Author's Responses at the end:
Chapter Five: Tabula Rasa
Bill looked at his new home with wide eyes.
Hope's Point, as Naomi explained it, was a Federation-sponsored orphanage for children of parents lost in the line of active duty. It was as big as a school, but more beautiful than any school he'd ever imagined. The grounds were covered in rich, lustrous grass and copses of tall trees that shimmered in the late summer breeze. The building itself looked like an oversized Spanish villa with five floors and a variety of patios on each level rising up in steps along each level in a slope. But most startling was that the school rested on a promontory overlooking the ocean. The breeze that blew smelled salty and alive.
A hand rested on his shoulder and he had to squash down an insane urge to kiss it. Naomi walked up beside him. She was dressed as always in her slimming black and blue Starfleet Medical uniform. The wind played at her hair. Bill fought the surge of affection he felt for this woman who was at least three years older than him, and his doctor. It was a hard fight, though. He didn't dare tell her about the dreams he was having about her at night.
"I stayed here myself for a year," she told him. "Before Admiral Janeway fostered me. I know it's going to be an adjustment for you, Bill, but this truly is a good place. You can make friends here, and they will take care of you."
"Will…" He smashed down the nervous jitter in his voice. "Will I continue to work with you?"
"Yes, we'll continue to meet, and I'll continue to try to help you find your family. There is a high power deep-tissue resonance scanner on board a starship called the Lauterbur. It's scheduled to return to port for a refit in two months. We'll schedule a session then. With that scanner, we will be able to study your brain and see exactly what happened to block your memories."
He nodded, at once excited and terrified by the thought. "Er, Naomi?"
"Yes?"
Then, before he came to his senses, Bill wrapped the startled woman in a hug. "Thank you," he said from her shoulder. She was actually his exact height. He let go, blushing furiously, and turned to start walking toward the school.
He never saw the deep blush that ran from Naomi's cheeks all the way down below her shirt. She shook her head, took a deep breath, and quickly followed after him.
* * *
On his second day at Hope's Point, the day before his first day at school, Bill had an unexpected visitor.
"Blil!" Streena howled as she rushed into his spacious room. The tiny blue bundle of arms, legs and antenna jumped onto Bill's lap knees first, getting a moan out of her friend. "I like your new house!" she said.
A moment later Petty Officer Shahkria stepped into the room with a wry smile. "She's been asking for you," he explained. He noticed Bill's discomfort. "And she does that to me too."
"Hey, Icebug," Bill said with a forced smile to hide the pain she caused. "You've been good for your Da?"
"I'm always good!" Streena said. "You been good for your doc, Blil?"
"Yep," Bill said. He looked up at the first non-human he ever seen and grinned. "Thank you for coming. It was starting to get a bit lonely."
"This place doesn't see much business anymore, thank goodness," Shahkria said. "Right after the Dominion War it housed almost seven thousand kids, and those were the ones without any family that could take them in. This room would have held twenty kids back then."
Bill shuddered. "Hard to imagine."
"So, you're starting school tomorrow, right?"
"That's what they tell me." Bill did not sound enthused.
"School is fun!" Streena said.
"You bet it is," Bill lied with a big happy smile for the young girl.
"Dr. Wildman said you would need supplies. Hope Point has a scholarship account set up for its residents. It'll be fun—all the joy of shopping without having to actually pay for anything."
"That'd be great, thanks Shahkria."
The three of them—Streena held Bill's hand—left the facility with a wave at Nancy the director and made their way to the local tram lift. The lift pulled them up onto the waiting platform and a long, sleek white tube came swooping up silently a few minutes later.
It was a strange day for Bill, but a good one. Shahkria was much nicer than he had any right to be, and Streena was simply hilarious. She asked the most embarrassing questions at the loudest possible voice at the worst possible time and did so with such innocence as to render the whole issue moot. She had more fun picking out Bill's new student PADD than he did, and went absolutely insane when they went looking for clothes.
After their supply trip, they stopped on the wharf for lunch. Streena and her father ate raw salmon over a bed of flavored ice and a few pieces of iceberg lettuce in the Andorian style. Bill had a large bowl of lobster chowder.
"Are you going home soon?" Bill asked.
Streena pouted. Her father tickled her scalp and made her antenna swing together in a cross as she giggled. Bill had learned that the Andorian's only truly ticklish spot was between their antenna. It was a useless fact to know, except when dealing with a precocious young girl.
"I ship out in three days, and probably will finish my tour in deep space," Shahkria said. "Fortunately my ship will be swinging by Andoria, and so this little one will finally get to see her mother. It's been sixth months."
Streena's antenna perked up at the thought. "Mommy is sooooo pretty," she whispered.
"Of course she is," Bill said. "She'd have to be to have such a beautiful little girl."
