Before she was an officer aboard the U.S.S. EnterpriseTM...
No one ever said Starfleet Academy would be easy, but Cadet Deanna Troi never expected it to be this hard, either. She’s been taken prisoner by pirates on the Borocco-Kai, and now she’s weaponless and helpless.
Of course, it’s only a test: a holodeck exam that all freshman must pass. But for Deanna, the stakes are even higher than usual. She’s opted to take the test early because it seemed like the only way to save her future at the Academy. Her telepathic abilities, natural aloofness, and an overbearing mother have made it difficult to gain the trust of her peers, and even harder to focus on her studies. Deanna has been sinking—fast!
But if this test is her only way back back up, Deanna’s in deep trouble! Unless she taps into her inborn abilities and saves the Borocco-Kai…and along with it, her career in Starfleet.
Interior Illustrations by Todd Cameron Hamilton
“Where are the other Starfleet officers?”
The Orion leader, Chogu, sat down in the captain’s chair and thumped his dirty booted feet up on the desktop.
He doesn’t know! That means they’re still free! “Sorry, I can’t help you,” Deanna answered pleasantly.
The subordinate Orion aimed his disruptor at Deanna as Chogu grinned. “Let us exchange favors, Starfleet ensign.” He held up her commbadge. “Contact your people. Find out where they are hiding. In return, I will let you live.”
Deanna’s response came with surprising ease. She said nothing.
“I am waiting,” Chogu prompted.
Deanna just looked at him.
Chogu nodded, as if he respected her courage. “Do not fear. I will allow you to live … for now.” He motioned for his subordinate to follow him out of the office. The door locked behind them.
Deanna sat down on the deck, trying to get as comfortable as she could with her hands tied behind her back. “Good job, Ensign Troi,” she grumbled to herself. “How long did it take you to get caught—maybe five minutes?”
Star Trek: The Next Generation
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#4 Capture the Flag
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#10 Loyalties
#11 Crossfire
#12 Breakaway
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For Carl and Marge—we done it!
STARFLEET TIMELINE
2264
The launch of Captain James T. Kirk’s Five-year mission, U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC-1701.
2292
Alliance between the Klingon Empire and the Romulan Star Empire collapses.
2293
Colonel Worf, grandfather of Worf Rozhenko, defends Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy at their trial for the murder of Klingon chancellor Gorkon. Khitomer Peace Conference, Klingon Empire/Federation (Star Trek VI).
2323
Jean-Luc Picard enters Starfleet Academy’s standard four-year program.
2328
The Cardassian Empire annexes the Bajoran homeworld.
2341
Data enters Starfleet Academy.
2342
Beverly Crusher (née Howard) enters Starfleet Academy Medical School, an eight-year program.
2346
Romulan massacre of Klingon outpost on Khitomer.
2351
In orbit around Bajor, the Cardassians construct a space station that they will later abandon.
2353
William T. Riker and Geordi La Forge enter Starfleet Academy.
2354
Deanna Troi enters Starfleet Academy.
2356
Tasha Yar enters Starfleet Academy.
2357
Worf Rozhenko enters Starfleet Academy.
2363
Captain Jean-Luc Picard assumes command of U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC-1701-D.
2367
Wesley Crusher enters Starfleet Academy.
An uneasy truce is signed between the Cardassians and the Federation.
Borg attack at Wolf 359; First Officer Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Sisko and his son, Jake, are among the survivors.
U.S.S. Enterprise-D defeats the Borg vessel in orbit around Earth.
2369
Commander Benjamin Sisko assumes command of Deep Space Nine in orbit over Bajor.
Source: Star Trek® Chronology / Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda
CHAPTER
1
Cargo Freighter
Alpha Quadrant, Sector C
Ensign Deanna Troi ran full tilt down the ship’s corridor, banging her shoulder against the bulkhead as she careened around a corner. Pain shot down her arm, but she ignored it. She’d have to deal with far worse if her pursuers captured her.
They’re right behind you! she thought frantically as the bulkheads whizzed past. Another corner loomed ahead. She skidded around it—
Dead end!
Deanna quickly looked around, spotted an access hatch in the deck several meters away, and yanked it up. The service ladder below led down to the freighter’s cargo holds. Hiding among the cargo might be her only chance.
Deanna swung herself onto the ladder and closed the hatch over her head, locking it shut just as the pounding footfa
lls of her pursuers drew near. “Take that!” she muttered, melting the locking mechanism with a short phaser blast. “Let’s see if you can catch me now!”
