((*facepalms self* Gah, I'm so stupid! Sorry!))

Tally's stomach, rumbling fiercely, called her to the mess hall for yet another appetizing meal--appetizing, that is, if your tastebuds had been chemically burned off your tongue. However, what Tally needed was not so much "flavor" as "fullness", and so she heaved herself up off of the cot, put on her smart-looking cap over her blonde hair, and strode toward the mess hall. Yes, she looked the part of a stereotypical "dumb blonde". Yes, everyone--students and faculty alike--underestimated her. No, no one ever came out ahead if they ever crossed her. They found themselves expelled--usually.

These days, who knew? Tally surveyed the cadets as they chowed down.

Good group, she thought. Maybe I'll take my cap off, hide it in my jacket or something, and pretend I'm just an administrative assistant. None of the first-years know who I am, anyway, or what I can do. Easy, right?

"Her own language is very different too," Rani said with a faint smile. "She spoke a little of it last night for me. I thought I'd recognized a few words out of Spanish, but when she repeated it slower, they were nothing alike."

When Irene tapped her and asked if she was alright, Akeirra stirred only faintly. She concentrated on the words and found that she knew them.

"I am... right," she said slowly. Rani put her arm around the alien woman's shoulders.

"She told me last night that she's far better at reading English than speaking it," she said. "Provided she passes the entrance exam, her first and most intensive class will be ESL."

When Aruko asked who felt ready for the exam, Rani grinned.

"I'm ready for anything," she said boldly. She looked over to Akeirra.

"Are you ready for the entrance exam?" she asked, speaking slowly and enunciating every word clearly. Akeirra flashed her a faint grin and nodded.

"Rready," she agreed.

Tally knew when her instincts were right, and when they were dead wrong--and about a certain group of students, she had a funny feeling. A frisson of certainty that they were made of stronger stuff than most "plebes", destined for something special. The thing was, Tally was almost never proven incorrect, either by circumstances or by other people. Thus, she approached the group and sat a reasonable distance away from them. Instructors weren't supposed to get too "chummy" with the cadets, let alone fraternize with them.

She gave a small smile and took a bite of her blueberry muffin, wondering who would be the first to notice the slight wave of her fingers in salutation.

It was Irene who noticed the newcomer and said in a low voice, "Unidentified aircraft three o'clock."

Aruko maneuevered his body to better see what had come in Irene's sights. He appeared to be leaning and studying something else. He popped a bit of toast in his mouth before answering, "It's an instructor."

"How'd you know that?" Irene was surprised.

"Army brat, remember?"

"Right. What's the deal with her sitting here though? I mean don't the faculty have their own mess?" She looked at Rani quizzically.

Aruko hadn't listened but instead was atuned to his own thoughts. He was surprised yet relieved that none of the instructors had pestered him about his parents. His mother was a well respected science officer and his father... well most pilot cadets worshipped him. He had already heard cadets talking about his father and how he had executed a daring maneuever with his fighter and ended up saving his ship. He had rolled his eyes at the cadet's story and had walked away. Even in line in the mess he had heard comments about his father.

To be brutally honest, he wasn't worried about people finding otu who his father was because for the most part, they believed the official story of Rokusians not marrying outside their species or their sister species. Yeah cause look what came out...me. Now sitting there playing with his cup of sludge by swirling it around, he thought about the instructor sitting there munching a muffin. What did she hope to gain by sitting their? Intimidate them all so they'd washout?

"And more importantly, why does she seem to be taking an interest in us?" Damien asked, having finally decided to say something. Last night, it was entirely possible that he and Ray stayed up too late studying for the entrance and didn't get nearly enough sleep. After taking another sip of his coffee and another bite out of his bagel, he got up from the table and approached the instructor.

"Any reason you're so fascinated by us?" He asked her, sounding slightly confrontational.

Irene gave Damien a smack on his arm and said, "Damien, you're not even officially in the Academy yet. Don't screw it up."

Aruko had been studying the instructor while appear to be absorbed in his coffee. He swirled it around before finally answering, "Best to ignore her and let her carry on. Probably an intimidation factor."

