and walked up to Kim, Adonis and Julian. As they were gathering around, an eight-year-old girl asked, "What kind of game?"
"It's called Simon says," said Kim.
"How do you play?" asked a nine-year-old boy.
Kim took a few minutes and told everyone the rules. She even gave a couple examples. Once Kim got done explaining how to play, a ten-year-old boy asked, "What are you three names?"
"Oh, I'm Kim," she said.
Kim faced Adonis, but before Kim was able to introduce him, Adonis said, "And I'm Adonis."
"My name is Julian," he said.
The twelve kids began to say what their names were. After everyone said his or her name, they began to organize themselves in column and rows.
Kim was the one who was gong to call out Simon says, but before she began, Captain Shevron made the ship wide announcement, "This is the captain. I'm happy to report that the electronic ship has just arrived to aid us. It will be now just a matter of time that we'll rejoin the fleet."
After the announcement was over, Kim began the game.
The first game was over rather quickly and as they continued to play another round of Simon says, the game attracted the curiosity of the older kids and some of the adults. Kyra, Seth, Casimir, Hilton, Pres. Roslin, and a few of the members of the quorum of twelve were among the spectators. When they began the third round most of the older kids and a few young adults between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two had joined in.
They were on their fourth round of Simon says when Apollo and Starbuck entered the garden. As Apollo and Starbuck were stepping up to Pres. Roslin, their attentions were drawn to the game. After Apollo and Starbuck watched for a short time Apollo faced Pres. Roslin and said, "Madam President, there's a Raptor waiting to take you and the quorum of twelve back to the fleet."
Kim was part of the group who was doing what Simon says and was put out of the game when she missed one of the calls. Kim was walking towards Apollo and Starbuck as Pres. Roslin was answering, "Okay, Captain. Give us about thirty minutes."
"Yes, Madam President," said Apollo.
Kyra and Seth was a short distance from Apollo and Starbuck as Kim stepped up, and said, "Hi, Apollo; hi Starbuck."
"Hi, Kim," Apollo and Starbuck said almost in unison.
Starbuck continued to ask as she gestured towards the group who was playing, "What kind of activity is that?"
"Oh, we're playing Simon says," said Kim. "It's kind of an elimination game. You do what Simon says and if you do something when Simon doesn't say, you're out of the game. The person who doesn't get eliminated gets to be Simon in the next round."
"That's sound like an interesting game to play or watch, but Starbuck and I have work to do to get the ship back with the fleet."
"What would be great, if we can get this ship back with the feet along with getting the entire Cylon fleet in front of the comet's path as the comet passes by," said Kim. Apollo and Starbuck looked at each other as if both of them had gotten an epiphany at the same time. Kim wasn't paying attention to the expression on their faces and as Kim turned towards the other kids she continued to say, "Bye. I'm going back over there."
Pres. Roslin saw the expression on Apollo's and Starbuck's faces and as Kim was walking away, Pres. Roslin said, "I know what you two are thinking and it would be impossible to get even one Base Star in front of that comet when they send out their scouts."
Kyra and Seth were hearing everything and as they were stepping closer to Apollo, Apollo said, "Those decoy devices that Dr. Atkins came up with last year will fool any scouts and the electronic ship is able to jam the Cylons' radar to prevent the Cylons from seeing the comet in time for them to evade it."
"Captain, those decoy devices will be a one-shot ploy and we have plans to use that ploy to lead the Cylons away from Earth when we find Earth," said Pres. Roslin.
"Madam President, I believe we can get enough of the Cylon Base Stars in front of the comet to inflict major damages to their numbers," said Apollo as he glances at Kyra and Seth. He then faced Pres. Roslin again. "The ploy to lead the Cylons away from Earth will only be a delaying tactic."
"If your father approves this plan of yours, I'll support it," said Pres. Roslin.
Apollo glanced at Kyra and said, "It's more Kim's plan, but thank you, Madam President."
"You're welcome," said Pres. Roslin. "Anyway Captain, I'll see you at the Raptor in thirty minutes."
Apollo nodded. He then faced Kyra and said, "Kim, came up with a great strategic military plan and she doesn't even know it."
Kyra smiled and said, "I heard what was said."
Apollo grinned and said, "Well, I'll see you later."
"Bye," said Kyra.
As the minutes passed, the group that was playing Simon says played two more rounds before breaking up. The guests in the garden had also begun leaving in large numbers and the garden was opened to the general population. Kyra, Kim, Seth, Casmir, Adonis, Hilton, Julian and Bethany had stayed in the garden. Kim, Adonis and Julian were still joining in on the activity that the remaining twenty kids between the ages seven and fifteen were doing.
A few of the pre-teenaged kids began singing children songs from the colonies. Kim stood and listened to the songs and after the kids sang for a few minutes, one of the kids asked Kim to sing a song from Earth.
