#finishing rec lists by doing the most important part - using my 30 image allowance to splice up the text

[batsplat]

deeply compelled by this photo

[startrek-z]

STZ V: Part 2

Link and Jeremy stayed up way past curfew, so when the alarm clock went off, Link did not feel ready for his first day of classes. After a fast shower, and an even faster breakfast, he headed to his lab. Astrophysics, followed by Starfleet History, and an alien culture class. After lunch, a computer tech and basic engineering course. Biology of plants and 'people’ was fairly boring, and warp physics extremely confusing. What this stuff had to do with security was beyond Link. He couldn’t help but feel relieved when his last class was self defense. Finally, something he could understand!

This class was held in one of the many fitness centers found on campus. It was a large, empty room, and there was padding on the walls and floor. The students sat on the floor in a large circle around their instructor. Link was sitting beside Jeremy; this was one of the few classes they shared. They waited patiently as the teacher gave roll-call. “Mr. Masson.” “Here.” “Ms. Jones.” “Mr. Cromwell.” “Here!” Jeremy called. “Mr…” her voice faltered, “Link?” “Here, sir,” Link said quietly. “No last name?” she asked, eyebrow raised. “No, sir,” Link replied, blushing slightly. “Well,” she said, “I’ve seen stranger things.” Without further ado, they began. First, the Lieutenant Commander taught them some simple rolls and dives, then proceeded to teach some basic punches and blocks. Link and Jeremy were sparring partners, and unfortunately for Jeremy, Link already knew how to fist-fight. After all the years he had spent defending himself against Mido’s torment, Link had gained a swift edge. Before Jeremy could swing his arm for a strike, or even block the coming blow, he was flat on his back and staring up at Link. “Sorry!” the Hylian cried, helping the other boy to his feet. “I’ll bet you are,” Jeremy growled bitterly. Relations with the redhead had been going well, and Link had thought they’d reached an understanding of sorts…until now. Jeremy stood shaking in rage. “You did that on purpose!” he hissed. “No, I didn’t! Honest!” Link yelped apologetically. Before the situation could escalate into something more violent, the instructor made an appearance. “Is there a problem, gentlemen?” she asked. When neither answered immediately, she took the silence as her reply. “Well, I see how it is. Mr. Link, you seem to possess some training in self-defense already. Come on and show me what you’ve got,” she challenged. Link hesitated; he didn’t want to hit a teacher. “Don’t make me make it an order,” she said, already in a defensive crouch. With a quiet sigh, Link began to circle the lithe woman. When he thought he had her at a disadvantage, Link swung with his right while feigning with his left. His blow caught the Lieutenant in the stomach, and she grunted in surprise. Link drew back in horror. He’d just hit a woman! They began to circle again, eyeing each other wearily. Suddenly, quick as lightening, the Commander struck, and Link was lying on the floor before his senses even registered falling. Rubbing his aching jaw, he slowly sat up. “Never underestimate your opponent, even if it is a woman,” the instructor told the class, meanwhile looking directly at him. After she’d left, Jeremy helped Link to his feet. “She got you good,” he stated with a grin. “Did she ever,” Link agreed quietly. *** At 23:30, Link still sat at his desk doing his class work. Jeremy had already finished his, and was reading on his bed. “You had better hurry up and finish,” he said,“ lights go out at twelve.” Link sighed tiredly. “I know, I know.” He was doing some reading from his Starfleet history book, and had only ten more pages to go. Fifteen minutes later, a beep was heard–the warning that only ten minutes remained before curfew. Link began to read faster. “….Done!” he exclaimed, and as if on cue, the lights went out. “You just made it,” Jeremy pointed out. Link did his best to prepare for bed as he stumbled around in the dark. The only light came from the window which looked out over the small parks on the Academy grounds. Tiredly, the Hylian crawled into bed. Absentmindedly he rubbed his aching jaw, meanwhile reflecting on the day he’d had, and everything that had happened. “Good night, Link,” Jeremy called from somewhere in the dark. “Sleep well,” he said in return, rolling towards the wall. 'We’re going to need it.’ *** Classes were very different the next day. Instead of heading to Astrophysics, he and Jeremy were ordered to the Gamma Hydra briefing room. When they arrived, they found the room packed with first year cadets. After taking their seats, the head of Starfleet Academy, Admiral Linn, stood at a small podium. A small Asian woman with closely cropped black hair, Link had difficulty believing she could be mean enough to be an admiral. Pavel, Sulu, and even Admiral Kirk had joked about having to be cruel in order to make it to such a status. “Good morning, cadets,” Linn said in her quiet voice. “We have postponed your normal classes today to teach you something else.” There were a few cheers and the admiral smiled knowingly. “I assure you that this will be just as hard, if not more so, than the classes you think you’ve escaped.” Jeremy and Link exchanged worried glances. “Today, you will learn about the most important thing about survival in the unknown,” the admiral paused for effect, “teamwork.” Link inwardly cringed. Teamwork was a luxury he’d never allowed himself to depend on in the past. He wondered if he would know what he should do. “You will now be assigned to groups of six,” Linn explained, “there will be one command, one engineer, one science, one medical, one communication, and one security major in your group. You will be working in command structure. The commanding cadet will act as captain, and so on. Each of you must depend on the other. Either you all succeed, or you all fail.” 'Trusting and depending on others…can this get any worse?’ Link wondered nervously. His attention returned to the front of the room as the admiral’s aid began to list off group assignments. “…Squad twenty-four will consist of Cadets Cromwell, Link, Sanchez, Mackenzie, S'al'ter, and Oroden. Squad twenty-five will consist of…” the lieutenant droned. Link’s heart raced. At least he was with Jeremy, but who were his other teammates? After the room had been divided into thirty 'squads,’ the admiral gave them their first assignment. “Since we have used the time allowed for your morning classes, you will now attend lunch with your squad. Then, spend the rest of your afternoon becoming acquainted.” Linn folded her hands behind her back. “Squad commanders will find instruction packets on their personal terminal at 7:00 hours. You are dismissed.” Link and Jeremy joined the crowd as it pressed out of the briefing room. “Hey man, at least we’re together,” Jeremy said. Link wished he could share in the human’s optimism as they approached the cafeteria. Suddenly, he felt very claustrophobic. *** Link and Jeremy went to the rec room and found a table with a place marker bearing the number 24. Something was already seated there. The something turned out to be a Henticled Deneben. “Greetings, I am Cadet S'al'ter, your communications specialist,” she said, her chirping voice transmitted by a small box around her neck. They introduced themselves and sat to await the rest of the cadets. Next to arrive was cadet Jonathon Mackenzie, a tall, dark skinned young man with a slight New York accent, and a boasting skill in warp-fields. Then cam Zander Oroden, the Rigilian medic with two extra fingers and shockingly blue hair. The five present members sat in awkward silence, and being the 'Captain’, Jeremy felt compelled to break it. “Well, if cadet Sanchez would show up, we could get started,” he said. “Then get started,” Sanchez replied, sitting quietly in the last vacant chair. Link looked up in surprise. Cadet Sanchez was Melissa, the girl he’d encountered at the fencing gym. The pale skinned, violet eyed girl introduced herself as Melissa Sanchez of the Alpha Centauri, then suggested they get their food. While the cadets ate, each took a turn telling the others about themselvs. Link listened nervously as each person took their turn. He was so focused on trying to think of something to say, that he barely touched his food. He hoped their speeches would give him ideas for what he should share. “For those of you that don’t know, I’m Jeremy, your quote, unquote captain,” he smiled slightly. “I’m from Earth, almost 25 years old…” he went on and on, talking about his past, home life, family, and old friends. Link could nearly feel the color draining from his face. What could he tell them? Everything about his life was odd. Even his age was difficult to judge, since he’d skipped seven years somewhere down the line. Anything he could talk about was either a secret, or something they would never believe. After a couple more team members talked, it was Melissa’s turn. She started off in much the same way as Jeremy had. Link only half listened, now panicked about what he should do. However, his attention focused sharply on her when he heard her mention horses. She was talking about her childhood dreams, and how she had wanted to come to Earth and train horses. For a moment, Link’s eyes played tricks on him, and he could’ve sworn that a redheaded girl was sitting in Melissa’s place, smiling at him. He held the image there, staring as if in a trance, until Jeremy’s voice interrupted his reveries. “Link?” The Hylian flinched, his head whipping around to look at Jeremy. “Huh?” “It’s your turn,” his roommate told him. “Oh, right…” Link felt his face flush. They all were watching him expectantly, and he looked down at his untouched tray of food, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. “Well…my name is Link,” he started uncertainly. 