Vice Admiral Tullsey and Admiral Garrovick watched as Thomas Leighton walked into the crowd of cadets. So far, the young man had been emotionless to everyone he met and unwilling to make neither small talk nor physical contact. So, needless to say, they were surprised when the citizen walked up to cadet Kirk and began a conversation with him.

'Does Kirk have any connection with Leighton?' Garrovick asked.

Tullsey shook his head.

'Not that I know of.'

Garrovick nodded thoughtfully. Tullsey turned curiously to his college.

'I know that look,' he stated, 'what are you thinking?'

'It's just a suspicion, nothing concrete,' Garrovick shrugged, 'but I think your cadet may have some connection to the Tarsus IV massacre.'

Tullsey raised his eyebrow.

'No one would be able to hide something like that,' he said, 'you sure your not confusing the massacre with the Kelvin incident? Kirk gets that a lot.'

Garrovick shook his head.

'There are nine survivors who can identify Kodos and their records are sealed for their own safety.'

Tullsey inclined his head, understanding what Garrovick was implying.

'He may be one of the nine or he might not. Either way, it's not like it'll make him a security risk,' he replied.

Garrovick smiled grimly.

'I wouldn't bet on that,' he muttered, 'they had to survive somehow.'

'Class dismissed.'

Footsteps and idle chatter filled the room as the cadets streamed out the door.

'Hey, Kirk.'

Kirk turned as Uhura caught up to him.

'I'm not telling you who taught me,' he said automatically and switched his gaze forward once again.

Uhura grinned.

'Fine, I get it, I'll stop asking you.'

'Really?' Kirk asked sarcastically.

'Really. So who was your friend back there?'

Kirk gave her an incredulous look.

'Seriously? Another one?'

'Questions get me answers, answers give me knowledge,' Uhura shrugged.

Kirk sighed.

'A speaker for the assembly I guess,' he said vaguely.

'One of the massacre survivors?'

'What makes you say that?' Kirk asked, mindful of the furtive glances they were getting from curious cadets.

'Where else would you get such a substantial injury and not have it repaired in time to heal it without leaving scarring?'

Damn, Uhura was smart.

'Ask him the next time you see him,' Kirk said, knowing full well that Uhura knew the answer to her question.

'Fine,' Uhura rolled her eyes, 'so you're his friend?'

Kirk hesitated, he was tempted to lie but then what would be his explanation? There was no way a survivor would go up and start talking to a stranger and if Kirk had a feeling Uhura already knew the answer so lying would only arouse suspicion.

'Yeah, but I knew him before he got that scar.'

It wasn't a lie. Technically. The community on Tarsus was small and everyone knew each other more or less before the massacre.

'Then how'd you recognize him?'

'He got that scar,' Kirk shrugged and disappeared into the crowd before she could ask yet another question.

Kirk squirmed in his seat as the hall filled up at an agonizingly slow pace. The longer he sat here was the longer he stayed a sitting duck. It was open season on secrets and he had the most to loose.

'Damn assembly, I could be using this time to revise! My test is tomorrow you know?'

Kirk looked up as Bones slumped into the seat beside him, a trademark frown on his face.

'Seriously Bones, you need to relax,' Kirk told him.

'Tell that to my teachers and their endless supply of work.'

'You'll get used to it.'

'Better be soon.'

There was a collective silence from those present as Vice Admiral Tullsey walked onto the stage.

'Good Afternoon Cadets and thank you for attending this presentation, as you know I am Vice Admiral Tullsey – also the Academy's Commandant of Midshipmen. Today we remember the lives lost in the Tarsus IV massacre and Starfleet's involvement in those events. I hope that you all learn something from this assembly and apply that knowledge to your choices in the future. Today we have two very special guests present with us today; Admiral Garrovick, one of those involved in the rescue operation and Thomas Leighton, one of the surviviors of the massacre.'

The cadets were all trained to discipline their actions and emotions but Kirk noticed that they exchanged glances between them as Tom's past confirmed their suspicions. Tullsey stepped back from the lectern and Admiral Garrovick took his place.

'Thank you, Commandant,' he began, 'my name is Admiral Garrovick although seven years ago I was the Captain of the U.S.S Farragut. As Vice Admiral Tullsey mentioned, my ship was called to answer to a distress signal from Tarsus IV. We were one of the first few ships to arrive and as a result, saw the devastation of the massacre in full. I will forever have the memory of that devastation forever etched in my mind and would to prevent such a monstrosity occurring again. One of the more common questions upon arrival back to earth was Starfleet's response time. Unfortunately, Tarsus IV was a planet that chose to live in the early twenty-first century and so lacked the equipment to notify us about the matter before it was too late. Despite this, know that Starfleet did everything in their power to reverse the effects of the massacre as soon as they had knowledge of what had occurred.'

Kirk balled his fists and clamped down his mouth to shut himself. Some assembly this was going to be if all the speakers were going to defend Starfleet's actions. He wondered how Tom was taking it and spotted his friend standing at the back of the stage. Tom caught Kirk's eye and subtly nodded, it's ok. Kirk smiled gratefully and slowly relaxed his hands.