"And you wonder why she likes jumping on you," Shahkria smiled. "Anyway, this one wanted to see you before we left, and Dr. Wildman thought it was a good idea."
Bill nodded. That was one of the many things he really liked about Naomi—she never lied. When he asked why she was so happy about Shahkria coming by that first time, she told him it would help desensitize him to non-humans. The friendship the two formed was simply a bonus.
"You've been a great friend," Bill said. "Both of you. I'm really going to miss you."
Streena's antenna drooped and her lip quivered. With a loud howl that drew every eye in the place, she flew out of her chair and into his lap. She kneed him, of course, even as she cried into his shoulder. "Gonna miss you, Blil!"
He had a tear in his own eye as he hugged her back. He didn't even mind how she slaughtered his name.
* * *
"Welcome to Cochran Hills High School," the counselor said as Bill settled into her office. "May I see your PADD?"
He handed it over and watched as she pointed it at her desk monitor to upload all his texts.
"We've been in communication with Dr. Wildman at Starfleet Medical and we understand that you are coming to us with an interesting background and some unique academic opportunities," she said as she handed it back. "We're pleased that you tested so well on your literacy and math skills. That means that we can place you in an age-appropriate classroom setting. It's our goal to normalize your relationship with the other students as much as possible and to help you find a place in society. As for those areas that represent the greatest challenges, your PADD has been loaded with additional tutorials and guidance. Exobiology is a difficult course for any student, so don't be concerned if it is a struggle."
"Yes, ma'am," he said as he stared down at his schedule.
"There are also a variety of extracurricular activities available. Do you have any interest in music?"
"I don't think so."
"Perhaps sports?"
"Maybe, I don't know."
"Well, you have plenty of time to find out. I hope you enjoy your time here, Mr. Hogs. If you need anything at all, please do not hesitate to contact me."
"Thank you, ma'am."
He wandered out of her office, through the maze of the administrative section of the school, and stopped in the crowded hallway. The noise of it was a little stunning, as were the colors. Students wore a broad array of colorful clothes. Some were very revealing, while others were quite conservative. Some wore all black, others white.
Nor were they all human. He saw several alien faces in the crowd. He looked down at his PADD and touched the line that listed his first class. An interactive map appeared with a dot to represent him. Using the device, he was able to navigate the halls and lifts until he made it to his first class.
Unfortunately, he was the last in.
"Good morning," a man with the most interesting spots on his neck and forehead said. "My name is Mr. Crais Tintre. You are Bill Hogs?"
Bill nodded.
"Great. Please take the available seat there." Bill sat, aware of the many eyes on him.
"Okay, class, welcome to remedial exobiology. I don't like that word because it implies there is something wrong with you for being here and not in a standard class, but that is simply not true. Exobiology is a difficult branch of study. In this class we will be covering the four most basic life forms in the Federation—carbon, silicate, crystalline and energy. We will examine races from each of these basic forms and examine both those traits each share, and the traits that set each apart."
Bill fought very hard not to shudder as he stared at the opening text on his PADD. Not only was the device showing him the text, it was also recording the teacher's lecture word for word and spelling it out perfectly.
The next few classes passed much the same way, discussing things that made Bill feel very lost and confused. Finally, though, he reached a literature class that initially gave him a little sense of comfort, until the literature they were to discuss turned out to be a two million word heroic poem on the Vulcan-Andorian War from before the foundation of the Federation, and that most of the other students had either read it, or seen dramatized versions of it.
Then came the last class of the day—mathematics. The testers who came to Hope's Point told him that basic mathematics such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, algebra and geometry were imparted to six year olds through neuron interfacing. They spent the next year in a preparatory program designed to make sure they properly understood the new knowledge in their heads, and began their formal schooling at age seven. However, they determined that Bill was simply too old for such techniques and would have to learn a lot on his own. Fortunately, he seemed to know his basic math well enough.
He then surprised both himself and the testers by doing very well in integral calculus, basic warp field theory and thermal dynamics. He could not even tell them how he could do the math, other than shrug and say, "It's the math of power."
He took a seat at the back of the class, knowing even with his test results he would be far behind, and got ready for another long hour.
"Bill?"
He sat up, eyes wide, and saw a familiar face staring at him. Brown eyes the color of mocha stared at him from the center of an oval face framed by long, curly brunette hair. "Susan?" he asked.
"You remember?" she said, smiling brilliantly.
"How could I forget?" he said. He frowned. "I'm happy to see you, but how come you go to school here? Isn't that a big coincidence?"
"They brought you to Starfleet Medical," Susan explained. Around them the other students were shuffling in. A few were looking at the two of them oddly, but said nothing. "Once here, since you had no other family, I assumed they decided to put you in the Starfleet facility. But I and the others live here."
