Prelude To Titanic || Book VIII ~UNDER SERIOUS EDITING

9| Afternoon Comfort ~UNEDITED

*WARNING!!! Damien Picard doesn't speak English. All of his dialogue will be in italicized, underlined French with the English translation following in un-italicized bold-print.

Mild to harsh language.

"In order for Klingon warp flight to take place, wouldn't you have to use an artificial quantum singularity in the warp core to harness the energy necessary to power it?" I ask Natalia as we pour over our notes in Robotics next period.

"No," she says. "You're thinking of a Romulan starship. Klingon reactors use a tritium intermix, which has to be generated at a sufficient level in order to achieve warp."

"I thought Klingons used dilithium crystals, like us?"

She shakes her head, blonde hair spilling out of her messy bun. "Wrong again. They haven't used dilithium for like a hundred years."

"Right......right, I forgot." I take off my reading glasses and rub at my eyes while trying to stifle a huge yawn.

"Are you okay?" Natalia asks. "Do you need to see the nurs-"

"No!" I hiss. "I don't need to see the nurse. What I need is for everyone to stop concerning themselves with me!"

She grabs me by the shoulders. "Look. I don't know who pissed in your Gorn Flakes this morning, but it wasn't me. So please direct your attitude towards someone that will tolerate it."

I am taken aback. Ardelya is usually the volatile one. Since when did Natalia become so aggressive?

"I'm sorry, Lia," I say. "My mind isn't really functioning properly right now. You'll have to excuse my previous rudeness."

"It's fine," she replies, giving my broken hand a squeeze. I flinch.

"What's wrong? What happened to your hand?"

"Sprained it in the Holodeck."

"I'm messaging Grandma Beverly. She doesn't teach the Junior cadets this hour so she should be over at the Medical Academy."

"No!" I cover her PADD with my hands so that she isn't able to see the screen. "Don't bring her into this."

Natalia pushes my hands away, brushing against the broken one. I bite my tounge to keep from hollering out in pain. "Don't bring her into what?" she asks. "She's just gonna fix your hand. Or would you rather drink Ardelya's augmented blood?"

I cringe. "No."

Natalia gives a satisfied smile. "Alright then. Grandmother it is."

About two minutes later, the classroom doors open, and in comes the Head of Starfleet's Medical Academy, medical bag in hand.

"Hey Grandmother!" Natalia shouts from the back of the room. Dr. Beverly smiles at her granddaughter. "Continue with your work," she mouths to her.

Professor Chekov looks up from marking papers. "Yes, Doctor?" She asks in that Russian accent of hers.

"I was wondering if I could borrow a colleague of mine for a while. Leanna Riker?"

The professor smiles. "Ov course. Just haf her back by ze end of da period."

She waves me over. "Come with me, dear." I follow her.

"Thanks again, Paulina," she calls to as the doors shut.

"Walk with me," Dr.Beverly says.

"Are we going over to the Medical Academy?" I ask hopefully while attempting to keep up with her powerful strides.