Tally raised an eyebrow. "Intimidation? No. That's Sergeant Cul's MO."

She looked Damien and Irene squarely in the eye. Her gaze was not unkind, yet neither was it childlike or unprofessional. It was the look a chess player gives either to their winning position or their worthy opponent. "I'm Tally Voltaic. Resident gladiator here at the Academy. I fight people from 9 to 5."

Surveying the group once more, she said, "If you pass your entrance exams, which I'd bet a hundred dollars all of you will, you'll get a chance to face me in the training arena." A sly grin. "If you win, I do your laundry for a year."

Before any of the "first-years" could speak, a second-year cadet walking by let out a piercingly rude wolf whistle in Tally's direction. In a split second, the Instructor had him on the floor, her shiny high-heeled boot planted firmly in the middle of his chest. She pressed, and the cadet stammered an apology.

"That's better," Tally said coldly. "Get up." He did so, quivering. "This means that I'm transferring you right over to Sergeant Cul's training regiment."

The cadet's face was white as paste. Quivering, he saluted and retreated.

"I guess intimidation is my MO after all," she said. "At least against maggots."

Aruko leaned back and grinned in amusement at the spectacle. "Mom did say you weren't one to pull punches. I'm inclined to agree ma'am."

Irene looked as if her Christmases had come all at once. "Ditto."

Aruko set down his cup of sludge and pushed it away. He liked this instructor and he had heard of Sgt Cul as well. Krishna was the third year combat instructor yet he occassionally would take a squad from second and first year and put them through their paces. He wasn't sure whom he'd prefer but he was willing to give a try. Basic combat was required of all first years. After that, it was elective for fleet candidates and mobile army went into full blown boot. He said, "Nice of you to bet in dollars seeing as we trade galatcicallyin credits. What year are the dollars in? I'm missing 1999." He said it in good humor knowing that Tally was serious but also calling to her challenge. He liked a good challenge.

If he was intending to impress Rani, he had no idea. All that mattered was to pass the examinations and get into routine schedules.

Tally abruptly slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand. "Snap! I meant credits, not dollars. Credits." She blushed. "I haven't had my morning caffeine."

She looked around for any standing cups of coffee. Finding none, she took a tiny syringe out of her pocket and removed the needle cap. "Pure," she said. "Distilled sample. My last name isn't Voltaic for nothing. I had it legally changed from what it used to be--Snodgrass." She heard snickers nearby. "I'm not kidding, cadets. You'd best not laugh, or you'll be next on the floor."

Utter silence ensued. The Instructor glanced at her steel chronometer.

"Got to run," she said quickly. "I'm proctoring the entrance exams in fifteen."

Bolting up from the table, she sprinted like the wind out of the mess hall.

"We should get going as well, then." Ray pointed out. "I'm feeling confident about this. Tired, but confident." Damien commented. "I've managed to read up on ship schematics, command structure, FedCon history, and everything else that might be on the exam."

"Not that stuff," Irene replied. "It's the stuff we learned in high school. Mathematics, writing, the usual as well as basic quantum equations." She was chuckling. "They want to see if we can think first before they teach us specifics. Didn't you read the student package when you signed up?"

Aruko grinned at Tally and said, "Least you can change your name. Sacrilege if I did. At least I would be accused of having no pride in my heritage." Whenally was going on about morning coffee, he had asked if she actually drank the engine sludge and was surprised at how she answered. When she said that she was going to proctor exams, he felt an inward quail at the thought of the instructor Krishna grading his exam. He said over everyoone, "I guess we better get going too. Exams in fifteen."

(Sorry, the closest I've had to an entrance exam was a Math Test that turned out to be a prank by the ESS)

"I did, and I did study that stuff most of the night. I figured that a bit of specifics couldn't hurt. It wouldn't be the first time I've been lied to about what's on a test." Damien clarified. "I'm not an idiot. If I was, I wouldn't be here in the first place."

At that moment, Devon sauntered by flanked by two burly humans who looked better suited to manual labor. They gave off the distinct impression that brawn over brain would ein, It was Devon that spoke though, "If I were you, I would just hop on the next transport back to where you came from. The Academy isn't for losers like you."

