It was beyond genius, and Jayme even defended Moll when she meekly agreed with T’Rees’s chastisement of her for not including the rest of the Quad in the analysis. Jayme would have loved being involved in the research, but she knew they would have slowed Moll down by questioning her and following false leads.
Jayme kept sighing with envy at Moll’s accomplishment–and the Trill wasn’t even interested in engineering!–while she packed her transport containers for the break. She couldn’t decide what should stay in storage over the break and what she should take with her. Since it was her vacation, she included all of her body paints and every one of her tights, figuring she might find use for everything while she was observing the Starfleet crew of the Endeavor.
Starsa suddenly called through the halls, “Everyone, you have to see this!” She poked her head around Jayme’s door. “Have you seen it yet? The class standings were released.”
Jayme took the padd from Starsa and quickly ran through the first class as Starsa chattered, “We’re all in the top half. I barely made it! But it’s the second‑year cadets you have to see.”
Jayme scrolled past the names until Starsa impatiently pressed the key that took them to the top. “There,” she said, as if it were her own name listed at the head of the sophomore class. “Moll Enor is first!”
“Moll . . .” Jayme breathed, feeling a rush of pride at having known it all along, having seen the brilliance of the Trill before anyone else. “I should have expected it.”
“Really?” Starsa asked, giving her a curious smile. “I knew she studied a lot, but I didn’t think she was that brainy.”
“Look what she did with our Quad project,” Jayme reminded her.
“Moll saved our butts,” Starsa cheerfully admitted. “Look, everyone,” she told the cadets coming down the hall. “Moll Enor is first in her class!”
The others had just heard as well, and soon there were more cadets in their Quad than Jayme had ever seen, all looking for Moll to celebrate her success. The Trill came into the Quad in the midst of it, and the gracious, humble way she accepted everyone’s congratulations impressed Jayme like nothing else had.
She was struck silent by the sheer number of Moll’s friends. It seemed like everyone at the Academy was here, with more coming in, a steady stream of cadets shaking Moll’s hand and patting her on the back. Her dark face was flushed to the spots as she ducked her head slightly, abashed by all the attention.
Jayme felt all choked up, and as Moll passed by, she reached out to grasp her hands, trying to convey her feeling through more than words. “I bet you get all kinds of assignment offers now. You can go anywhere for the break.” At the leap of surprise and realization in Moll’s eyes, at her sudden yearning, Jayme added, “Even to the wormhole.”
Moll Enor was quickly guarded again, in spite of her pleasure. “How did you know I wanted to see the wormhole?”
“I heard what you said to Bobbie Ray,” Jayme said sheepishly. “I could tell how much it means to you.”
“Maybe I will go to Bajor,” Moll agreed with a rare smile, as others moved in to shake her hand and pull her along, all of them wanting to touch her, as if she were a talisman of good luck.
Jayme was jostled to one side, watching Moll’s dark, glossy hair clinging close to her head as she moved gracefully among the crowd. Suddenly a year’s effort to push away her feelings collapsed in ruins. She had always been fascinated by Moll Enor, and lately, it seemed as if everything the Trill did was designed to enchant in the most subtle and perfect ways. Jayme’s admiration for her had grown with every moment, snowballing since their Quad project review. Now, watching her proudest moment, Jayme realized she was helplessly, hopelessly in love with Moll.
Chapter Four
Second Year, 2369‑70
“THIS LOOKS LIKE SHUNT,” Nev Reoh said, blinking at the low, brown hills that ran to the horizon under a blinding white sun.
“What’s that?” Bobbie Ray asked.
“Shunt is the Bajoran resettlement camp where I grew up!”
As a last‑year cadet, Nev Reoh had waited as long as he could before taking the required survival test. His two teammates, Bobbie Ray and Starsa, were second‑year cadets, and had chosen to take the test as soon as they could. He knew the only reason they had agreed to have him on their team was because there was a certain sense of obligation that came from being in their first Quad together.
There were lots of other cadets who would have liked to team with Starsa and Bobbie Ray. They were both athletes–Bobbie Ray because of his admirable physique and Starsa in spite of hers. It had taken Starsa nearly a year to acclimate, but now she seemed to be making up for lost time.
Reoh had watched her the entire summer, and she hadn’t seemed to mind being stuck on Earth for her vacation break. From his workstation assisting at the Academy Database, he could see a bunch of cadets who grav‑boarded on the concourse. Of all the crazy cadets who were left on the campus, it was Starsa who made him swallow in fear. The way she hung off the front edge, riding that fine line between the fastest speed the human body could achieve and out‑of‑control tumbling, made him dig his fingers into his own thighs until blue bruises rose to the surface.
Reoh hadn’t dared to ask Bobbie Ray and Starsa if he could join their team. It had been their decision to include him. When he had first found out, he gave thanks to the Prophets, in spite of his crises of faith. At least he had a chance to survive, let alone pass the test.
Reoh had prepared for the test by taking extra survival courses every semester. Now, they were standing on a ridge overlooking a barren, rocky desert of sharp cliffs and flat‑topped plateaus very much like the only place he really did know. “Shunt!” he repeated, shaking his head.
“You say that like it’s bad,” Bobbie Ray pointed out. He was looking very uncomfortable in his rubber suit. “Where’s all the water? Down in the cracks?”
“If this is like Shunt, we’ll have trouble finding enough water to stay alive.”
Bobbie Ray undid the neck buckle of his waterproof suit. “Everyone said there would be water. The last eight times the survival missions took place in a marsh, a bog, two swamps, and four rain jungles.”
Reoh shrugged, just as boggled as Bobbie Ray was over this unusual twist.
Bobbie Ray let out a frustrated growl as he peeled the rubber suit off his fur. He had been so smugly satisfied as the cadet ship had beamed them down to the surface, so certain that he wouldn’t have to suffer four days of wet fur, that his disgruntlement at finding themselves high and dry was ironic, to say the least.
“Where’s Starsa?” Reoh asked, glancing around.
Bobbie Ray tossed the rubber aside. “I didn’t see anything until you came over that ridge.”
“I was put down a few meters inside that ravine,” Reoh said.
Bobbie Ray judged the angles and decided, “I bet she’s over there. If not, we’ll be on higher ground and able to see better.”
“What if we don’t find her?” Reoh asked.
“We’ll find her.” Bobbie Ray started toward the rise about a hundred meters away from them. “You’ve got room for that, don’t you?”