Kim thought for a second. She then said, "I know a song we all can sing. We can even make a game out of it."
"We don't know any Earth songs," said one of the kids.
"This is a simple song and quick to learn and it's one that doesn't end unless we end it," said Kim.
"What song is that?" asked Adonis.
"It's a kid's song for little kids and it's called 'Old McDonalds had a farm.' I'll start it off and say the animals I know. Once you all think you have the idea of what I'm doing, just join in with an animal that would have been found in the colonies." Kim saw that everyone was looking at her in a confused manner. "Okay, let me sing two verses and then jump in."
Kim started to sing and once again she sparked curiosity from the surrounding people. Kim was focused on the kids who were with her and never saw the group of spectators that was forming. Kim sang two verses using cows and pigs. Adonis figured out what Kim was doing and was the first to join in with an animal that was native to Geminon. After Adonis was done, another kid joined in with an animal native to Caprica. On the fifth verse of the song, Kim turned and saw the spectators.
Most of the spectators were looking at Kim. Kyra and Seth saw Kim's face turning red along with seeing the intimidation in Kim's eyes. Kyra quickly got Kim's attention and mouthed out the words, "Relax; you're doing good."
Kim grinned. She then glanced back at the crowd for a brief moment before refocusing on the kids and the song.
Seth got Kyra's attention and said, "Kim drew more spectators during the Simon says game and she didn't get stage fright during that."
"She also wasn't the focal point of people's attentions as she was a minute ago," said Kyra.
"That's true," said Seth. "I think I even saw Kim missing some of the Simon says calls on purposed when there were only a few people left in the game."
"I noticed that too," said Kyra.
"So I wasn't mistaken?" asked Seth.
Kyra grinned and as she shook her head, she said, "You weren't mistaken."
When Kyra stared for a moment in Seth's eyes, Seth gave Kyra a kiss. The kiss last a few seconds.
The song that Kim started went for twenty-eight verses, and it ended when Capt. Shevron made a ship wide announcement that they were preparing for a FTL jump.
After the jump, several of the people left the garden to prepare to go to their respective ships.
As Kim, Adonis and Julian stepped up to Kim and Seth, Kim asked, "So are we leaving now?"
"I want to say bye to Bethany and then we'll leave," said Kyra. "Adonis, you're welcome to go back to the Solar Flare with us."
"I should go and ask my dad," said Adonis.
"I'm going to go with Adonis," said Kim.
Kyra grinned and nodded. As Adonis and Kim turned and walked towards Casimir, Kyra and Seth walked towards Bethany.
In the wardroom aboard the Galactica, Apollo and Starbuck were pitching a battle plan that they had put together for Cmdr. Adama, Col. Tight and Pres. Roslin. Col. Tigh watched with great skepticism as they went over the plan.
The plan took several minutes to go over and when Apollo and Starbuck were done, Cmdr. Adama approved the plan.
Apollo and Starbuck left the wardroom and went directly to implement their plans. Cmdr. Adama and Col. Tight left to return to CIC. Pres. Roslin left to return to Colonial One.
On Cloud Nine, Kyra, Kim, Seth, Adonis and Bethany walked into the shuttle's waiting area. Seth was carrying Lydia to give Bethany's arms a break. The waiting area was standing room only and as they walked in Kim commented, "It's like grand central station in here."
"Is grand central station anything like the hub center?" asked Adonis.
"It depends on what hub center means," said Kim.
Kyra rubbed Kim's back and said, "Most likely it is, Adonis." Kyra gestured towards a relatively quiet corner. "Let stand over there."
Thirty minutes later, a few Raptors were deploying decoy devices in the path of the comet. The devices will imitate a signal of each ship in the fleet. The electronic ship and also returned to that region in order to jam the Cylon's radar to keep the comet from being detected. The crewmembers of the electronic ship positioned the ship between the comet and the decoy devises. Pres. Roslin put her part of the plan in motion by announcing to everyone in the fleet that several large Earth warships that were capable of defeating the Cylons were found in the region of where Cloud Nine had jumped into when the propulsion system had shorted out and that the entire fleet will be making a FTL jump into that region at a certain time to follow the ships to Earth.
Every hidden Cylon in the fleet heard the announcement and the ones who were able to send signals to the shadowing Cylons had done so.
On board the Solar Flare, Kyra, Kim, Seth and Adonis were stepping off the shuttle. As they enter the corridor, Nolan Napier saw them. Nolan walked up to them with a big smile on his face and said, "The news about the people from Cloud Nine finding Earth warships is spreading like fire in the fleet."
Kyra, Seth and Adonis looked at Nolan in a confused manner. Kim looked at Nolan as if he had lost his mind and asked, "What are you talking about?"
"Pres. Roslin had made a fleet wide announcement about Earth warships being found," said Nolan.
