Title: Herculean Tasks - Chapter 2 - No Good Reason
Rating: T
Pairings: Space Cases - eventual Davenport/Goddard. "Goddenport" if you will.
Summary: Seth has three weeks to expose the corruption at Starcademy, but the conspiracy goes even deeper than anyone initially thought. When an unknown alien vessel docks at the school and his students go missing...that's when the adventure really begins.
Disclaimer: I don't own Space Cases.
Chapter 2: No Good Reason
"She more or less admitted that she's stopped tallying my infractions, so I might have to step up my game if the plan is to bury her in paperwork, Sir."
James studied Seth through the viewscreen, watching the younger man rub the back of his neck as he paced about his rooms. "There is something else troubling you." It wasn't a question.
Seth quirked an eyebrow. "How do you do that?"
"You have a few tells, my boy," James informed him.
Seth paused and grumbled as his hand dropped to his side. "Yeah, I'll work on that. It's just that today I realized that by looking after your daughter, I'm neglecting the bigger picture. We're allies to the Andromedans. Your daughter and I are the only ones here looking after Radu. If I keep pulling T.J. out of important policy meetings to protect her—"
"Then her voice will not be heard," James finished. "I take it you allowed her to attend such a meeting today?"
Seth hung his head. "Yes, Sir."
"May I also assume that you hovered outside the boardroom to keep an eye on her?"
"I'm not even going to ask how you know that, but yeah." Seth sighed and explained, "I was worried. T.J. is becoming a bit more...rebellious."
"Rebellious, you say? How so?"
"She hasn't been writing me up. She jokingly blamed me, saying I was a bad influence. And then she admitted to using the kids' latest prank as a diversion, which took some of the heat off of me and caused some issues for one of the other more problematic members of staff."
James offered a curious smile. "What exactly has T.J. done?"
"Oh, y'know, rearranged some furniture that may or may not now be stuck to the rear end of a more senior administrator."
James laughed heartily. "Good for her! T.J. deserves to have a bit of fun every now and then."
Seth chuckled and shook his head, admitting, "I mean, it was a little funny. But it was risky, and that isn't like her. She said she hoped the Headmistress would miss the meeting, but I don't know. This whole thing is just..." He reached his hand up to the back of his neck again but thought better of it. "As far as I know, everything worked out today in terms of the big picture. It could have been better, but it could've been worse. The Board is split fifty-fifty on whether to admit more Andromedan students. If T.J. hadn't been there—if I'd really done my job and protected her like you asked me to—the decision would probably already be made to send Radu packing."
"It sounds like you may have more allies than you first realized."
Seth nodded as he processed this information. "Perhaps. But now your daughter and these other 'allies' have targets on their backs: big picture win, but at a huge personal cost, and she doesn't even realize… I can't just keep hanging around T.J. for no good reason. People will start talking."
"For no good reason?" James laughed at that. "Oh Seth, my boy! People are already talking!"
"Fantastic," Seth muttered drolly. "This isn't about feelings, Sir. It's about survival."
James grinned. "Now that is interesting."
"What is?"
"Who said anything about feelings?"
"Sir, please. I can't let her down. I can't let you down. And I can't let Radu down. Unfortunate things have already happened to good people on my watch, and I refuse to let that pattern continue."
"The circumstances surrounding Captain Band's death were—"
"Not my fault," Seth finished. "So I've been told. I still don't know if I believe that."
"And the fact that his son is in your class with Mr. Radu—"
"Doesn't help. Look, I know you believe in me. And I appreciate it: more than you know. But this whole situation has spiraled out of control. I'm doing the best I can, but I honestly don't think that my best is good enough."
"I might have heard something similar during another discussion earlier today," James mused. "From what I gather, you and this individual have made a little game out of proving each other wrong and in doing so, challenging each other to be better. In this particular instance, I'd like this game of yours to continue. Between the two of you, I firmly believe you can do anything."
"With all due respect, subtlety is not your strong suit, Sir."
"My days of being subtle are over. Especially when discussing matters with you and T.J. So stubborn, the both of you."