Aruko swerved to look at Devon and replied, "And it isn't for the muscle men either nor cadets with a boot up their arse."

"The last inbreeder that made it into the Academy ended serving on a stock frigate as a cook. That's where you're going to end up."

"We'll see," Aruko replied. Inwardly he rankled at being called an inbreeder, the worst name to call a Rokusian. "Exams in fifteen and I don't know about you but I am not going to waste it hanging around you three." He stood up and started walking away motioning to Ray and the others that they should leave.

Irene followed giving a discreet tug on Rani's jacket sleeve. As soon as they were clear, she said, "Damien you never were an idiot. An over prepared space junkie but never an idiot. Those guys are."

Krishna caught them in the hall and barked at them, "Shouldn't you be at the main hall? You have exams in fifteen minutes. FedCON does not tolerate lateness." His eyes swiveled on to Rani and he looked positively fierce with his facial tattoos and double horns looking at her.

In the exam room, Tally took a few moments to collect herself. As a proctor, of course she was supposed to be neutral and not give any "hints" or suggestions to the students, but she still had the ones--in her mind's eye--that she wanted to pass them or fail them. Like the group that she'd just met this morning. Tally wanted every single one of them to succeed on their entrance exams. Failure? That was for losers--real losers, and not simply ones who lost a game or a potential success. Real losers, according to Tally, were cruel, arrogant, rude, condescending, and cared more about rules and regulations than people.

Like Sergeant Cul. Tally gave a quick glance around the room, and outside of it, to see if he were headed in her direction in any way, shape, or form. If he was, she'd steel her spine and wait for the inevitable battle. If he wasn't--great!!!

Devon walked in to his exam room and saw the female combat instructor. He had heard of her and thought her tough but not like Krishna who was known for his fighting skills. He sauntered in and said with Anatolian pride, "Cadet Devon Carson reporting for exam ma'am."

Rani watched the idiots go and grinned at Irene's observations as to what made someone an idiot or not. She nodded in agreement. "Idiots of the highest caliber," she said. And that's when Krishna came upon them, gave them a brief talking-to about lateness, and started trying to stare Rani down. It didn't take long; look up "imposing" in the dictionary, you'd find a picture of that man! Rani looked away quickly, hurrying after Aruko and the others, pulling on Akeirra's hand as well to get the alien woman to follow.

The little gang reached the exam room in a little more than five minutes and Rani found herself hoping they wouldn't be seated alphabetically, though she rather suspected they would. She hoped Akeirra would do well; the woman's English speech wasn't terribly good and her comprehension seemed a bit off, but she had claimed at breakfast to be ready for this. Rani hoped she was. It was too early to break up their little group.

Watching the cadets leave, Krishna grinned in amusement. The girls always gave the same look every time he scolded them, especially the greenies. The boys were about the same but were more reserved about it. One of them stood out and he had read the file on him thoroughly. He had known both of his parents and the circumstances surrounding his birth. He also knew the academic record of the boy and looked forward to treading the entrance exams on the essay portion. He followed them into the main hall.

The main hall had a head table where the graders would be sitting and grading the exams. The desks were lined up in neat rows. All the cadets had to do was come in and sit where they saw their name flashing on the screen on the desk. They would have their exams at that desk and submit where it was randomly sent to one of the graders. He watched as cadets began to file in. He caught sight of Tally who would be proctoring and walked over to her. He asked, "Checked out the new recruits yet?"

**********

"Man I hope he isn't one of the graders," Irene said as they made their way into the hall.

"Major Krishna is the third year combat instructor," Aruko replied. "Well versed in combat history and it is rumored that he will quote history passages from The Art of War in the original Chinese. so yeah I would think he is a grader."

"Frack," Irene muttered. Upon looking at the rows of seats she asked, "Any idea where we sit?"

Aruko looked around. The screens were showing the names of the First Years. A cursoy inspection of the names and the cadets already sitting down revealed that they were arranged in a pattern of one row male, one row female and so forth. "Looks like we gotta look."

