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.Leonard smiled - it was amazing what kids were creating these days.The Federation's credit system was being recalibrated to adjust for the confirmation of three new planets and their sentient inhabitants into the membership.Starfleet was vetting four engineering groups who were presenting new impulse drive designs for the next set of engine refits for the fleet.Leonard got a slight twinge in his gut and held his coffee cup tighter as the woman on the screen continued to talk."This couldn't come at a better time, or perhaps a worse time, for Starfleet.While the refit of the fleet's warp engines began almost two years ago, there has been constant debate about the newer impulse engine design.For months, engineers have been discussing possible instability issues in the current design of sub-warp engines.Although there had been no significant documented problems to motivate a new selection in sub-warp drive technology for the continued refits, that may have all changed.The first fatal training accident in three decades has been confirmed by Starfleet Academy."Unable to take his eyes from the screen, Leonard reached over and put his canteen on the table before he dropped it."Following an engine malfunction and complete systems failure, a training shuttle carrying two cadets crashed into the surface of Mars while doing a routine set of piloting maneuvers.One cadet was killed in the accident, and the other is in stable but serious condition at Starfleet Medical.Their names are being withheld for privacy reasons."Leonard's hands clenched into fists in his lap.Not a fucking moment of peace.No, here it was, plastered brazenly all over the news vids.Those bastards sure as hell better keep Jim's name private, he thought vehemently."The cause of the engine malfunction is still under investigation, but Starfleet officials have noted that the upgrade in engine systems is long overdue."The woman kept talking, but Leonard didn't want to hear it.Not a word of it.A simple engine malfunction? No, Jim had said sabotage.He sawsomething in the engine, and this newscaster's uninformed, speculative, simplistic media blurb wasn't going to gloss over the fact that something big had happened."In the immediate aftermath of this crash, a statement attributed to the group Terra Prime has been received by news sources, claiming that this crash is further evidence that human beings should not be traveling into space.However, they have not claimed responsibility for causing the crash, leading to speculation from various analysts.After last year's attempted bombing at Starfleet Academy, verbal threats have been issued several times, but no actions have been taken.For more on that story -"No, Leonard definitely didn't want to hear another goddamned word of that story, thank you very much.Speculation.Yeah, they could speculate all they wanted to, but not until Jim was awake and alert and had said his piece, and goddammit, Jim.With a growl and a lurch, he was out of his chair, ready to grab his tray and bolt from the mess hall, but instead, he almost collided with a cadet who had apparently been standing right next to his chair.Leonard backpedaled and almost tripped over his chair, glaring angrily at the petite Asian woman."What the - don't sneak up on a man!" He quickly sidestepped and straightened himself up, noting that it wasn't just the cadet he'd nearly collided with, but three others standing off to the side who were watching him with some sort of anticipation.Not feeling particularly cordial, the only thing he could think to say was, "What the hell do you want?""We know you're friends with Jim Kirk," she said, and there was something disconcerting in her voice.Leonard felt his shoulders clench, just a bit."Yeah, I am." He shot her a skeptical look."But you don't know me, so what do you care?"She looked back over her shoulder at the other cadets - another human female, a human male, and an Andorian Thaan - then turned back to Leonard and took a bracing breath."I'm Cadet Okoru.We're the rest of Kirk's flight squad.We were in the other two shuttles yesterday." She swallowed, and for the first time, Leonard noticed that her eyes were red and puffy, set in a face that looked too pale and drawn with lines of tension that looked too old for a face that young."They told us that Tambe didn't make it, but that Kirk was alive.They wouldn't tell us anything else.We.we thought you might know.how is he doing?"The fire went out of Leonard's argument so fast he almost felt like he was physically deflating.Grimacing, he looked over at the chronometer on the wall.0718 hours.More than forty minutes before his first class.With a sigh, he nudged out the chair next to his own with his foot, jerked his head towards the table as a blunt invitation, then sat down.It was almost instinctual - sit down with the friends and family of the patient and give them the news, for better or for worse.Tell them about their loved one.Distance himself from the emotions of the situation so that the other people could cry in either sorrow or relief.However, when the other four cadets were seated, the emotional distance between himself and his patient didn't appear.It couldn't.Not with Jim.So Leonard leaned his elbows on the table, looked around at the tight, weary faces of Jim's squad mates, and lied through his teeth."Jim's fine.".&.He wasn't sure why he said it, not really.Maybe he knew that Jim wouldn't want people to know how bad it was.The kid did hate looking vulnerable in front of people, after all, and he had an insane tendency to brush off everything as nothing.He was just doing what Jim would want him to do.Perhaps it was because Leonard was still stuck on the idea of sabotage, and if Jim had been targeted by anyone, if it got out how weak he was, someone might try to finish the job before Jim could wake up and testify.Goddammit, what did he see in the engine of that shuttle?Maybe it was because Leonard still didn't really know how bad it was - wouldn't know until Jim woke up - and if he admitted how bad it might be, it would make it too real.too fucking real.Either way, after fifteen minutes of downplaying the severity of Jim's injuries - yes, he's injured, and recovery will take a while, but he'll be fine - and listening to brief stories about Jim's antics as part of Nova Squadron, Leonard had to escape.These kids were certainly worried about Jim, and they really seemed to care about him, but they didn't know Jim.Not really
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