"I think 'determined' is the word she used," Seth quipped before he could stop himself. He shook his head. "I've got three weeks. I need to tell her everything: the big picture stuff. But this is going to crush her. I don't want to do that to her."
James considered this. "And I wouldn't wish an angry, hysterical T.J. on anyone."
Seth cleared his throat. "Your words, Sir. Not mine."
"I am under no illusions; I am aware my daughter can be quite difficult when her anxiety peaks. She always has been. Her temper tantrums when she was little were quite spectacular."
Seth chuckled at the thought of a little precocious T.J. shouting, stomping her feet, and even wagging her finger at her own parents. "I can only imagine. She doesn't seem to do anything halfway."
"Truer words were never spoken. I can help ease the blow this time. I am actually on a shuttle now. I had planned to discuss 'the big picture stuff,' as you say, with T.J. after our father-daughter outing to the theater tonight. And then you and I will have the weekend to talk and calm her down."
Knowing that James would be available to help in-person was a bit of a relief. But Seth also didn't want his mentor making himself a target. "Be careful, Sir."
"Don't worry about me. I have some friends in high places. I will introduce you. In the meantime, I would like an update on the Proxima Colony: the conditions there, how the Andromedans are settling into their new home, and how the UPP and the STARDOG officers are treating them. Is there any way you could broach this topic with Mr. Radu?"
"I can try. The poor kid was afraid to come to me to ask for help with his homework, so I doubt getting information about the Collective or his homelife will be easy."
"But you did say you were making strides with him. T.J. has made similar comments. Radu appears to have a great amount of trust in you both, especially since you came to his rescue last week."
Seth quirked an eyebrow. "I mentioned breaking up that fight in passing. What has T.J. been saying about me?"
"You mean to tell me the tea was ineffective? Stubborn, indeed. Perhaps if you take her out to a nice dinner, then she might open up and—"
"Sir!" Seth blushed again and scrubbed his hand down his face as James laughed at his expense. "This is really not the time for—" The chime to his quarters rang, and he looked at the timepiece on his bedside table. "I'm late for supervising Free Study."
"That'll be T.J. come to fetch you, then?"
Seth nodded. "Safe travels, Sir. See you soon."
"See you soon, my boy."
Seth ended the transmission and pocketed his compupad before taking a breath and opening the door to be greeted by a glaring T.J.
"Commander..."
Seth cleared his throat and avoided looking her directly in the eyes. Did she even know what the combination of her glare and pout did to him? Space help me, he thought. "Miss Davenport." He retaliated with his signature smile and was pleased to note she briefly lost her composure.
"Once again, you are late for supervising your own students. You left me to deliver the bad news that they will not be permitted to go on their field training exercise due to their poor marks last quarter. None of them are happy."
Seth brushed past her and headed down the hallway, away from the living quarters and toward the common areas and classrooms. Being around T.J. was giving him emotional whiplash: she was playful one minute and seething the next. He supposed he couldn't blame her, given the hoops she'd been jumping through and the grief he'd been giving her. And maybe his attitude wasn't any better.
"Are you more upset that you had to break the news, that they failed, that I failed them, or that the Headmistress is enforcing the punishments for everyone's failures?" Seth wondered, somewhat grateful that at least now he wouldn't have to convince her to join them on their training excursion; he wasn't about to leave her alone at the school. "Earlier today you said you weren't ready to give up on me yet."
"I do not want to give up on anyone, Commander," T.J. reassured him, walking a step behind. "I did try to convince the Headmistress that your students deserved a chance to prove themselves outside of the classroom. But there is a lot of pressure from the higher-ups to, and I quote, 'deal with the Goddard situation.' And I admit I may have made a slight error in judgment when I had my bit of fun this morning. While it was amusing for a moment, the Head is now more temperamental than usual. She will have my head soon enough."
Seth stopped abruptly, and T.J. ran into him as he whirled around to face her. "Did she threaten you?" he asked, deeply troubled.
T.J. laughed at the absurdity. "It was a figure of speech."
He wasn't convinced. "Who exactly is talking about 'the Goddard situation'?"
"Commander, what is going on?"
"Never mind. Later. We can talk later," he decided, forging ahead to the classroom.
