“Guys, look who’s here. Tori! Hey Tori! Over here!” Cadet Farnham called and waved until Tori Xedon had noticed her friends and made her way to the table in the far corner of the Five Stars.

The two young women hugged before Tori Xedon smiled at the other cadets at the table. “Joshua, Spanik, nice to see you two again.”

“What’s wrong with you, Tori?” Joshua Torvil asked. “All we know is that you are on some special field-assignment, but you don’t call and you don’t write. If nothing else you could at least have told us you were coming back.”

“I am really sorry, but I was just so busy the last few months you wouldn’t believe it.”

“Ah, forget about it,” Joshua replied with a wink. “You know I am pulling your leg.”

Before Tori had time to reply Piontar had stepped to the table. “Cadet Tori, welcome back. Anything I can get you?”

“A glass of tranya would be really nice, thank you Piontar.”

As the El Aurian left, Spanik said, “That was a quick decision. Does that mean you have finally found your favorite beverage?”

“Oh forget about that, Spanik. You always care so much about details,” Jenna interrupted the Aquan as she turned to Tori Xedon. “You wouldn’t believe who was here yesterday. Captain Veal of the Valkyrie, can you believe that? She just walked in here and had a Greek salad and a Bolian tonic. She sat right there.” Jenna Farnham pointed at a bar stool and shook her head. “No idea who that Caitian with her was, but they seemed to know each other fairly well, so I figure her for Starfleet too. Mind you, with both of them in civvies it was hard to tell they were Starfleet in the first place.”

“Captain Veal, really?” Tori was stunned, but quickly recovered from her surprise. “Umm, what do you think of her?”

Josh Torvil leaned forward and pushed a padd aside to rest his arms on the table. “Oh come on. You know the gossip. Brilliant scientist turned command officer. Hero of the Chaos War, defeating the Romulans at Vulcan, numerous successful brushes with the Cardassians. Back on Earth to receive one of the highest decorations in Starfleet, not to mention bringing an ancient Earth colony close to Federation membership. It’s too good to be true. Starfleet is using her as a figurehead, that’s all.”

“You wouldn’t say the same about Picard,” Spanik calmly remarked.

“Oh yeah? You noticed that Veal is half his age? No way she could get such a perfect record in such a short time without help from the powers that be!”

“Oh please, not that discussion again,” Jenna groaned. “You could think Veal is the only woman in the universe if you listen to these guys. Veal, Veal, Veal, even when they are with two gorgeous girls like us.”

Tori Xedon laughed out loud. It was good to be with her old friends again, even if it would perhaps only be for a few days. “Oh come on Jenna. You have an opinion about everything, just like Josh. That can’t be all you think about Captain Veal.”

“Oh and what is this, the scientist analyzing the people around her? Well, let me give you a piece of my mind. I think Veal is as capable as the news and rumor make her. If her career had been helped along by Starfleet or the JCS they couldn’t hide it forever. Would be stupid to place Veal in a position where everyone is looking out for signs of favoritism and putting her career under scrutiny, if there was anything fishy about it. No,” Jenna Farnham shook her head vehemently, “I think what I know about her is true and that means we owe her a lot.”

“I agree,” Spanik said. “But what about you Tori, what do you think about Veal and the Valkyrie?”

“Forget about that for a moment,” Josh said. “You know we all wondered where you had disappeared to, Tori. Let me guess, Starfleet Intelligence recruited you because you are such a computer genius.”

Jenna playfully punched Tori Xedon on the arm. “Listen to that guy. I bet you applied for some field assignment and didn’t want to tell us about it because you were not sure you would get it.”

“And when she talks about betting she means it,” Spanik added. “Josh and Jenna really have a bet running where you had disappeared to. Me, I am just a bit disappointed that you never called or even left us a message.”

“I am sorry guys, I truly am.” Tori looked a bit ashamed and took a sip of the tranya Piontar had placed on the table without ever being noticed by the cadets. “Jenna is right. I got some field assignment and when I left Earth you were all on your survival training in the Kalahari, so I couldn’t reach you.”

“And...”

“When you were back from the survival course I couldn’t get a real-time connection and while I always wanted to write I was just so busy...”

“It’s okay.” Spanik smiled at the Komari. “You always spent so much time at work it comes as no surprise. But now you are here, so you can tell us about it.”

Josh Torvil leaned closer. “Yeah, where have you been? Just tell me they assigned you to some old rust bucket, so I won’t get too jealous.”

“And what’s more important, will you go back to the Academy now? With you here again I hope you will stick around for the next semester,” Jenna said. “I really need some help with subspace theory.”

“I am not certain. That all depends on my CO and what she reports to the Academy.”

