But when a man is pushed too hard—

Too hard? How could anything be too hard? After what he’s done to us...

It’s only a suggestion, not a fact. We need to be open to all possibilities.

Agreed. I will entertain that one, but will not accept it as an excuse to stop looking. The search continues. Kyle Riker, or his bones, must be found. And in the meantime...

The boy?

Yes. The son. What of him?

He is easily at hand. At the Academy. He thinks he’s going to Saturn for the summer.

Keep him here. I want him nearby. Just in case. If we can’t find the father, there is a certain poetic irony in targeting the son instead. Or in addition, even better...

Yes, in addition. I like that.

I thought you might...

PART THREE

MARCH-JUNE 2357

Chapter 22

Senior year brought Academy cadets more privileges, but also many more responsibilities and a heavier workload than ever before. Will, strangely, found that he thrived under the pressure. Each year had been harder than the one before, but conversely, he had done better each year. The difficulties of his first year had been largely gone by the end of his second, but he was still finding his way then. Third had been a time of emotional upheaval that had sometimes interfered with his performance. This year, though, he had been focused on the work. Attending Starfleet Academy was at the same time a great honor and a very difficult job. By paying more attention to the job part, he found that he was able to maximize his results. The more he put in, the more he took out. His grades reflected that new philosophy.

But with the new rigors and responsibilities sometimes came hard truths. And one of them had just hit home. The famous Vulcan science officer who had served on the Enterprisewith James T. Kirk, Ambassador Spock, was coming to Starfleet Academy to give a lecture. His topic was to be “The Philosophy of Diplomacy, or Why Giving In Isn’t Always Giving Up.”

It would be fascinating, Will knew. Most of his friends were going. They would get an invaluable experience out of it. They might even get to meet Spock himself, who was as close to a living legend as existed in the galaxy today. And the information he would impart would be beyond helpful to anyone considering a Starfleet career. For all these reasons, Will wanted very much to attend.

But he couldn’t. Because by the time Ambassador Spock would be in San Francisco in two days, he would be—finally—on Saturn. Two summers in a row, his assignment to Saturn had been scotched at the last minute. This last summer, there had never even been an explanation forthcoming, just a simple change in orders, keeping him on Earth yet again. But now, he would definitely make it to Saturn. A flight exercise run among Saturn’s moons was taking him and an assortment of other cadets away, and they’d be gone for the duration of Ambassador Spock’s visit to Earth. The exercise was an important part of his grade, and couldn’t be missed, even for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity like the Spock lecture.

The whole situation ticked him off. Ultimately, the Spock lecture would be more educational than flying patterns he knew in his sleep. There has to be a way to make it work,he thought. There just has to.

And of course,he realized, there is.

It took him a while to figure out just who would be the most helpful, but finally he came up with Trinidad Khalil. Trinidad, a third-year student, was a terrific pilot, skilled and comfortable at the conn of any ship he encountered. And Will remembered that he had been present when Spock’s visit had been announced, but he had shown little interest.

Will found Trinidad in the dorm and took him out to an off-campus saloon called the Ready Room. After a few minutes of idle chatter, he brought up the issue there, over tall glasses of Aldorian ale. “So it didn’t seem like you had much interest in Ambassador Spock’s lecture this week,” he said bluntly.

Trinidad shrugged. He was a darkly handsome young man, about Will’s size. “I’m not a hero worshipper or anything,” Trinidad said. “I mean, Spock has made some great contributions, you know? But I’ve read about them. I don’t feel like I need to see him talk about them too.”

“I’d sure like to be there,” Will admitted. He kept his voice low, as there were plenty of students and faculty in the place. Despite the implication of its name, the saloon was styled after the lounge on board a Starfleet vessel, not a captain’s ready room. It was decorated with lots of grays and blues, in sleek lines and stylish curves, and was popular with cadets as well as personnel from Starfleet Command.

“Is there some reason that you can’t be?”

“I’m part of that Saturn exercise. We leave tomorrow. I’ll be flying maneuvers the whole time Spock is here.”

Trinidad’s face brightened. “You got picked for that run? Congratulations, Will. That’ll be such a blast.”

“You really love to fly, don’t you?” Will asked him.

“More than anything. I don’t ever want to make captain, that’s for sure. They hardly get to have any of the fun.”

“It’s too bad,” Will said, trying to sound sincere when things were playing right into his hands. “I want to be here, and you want to be there. And yet, our positions are reversed.”

They sat in silence for a few moments while Trinidad processed the idea that Will had planted. “But do they have to be?” he asked.

Will casually took a sip of his ale and arched an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“What if there was a way to trade places? If I could go to Saturn and fly, and you could stay here and see Spock.”

“I don’t know if they’ll just swap out our orders like that, especially this late,” Will hedged.

“Maybe they don’t need to. We don’t look a lot alike, Will, but we’re about the same build. And no one on Saturn knows you, right?”

“Not that I know of,” Will replied.

“So if I borrowed your identity for a while ...”

“The people going to Saturn to fly with me know me,” Will pointed out. He hadn’t been able to get over this hurdle, though he hoped maybe Trinidad could come up with something.

“But they’re friends of yours, right?” Trinidad offered. He seemed even more excited by the prospect than Will was. “So maybe they could be encouraged to go along with the gag—”

“It’s possible, I guess,” Will relented.

Trinidad raised his glass and held it out toward Will’s. “Come on,” he said. “A toast. To getting what we want.”

Will lifted his glass and clinked it against Trinidad’s, watching the amber liquid catch the light as it sloshed around. “To getting what we want.” He liked the sound of those words.

He wondered what it actually felt like.

After leaving Trinidad at the Ready Room—fortified, he knew, by his success at persuading his friend to take a dangerous chance as well as by several glasses of strong Aldorian ale, Will decided that he wasn’t ready to stop getting what he wanted. His trip back to campus was kind of a blur, but he eventually found himself standing outside Felicia Mendoza’s door. He raised a hand to rap against it, but the door suddenly moved a little farther away than it had been. Looking down, he realized that the whole floor was moving—turning in a slow circle and pulsing up and down at the same time. He thought at first that it was an earthquake, but realized a moment later that it was far more likely the full effects of the ale kicking in. His stomach was making similar motions.

He had come this far, though, so he steadied himself and knocked at the door. It was only after he had done so that he considered the possibility that Estresor Fil might be here, and the embarrassment that might ensue.