As she scrambled down the ladder, Deanna’s mind raced. Those Orion pirates came out of nowhere! One minute we were alone on the bridge, and the next minute they were materializing right in front of us! The odds were in the Orions’ favor from the start—six of them against five Starfleet officers, and the attackers had the element of surprise. Deanna and her away team hadn’t even had time to draw their phasers before they were forced to scatter under a barrage of deadly disruptor fire. The Orions had taken up the chase with fierce delight.
Deanna picked a deck at random, jumped off the ladder, and started running again. She slapped her commbadge, hoping for a reply but not really expecting one. Twice before, the device had produced nothing but static, and she got nothing but static now. The Orions must be jamming our frequencies, she thought as she ran. Then how would she ever rejoin her comrades? Don’t worry, you’ll find them, she promised herself. They’re probably hiding. Find a safe place to catch your breath, then use your empathic abilities to search them out.
At this moment Deanna’s empathic abilities were of little help. She couldn’t contact her people, couldn’t see them, couldn’t hear them. All she could sense was their fear mixed with hard determination as they raced through the mazelike corridors of the old cargo freighter, just as she was doing. None of them were hurt, but Deanna dreaded the moment when she might empathically feel that status change. Somehow the away team had to regroup, but how? Where? Find them, she kept repeating as she ran. You’ve got to find them! She rounded another corner—
“N’dabe kuhg!” shouted a harsh, deep voice.
Reflexes responded faster than thought. In a flash Deanna’s phaser was in her hand and she was blasting away at two Orions standing not ten meters in front of her. Their sudden appearance startled her enough that her shots went wild, but those shots were enough to drive the enemy back and around a corner. She sprinted down a long straightaway, praying she’d reach the end of it before the Orions resumed their chase.
No such luck. Though the Orions were still far behind, one of them managed to get off a disruptor shot that sizzled past Deanna’s head so close that the heat of it made her wince. The blast hit an emergency equipment locker, and she was thrown against the bulkhead as the cabinet exploded. Her body lurched through space, an odd slow-motion sensation that felt as if she were somehow floating upward and hitting her head on the ceiling.
But when everything stopped spinning, Deanna found herself lying on the deck. Her head pounded with pain, and a loud buzzing sound reverberated in her skull. What hit me? came the fuzzy thought. Then her bleary eyes fixed on a small emergency oxygen canister lying nearby. It must have hit my head when the cabinet exploded.
Smoke billowed through the air, but Deanna resisted the temptation to cough. The Orions were still far away. If they believed she was dead, they’d take their time coming. Her only chance was to escape before the smoke cleared.
Slowly she rose to her hands and knees. Your phaser! You dropped it when you fell! Quickly Deanna felt around the floor for it, but she touched only the scattered contents of the emergency locker. You’re running out of time! They’ll be here any second!
Then something caught her eye—a service closet! Even through the smoke she could make out its dark square shape.
Deanna scrambled inside, barely managing to slap the CLOSE touchpad control before the sound of booted feet approached at a slow, confident trot. The footsteps stopped. Metal clanked against metal—one of the Orions must have kicked the oxygen canister with his metal-toed boot—and a gruff voice spoke. Even though Deanna didn’t know his language, the pirate’s curt tone clearly indicated anger. Snarling, he and his partner sped to the end of the straightaway, paused, then continued down the next corridor, their pounding footsteps fading away until the only sound Deanna could hear was the buzzing in her own head.
You’re safe, she thought with relief. The closet door must have sealed so seamlessly it was invisible in all the smoke outside. As far as the pirates knew, Deanna had simply disappeared.
With a trembling hand she brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. The gash on her forehead throbbed, and the buzzing in her head was growing louder by the minute, as if her pain had taken on a life of its own. She gasped and, leaning back against the bulkhead, tried to relax. You might be in here a long time. Get some rest while you can.
Fatigue suddenly took her. Her eyelids drooped. Her strength failed. As Deanna Troi collapsed to the floor, a question floated up through the muzziness of her brain. How did you get yourself into this mess, Deanna? How in the world did you get into this mess?
CHAPTER
2
Starfleet Academy
Earth
Buzzing. There was a loud buzzing noise in her head, as if a thousand angry bees were swarming inside her skull.
Cadet Deanna Troi shook her head to clear it, but she succeeded only in making herself dizzy. A strong, cool hand steadied her. “Need you support?” inquired a pleasant gurgly voice.