Joshua slumped back in his chair. “Oh come on, spit it out. What ship? What CO? Even if it wasn’t as exciting as you hoped for you can tell us.”

As three pairs of eyes turned to Tori Xedon, the Komari wasn’t sure what to say or how to say it. After a few moments of silence she turned in her chair and pointed at the empty stool by the Five Star’s counter. “I think you know my CO and her ship.”

*****

“Thanks for dinner.”

“Don’t mention it.“ Reto Kevas looked at the old Victorian houses on both sides of the street, but his mind wasn’t really on sightseeing. “You have hardly said anything since I picked you up at the Five Stars. If you had wanted to spend the evening with your friends you should have just told me so.”

“Huh?” Tori Xedon tried to focus her thoughts on the Bajoran, which was easier than she had expected. “No, that’s fine. I didn’t even know most of those people.”

“I see. Well, I actually don’t, but I guess it doesn’t matter.” He stopped and gently placed a hand on the Komari’s shoulder. “Is there anything wrong?”

“Why do you say that?”

Kevas took a long breath and sat on one of the low walls separating the parcels from the street. “We have known each other for what... something like three months? In all that time we always found something to talk about, but not today. If it’s something I have done, perhaps you should just tell me, because I can’t figure out what’s wrong.”

“No, it’s not you.” Tori sat down by Kevas’s side and absentmindedly brushed a strand of hair from her face. “It’s the Captain.”

“Captain Veal? Is that why everyone back at the café was paying you so much attention?”

“Yes.”

“Now I see.” Kevas rubbed his forehead. “I ran into the same thing. Met some people I know and once they remembered that I was on the Eclipse during the war they started to pester me with all sorts of questions about the Captain.”

“It’s like we are not important at all. I mean, we really are not that important, I think, but once you mention the Valkyrie it’s like... I don’t know.”

“Yeah, it’s just crazy.” The Bajoran shook his head. “Than again people like you and me may not really matter in the grand scheme of things.”

“Don’t say that!” Tori protested. “Everyone matters, not just the captains and admirals, but everyone.”

Reto Kevas shot a quick glance at the Komari before he looked up at the darkening sky and the first stars becoming visible over San Francisco. “That sounds just like something the Captain might say.”

Tori shuffled her feet for a moment and glanced at the young Bajoran from the corner of her eyes. “Well... it’s still true, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know. I really don’t know if you or me really matter or not.” Kevas turned his head and looked in the Komari’s solid brown eyes. “All I know is that the crazier things get, the more I want to look for something that matters to me.”

He touched her hand and wrapped his fingers around it. “Come on, the evening is still young. Why don’t we just have some fun and forget all the missions and admirals for one evening?”

*****

Reto Kevas rose from the bench in front of the Academy’s administration center where he had been waiting patiently. It was early in the afternoon and the sun was shining from a clear blue sky, but the air still had a chill to it, carried from the sea by a strong salty-smelling breeze. Having spend a lot of his life on starships Kevas had become used to warmer temperatures and constant environments, but today he hardly noticed the cold.

“How did it go?” he asked Tori Xedon who had almost passed by him before she noticed the Bajoran.

“Huh? Oh, sorry, there is so much on my mind I...”

“No need to apologize,” Kevas stopped her apology. “I imagine it doesn’t happen every day that a cadet gets to see the Academy’s Superintendent. So, how did it go?”

“I am not certain. Admiral Foster asked a lot of questions, but most of them were about the senior officers of the Valkyrie, not my own work or my studies. I am not sure what to make of it.”

She started to walk along the paths of the Academy gardens, but walking along by her side Reto Kevas had the distinct impression that the Komari had no idea where she was headed for. “Perhaps he just wanted to make sure you receive good training on the Valkyrie. As far as I know only the Captain has any previous teaching experience. Could be that Admiral Foster just wanted to see if you feel like you are in good hands.”

Tori Xedon thought about it for a moment and the bewildered look slowly left her face. “Could be that you are right. Or perhaps he just wanted to see if I could give him some diplomatic answers to questions about my superior officers.”

She stopped and tried to get her bearings. Pointing to the left she said: “I want to go to the library. It’s this way.”

“Must you? I was hoping we could spend some time together this afternoon.”

“I am sorry Kevas, but it looks like I will have to take several exams together with everyone else and I really need to start seriously working on Exochemistry or I will never make it through that test. Maybe we can get back together after dinner?”

Reto Kevas tried to hide his disappointment behind a smile. “Okay. I guess it can’t be helped, but there is something I really need to know. Once those exams are over, will you come back to the Valkyrie or will you stay here at the Academy, Tori?”

*****

“Fancy meeting you here.”

