Charles turned over in the bed. He adjusted his pillow, cursing Starfleet's penchant for hard, uncomfortable furniture. Again and again he changed position, lying on his side, his back. He settled there and blew air through his lips.
He sat up and hobbled over to the table, where he poured himself some water. Bringing the glass to his lips, he looked around the room. Finally, he sighed. "Data, can I talk to you?"
The android came out of hibernation, opened his eyes and nodded. "But you are talking to me now," he pointed out, looking confused.
Charles poured the rest of the water down the sink. "What I mean is... well, about that message you intercepted yesterday."
Data nodded curtly. "Of course. Does something about it worry you?"
Charles laughed weakly. "A little bit. Any thoughts on what todo?"
"There is little that we can do," Data said simply.
Charles ran his hands through his mussed hair. "You remember about that expedition, don't you?"
"For Planetary Sociology?" Data asked.
Charles nodded. "After the exam I went to the department head's office. Well, rather I was called there."
"I do not follow."
"You see," Charles continued. "He said that he wants me to go on the expedition. Turns out, I got the highest mark on the exam. And I want you to come with me."
"I do not follow."
Charles leant against the wall. "I asked if you could accompany me. See, they would not let me go alone. You have many advantages over organic beings, Data. You're stronger, cleverer, immune to almost everything."
Data considered. "I appreciate your trust in me. But there are likely other cadets better qualified than myself."
"There aren't," Charles argued. "Come on, I'm sure that you can hack into the academy's database."
"I will not break the rules," Data said simply. He paused. "I will, however, take your word to be the truth. If it is the truth, then I have no choice but to accompany you. I have been analysing your life signs, Charles. You do not appear to be lying."
Charles grinned. "The expedition is to Romulus, by the way. Data, this is a once in a lifetime - human lifetime - opportunity. They agreed. You can come with me. If you want to, that is, of course."
Though Data could not feel emotions, a sense of dread dawned on him. Romulus, its inhabitants second only to the Borg regarding their bellicosity and xenophobia. Up until this point, he had been sure that the Academy would not send them to such a dangerous place as Romulus. Something was not quite right, he decided.
Just as Charles was settling himself off to sleep again, satisfied that he was now free of those particular worries, his padd bleeped. He groaned and rested himself on one elbow. He struggled to use the device due to his sleepiness but managed to call up the internal communication logs.
He smiled at the screen. "Seb, what do you want?"
"Charming." On the monitor, Seb made a face.
"It's late. What is it? Are you okay?" Charles asked, keeping his voice down for Data's sake. Just because his roommate was an android, it didn't mean that he was undeserving of respect, Charles thought.
Seb smiled. "Yes. I'm fine. You weren't by any chance thinking about the exam yesterday were you?"
"A little bit," Charles said. "Why, were you?"
"More like dreading, but yeah." Seb rubbed the back of his neck.
"I got called to the powers that be," Charles said with a grin.
"What did they say?" Seb leant closer, before sitting up.
"They want me to go on that expedition," Charles replied.
"To where? They haven't told us the destination yet."
Charles hesitated and thought a moment. He gave in, knowing full well that he had to tell him. "Romulus," he sighed. "Not that anyone else can know. And I mean it."
Seb was quiet for a while. He rubbed his eye and frowned. "Romulus?"he repeated, hoping that he had heard wrongly, but he knew it was in vain.
"Romulus," Charles said.
"And you're going?Are you mad?"He raised his voice, unaware of his loudness. He looked over and saw his roommate glower at him in the bed across the room. Seb mouthed an apology and the disgruntled cadet rolled over with a groan.
"I have to, Seb. I can't deny them. I got chosen."
"It's too dangerous. It's preposterous. And anyway, of course you can say 'no'. They can't make you go."
"I thought I could count on you for support," Charles said tightly, sounding hurt.
"You can. Of course you can." He sighed. "I just… I just don't want you to get into any trouble. You could get captured or interrogated or..."