It was the Ichthyan female. Deanna remembered seeing her in the shuttle, sitting alone in the back, a tall regal figure with iridescent blue-green scales instead of skin and a tumble of long, thick red-brown hair framing her exotic features. Except for the fact that she had two human-shaped legs instead of one long fin, she might have been a fairy-tale mermaid princess. She was stunning.
Deanna smiled up at her. “Thank you, I’m fine now.”
The Ichthyan inclined her head politely, then turned back to what they’d both been doing—staring at the grounds of Starfleet Academy spread out before them like a beckoning dream.
But this is no dream, Deanna thought, glancing back at the shuttle that had just deposited her and the other new cadets on the Academy’s landing field. I’m here. I’m finally here!
A career in Starfleet—adventure, exploration, the chance to work with people from the hundreds of worlds within the Federation—it was everything Deanna could ever wish for. But even better than that, it was a chance to be on her own. From now on, Deanna could run her life the way she wanted to. Finally she could rely on her own judgment, make her own choices, lead her own—
She winced again as her head throbbed with pain. The Ichthyan leaned over and peered into her face with concern. “You are not well.”
“I’m fine!” Deanna snapped. The harshness of her own voice startled her. “I mean … please forgive me. I really am okay. I just have to adjust to being on a planet where people don’t shield their emotions. You see, I’m an empath.”
“Em-path?” repeated the Ichthyan curiously.
“I can sense other people’s emotions,” Deanna explained. “Most Betazoids are full telepaths, and we learn to shield our feelings and thoughts from others. Terrans don’t shield their emotions.” She winced again. “In fact, they’re quite loud.”
The Ichthyan’s sea-blue eyes grew wide. “This pains you?”
“Yes, a little.” Then Deanna shrugged. “Okay, a lot. I just have to build up my own shields in defense, that’s all.” Through the riot of emotions bombarding her brain, Deanna felt the Ichthyan’s distress, a clear, high note of concern for her welfare. It was a nice thing to feel in this strange new place. “Look, I knew this would happen,” she added, touched by the alien’s concern. “It’s one of the things I’ll have to learn if I expect to become a Starfleet officer.”
The Ichthyan nodded in understanding. “Yes, we all have many new things to learn.”
And not all of them have to do with classwork, Deanna thought. A wave of homesickness washed over her, and she sighed.
What was Lwaxana Troi doing right now? Deanna figured that her mother was probably sitting on the garden porch feeling terribly alone, gazing up at the sky and thinking of her only child so far away. Even now, across all the light-years between Betazed and Earth, Deanna could feel Lwaxa
na tug on an invisible umbilical cord, a cord that, unlike the original one, still held mother and daughter very close. But now the tug of that cord hurt. It felt like guilt.
Don’t think that way! Deanna sternly thought to herself. It’s time to cut that cord once and for all. Mother was smothering you. She didn’t give you a moment to yourself. You’ve got to live your own life!
Still the guilt pulled at her, deep inside. Deanna made herself recall the argument that had almost kept her from applying to the Academy. “What in Nine Fires has gotten into you, Little One?” Lwaxana had said, flinging her arms in the air with typical hyperdramatic emphasis. “You’re from a noble family, and you want to run off and join an organization where you’ll be duty-bound to obey the orders of any pipsqueak who happens to have more of those little silver dot-things on his uniform collar than you do. What kind of life is that for an heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed?”
Deanna suspected that her mother was trying to irritate her into giving up. Lwaxana knew full well what those “little silver dot-things” were. They were called pips, and they denoted a Starfleet officer’s rank. “I want to have a chance to earn my own rank,” Deanna said. “If I stay here on Betazed, my whole life will be planned for me.” She hoped her mother didn’t mind such a blatant accusation. After all, it was Lwaxana who would do all the planning if Deanna stayed. “I want to see what I can do by myself, Mother. Can’t you understand that?”
But all Lwaxana could see was her noble daughter taking orders from pipsqueaks with lots of “little dot-things” on their collars. After an hour’s grueling argument, however, Lwaxana gave in. “Oh, all right, all right, all right! You may take the entrance exams. But,” she added, “only if you apply for the command track.”
“What? Mother, I don’t want to command other people!” Deanna protested.
Lwaxana shrugged. “I’m sorry, Deanna, but I will not see my daughter waste precious years pooping decks on starships out in the middle of some black hole just to earn enough dots to get the respect she deserves by plain and simple breeding. You should be giving orders, not taking them. No,” she said with finality, “it’s the command track or nothing.”
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Starfleet Academy #12: Breakaway Page 1
