Jaxon Thorne stood in front of Ensign Kroll, Ensign Voss and Lieutenant O’Connell. He grinned at the three of them.

“I am systematically going through the crew and testing on security protocol. Today it is your turn. I have set up a program for the three of you. The object is to make it to the bridge so that Lieutenant O’Connell can take this computer stick and flood the computer with it to eliminate a virus that has been loaded into the systems by an unknown enemy. The object is for the three of you to work together to reach your goal. If one of you fails. You all fail. Any questions?”

“Can we adlib.” Taren asked. “Or are there perimeters we need to stick to?”

“The program will adapt to your decisions to a certain extent.” Jaxon replied. “But there are several ways to beat the program. The enemy will not “know” where you are or what your plan is but they will do whatever necessary to keep you from succeeding.”

“Can we improvise with what we find in departments?” Reeve asked. “The ship will be normally stocked.”

“Yes.” Thorne nodded. “This program is an exact replica of the Paso Robles. Anything you normally would use, you will find here.’ He paused. “The only rule is you cannot kill the enemy. You must make it your objective without harming this endangered species.”

“This sounds like fun.” Teran grinned at the other two. “I’m ready whenever you are.”

Teral rolled his eyes. “Fun? If you say so.” He was the weak link. A scientist whose specialty was not infiltrating areas and finding ways to beat the enemy. He knew he could hold his own but he was not much at improvising. “What if we fail?” he said to Jaxon.

“Then you come back tomorrow and go through a new one until you pass.” Jaxon said seriously. “Everyone on the ship will be taking a test.” He paused. “Not the same one however, each one will have a different spin to it.”

“So we basically take this stick.” Reeve said. Get by our enemy. I will run this program into the system and we have passed.”

“You make that sound so easy.” Taren spoke up. “I have a feeling it won’t be.”

“There will be some bumps in the road.” Jaxon warned them. “Remember you cannot kill anyone and that it is all or nothing. You are a team. You need to work together to solve this. If one of you gets hit with red paint…it’s over.”

“Piece of cake.” Reeve said to Taren and Teral. “We can do this! We just need to work together.”

Teran was confident, maybe a little too much but he just felt good about it. He looked to Teral. “You ready?”

“Yes.” Teral nodded his head, though not as confident as the other two were. He did not spend a lot of time on security protocols, more on exploration and science. He thought then that maybe this would be good for him. It was time he came out of his comfort zone and tried something new. He looked at Jaxon. “We are ready!”

It was several hours later when Teral, Reeve and Taren made it to the bridge. The enemy was closing in on them but Taren and Tarel held them off while Reeve made it to the operations console and put the stick in, running the program.

“Computer end Security Program AC691.” Jaxon’s voice was heard. The room was suddenly empty and Lieutenant Thorne stood in front of them with a smile on his face. “You have successfully completed your training. Let’s go over how the three of you feel having finished it.”

“Teral really stepped up for us.” Taren spoke up. “He came up with a plan to keep the enemy busy and away from the bridge. While he was putting that together, Reeve and I made our way towards the bridge.”

“You worked as a team.” Jaxon nodded, impressed by all of them. “Ensign Kroll?”

“It was a good learning experience for me.” Teral admitted. “I knew I could defend the crew if I had to but I didn’t realize until today that I actually made a difference. I really thought I was going to hold the others back and instead I made a difference.” He felt uncomfortable saying that in front of them but he prided himself on his honesty.”

“We all have areas where we are strong.” Taren spoke up. “I could have come up with a diversion but mine would have gotten them killed. Teral…he used his scientific genius and found a way to stall or incapacitate them without killing them.”

“And Taren used his engineering tactics to trap some of them in areas so that they could no longer pursue us.” Reeve interjected. “It was really a group effort for all of us.” He looked from Teral to Teran. “I learned that we are stronger as a team than trying to go it alone. At first I wanted us to split up but the other two were against it.”

“There is always strength in numbers.” Taren explained. “We each brought something to the table.” He smiled widely then. “We passed the first time!” He felt really good about this.”

“The captain will be pleased.” Jaxon replied. “The others will be getting their testing in the weeks to come but it will be different than yours.” He smiled at them. “Coming up with these scenarios is my strong suit.”

“How about we go get something to eat.” Reeve suggested to the other two. “I’m kind of hungry after all of this.” He turned to Teral and Taren. “You up for it.”

“Yes.” Teral agreed and they headed on their way to the mess hall. A few minutes later they sat down, each with a cup of coffee. “I have to admit that was really invigorating.”

“I thought we were going to be goners.” Taren admitted. “When the aliens started down the corridor and we were running to the bridge.”

“Oh we were!” Reeve nodded his head. “But Teral here came to our rescue with his scientific knock out drug he made from his plants.” He grinned at him.

“It was nothing.” Teral shook his head. “I just improvised with what I had in front of me.”

“You should come play handball with us some night.” Taren said to him. “It would be nice to have another person to play with.”

“I’ve never been good at sports.” Teral confessed. He was always the last one chosen in gym class.

“How about you come lift some weights.” Taren suggested. “Or walk on the treadmill. There is nothing like exercise to boost your confidence.” He paused. “I used to be a lot like you, man. Believe it or not I was considered a geek to most of the kids at school. All I wanted to do was take stuff apart and put it back together.” He grinned then. “But I discovered football and I was good at it.”

“You played football.” Teral was a little surprised. Teran was so into engineering, it almost seemed like his whole life. Kind of like him and science.

“I did.” Taren nodded. “And other sports. Just give it a try. You showed today that you are more than just a science officer.”

“He’s right.” Reeve nodded. “And I feel like going through this test has made us all friends. We are here for you.”

Teral smiled then. He had always been the quiet, solitary type. But today he had seen a side of himself that he didn’t know existed. “So, when are we playing handball?” He asked as the scene fades away.