'Behind me, are pictures of the early rescue operations. These were the conditions of the survivors when we were still making do of out limited resources.'

Kirk tried to sink into his chair and avoided looking at the microskin screen behind Garrovick that had lit up with pictures.

'One of the rare positive memories I took from my experience was a group of children. We were notified of them about a month after our arrival and they constantly refused our help. It took us a few days to earn their trust before they came with us to receive medical attention. A teenage boy who used the pseudonym 'J.T' had kept them alive and until this day his real name remains unknown to myself. He showed the characteristics of a Starfleet Captain with more courage than I could ever have should our places be swapped.'

Kirk swore silently under his breath, he hadn't recognized Garrovick until now. Of course, who else would accompany Tom? The Admiral had gained a few pounds courtesy of his new rank and his face bore the signs of age but he was definitely the same man who had led those men to recue Kirk and his kids. Kirk guessed he had been too preoccupied with Pike and the medical officers to notice Garrovick. Come to think of it, he vaguely remembered sending the officer away with the rest of his team.

Pictures of himself and a few of his kids slid across the screen. Had he really looked that hostile? But he had – Kirk recognized the lethal blue in his younger self's eyes and remembered the death he had seen that had caused that.

But Jim wasn't the only one shocked by the photographs on the screen. One row down, Uhrua felt a wave of sadness as she recognized one of the boys on the screen. J.T had been the sharpest teenager she'd met. She remembered teaching him Romulan – he'd picked it up almost as fast as she had. Her mouth quirked up in a small smile when she recalled her fruitless efforts to extract the name of Kirk's linguistics teacher; he spoke it as though it were English for him – either he had a crazy good teacher or he was smarter than he let on.

Her mind slid back to the presentation and she grimaced as the camera slid over a few more familiar faces – not all evoking fond memories. She hadn't realized how much the hospital affected the survivors' health; they had been so emaciated it was hard to imagine that they had ever been worse but seeing these pictures dispelled that doubt.

Twenty minutes later, both Garrovick and Tom had finished talking about their experiences and surrendered the lectern back to Tullsey.

'Thankyou gentlemen, your time is appreciated,' he turned sideways so that he was addressing Tom and Garrovick as well as the assembly, 'questions will be taken now.'

Garrovick and Tom swapped places with Tullsey on the stage and the Admiral indicated for them to begin.

A cadet raised their hand and Garrovick nodded to her. The young woman stood before voicing her question.

'Mr. Leighton,' she addressed Tom, 'you mentioned earlier that you and other children survived because of the help of a teenage boy.'

Tom nodded and the cadet took that as a sign to continue.

'Do you know what became of your leader?'

Tom exchanged a quick glance with Kirk before returning his gaze to the cadet.

'When we arrived back to earth we were either sent to our parents or foster homes depending on whether we chose to disclose our personal information to Starfleet or not.'

Tom paused, weighing his options and coming to a decision.

'His name was J.T,' he finally continued, 'yes, the same boy Admiral Garrovick mentioned earlier. Some of you may know him from the early newsfeeds as well but the information is very limited. He never liked to talk about his personal life and I knew very little so if you could please refrain from asking questions about his identity I would be grateful – J.T himself never wanted anyone to know about his past and I wish to respect his wishes. As for his present status, most of the kids in our group have no knowledge whatsoever of his location and some don't even know his real name. When we were sent to our various homes he was placed in a hospital and as of then we all lost contact with each other.'

He finished his answer and the cadet nodded before sitting down again. A forest of hands grew and Garrovick nodded to cadet Uhura.

'First of all, if I may, Mr. Leighton; I spent some time volunteering at the hospitals as a linguist and I had the privilege of meeting J.T. I can assure you that your friend was alive and well.'

Tom smiled and nodded.

'Sir,' Uhura continued, turning to Garrovick, 'what happened to the survivors after they no longer needed treatement?'

'They were sent to their respective homes,' Garrovick replied, 'the process was the same for any other of the survivors like Mr. Leighton here and it was only delayed for those who were admitted to hospital.'

Uhura resumed her seat.

Kirk sent a questioning look towards Tom. The young man saw it and nodded – Kirk would ask the question they both wanted answered since Tom was the one responding, not asking. Kirk raised his hand and stood up when Garrovick gave his consent.

'Sir, what measures have Starfleet taken since the massacre to ensure that it won't be repeated?' he asked, keeping Tom in his peripheral vision.

'We have provided emergency beacons to every federation planet with their consent regardless whether they prefer to use outdated equipment. Starfleet also receives monthly reports on the status of those planets,' Garrovick informed him.

'A lot can happen in a month,' Kirk blurted out before he could stop himself, 'sorry sir,' he added, unsure of how an Admiral would take contradiction.

'That's Ok, cadet. It's a common conception,' he paused thinking over his answer before verbalizing it, 'yes, it can… but with the number of reports that are sent, a month is as fast as we can receive them if we wish to analyze them thoroughly.'

Kirk nodded and sat down, glancing at Tom as he did so. His friend nodded and gave him a small smile, which Kirk returned.

The hands rose once more.