Lost Era 05_ Deny thy Father - Jeff Mariotte [107]
“You think I do. I used to think so. Now I’m not so sure.”
Will threw up his hands. “I don’t know what you want, Dennis.” He rose and paced around the room. “You want me to tell you that you’re doomed? That you should just drop out now? Because I’d be lying if I did that. I don’t believe that.”
Dennis’s gaze followed Will as he walked, his face crestfallen. “I’m sorry, Will. I shouldn’t even have bothered you.” He glanced at the computer. “I know you’re busy too.”
“You’re my friend, Dennis,” Will said. “There’s no such thing as too busy for a friend.”
“Thanks, Will.”
“So is there any way I can help you?”
“Well, that’s the thing,” Dennis said. “I was hoping you could tutor me.”
“Tutor?” Will echoed. His first thought was just how time-intensive that would be, if Dennis was really as far behind as he claimed. “I don’t know if I’m the best guy for that.”
“You’re the only one I’d even ask, Will,” Dennis implored. “You’re my best friend here. You know me better than anyone, and you have a knack for explaining complicated stuff in ways that makes it all seem so simple.”
“But-“
“I know it’d take a lot of your time, Will. Too much, probably, to catch me up. You could tutor somebody smart in no time at all, but I’m a losing proposition.”
“That’s not what I said,” Will objected.
“I know. And I do have one other idea. Something that’d take less of your time. It’d hardly put you out at all.”
“What’s that?”
“You could let me cheat off you,” Dennis said.
Will didn’t even know how to answer that. Never mind that it was impractical. It could be done, he supposed, for some courses, though it’d be tricky and would require quite a bit of advance work. But it was so clearly unethical….
Dennis watched him like a dog waiting for a scrap of food from the dinner table.
“Dennis, that’s…”
“I know it’s a lot to ask, Will. Believe me, I know it is. I wouldn’t if I had any other choice. I’m going to fail, Will. I’ve never failed before, really, not at anything important. But I will this time, I just know it. And I don’t know how to handle that. I don’t know how to deal with it.” He paused and angled his head toward the floor. “I’m afraid.”
Will would have liked to have made a snap decision, which he knew would be the right one. He felt like he owed Dennis a bit more consideration, though. They had been through a lot together. In large ways and small, Dennis had helped him get through the rigors of Starfleet Academy. Turning down a friend who had done all that for him just didn’t seem right.
But neither did the alternatives. Giving Dennis the kind of tutoring help he was asking for would mean sacrificing most of his own study time. Instead of finishing near the top of his class, and countering those bad early grades with strong late ones, he’d be lucky to pass everything. He would squeak by, but his record would not be nearly as impressive as he’d hoped, and it might actually affect his starship posting.
And helping Dennis cheat would be even worse. Starfleet stressed fairness and honesty, and cheating was neither. It ran against everything Starfleet stood for. And that was only a problem if they didn’t get caught. If they did, they’d both be booted out of the Academy, and any chance of ever serving in Starfleet would vanish. Will didn’t know what he’d do then. Go back to Alaska? Remain a civilian like his old man? Eventually marry, then abandon his family later in life to pursue a dream he’d abandoned years before?
No, it didn’t take much thought to dismiss the idea of cheating. But the tutoring thing, now, that was harder. Because that made a certain amount of sense, at least from Dennis’s perspective. Tutoring could actually help Dennis master the material. He would come out of the Academy more educated and a better asset to Starfleet.