The BLTS Archive - Academy Days
by Quadrantje (quadrantje@hotmail.com)

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Published: 01-22-05

Updated: 01-22-05

Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me; no infringement of copyright
is intended. Thanks again Kim, for being the great beta reader and
friend that you are.

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I sit down on one of the benches and look around the lecture hall.
It's still early, nearly half an hour before the class will begin, but
the room is almost entirely filled up. I notice most of the students
around me have padds in their hands or on the table in front of them,
ready to take notes. I know I won't need to take any. Most students
are talking animatedly, filling the room with the loud buzz of voices.
Nobody talks to me or takes any notice, so my mind drifts to other
things. Suddenly the clatter stops and I'm pulled out of my musings.
The teachers have arrived. They walk to the front of the room and the
silence is broken when chairs are moved and padds picked up, although
still no one speaks.

I notice the attention that is aimed at the arrivals and briefly
wonder how many have come for the actually lecture. I knew most would
come just to see the famous command team, the Captain and First
Officer of Voyager. The legendary Voyager, which had returned to Earth
almost six months earlier. However, looking around now, I'd say just
about everybody had come to see them.

Captain Janeway starts speaking, and my gaze returns to her. She
quickly introduces herself and Chakotay – as if even one of the people
here doesn't know who they are – and gives a quick summary of their
curriculum for the next year. She is standing slightly in front of the
Commander, who stands at her left in what is unmistakably their
'command stance'. A few of the boys are paying more attention to what
she says than the words require, hanging on her every word. I smile
slightly at their admiration, which I can see even from the back of
the room, where I'm sitting. There is also a fair amount of girls that
are staring at Chakotay, casting jealous looks at the woman next to
him every once in a while, the one even they know holds his heart.

The Captain stops talking and he takes over, telling us this first
class of Species in the Delta Quadrant will focus on the Ocampa. The
next hour flies by as they take turns telling us about the Ocampa,
bringing up one anecdote after another. It's obvious how well they
know each other and how in tune they are, finishing each other's
sentences and instinctively knowing what the other wants to say. It is
stimulating just to watch their interaction and body language. Before
any of us know it, the class is over. As the students around me pack
their bags, I get up and walk to the front. They are talking softly to
each other, so I stop and wait for them to notice me. The lights glint
off their matching wedding bands as they turn around to me and smile.

"Hello Seven, how are you doing?"

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The End