As it turned out, Akierra was on his left and Rani was on his right with Irene in front of Rani and Damien and Ray two seats behind him. He sat at his assigned seat and spoke into the voice identification, "Aruko Blackfern." The screen confirmed his ID and bidden him to wait until given instructions to begin the exam.

"I have," replied Sgt. Tally Voltaic, "and, apart from one or two cadets who appear to be genuine anus-holes, they seem like a good group. I look forward to proctoring this exam, because I have a theory that at least 85% of these will pass." She smiled at Krishna. "In certain years, I have my doubts, but not this time. Even the 'greenies' seem fresher than those who have come before. Agreed, sir?" She tapped a red ball-point pen impatiently upon her copy of the exam papers.

Damien sat down in his assigned seat, still with a few butterflies in his stomach. Taking a deep breath, he flashed his ID card in front of the computer, and gave his name, "Damien Holtz". With his ID confirmed, all he had to do now was wait for the instructions.

The clock struck the hour with a loud click, and Sergeant Tally Voltaic stood at attention in the examination room. She surveyed the cadets with a measured glance.

"Welcome to all of you," she said with a smile that was both warm and duly professional. "I am Sergeant Tally Voltaic, and I'll be proctoring this exam. You shall have sixty minutes--one hour--to complete the first portion, and another ninety minutes to complete the second. I wish all of you luck and good recall. May you try your hardest, cadets, and I'll see you on the other side." Sitting back down, she breathed a sigh of satisfaction as the students lifted their pencils and set to work. Ah...the start of another year. I just love it!

((Tally's Note: To stir things up, would someone maybe like to try to cheat on the exam?))

Krishna held out a stylus pen to Tally, "FedCON prefers it electronically Tally. This term you have Delta section." He indicated her seat at the long table that was closest to the window. It was the system set up so only the instructor at that seat will grade the exams that came to that terminal. "However I won't stop you from taking notes on prospects." He grinned with a mischieveous twinkle before fishing out his stylus pen to tap on his assigned screen. He watched the cadets file in taking note of Blackfern and his friends.

**********

Aruko sat wishing he had a scrap of paper to scribble and doodle on. The wait seemed to take forever until Krishna boomed out in a loud voice, "Alright greenies. By now you should have found your seats and identified yourself to the computer. Those that haven't, I'm already disappointed in you.

"Now when told to do so, you will open your exam and complete the necessary question in verbal, reading, math, critical thought, and whatever else is on the exam. At the endof each segment, tap the submit button and it will be sent to one of the instructors up here to grade. Other instructors will be walking up and down the aisles to ensure integrity of the exams. Alright it is exactly 0900 you have until 1500 to complete all portions. Begin."

Aruko tapped the button with his stylus pencil that brought up the exam. It was reading. At the top left corner there was a letter followed by a series of numbers. His read A-2079Great they numbered us so the grader knows who we are. Oh well... He picked up his stylus and began to read the exam.

((The cheating will work as long as no papers or pencils are used lol)))

Tally grimaced, feeling incredibly embarrassed that she had forgotten that FedCON was certainly on board with using the latest technology! What a dolt I am, she thought. I see that group of greenies in the back row snickering. And well they might, but still, I hope they don't pass their exams. Maturity is a key part of having what it takes to succeed here at the Academy, and one of the Top Ten Unwritten Rules is that you don't laugh AT your superiors. You only laugh WITH them, and in this case, I'm not laughing with any of you. She shook her head, but they paid no heed.

Suddenly, she heard the overly-loud stomp of booted footsteps approaching.

Frack! It's Sergeant Cul. No one else moves that noisily when not marching in formation, and he's about to tromp in here when everyone is supposed to be quiet! Tally gripped her stylus pen and waited for the explosion.

Sergeant Cul stormed into the exam room, not giving a whit about silence. He glared at the "greenies" taking their entrance exams, as if each of them were a piece of dog excrement that should be promptly scraped off of his boots. The first person he happened to see out of the corner of his eye was his incredibly lovely (and incredibly flighty) colleague, Sergeant Tally Voltaic. Insect, he thought. You are indeed a beautiful butterfly, but butterflies don't belong at the Academy. This is a military school, not a modeling agency! I don't even know how you even passed YOUR exams.

