“What are the key components of a warp nacelle?”  Natalie Harris sat at a study table in the library attached to the Montgomery Scott dormitory.  Four PADDS lay across the surface while she took notes on a fifth, muttering through the various questions she needed to answer for the project she’d been assigned in her Warp Systems Engineering class.  She’d made it through her first day of classes.  There had been plenty of familiar faces to smile at and a few stares to ignore.  Her chrono clicked over to 2100.  She’d found an isolated corner to study and refresh her mind on engineering.

Harris had ignored the messages her old friends from last year had sent her as word of her return spread through her class.  She initially thought about reuniting with them and spending the evening with them.  Yet, something had crept out from the back of her mind, giving her pause.  She had made friends back at Harris Transport.  She’d struck up a kinship with Elizabeth McKee and found a friend in Jordan Reid.  Between the two, she felt like she had found people who cared for her in a way she hadn’t felt recently.

She hadn’t heard from her friends here since she’d left.  Not a message or even a call.  She hadn’t thought much about it until she lay in her shared bedroom last night.  There had been smiles and bright eyes this morning from people she knew last year.  Where had those things been in the time she’d been away?  Was she meant to reconnect with her fellow cadets?  Or did she need to go it alone and rely on those who had shown their care, concern, and compassion?

“Cadet Harris.”  She startled at the voice and snapped her head up to find the face of a fellow cadet standing across the table from her.  She glanced at his rank.  He was a sophomore, just like her.

“Can I help you?”  Natalie glared at him, annoyed at the interruption.

“I’m…uh…Cadet Philip Goldsmith.  I’m in your class.”  His eyes were wide, and his body language told her he was not enjoying talking to her.

She eased up a little, “I figured as much,” she nodded at his rank on his uniform.  “You want to sit down?”  She gestured to the chair he had a death grip on.  It took him a moment, but he nervously took the seat.  She returned to her studying and note-taking, “What can I do for you, Cadet Goldsmith?”

Philip swallowed and wiped his sweaty palms on his slacks.  He rocked back and forth in the chair for a moment before he noticed she’d stopped reading her books and was now staring at him.  “I…uh…The Commodore suggested I seek you out.  I’m a transfer from Starfleet Academy back on Earth.”

Her stare softened, and she sat back in her chair, “So you’re alone.”

Goldsmith shrugged softly, “My parents wanted me to join The Fourth Fleet. My first year at The Academy on Earth wasn’t…great.  They said it was the best place for a lost kid like me.”  His face reddened at his transparent confession, “It sounds pretty depressing when I say it out loud.”

Harris asked, “What do you mean, a lost kid like you?”  He wasn’t terrible to look at, but she also had a feeling where the answer was going.

“I’m a quiet one, Cadet Harris.  I’m on the science track with a focus on Stellar Cartography.”  His eyes stared at the table, but he smiled as he spoke, “I love maps…I love the details, the variables, the reporting, the scanning, the examining. There’s just something amazing about mapping the Undiscovered Country…it might sound weird, but it feels like my brain is on fire while I’m working on it.”  His soft shrug returned, “I don’t fit in with the science grouping with our class – they’re mostly Vulcanology,  Meteorology, and Geology.”

Natalie eyed him for a moment.  She wondered how devious Commodore Bale had been in sending Philip her way.  Or had it been an observation on his part that she would need a new friend to journey through the next three years of the academy?  She wasn’t sure of the answer, but she trusted the man.  “Well, I’m working on my engineering project.  I’m sure you got assigned your project.”  He sheepishly pulled out his PADD and showed her the rubric.  She glanced through it, “OK, I think we can help each other.  There’s plenty of overlap there.  You’ll need some PADDs from the shelf to start digging into the research.”

Philip stared at her, open-mouthed how quickly she had accepted him.  It usually took others considerably more time to find a connection with him.  “Why…are you helping me?  Aside from Bale telling me to find you.  You could ignore it.”

Harris chuckled, “If I was insane, sure.”  She looked him square in the eye, “We’ve both got three years ahead of us, Cadet Rosencrantz.  We might as well try to find a way to get through it together…there’s no way we make it on our own.”

He mused, “I don’t know whether to be insulted or complimented….and call me Phil.”

She returned the mused look, “You choose how you feel about my words, Phil.  And call me Nat.”  She pointed at the PADD checkout, “Enough of whatever that was.  Let’s get working.”