"Data will be coming with me," Charles added, hoping it would calm Seb's nerves.
"That's something, I guess," he said half-heartedly. "When are you going?"
Charles shrugged. "No idea. Soon I expect."
"Tell me before you go," he said quietly.
"Of course I will," Charles said softly, smiling. "I'm not going anywhere without saying goodbye."
"See you tomorrow, then," Seb said with a grin.
Charles returned the smile and valedictory, before turning the computer off, rolling over in bed and closing his eyes.
Morning dawned and Data found his mind preoccupied with a peculiarly astounding idea. He hesitated and hesitated again and again.
When Charles left the bathroom, having washes and changed, he was confronted with Data.
"What is it, Data? You look like you've seen a ghost," Charles observed, a slight smirk playing on his lips.
Data shook his head, after a slight pause. "Ghosts are merely figments of overactive imaginations, but your simile is appropriate."
"Well?" Charles prompted, with a turn of his hand.
"Ah. Charles, I have had an idea. When a person is affected deeply by another, that person fails to act to his best ability."
Charles raised an eyebrow. "What?" He sat down.
Data continued. "You are completely at liberty to report me to the appropriate authority should you feel the need, which, under the circumstances, is entirely understandable."
"You'll have to say more than that."
"I routed my positronic matrix up to the internal mainframe computer again," Data admitted.
"You did?" Charles asked, amazed that Data would even be able to do such a thing. The android possessed the technical knowledge to do it, but Charles had been unsure whether Data had the conviction. "When? Why?"
"Which question should you like me to reply to first?" He saw that Charles was not going to respond, so he carried on. "In response to your first question, yes I did," Data said. "Secondly, the night previous. And for you last question, I did it not to further my understanding of humanity and their complex social relationship, as I had first suspected, but to better understand my friendship with you."
Charles tried to comprehend Data's words. "I still don't understand," he sighed.
"I understand that your relationship with Cadet Richards is founded on love and mutual respect," Data began.
Charles closed his gormless mouth, a frown crossing his face for a split second. "Uh...what does any of this have to do with Seb and I?"
"I have only been among humans for a few years, but I think that I can comprehend their need for companionship. When I was connected to to the Academy's computer system, I inadvertently came across the personal files of the cadets."
Charles tried not to look worried. "And?"
"I located the final averages for the Planetary Sociology examination. Cadet Richards' score was unwarranted and entirely reversible."
"What do you mean?" Charles asked sceptically.
"He failed to answer two pages of the paper," Data said.
"Two pages? Or two sides?" Charles waved his hand dismissively. "That doesn't matter." Then it dawned on him, the implication. He grinned. "Seb can come with us on the expedition?"
Data nodded. "How did you come to that conclusion?"
Controlling the anxiety that was now surfacing in him, Charles asked Data, "How did Seb do in questions that he did answer?"
"He achieved full marks," Data revealed. "The rest of the students taking the examination failed to gain more than 50%. All except one other individual, that is."
Charles' mind had gone blank before Data had spoken the last sentence. "Then he's worthy of the expedition, isn't he? I mean, he definitelyrevised enough... more than you and I put together."
"You believe he accidentallymissed out those respective pages?" Data asked, analysing Charles' reasoning.
Charles nodded deliberately. "Of course. He was a bag of nerves before he went into the exam. He knew all that there was to know. But he's awfully nervous, that's just how he is. I've told him that he's just being silly but it makes little difference."
"My previous questioning was superfluous to the cause," Data admitted. "It was entirely against every trait of his personality to miss out pages on purpose."
Charles jumped to his feet and hugged Data. "Thank you!" He made for the door. "For telling me."
"Where are you going?" Data inquired after him.
"To tell him!" Charles said ecstatically.
"But, Charles, do you not wish to know the identity of the other student who passed the exam?" Data began to ask, but the door had already opened and shut and Charles had left.