Reto Kevas looked up from his untouched cup of coffee to see whom the unfamiliar voice belonged to, but before he could place the face, the female cadet had already plopped down in a chair by his side. “Oh it’s you. You are one of Tori’s friends from the Five Stars, right? I am sorry, I didn’t get you name yesterday.”

“Jenna Farnham. And yes, me and Tori, we are best friends. Now what brings you to the Starfleet History Museum? I am sorry if that sounds like a rather blunt question, but I had a feeling you would be with Tori, but if you left her all to her own and she didn’t call to tell me that she had some time to spare I am going to get seriously angry with her, you know, not to mention how angry I am going to be with you if you pretend to be her friend and just left her all alone.”

Her wink and smile almost escaped Kevas as he wondered if Jenna belonged to some human-looking species he had never heard of before – one that absorbed oxygen by talking instead of breathing.

“Neither. She went to the library to study for an exam in, what was it... exochemistry.”

“Urgh. I have a hard enough time remembering how chemistry works in M-class conditions. Why anyone would voluntarily bother about how it works in exotic environments and such escapes me. Oh well, if Tori wants to delve into this stuff that’s her business.”

“True,” Reto Kevas agreed. He had resented the intrusion into his privacy, but there was a lively, bubbly, quality to Jenna that made it hard not to like her. It almost hid the worry that showed in her eyes whenever she mentioned Tori Xedon and Kevas was surprised that he had noticed it. ‘Perhaps getting to know Cal better has taught me a few things about people hiding their feelings behind an outgoing attitude.’

Than again, it wasn’t his business. If Jenna wanted to talk about Tori she would probably do so. “I am curious myself,” the Bajoran tried to take control of the conversation’s direction. “Looks to me like your major is command, so what brings you to the Starfleet Museum?”

Jenna sighed mightily and slammed a padd on the cafeteria table. “I have to write a paper on the development of impulse drive systems throughout Federation history. I should have done all my basic engineering courses last year, but there was so much else to do. Hey, wait a minute!” The grumpy expression vanished from her face as suddenly as it had come over her. “You are an engineer. Could you help me with it? Should be easy for you.”

“Looks like I have nothing better to do today, so why not?” Kevas reached for the padd and called up the index. “Okay, let’s take a look at what you have so far.”

*****

“The way you explain it, it all sounds so easy,” Jenna said after almost two hours. She peered at the museum exhibit she and Reto Kevas were standing at and followed the EPS conduits of the Runabout’s impulse engine with her eyes.

“Well, it’s one of the few things I am good at. I am just glad you didn’t ask me about computers or sensors.”

“I wouldn’t.” Jenna straightened and grinned at the Bajoran. “If I want to know anything about systems engineering I’ll ask Tori. She is pretty good at it for a scientist, especially with computers.” She took a few notes on her padd before heading back towards the cafeteria. “Speaking of Tori, do you know if she will stay at the Academy now or go back to the Valkyrie?”

“I wish I knew,” Kevas sighed. “It looks like the decision hasn’t been made yet.”

Jenna shot him a quizzical glance Kevas never noticed. “It sounds like you would want her to come back to the Valkyrie with you. You like her a lot, don’t you?”

The Bajoran stopped and his brows furrowed in deep concentration. “Yes,” he slowly replied, “yes, I really like her a lot.”

After a few seconds he started to walk again and Jenna hurried after him. “Oh come on, is that all there is to it – just liking her?”

“That’s none of your business.” The moment the words came across his lips Kevas regretted his caustic tone, but now it was too late.

“Oh yeah? You think so?” Jenna Farnham poked a finger in his ribs. “You seem like a nice enough guy, but don’t you think that I will let you break Tori’s heart just because you helped me out on my engineering paper. I have always looked out for her since the first day we met and I’ll be damned if I’ll ever let that change, Mister Bajoran. So you better give me a straight answer before I decide that I don’t care if you are some sort of war hero or not and just teach you a lesson you’ll never forget!”

“Damn it! What’s wrong with you?” Reto Kevas struggled to keep his voice down, despite the museum being nearly devoid of visitors. “We are friends and whatever you think of me, I won’t let my friends down.”

“And perhaps I wish we could be more than just friends, but what’s the use of thinking about that when we could go our separate ways again in a week?” he added in a nearly inaudible voice.

He looked up and his own emotions vanished, replaced by the sadness and regret and loss in Jenna’s features. It took him a moment to realize that what he saw was much stronger than just her fear of being separated from a friend again.

“Why didn’t you tell her?” Reto Kevas softly asked.

“Because I know that all she sees in me is a friend. Do you think I want to lose that?” She turned away and started to stride towards the nearest exit, only to be stopped after a few meters by the Bajoran calling after her.