"Hello, Voltaic," he growled. "Did you forget that these tests were electronic?" Tally still had her yellow wooden No. 2 pencil with her, as well as her stylus.

Tally blushed, but then shot him a murderous glare and put a finger to her lips.

"If these greenies can't handle a little distraction, they're not fit to be here. I need to see you in private, Sergeant." He tapped his foot twice impatiently.

"Shhh. I'm proctoring." She leaned in close. "Can't this wait until later?"

"I suppose it can, but don't keep me waiting. What's my grading section?"

((All the greenies are in the main hall. Think a bit like Harry Potter))

"Tally you're Delta section. Seat closest to the window at the main table," Krishna repeated, not at all daunted by Cul's entrance. "Cul, you're proctoring as usual. Patrol the aisles and look for signs of cheating. And no verbal intimidation."

Krishna thought it best to say it before Cul got it into his head to scare the greenies even if they weren't past the starting gate. He gave a look of warning before heading up to the main plaform and shouting for all the cadets to hear, ""Alright greenies. By now you should have found your seats and identified yourself to the computer. Those that haven't, I'm already disappointed in you.

"Now when told to do so, you will open your exam and complete the necessary question in verbal, reading, math, critical thought, and whatever else is on the exam. At the endof each segment, tap the submit button and it will be sent to one of the instructors up here to grade. Other instructors will be walking up and down the aisles to ensure integrity of the exams. Alright it is exactly 0900 you have until 1500 to complete all portions. Begin."

At the mention of giving the machine her name, Akeirra stared at it, intrigued. Though speech-driven interfaces were not totally foreign to her, this was certainly the first time she'd seen one used in a classroom environment. Then again, the last time she'd been in a classroom for any extended period of time, her instructor had been an almost nine-hundred-year-old Meinari. He had developed his telepathy to the point of using it as an educational tool, drawing his students into shared dreams where they could experience concepts instead of just reading about them.

Shaking her head to clear the memory, she softly spoke her name to the computer. No response. She tried a second time and still nothing. With a faint noise of protest, she lowered her voice, cleared her throat and declared slowly and deliberately, with disgust, "Akira." The computer acknowledged her then and she began, making a mental note to teach at least the computer systems to recognize Meinari speech patterns.

To Aruko's right, Rani had no such issues with her name's pronunciation, but she hadn't missed Akeirra's troubles. She glanced around the young man between them and caught Akeirra's glance, offering her an encouraging smile. Akeirra returned it weakly and the two girls turned their focus back to their own screens. It would be a long test; no time to waste.

Krishna sat up at his place at the grading table. He eyed all the prospective trainees with a practiced eye. For fifteen years he was a drill instructor and specifically those who chose the Mobile Army over fleet. He made sure that any cadet who passed through his classes knew how to fight especially if they went to top brass.

His eyes focused specifically on the group that he met this morning. From the looks of them he knew they weren't dunderheads. Two he guessed would make decent fleet and one maybe the scouts. He was curious about Blackfern though and the strange alien girl, the Meinari. They were rare just as half Rokusians were. He watched as she struggled to make her identity known to the voice recognition system. He made a note himself to have the engineers adapt to her species speech patterns. They had to be readjusted all the time for all the alien species.

Out of sheer boredom, he began tapping his stylus pencil to annoy the cadets and see if it would bother them. He looked at Tally and gave a grin.

Tally winked back. She liked Krishna, with his hard-headed sensibility and a sense of humor that was as dry as good white wine! Compared to him, Sergeant Cul was nothing more than a brute and a bully, which is what he should have been exposed as years ago, in her own opinion. However, at the Academy, hard-liners like Cul had their place and were not easily deposed from their thrones.