"I know you care about the students, so I do not understand why you refuse to do your job. They will fail without your guidance," T.J. cautioned as she followed after him.
"I'm a little overwhelmed right now." If he could just wait until James arrived to explain everything, he would be okay. He muttered to himself as he reevaluated his priorities, "Big picture: on the backburner again. Slightly smaller picture?" He spared a glance at T.J. "Ongoing. And onwards we go to 'Mission: Attention to Detail.'"
"Commander, what are you on about?"
"I want to help the students. I do. Maybe we could use Free Study as an opportunity for both of us to work with them. Two birds, one stone."
"I have other duties to which I must attend. I cannot hover around you every waking moment."
"That makes two of us."
"What precisely does that mean?"
"You don't understand," Seth grumbled as he approached the classroom and the doors parted.
"Hence my request for you to help me understand. Yet you are refusing to explain and refusing to do your job."
"Trying to teach them anything is tough enough, Miss Davenport. And now you expect me to babysit them during their...?" He trailed off as he glanced around the empty room.
T.J. sighed from behind him. It wasn't the first time the kids had ditched class when they'd been left unsupervised. As Seth walked further into the room, something out the window caught his eye. His heart fell into his stomach as he saw the alien vessel docked outside.
Strange alien ship, plus missing kids, equals...
He raced from the room trying to formulate a plan as he ran toward the docking station. Had hostile aliens kidnapped the students? Or had the students wandered onto the ship? Were there unknown aliens walking around the premises? Why was the ship flying so close to the school? Was the school targeted specifically? Who within the school was a person of interest? Was the UPP involved in any way, or was this unrelated to anything Seth had uncovered?
"Commander Goddard!" the Headmistress bellowed as he rushed past her. "No running in the halls! And Davenport!" The older woman grabbed T.J. by the arm, effectively stopping her in her tracks. "What in the universe are you doing?"
Seth whirled around to see T.J. frozen in place, stammering as she tried to improvise and provide a suitable explanation for her behavior. James had said people were already talking about how much time they were spending together, but her safety was more important than keeping up appearances; if she hated him for thinking that way, then so be it. "Sorry. Can't talk now. Explain later," was all he managed to say as he grabbed her other hand and pulled her down the hall with him.
"Davenport, get back here!" the Headmistress shouted.
T.J. ran alongside Seth as she continued to war with herself. "We should alert security," she suggested. "Protocol states—"
"No time for protocol. Stick with me. I'll explain everything later, I promise."
"You keep saying that. When exactly is later?"
"I don't know, just...later!"
T.J. skidded to a halt by the airlock as Seth headed into the spaceway. "Why weren't you watching the students? What is going on that has you so anxious and distracted?" She'd never seen him this distraught before. She was angry with him for being irresponsible and dishonest, especially after she'd repeatedly stuck her neck out for him. "If I am to keep putting my job on the line for you, you owe me an explanation!"
"We don't have time for this right now! Do you trust me?" It was a loaded question, and he knew it would be more than fair for her to say no. "I'm one hundred percent sure those kids are on that ship, and I'm going in after them. Do you trust me?"
When she didn't reply after a long moment, he looked away.
"Seth?" She reached for his hand and stepped into the airlock with him. "You are infuriating," she told him, straightening up to her full height and pushing him away.
Space hates mixed signals, he thought to himself as they continued onward.
"In case you are wondering, I will be writing a report to document this incident," she told him as she examined the design of the ship with a mix of awe and anxiety.
"You're the one who left the room," he grumbled, even though he knew she wasn't to blame.
"Excuse me? You are the one who was supposed to be in the room to begin with! If you care about the students so much, then do your bloody job! This situation we are in right now is all your fault!"
Seth rolled his eyes. "They sneak off the Starcademy and onto this ship, and it's my fault?"
"You should have been watching them!" T.J. retorted. "If someone were to call himself a teacher—"
"No! What I call myself is a former starship captain busted in rank for no good reason and reassigned as a fleet instructor."
"No good reason? That's not what I hear."
"Well whatever you heard, you heard wrong!" he fired back.
No good reason. That was a lie.
He was sick of lying to her. Later, he reminded himself. He'd tell her the truth Later...