"But even the same school?"
"Katherine's mom is Starfleet," Susan said. "Makes sense, if you think about it. Besides, there are only two high schools in the city. So, how are you doing?"
He grinned a bit tiredly. "M'head hurts. How can you know all this stuff?"
"I've been studying stuff like this for years," she said.
Another student, a boy with a clearly receding hairline and Asian eyes set in a round Irish face turned around in his seat. "Don't let her play modest. She's top of the class. Hi, Kirk O'Brien. Nice to meet you."
"Bill Hogs, nice to meet you," he said.
"Kirk's dad is a Professor of Engineering at Starfleet Academy," Susan said. "So he thinks he has to do better than everyone else."
"It's a matter of pride," Kirk confirmed. "So, where are you from, Bill? You sound a little bit like my dad."
"I suppose I'm from London originally," Bill said. It was the cover story he and Naomi had agreed to.
"What brought you here?"
"Had an accident," Bill explained. "I don't remember much."
"Wow, sorry to hear that," Kirk said with a sad smile. "Well, hard to go wrong studying with Susan there. Still going for the Daystrom interview, Susan?"
"I interviewed two days ago," Susan said.
Kirk whistled. "Hey, did you get to see their Borg?"
"Dr. Hansen doesn't interview prospective employees," Susan said. "But I did get to meet her. She's not Borg any more." To Bill she added, "I called her Seven of Nine at first, but she corrected me. Goes by Annika Hansen now."
Bill, who had no idea what they were talking about, listened in companionable silence. Sitting next to Susan, he felt for the very first time all day as if he were not alone.
That night after class, Bill had a terrible nightmare. Vague shapes were chasing after him. There were loud pops, flashes of green light, and the sound of screaming. He could not see faces or remember any specifics, other than the fact he woke up drenched in sweat and breathing hard.
His door opened and Director Nancy stood in the door, clad in her night robe. "Bill, are you okay?"
Still caught as he was in the horror of his dream, he could not answer immediately. Nancy turned on the lights of his room, and in so doing revealed the debris of what looked like a hurricane spread across the floor. She saw Bill bare-chested and slicked with sweat, panting in bed. She rushed across the floor with a little medical scanner.
"What happened?"
"Just a bad dream," Bill said. "I'm sorry to wake you."
"Sweetie, it's okay," Nancy said with a tone that would have seemed saccharine on anyone else. "What a mess. Promise you'll clean it up tomorrow?"
"I promise," he said with a weak smile. He chose not to mention that the room had been spotless when he went to sleep.
* * *
The next morning Susan stepped off the tram and virtually ran through the thick crowds of the school until she reached the open air patio just outside the cafeteria. The morning was cool and muggy with the promise of more heat to come.
She found her targets sitting in the table nearest the grass just a few hundred meters from one of the many towers that would cast shadows over the school. She sat down and grinned at her friends.
Katherine, Mary and Diana were eating their breakfasts and talking in quiet voices when their unofficial leader plopped down with a grin.
"Let me guess," Diana said, "you got the Daystrom position."
Susan's grin slipped, and then reappeared. "No, guess again."
"You got laid by Jeremy Streckler?" Mary said.
"Ewww," Diana said with a wrinkled nose. "Streckler? Come on, even I could do better than Streckler."
"He's here," Susan said.
"Who, Admiral Riker?" Katherine said.
"No. Bill. I saw him in my thermal dynamics class yesterday."
The other three girls stared at her as if she were daft. "Really," she assured them. She removed her PADD and pulled up the public lists of students in her class. She turned in around so the others could see the name Bill Hogs clearly listed as a transfer student.
"It says he's special needs," Mary said.
"He didn't do very well in any of the sciences."
"But he's in thermal dynamics?" Katherine asked. "That's one of the hardest math classes there are. It's like pure applied quantum physics and a wash-out course at the Academy."
"Yeah, strange, isn't it?"
"How did he look?" Diana asked.
"Lost and tired," Susan admitted. "But very cute. It's almost a shame we'll be graduating at the end of this term."
Diana looked down at her fingers. "Do you ever…" She stopped and made a show of gathering the remains of her breakfast.
"Ever what?" Susan asked.
Diana started twirling a strand of her long red hair. "Do you ever dream about him?" she finally asked softly.
"What kind of dream are we talking about?" Mary asked with one elegantly arched brow.
Diana's blush, which was bright enough to make the freckles on her cheeks stand out in relief, was all the answer they needed. Surprisingly, it was Katherine who said yes. "Remember how he buried his face in my hip and cried? Sometimes I dream that he does that, only he isn't crying, and I'm not dressed." She sighed. "It's a good dream."