There he is, she thought glumly, patrolling this hall like he owns it. Sure, it's his job and his duty, but the Academy belongs to all of us. Also, normally I wouldn't mind a little psychological intimidation at test time, but I prefer the way Khrishna's doing it to the method of our other colleague. Honestly. He deceives everyone, pronouncing his last name just like the word "cool", but he assumes that none of us idiots knows French. "Cul" is pronounced like the letter Q in that particular language, and it means something VERY impolite: a person's "posterior"!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ((look it up if you don't believe me! :P))

((I'll take your word for it Tsy. Hey did you want to create a cadet that would try to cheat?))

Aruko when through the first portion of the exam with a fine tooth comb at a pace he developed during his high school years. It allowed him to work in a timely pace to answer every question and finish before time was up. It was the vocabulary and reading comprehension portion. Personally he thought that it was kind of silly to have this section but his mother pointed out that if you couldn't understand the basic tenets of being a soldier, how in the Frontier Colonies were you going to be able to understand the finer aspects. After that he conceded that she was correct.

He did admit that the reading selections were good ones. He was secretly pleased that he got a portion of the Iliad as it was one of his favorites. The last selection he suspected was something that Krishna would have had put in the exam. It was from Shakespeare's Henry V, the part that had "We few, we happy few. We band of brothers." He glanced up at Krishna who was tapping his stylus and was looking at him with an amused grin. It only heightened Aruko's suspicion that Krishna put that selection in on purpose.

That portion finished, Aruko initialed the last page and hit the send button. He waited until he received the confirmation that it had been received before starting on the next section: Mathematics. He nearly thumped his head when sifted through the pages and found that there were some basic quantum equations in there. True that was an option in schools but most students didn't take it due to the fact that they were specifically for FedCON forces. He took the course but he didn't expect the problems to be like that. He decided to save them for last and more time to work on them. He risked looking at his new friends to get an idea of how they were doing.

**********

Irene went through the basics in the maths easily. It had been her best subject in school and she knew that for any consideration in Fleet you had to have better than decent scores. The quantum basics took some time and she took to tapping her stylus as she thought. She only hoped that Damien was having better luck on the equations.

*********

Devon was sitting back in his chair easily answering the questions put forth on the exam. Being Anatolian, he had the advantage of knowing more about about the higher maths and in classical works and critical thinking. He smirked as he watched the losers try to answer the questions to their exams.

((I was kind of hoping Devon would try! *LOL*))

Damien easily got through the mathematics portion, it being one of his strong suits, along with Physics. Finishing that easily, he moved on to critical thought. It was a bit of a challenge, but nothing he couldn't handle. Is this it? He thought.

Akeirra almost wanted to cry at the first segment of the test. FedCON knew her English wasn't good; why did they bombard her with the language itself at the beginning of her entrance exam? She bit the inside of her lower lip and plunged on, determined. The reading comprehension questions were only a little better, and then only when she realized most of them had something to do with being a soldier. Her expression changed visibly to one of relief when the vocabulary and reading comprehension was over.

She actually looked happy when the test moved her on to dealing with numbers. Though they looked drastically different in her native script, put up three fingers and it was still three units, no matter where you were. She'd mastered English numbers quickly and she dove into the next few sections with a massive grin on her face. She knew this stuff.

Rani on the other hand was locked in a tense mood the entire test. She knew more equations than passages of literature, but her knowledge was fairly widespread and she flat-out hated written tests. In her mind, they were only good for telling who was paying attention in class. While that was a decent enough goal and it helped you keep the complete morons out of the vital fleet positions, they always slipped in trick questions here and there. Rani hated tricks and she always distrusted exams for that reason.

((Lol. Devon would more likely try to show up his lessers))

Aruko initially sensed the distress Akierra went through and concluded that it was the language barrier. He would have liked to say a couple of words of encouragement but with the way Cul was marching with other proctors, he decided against it. The best he could do was silently wish her and all his friends good luck.

At 01300, Aruko finally reached the critical essay portion. He had two hours to write on one of two prompter issues. He tapped the send to send the military history portion off to whoever and set down reading the instructions. There were two questions and he only had to pick one.

