Admiral Jondin looked at the files in front of him on the display screen. Some were of the very best Cadets at the Academy, some were of just average students. But they all had one thing in common;
They were sitting outside his office in very deep trouble.
He looked out of the window into the hallway at the people sitting there. There was Finnegan O'Hara, a junior known for playing practical jokes.
There was Micheal Brook and Jenna Lendon, both seniors who often were found with Finnegan.
Then there were the three freshman who had managed to make names for themselves amound the other cadets, and the faculty: James Tiberius Kirk, Leonard 'Bones' McCoy, and Spock. There had been others too, but they had all been confined to their rooms. The ones who were left were the ones who had supposedly started it.
"Come in, all of you." said the admiral, the cadets filed in and stood in a straight line.
"Now, who wants to explain to me what happened?" he looked at each cadet.
"Well sir, Finnegan was being an-" began McCoy.
"If you're going to explain, you will not begin with somone else's name, Cadet!" he said the the medical student.
"Yes sir.
"Anyone else?" asked the admiral.
"Sir, it was my fault." said James Kirk, he had a swollen cheek and his shirt was ripped. "We were sitting having lunch as usual, just me and Bones, and Spock. When Finnegan started insulting us, well, mostly me. He just kept talking, saying rude things, nasty things. He does that all the time, sir. And I should have ignored him, but he hit a sore point, sir."
"And what would that be?' asked the Admiral, sitting down. "I suppose he insulted your mother, or your girlfriend."
"No, sir."
"O'Hara?" said Admiral Jondin.
"Well sir.." began Finnegan.
"Speak up!"
"I said Spock bore an uncanny resemblence the the devil sir." Finnegan said.
"So I puched him in the jaw." said Kirk. "And other people just sort of, joined in."
Admiral Jondin looked at Spock. The vulcan had a bruise on his forehead and a cut on his lip.
"So this fight was about you?"
"To a certain extent, sir. Cadet Lendon took James punching Cadet O'Hara as a sign that it was no permissible to hit Leonard unprovoked."
"Lendon?"
"Sir, Kirk and his friends are too good sir. They're all Pleebs, but people know who they are, and that they're good. The word is they're already pegged for good assignments, on starships."
"Really?" said Kirk. The Admrial glared at him. He turned back to Jenna.
"And you were jealous?"
"Well, Yeah, sir! I'm a medical student too. And my grades are nearly perfect, well, some things could be better, but I do pretty well. Then Leonard waltzes in, first year, and instantly he's front of the class, he's in some classes that generally only upperclassmen are in." said Jenna.
The admiral sighed. "Cadet Brook, Cadet Lendon. Confined to quarters until further notice. And a reprimand on your record, Cadet Lendon."
"Yes, sir." the two cadets left.
"Spock." said Admirdal Jondin, turning back to the Vulcan. "I have more than one person who will say that you joined in the fighting. Is that true."
"Yes, sir."
"How is conflict a logical way of solving an argument?"
"It isn't, sir. However, I did not start the fight."
"But it was about you."
"Yes, sir. If James had consulted me, I would not ahve wanted him to punch Cadet O'Hara. But he did. From there are in was intangled in the conflict and the only logical course of action was to fight." The Admiral looked at the Vulcan, who had a split lip and a bruise on his forehead.
"So you rendered three people unconsious?"
"It was logical, they were assaulting us, I had to defend myself. I did not harm them." Admiral Jondin couldn't argue with that, the students who had sided with Finnegan had no cut, bruises, or any physical damage.
"McCoy, do you have anythign to add?"
"Finnegan deserved it." said McCoy.
"I did not!" said Finnegan.
"Sure you did." said James.
"Silence." snapped the Admiral. "O'Hara, stay here. The rest of you wait in the hallway. As you obviously are the four who started it, you are in depp trouble. Dismissed." the three boys filed out.
"We're dead." said Jim out in the hall. "We're sooooooo dead."
"Executions are illegal in The Federation and would not suit are crime even if they were legal." said Spock.
"Not literally!" said Kirk. "But we might as well be. He coudl expell us."
"Expell?" said Bones. "Really?"
"Yup." said Jim, grimly.
"No. I cannot get expelled." said Bones. "Everyone back home was sure I was going to fail, if I get expelled for- for- brawling then I'm done! I can't go home."
"You can't go home?" said James, incredulous, "if everyone was expecting you to fail, so it won't be a big deal when you come back. But me, I have been saying that I was going to be in Starfleet since I was six. Six! I might not have been the best student, but I have been trying! I can't go home to my parents, having been expelled, and look my dad in the eye-and-and, Oh Lord, I'm doomed." Jim put his face in his hands. "You could still be a doctor somewhere else, Bones. I have nothing left to do if I can't be in Starfleet. "
There was quiet for a moment. The Spock started to speak.
"My Father wanted me to go to the Vulcan Science Acadmey, to him, that was the more logical direction to take with my life. But I had considered it and decided Starfleet would be a better, more logical, choice for my career. We... had a disagreement over it."
"You and your dad fought over it?" asked Bones.
"Yes. In the end, I obviously came here, against my Father's wishes. I can no longer apply to attend the Vulcan Science Academy, and I do not relish the idea of seeing my Father again this soon."
"So, baisically if we get expelled, we're all screwed." said Jim.
"That would be a correct assumption." said Spock.
"For once I agree with both of you at the same time." said Bones.
"Enter." The three teens filed back into the Admiral's office. They stood next to Finnegan.
"Are the four of you aware that I could expell you all?" asked the Admiral.
"Yes, sir."
"I'm not going to." Admiral Jondin said. "O'Hara. You were purposefully being verbally cruel. Kirk. You knowingly hit O'Hara. Spock, Bones, you could have ended this before it started. For that, you, and every other student involved is receiving a reprimand. O'Hara. You are nto to leave campus for the rest of the semester. And since you have already notified us you are leaving over the summer, you are required to return three weeks early. Dismissed." Finnegan left.
"And as for the three of you. If you were anyone else you would be expelled." he said.
"Then why aren't we? Sir." said Bones.
"Lendon was correct. You three are too good. If I expelled you, I woulod probably be removed from active duty. McCoy, you will most likely be teh valedictorian of the medical class the year you graduate by a landslide. Spock, all vulcans have high intelligence rates, but you are extremely gifted, one of, if not the, most intelligent student at the Acadmey right, at least pursuing a scientific degree. And Kirk, you want to be a starship captain, don't you?"
"Yes, sir."
"You could be. You have an amazing charisma, where you say, people will follow. Don't waste that." The Admiral sat down. "You still have to be punished though, You are to return directly to your room after classes, unless you receive a pas from a teacher for the next month. Dismissed." The three cadets file out.
"That had to be the nicest reprimand I have ever received." said Kirk later. "Hey, Spock. Was that stuff about your dad true?"
"I have no reason to lie to you. He and I have never seen eye-to-eye on many subjects." said Spock.
"That's too bad." said Jim. He sighed. "I owe you both an apology. I got you in trouble. I'm sorry."
"Hey, not like you made us fight." said Bones. "And like I said, Finnegan sure as heck deserved it."
"No one was seriously injured, and we all received very light punishmetns considering the repurcussions of what we did, you have nothing to apologize for." said Spock.
"Thanks, that means loads to me. Goodnight, guys." And he fell right asleep. Spocm and Bones soon followed suit.