It had dawned on Seth and Kyra what was going on. Seth was the closest one to Kim as Kim was able to get out, "That nev…"
Seth quickly covered Kim's mouth and said, "Kim, Pres. Roslin made the announcement so we don't have to keep quiet about it."
"Seth, you can let go of Kim now, so I can talk to her and Adonis in private," said Kyra.
As Seth was removing his hand, Nolan looked at Kyra in a curious manner and asked, "Kyra, what's going on?"
"Everyone aboard Cloud Nine was instructed to keep quiet about it and even deny it if the word got out," said Kyra. "It seems that Pres. Roslin decided to come forward with the information after all." Kyra then saw Kim looking her as if she lost her mind. "Kim; Adonis, come with me so I can talk to you two in private."
As Kyra, Kim and Adonis were walking out of earshot of Nolan, Kim said, "Mom, there weren't any Earth warships found."
Kyra slightly grinned and said, "I know that…"
"Well, it's wrong to tell the people in the fleet that we did," said Kim.
"Kim, you commented to Apollo about putting Cylon base stars in front of the passing comet and Apollo thought it was an idea worth considering," said Kyra. "Most likely the news of Earth warship being found is a ruse to lure the base stars in."
"Oh," said Kim as it dawn on her of what was happening. "But shouldn't they be trying to get the message to the Cylons instead of announcing it to the citizens in the fleet?"
"There are hidden Cylons in the fleet so I'm pretty sure that they'll get the word about it," said Kyra.
"So I have to be quiet about Earth warships being found as being a lie," said Kim.
Kyra grinned and said, "Exactly."
"Mom, what about the other people who were on Cloud Nine?" asked Kim. "They might spoil Apollo's plan."
"I think all the influential people will be told of the plan and I'm sad to say that the people who aren't influential will most likely go ignored," said Kyra.
"Well, I'm not an influential person," said Kim. "So…"
"Kim, you actually are an influential person," said Kyra.
"I'm only a teenager, so how am I influential?" asked Kim.
"The captain of each ship and his or her family members are considered influential people," said Kyra.
"Plus you have psychic visions," Adonis added.
"Well, not too many people know about Kim's vision and that also needs to stay that way," said Kyra. "Anyway Kim, you and Adonis need to keep the truth about what was actually found to yourselves."
Kim nodded and said in unison with Adonis, "Yes, Ma'am."
"Okay," said Kyra. "Kim, once you change back into your everyday clothes, you and Adonis are free to go to the recreation room."
Kim grinned and said, "Thanks."
Kyra looked at her watch and said, "You're welcome and I want you home in three and a half hours."
"Three and a half hours it is," said Kim. She, Kyra and Adonis then walked back to Seth and Nolan.
Three hours later, the fleet made a FTL jump into a new region; however, the mining ship and the mining crew on Kobol Minor were left behind to finish. The shadowing Cylons took the jump as a sign that the fleet had jump into the region that they were previously told about.
Apollo and Starbuck were on a Raptor that jumped into the sector with the electronic ship and as the Raptor was landing on the ship, sixteen base stars appeared in the region.
The comet was minutes away from crashing into the electronic ship and as the crew of the ship prepared for a FTL jump, the base stars went after the decoy devices as expected.
The captain of the electronic ship allowed the comet to get dangerously close to the ship before ordering the jump. When they did jump, they made a short jump in the same region only to get out of the comet's path. The Cylons in the closest seven base stars crashed into the comet without realizing the situation. Four other basestars crashed into the comet as the Cylons attempted to veer away from it. The Cylons in the remaining five base stars were able to make a quick FTL jump into a random region to escape the comet. When the crewmembers of the electronic ship saw the outcome, they left the region to catch up to the fleet.
Ten minutes after the electronic ship rejoined the fleet, Pres. Roslin made a public apology for misleading the citizens of the fleet and then told them the reason for the deception along with the results of it.
On the Solar Flare, Kim and Adonis were walking into Kyra and Kim's quarters. Kyra was grading papers and when Kim and Adonis stepped in, Kyra looked at her watch and said, "You're home fifteen minutes early."
"People are talking about ten base stars being destroyed by the comet," said Kim. "I was wondering if that was true."
"I haven't heard yet," said Kyra. "Anyway, you and I… and Adonis if he wants to come with us, will be going to the mess hall and I don't want to hear that you're not hungry because you're eating tonight."
"Actually, I am a little hungry," said Kim.
As Kyra stood up, she said, "Good."
A few minutes later, as Kyra, Kim and Adonis were walking away from the quarters, Beth gradually appeared in front of Kim. When Beth was in view, Kim blurted out, "It's about time."
Kyra looked at Kim in a manner as if she had lost her mind. Adonis also looked at Kim in a confused manner and asked before Kyra was able to questioned Kim, "Who are you talking to, Kim?"