'Duh, they’re already aware of that,’ he criticized mentally. “I’m here because I want to become a security officer,” his voice trailed as he groped helplessly for something to say. Why was it so hard to breath? The walls seemed closer than he remembered. “I-I’m Hylian, I came from Sira-8. I’m about 25 years old.” 'think Link, think… “I…I grew up in a forest with my…family…there isn’t really much else to say,” he dared a glance at their blank faces, and hot expectant eyes. It was far too warm in the rec room to be comfortable. Malissa and Jeremy seemed suspicious, and the Hylian tried to avoid their gazes. Even if he was allowed to share his past, he wasn’t sure he could, as much as he wanted to. “Well, if that’s everyone, any suggestions on what to do now?” Jeremy asked. “You’re the 'Captain’, why don’t you tell us?” John Makenzie said. Jeremy frowned at him. “I believe that every officer’s opinion matters,” he explained. “In times of crisis, even the most far-fetched ideas or explanations could prove valuable.” 'Wonder where he got those ideas,’ Link mused. He was already breathing a little easier, now that he was no longer the center of attention. “We could go to the library,” Zander suggested. “It’s very impressive, they have real paper books here!” That sounded good to Link, but Makenzie just laughed. “Funny, Oroden, real funny. Like we want to spend our 'day off’ in a place full of work.” Zander ran his odd fingered hand threw his hair uncertainly. “I just thought…” “Hey, lay off him Makenzie,” Jeremy said. “It’s a good idea. Maybe not everyone here is aquatinted with this Earth tradition.” Makenzie frowned, and Link could see there would be trouble between the 'captain’ and his 'engineer.’ “I, for one, have never seen a 'book’ object,” S'al'ter said. “Neither have I, so let’s go,” said Malissa, standing up. Jeremy seemed put off by her bossiness, and quickly stood himself. “Lead the way, Zander.” They fell into line behind the skinny Rigilian, Link and John at the rear. The darker boy looked Link up and down a few times, his gaze pausing the longest on his ears. “Hylian, huh?” he questioned. “Yeah,” Link replied, starting to get tired with answering this question. “Never heard of your kind before, but then I’ve never been past Alpha Centuri, so who am I to know,” John shrugged disarmingly. Link tried not to give him a second thought; he felt uncomfortable under the human’s studious gaze. Zander led them through the busy hall ways filled with other teams 'getting acquainted.’ Most of the groups seemed to feel just as awkward as Link’s, and that gave him some small comfort. A couple times the Rigilian came to a sudden stop and would gaze around in puzzlement, trying to get his bearings. “We lost, Zander?” Makenzie demanded. The poor Rigilian ran his hand through his hair in agitation and didn’t respond immediately. Link took a deep breath. “No, I don’t think so,” he said. He pointed down the hall at a large sign saying “Library” in huge, standard letters. “That’s it right there.” “Yes, that’s it,” Jeremy agreed, and Zander flashed Link a nervous, yet grateful smile, which Link returned. Jeremy led the team now, and they quickly crossed to the huge wood-like doors that whisked open upon their arrival. There was a collective gasp of wonder and awe at the huge room they were in. A full four floors, the Academy library looked like a magnificent, layered cake topped with a dome of glass, which displayed Earth’s trademark blue skies. It was swarming like a beehive, a great, almost silent beehive, with hundreds of beings going to and fro among the levels of shelves. Link’s mouth fell open. He had never seen anything like it, not even in the grand halls of Hyrule Castle. There was row after row of computer terminals, but what grasped his, and everyone else’s, attention was the shelves stuffed full of real books. “Wow!” Jeremy gasped. Link couldn’t have said it better himself. He gazed about in wonder, until his eyes fell on one section label in particular. The group watched him curiously as he picked a book off the shelf. The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood. “I doubt you’ll find anything useful in there,” Jeremy chuckled. Link didn’t seem to hear him. “Admiral Kirk let me borrow this book from him once…a long time ago.” Jeremy immediately stopped laughing, and simply gazed at the Hylian in awe.

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