Consider the Calaurus Prime rebellion of 2197. Do you agree that the Minister of Science acted accordingly in regards to negotiating trade relations with the Calaurians? Why or why not? Use evidence to support.

Aruko frowned. He disliked ever learning about that in school. He thought it was complete mismangement from the start and done out of greed since the jeneraux crystals were used in powering the quantum drives on certain classes of FedCON ships. He considered it not one of FedCON's greater moments. His eyes skipped to the second one,

It is claimed that the Anatolian Consortium influence was necessary to achieve the technology required to travel greater regions of space...

"Might as well write about Calaurus," Aruko muttered to himself. He had an equally low opinion of the assumed superiority of Anatolians, at least those like the jerk sitting near the back. Might as well write about something that he disagreed with and was passionate about. He immediately began forming a web chart of ideas and evidence for the Calaurus question.

**********

Devon supressed a yawn when he got to the critical essay portion. He eyed his questions before selecting the one that he wished to do. He glanced up and say the half-breed scowling at his questions. Hmpf. Looks like one who thinks he knows more. He then continued to write.

**********

Irene was finishing the last of the military history questions. She felt for sure that she failed that section. It would be embarrasing to be placed at the beginner level but she was prepared to accept it. The anxious feeling stayed while she read her critical essay questions. She glanced upward trying to think about what to do. She read the questions again. Made her choice and began to write.

((Note: Critical essay questions are randomly assigned. If you want to write a particular question, go ahead."

((OK, I've given up on the idea of one cadet trying to cheat. I've got a better idea in mind anyway...))

Test answers were coming in fast and furious, and Tally Voltaic smiled. I was always one of the kids who wanted to finish first, she mused, just to show how smart I was, and how much faster on my feet than the others. However, sometimes that backfired on me. I often thought of my best ideas after I was done with the test, and wished I hadn't been so hasty in the first place. She sighed and began to grade. So far, so good, guys, but...

The first couple of submissions weren't so bad--a few errors here and there, but nothing which deserved a failing grade. However, as she progressed, Tally began to wonder if the cadets who had turned in their sections early had just been incredibly lucky or if a larger plan had been at work. For one thing, many of their answers contained remarkable similarities, and the more of the exams she graded, the fewer and fewer errors she found. Either this group of first-years was full of utter geniuses who should immediately be promoted, or...

"Krishna," she whispered as quietly as she dared. "Please? I need help." She turned her head toward her own console, while Sergeant Cul looked up from his patrolling rounds. What's going on? Hah! It's just like her to be confused by the electronic grading system instead of the pencil-and-paper way.

Krishna had just finished grading a cadet's paper when he heard Tally asking for help. He stifled a sigh. Tally was one of his favorites and she was a brilliant soldier except she was more inclined to using archaic methods and often would confuse certain functions on consoles. It was one of the reasons she didn't quite have the scores for Fleet but he'd take her as an ape any day.

It would be impossible for him to talk to her since it would distrupt the greenies. He gave the customary signal of using his stylus pencil to point at his console to indicate that he would be sending her a message. With ease he typed and sent, What is the problem Tally?

Tally finally found the console interface that would allow her to communicate with Krishna without disturbing the test-takers. Take a look at this, she typed. I'm sending you a link that will allow you direct access to my screen. Sometimes Tally amazed her fellows, being a sort of "idiot savant" with technology. The simplest tasks in the FedCON system would often confound her, and yet oftentimes, she would find rare pathways through the labyrinth that even the most keen computer whizzes could not! However, those moments were few and far between. This one allowed Krishna to see what was going on with Tally's console--and her students. What Khrishna saw confused and amazed him: Could there actually be so many perfect, or near-perfect, scores here?!

See what I mean? Tally typed. I don't think this is a console glitch...

Krishna looked at the data streams that Tally sent him. The group that she was grading did seem to have an unusual amount of right answers. Heck he expected near perfect from Blackfern and he hadn't disappointed so far. This though was unusual. He typed back, I agree that this is unusual. Give me the IDs of the test takers. I'll compare with their school records.

That was the first step. He could scan the cadets for any discrepancies and then he'll have Cul summon them to the Commandant's. Of course leaving them with Cul would give the would be cheaters a different look at the world.

