Pathways - Jeri Taylor [52]
Harry told him briefly, and when he mentioned Nimembeh’s name, he thought he saw the corner of the doctor’s mouth turn up slightly, but probably he just imagined it.
Harry had hoped for a roommate from a species other than his; it seemed to him that was part of the point of Starfleet. But he had been paired with a tall young man from Kentucky, George Mathers, with close-cropped light brown hair and eyes almost the same color. His mother had warned Harry that after being an only child, and having his own room for all his life, he might have trouble tolerating a roommate. Harry was apprehensive about it, too, and was determined not to be difficult, but was relieved that George was unfailingly pleasant and even-tempered. From the beginning, they got along well and never argued about anything.
So far, his Academy experience was everything he’d hoped. He had spent the last year catching up on some of his adolescence, doing the things he had refused to do in high school when he was so obsessed with gaining admittance to the Academy. Having been refused served to free him from that obsession, and he set about to become a more well-rounded person. He became more social, dated several young women, and fell in and out of love with at least two of them over the period of several months.
Once when he attended a Ktarian music festival he sat in the wrong seat by mistake, and when the correct occupant came along, he fell in love with her in a nanosecond. She was voluptuous and tall, almost as tall as he, with raven black hair that was long and thickly curled, and a face that was so perfect, so symmetrical, that he caught his breath. In another nanosecond he decided she would never go out with him and he put her out of his mind. It was a year of such mercurial romances.
He read for pleasure, not for test scores. He returned to the clarinet and began playing improvisational jazz, something he’d always avoided, preferring to stick strictly to music that was written out, note for note. He found that he enjoyed the freedom of improvisation, and now played the clarinet for pleasure, with no particular goal in mind.
And the following spring he had retaken both the written and the oral examinations for Starfleet Academy and passed them with, in Admiral Strickler’s words, “great distinction.”
The first hint of trouble came after their two-week prep squad period, as he and George reported to the sports stadium with the rest of the freshman cadets to pick up their class assignments. There was a palpable sense of eagerness in the air as the young people anticipated their placements. They knew they had been carefully scrutinized during their prep period, and were being classified on the basis of those evaluations. There were occasional yelps of delight from a cadet pleased with the results, and the rarer shake of the head by one who wasn’t. But all accepted the judgments as being in their best interests, and vowed to work within the system.
But Harry was stunned by what he read on the padd that was handed to him.
He had been put on probation for his first semester because of a report from his prep squad instructor. Nimembeh! The steely-eyed commander had given him an “unsatisfactory” rating for the prep period, and now he couldn’t choose a career track until he’d eliminated his probationary status. He turned to George, adrenaline flaring.
“Do you see what Nimembeh did to me? I’m on probation!”
George’s eyes registered surprise and sympathy, which fed Harry’s feeling that he had been unjustly treated. But George, as usual, was upbeat. “You’ll get that wiped off in no time, Harry. You’re smart, and organized, and you’ll do well in your classes. What did you draw?”
Harry glanced back down at the padd. “Integrated Systems Management, Nonlinear Control Theory, Subspace Communication Analysis, and Environmental Regulation,” he replied, and began to feel better. He’d been given classes in the Operations track, which was what he would have chosen had he had the opportunity. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. He’d already chosen volleyball as his extracurricular