“Jenna. If Tori comes back to the Valkyrie I will take good care of her, but if she stays at the Academy, you should really tell her. She will notice it sooner or later and you can’t hide it forever.”

Jenna Farnham just nodded vigorously and headed away from the Bajoran as fast as she could without breaking into a run, if only to hide the tears from him that had started to freely flow down her cheeks.

*****

The Five Stars was packed with cadets and Reto Kevas felt somewhat out off place, but having a table in the corner with just Tori and her friends was good enough for him. Everyone was celebrating passing the latest Academy exams and all around the room there were laughs as cadets enjoyed their success or poked friendly fun at their comrades who had not done as well as they might have expected.

All in all it was a cheerful atmosphere that reminded the Bajoran of the sense of camaraderie he had found on both the Eclipse and the Valkyrie. But what made the evening special for him was seeing Tori laugh so often.

Not that her friends weren’t interesting enough. Jenna and Joshua both reminded him of Caleb Foster as they tried to outdo each other on cock and bull stories and just made fun of each and every topic that sprang up.

And their Aquan friend Spanik took it all in stride, the stoic attitude of a Vulcan combined with a wry sense of humor that always challenged his fellow cadets to more ridiculous stories and provoked them in ways that brought out the best and most hilarious in them, while he just looked on and quietly enjoyed the evening.

Kevas couldn’t help but think of Spanik as the Dar Enikal to the Cal Foster and Moira O’Shea he likened Josh and Jenna to. But by drawing that analogy he couldn’t help likening Tori Xedon to Captain Veal, as she observed, laughed, smiled, but still stayed subtly, almost imperceptibly, outside the group while still being part of it.

Kevas turned from Spanik - who was sitting next to him and had just finished a tale of a survival training in the Kalahari dessert - and shot a glance at Jenna. They hadn’t seen each other in a week. What would she think of him now? What had she told Tori?

The Bajoran waited until he was certain he had her attention and slightly motioned his head away from the table he shared with the four cadets.

“Have you told her?” Kevas asked when he was certain they had moved far enough from the table not to be overheard by Tori and her two other friends.

“No.” Jenna shook her head and rested her crossed arms on the counter. “I haven’t. I still don’t know if she will go with you or stay with me.”

Reto Kevas leaned on the counter by the Human’s side and looked at the table in the corner. “I had a lot of time to think about it and you know, I don’t think she will stay with you or me. At least we shouldn’t look at her this way. “ He turned his head and looked down over his shoulder at Jenna. “Tori is just her own person. I think we are both wrong if we want to keep her to ourselves. There is a lot for her to be, a lot she can be. We should just let her find her own way and wait what happens. I think we owe her that if we really want to be her friends, don’t you think?”

Before Jenna had a chance to answer Joshua Torvil loudly repeated the question that Tori had just answered. “Say again? Will you go back to the Valkyrie or not?”

“You heard me the first time, Josh,” Tori insisted.

“Yeah, I did, but I think everyone here wants to hear about it.”

*****

“I am going back to the Valkyrie.”

The room erupted in a cacophony of murmurs and cheers as every face in the Five Stars turned to Tori Xedon – every face but one.

Reto Kevas looked down on the counter and mumbled: “I am sorry, I really am.” He felt what he said, despite his own exhilaration.

 “Don’t be sorry. Just keep your promise and take good care of her.”

Kevas shot a sideways glance at Jenna and was surprised by her warm smile. “I thought you would be disappointed, to say the least.”

“I am, but I know that with you she is in good hands. The Valkyrie may not be the safest place to be, but I trust you to take care of her.”

She moved away, but Kevas got hold of her arm just before Jenna was out off reach. “Will you tell her?”

“I am still not sure.” Jenna Farnham sadly shook her head at him. “Not that it will make any difference. Tori’s life is no longer at the Academy or with her old friends, even if she will be back in a few weeks or months. You are her new family now. But what about you? Will you tell her how much she really means to you?”

“I want to, but I’ll wait for the right moment, give her some time to figure it out on her own. I guess I feel like you must have. I don’t want to risk what we have, by confronting her with something she might not be ready for.”

“You are sweet. Just hold on to that and I know Tori will be in good hands.” Jenna brushed a fleeting kiss on the Bajoran’s cheek and gently shook her arm free of his grasp. “In another place and time, who knows... “

The cadet turned away from Reto Kevas and walked off to rejoin the life she knew, the camaraderie she knew would soon be gone forever. She sat down at her friends’ table and started to chat and joke and smile again, but her heart wasn’t in it. Jenna could see that Tori was happy and that should have been enough for her, but deep down inside she knew it wouldn’t be enough – not for a long time.

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