Kim stared at Beth when she said, "Beth is finally here and I'm dying to find out what happened at grandma's house."
Beth walked beside the group as she answered, "This is the first chance that I had to get here to tell you about it. The guy you saw sneaking around grandma's house was actually a freshman college student. For a prank he was to spray-paint the dean's front door, but he got the address wrong. Anyway, I can't stay. Ask Kyra if she wants me back tomorrow at the same time we had discussed."
"Beth can't stay," said Kim. "Before she leaves though, she wants to know if you still want her back tomorrow at the time that was discussed."
"Yes," said Kyra. "That would be great."
"Okay, Sis," said Beth. Kyra grinned. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Bye," said Kim.
As Beth was fading from Kim's sight, Kyra asked, "Did Beth tell you what you wanted to know?"
"Yeah," said Kim. "The guy who was sneaking around my grandma's house was a freshman college student. For a prank he was to spray-paint the dean's front door, but he got the address wrong."
"Is a dean, a person?" asked Adonis.
Kim nodded and said, "The dean is a person in charge of a college."
"Now what is a freshman?" asked Adonis.
"A first year student at a high school or college," said Kim. "Some college freshmen usually try to get into a fraternity… an exclusive organization at the college. For a freshman to join a fraternity, they have to do things to get in. Some of those things are pranks and I bet that the freshman sneaking around my grandma's house had something to do with a fraternity prank."
"That sounds like a ritual that can get people in trouble," said Kyra.
"All the comedies movies that are made of fraternity pranks normally have students being expelled because of a vicious prank," said Kim. "I don't know what happens in real life."
Kyra put her arm around Kim and said, "Something tells me that students get expelled in real life over certain pranks too."
Kim looked at Kyra and grinned. She then asked, "The colonies didn't have fraternities?"
"Universities in the colonies did have groups that could be considered fraternities, but pranks were done more on individual level and less of a ritual to be able to join one," said Kyra.
As the minutes passed, Kyra, Kim and Adonis joined Seth in the mess hall. After eating, Kyra, Kim and Seth went back to Kyra's quarters. Adonis went to his quarters.
In Kyra and Kim's quarters, Kim worked on her essay while sitting in the floor in the common room. Kyra and Seth were sitting on the couch and enjoying a casual conversation. Kim looked up from her essay and joined in the conversation from time to time. Kim worked on her essay for almost two hours when Kyra talked her into taking a break from the essay. After Kim put the essay papers up, she went into her room. While sitting on her bed, she drew a picture of Breeze and Curtis while getting married.
Kim was drawing for an hour when Kyra stepped into Kim's quarters and said, "Kim, I want you to get ready for bed."
"Mom, how difficult would it be to send Breeze and Curtis a wedding gift?" asked Kim.
Kyra looked at Kim in a curious manner and asked, "You want to send them a wedding gift?"
"Well, I'm drawing this picture of the wedding and I thought it would be nice for them to have it," said Kim.
Kyra stepped closer and asked, "Can I see what you drew?"
As Kim was handing Kyra the picture, she said, "It's not completely done yet though." Kyra looked at the picture in a confused manner. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, there's nothing wrong," said Kyra. "This is a great close up picture of the wedding. I'm just amazed that you were able to draw this image when you were never this close to them or watching them from this angle."
"Well, I know what Breeze, Curtis and Casimir look like so I have no problems at drawing them, and the angle I'm drawing it from is more of a guess," said Kim.
"This is a pretty good guess," said Kyra.
Kim grinned. She then asked, "When I get done can I send them this picture?"
Kyra sat on the edge of Kim's bed and grinned. She then said, "I'll make sure that they get it."
Kim grinned and said, "Thanks. Well, I actually need to use the bathroom before I get ready for bed."
"Before you do that, I want you to know that I'm very proud of what you did today," said Kyra.
Kim looked at Kyra in a curious manner and said in a skeptical tone, "Thanks. What did I do?"
Kyra grinned. She then said, "For a short time, you got people's minds off of our bad situation by teaching everyone in the garden a new game and a new song… well, they were new to us anyway."
"I started the game because I was bored and was looking for something to do," said Kim. "I didn't think that all of those people were going to join in like that. The song got started because one of the kids asked me to sing an Earth song. I chose the 'Old McDonald had a farm' song because I was actually interested to see how that would sound."
Kyra smiled. She then said, "Well, regardless of what motivated the activities, you helped to ease the tension with the people in the garden. I'm also glad that you didn't get overly nervous when you noticed all of those spectators."
"At first I did get very nervous when I saw everyone staring at me, but after you told me to relax and that I was doing good, the crowd didn't seem as big," said Kim.
Kyra grinned and said, "I'm glad." Kyra stood up. "Anyway you better use the facility so we can go to bed."
As Kim was getting up, she said, "Okay." Kim then followed Kyra out of the bedroom.
17