Susan looked from one to the other. "Well, we can't all have 'em," she declared, "and I'm the only one sharing a class with him, so there!" Just to emphasize, she stuck out her tongue.
"Brat," Katherine said. "Hey, does that mean all of us are dreaming about this kid? It's not like he's the best looking kid in school. There are taller, better looking boys."
"Taller, maybe," Diana said with a dreamy voice, "but not better looking." She looked up at Susan with her green eyes dripping with earnestness. "If I promise to be your bestest friend ever, would you share him?"
"That's just gross," Mary said.
Susan, though, found herself caught in her younger friend's gaze. She realized on some level that Diana was absolutely serious, despite framing the question as a joke for the sake of appearances.
"Yes," she said. "I would. And you know what? I think he would like it too."
"I bet he would," Mary muttered.
"Oh, like you wouldn't take a whack at him if you had the chance," Katherine said.
"What, and have him cry on my tits? I don't think so."
"He wouldn't though," Diana said, still with that odd, dreamy expression. "He'd know just what to do."
"You know," Susan said, "I think she's right. I think he would know just what to do."
Mary shook her head and stood up to go to class. "You are all insane. I love you, but you're insane."
"Kisses to you too," Katherine said.
sp
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Author's Responses:
Once again I am overwhelmed at all the reviews this story has received. I frankly thought I was the only one interested in an HP/ST:TNG era cross, but it looks like there are a few others out there as well. So, without further ado, I'd like to thank the following people for their reviews and comments:
Sharnorasian Empire; Vyrexuviel; OrionTheHunger; Obsidius; prudiisten; 1411eastwest; Brother Bludgeon; pulverizer; SomeGuyFawkes; wsbenge; Voldemort is Dead; dajohu; TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel (that's hard to type ;); gaul1; Pointer3109; XRaiderV1; Raven Marcus; Skuert; impatientuser; CatWriter; JEKrug01; Anaerobie; Roosterman71; that1; QOShea; Debbster21; Bobboky; GinaStar; Tilius; Wonderbee31; Manus Dei; Johnny Bravo J; madnarutofan; hemotem; Michael1ange1o; Gogolu; immortal7; FluffyNevyn; ThePink1 at ; and finally Maximillian1.
Thank you all for the wonderful comments and reviews.
Now, for everyone's least favorite part, questions and answers:
Q: 1) Grams is Hermione. only she'd be that thorough and preserve herself until her task is complete. 2) I like how they say cochrane fields are rare but normal, tho. it means that magic has still been around, just not recognized for what it is. more like codified into a rational system like any other ability.
A: 1) Nope, but another really good guess. Remember Gram's called Harry her grand papa. 2) Not necessarily, but that's a good thought. The TNG crowd has run into some fairly evolved species capable of things that may seem like magic but that do not fall into the HP classification of magic as such.
Q: If Troi is now Riker and a capt, how far in the future is this from the end of ST:NG?
A: This is set in 2392. For reference points, see my long and boring intro to Chap 1. Beverly Crusher, for instance, is well into her 60s now. I'll address ST characters briefly at the end of the Q and A.
Q: This is interesting in the fact that it seems like Harry will be slightly non combative. Which is a good thing for once, instead of the few Harry is presevered or jumps and becomes super-general. I like the idea of the challenge being him adapting to a culture that left him behind centuries ago. I think with the recent cast intos I am most looking forward to a Tuvak and Seven scene seeing as both offer a unique stand point in the universe.
A: Again, character notes at the end. But re: Harry's response--the ST universe while not at war is as close to an altruistic Utopia as its possible to come. The government is fairly enlightened and truly does have the best interest of the people in mind. When not at war, anyway. I chose this period because I wanted Harry to emerge in a time of peace.
And now, a brief note about the Star Trek Characters:
I wanted very much to ensure that Harry only meets those characters he would logically come into contact with. Since he is essentally a civilian, his contacts are primarily going to be related to his medical treatments. So, Naomi Wildman, Deanna Riker, (and by extension eventually her husband), Julien Bashir (and by extension his wife. And no, I'm not going to tell you, but DS9 fans can probably guess), Beverly Crusher will likely show up, and where Beverly goes, Jean-Luc is bound to follow. And because of Naomi's relationship with Janeway, we'll probably get to see here. We will not directly meet any other cast from Voyager; any other cast from DS9, or any other cast from St:TNG. We'll probably run into O'Brien as well since he is a professor at this time (and yes, Kirk is his son). I just couldn't think of any logical reason why Harry would meet Sisko (assuming he has resumed form), or LaForge, Tuvak, or Seven, who is with the Daystrom Institute. This is first and foremost Harry's story, so any ST characters he meets will have to have a logical connection to that story.
Hope that makes sense, and I hope you continue to read and enjoy.