I would expect good scores coming from the group you inspected this morning Tally but I want to make sure on this batch. If there are any more, book mark them.

As the test session continued, Tally kept a careful count of which student exams seemed a little too similar, and which ones actually contained original answers. She entered the student ID's of the cadets that she suspected were cheating and sent them over to Krishna. As for Sergeant Cul, he didn't seem to think that anything was amiss; he simply glared at each "greenie" and moved on.

Krishna began looking through the exams that Tally had sent him. Unofficially he was the chief grader and proctor. Any problems came straight to him. He scanned through the records with the cadets exams. Several were red flags. He tapped n his message write, I suspect someone accessed the testing database and passed them out to friends. Some though are alright.

Tally was shocked: How could they have hacked into our FedCON system so easily? As far as I know, these don't seem like the creme de la creme of computer scientists, although they could be. Something big is going on. I can feel it. The only way that these greenies could have done this is if a) one of our higher alumni gave them the codes and passwords or b) a faculty member did it. Either that, or c) someone is an undiscovered hacking genius, and we need to uncover who it is ASAP. In the meantime, what do you think I should do?

Rani was not the greatest writer in the universe. Her spelling was mediocre at best and her grammar was misplaced about seven times out of ten. Her writing came out like her thoughts, including the occasional Spanish word. She knew that if her score was handed back on actual skill, it would be terrible. If someone cared to sift through all the mistakes, they would find exceptional content. Rani was an exceptional critical thinker, and proud of it, and so she chose the more challenging of the two questions presented to her and began typing away, contented.

Two seats over, Akeirra couldn't decide whether to feel insulted or completely unknown. There were two questions on her screen and it was evident to her that she was supposed to choose one to answer, but neither of them made much sense. Either they thought she understood their language better than she actually did, or they knew her shortcomings and didn't care.

Either way, she picked the choice that made the most sense and made use of as much of her limited vocabulary as she could. All she could do was hope for the best, that they would acknowledge her limited understanding of their language and admit her anyway with the condition that she work extra hard in her intensive English course, which she'd planned to do anyway.

Krishna tapped on his stylus as he managed his multitasking by grading what came in along with examining the exams that seemed out of place. He sent back to Tally, Don't disregard the Anatolians. More likely it was a student of Anatolian background. I've seen this configuration before.

The female Sergeant glanced around at all the test-takers of Anatolian lineage. None of them seemed to be doing anything suspicious; they appeared perfectly quiet, diligent, and hard-working. However, as Tally had known all her life, looks could definitely be deceiving. Take herself: most who did not know her regarded her as a tall, blonde bimbo. What they didn't realize was that she could hit their solar plexus with one hand and make them triple over in pain.

She smiled, remembering the one time when she actually happened to do just that. A smart-mouth "greenie" one year had dared to give her a loud wolf-whistle and lick his lips, and within a matter of seconds, she had him on his knees bawling an apology. Nobody'd better crank MY voltage to high...

Suddenly, the ID number of another completed exam beeped into Tally's console. This is it. I happen to know that THIS greenie isn't what he seems. She sent a message to the offending student's console: Come here. Now.

Krishna had noticed what Tally wanted to do and sent Give me the name before you send for him. Besides it's better if you have Cul remove him/her from the exam room. No need for disturbances.

**********

Aruko had no idea what was going on at the front table but he had just managed to finish his essay on his question. He looked at it with a devil may care look and justified it by saying that it was a critical essay after all. He was training to become an officer and he needed to be able to think. He read his essay one more time and satisfied that he had done everything, he submitted it.

The confirmation light blinked saying that it was received. After that, he had no idea what he was to do next. He still had forty-five minutes before the end of the exam and yet he wasn't sure if he was to be excused or not. So he simply just sat there and tapped his stylus absentminded on the desk, looking with temptation to end the testing interface and look for a connection to the InfoNet. He then noticed a decal that was interesting and clicked on it. It was a library selection of materials to look at while he waited. He clicked on a volume of the Frontier Sieges and began to read.