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.I hadn't anticipated them leaving a guard.""I shouldn't have done –""You did.""Okay, so yeah.But I'm telling you now, if you try this again, I'll report you.Right to the top, not to my father."Sven laughed, and Jim hadn't known the guy could sound that.nasty."And if you do that, you're going down, too.""You think I don't know that? That's why I'm saying you need to stop this now.It's not worth it.For fuck's sake, Sven – a cadet died.Doesn't that mean more to you than your fucking engine design?"Jim blinked.Felt his mouth fall open.No.This isn't right.It's impossible.It's paranoia.This isn't –"If Kirk hadn't altered the engine schematic during his flight, the test device would have been harmless.It would have continued tracking engine output and rerouting power, only.But the power reroute clashed with his modifications."NO."Why'd you have to use his shuttle, Sven? God, Kirk's the one guy on campus who wouldn't let an efficiency drop go unnoticed.Of all the people, why him?""Because I have his passcode.He's very predictable, and not so careful around me.When I showed him a few engineering tricks, I saw him use it.So I had access to his shuttle.""Are you really that heartless?""I'm a scientist.I care for results." There was a loud thud."If you hadn't caught me in the hangar the first time, you would have nothing to do with this, just as if Kirk had not touched the engine, he would not have crashed.This is not your design.If you want out of this, leave now, but my research is too important.Now that there's a chance to have my design accepted for the competition, I need to try it again."Jim felt a deep fury slowly building in his chest as his shoulders tightened and fists clenched.This wasn't paranoia.This was real.It was right in front of him, and there was no way to mistake what he was hearing."Then do it the right way! Talk to the Engineering research admins.I'll pull strings with my father.Just don't –" Romano was pleading now."My proposal was rejected twice," Sven said flatly, "without the Engineering professors even testing the computer models.I approached one of the engineering teams in the competition with my design, and they also rejected me.It's because I'm only a Cadet Third Class.But my design is flawless.It's going to work.And I'm going to do it.So either get out of my way, or we both take the fall.I doubt you're willing to sacrifice your career for this."And Jim had heard quite enough.He punched his passcode into the door panel, and as soon as it slid opened, be burst into the room.Romano and Sven were almost nose-to-nose, but turned in shock as Jim stormed in."I've heard enough.""Kirk! I.you were.you heard." Romano stammered, eyes wide with fear."Shut up! You knew all along.The whole fucking time, Romano!" He stepped up to Sven, glaring.Heat and red crept up in his vision as his world zoomed in on the pale, peaky face of his roommate."And you.You.you fucking bastard! It was you! You –"For a second, Jim's gaze slipped past Sven's shoulder to the desk, covered in its usual mess of electronic bits and equipment, but this time, there was also something disturbingly familiar.It was a small box-shaped device.A few wires and conduits protruded from various ports on the box.Generally, it was quite nondescript, but familiar.so familiar.And then it all clicked together, memory coming back to him in a dizzying rush.He'd seen that box before.Just once.In the shuttlecraft engine.Moments before he'd crashed.Growling, he shoved Sven out of the way and grabbed the device off the desk."This was it, wasn't it? A goddamned fucking test device! This caused the mess in the engine!" With a howl of rage, he hurled the box across the room, narrowly missing Sven's head.It slammed into the bookshelf, sending a row of books, holo frames, and other items crashing violently to the ground."Kirk, calm down.Let's –""DON'T! Don't fucking talk to me, Romano!" he snarled as he stormed at Sven, grabbing the guy by the shoulders and pushing him back against the wall, slamming him hard with a satisfying thud."You should have reported this.You should have fucking told me, you asshole! Tell me why I shouldn't break your fucking neck, you goddamned bastard!"Confronted by the sudden physicality, Sven only gaped at him wordlessly, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.Jim shook him, slamming him against the wall again."Well!? Give me one goddamned reason why I shouldn't! You wanted to practice your engineering bullshit on my shuttlecraft.Tell me why I shouldn't practice my hand-to-hand on you! Tell me!"Romano held up a hand."Kirk, don't.it's not – ""Shut up!" Jim hauled his arm back, cocking his elbow and clenching his hand into a fist.Sven squeezed his eyes shut, like the pathetic coward he was, and that was all it took.With a roar of fury, Jim drove his fist right past Sven's face, missing his nose by inches, and smashed his hand clear through the wall.The room went dead silent.Slowly, Jim pulled his fist out of the hole he'd just made in the duraplast wallboard, noting with a sick satisfaction that the edges of the hole had blood on them.Sven's eyes popped open when he realized that Jim wasn't about to hit him, and he stared with terrified eyes, clearly not sure if he should stay very still or run for his life.Jim took a step back, but lowered his head, glaring darkly."Get out," he growled."Both of you.Get out."Romano took a hesitant step towards him."Kirk, maybe –""I said get the fuck out of here!"Sven blinked once, and then moved faster than Jim had ever seen him move before.He grabbed his boots without putting them on and rushed out the door.Romano stopped in the doorway.For a moment, looked like he was going to say something, but Jim took a step towards him, and he went slightly pale and hurried out the door.The door slid shut, and Jim was alone in the room.He felt like something had been ripped from him.There had been no malicious sabotage.It hadn't been Terra Prime.It wasn't attempted murder.It had been his fucking roommate, doing a goddamned experiment.And if he'd left it alone.hadn't tried to fix the unexplained drop in efficiency.like Tambe had told him.Tambe would still be alive.It was all so.pointless.He felt so numb that it almost came as a surprise when his hand started to ache.Jim lifted up his right hand and stared at it in detached amusement at the blood oozing down from his smashed knuckles.A couple of bones were obviously broken.Bones.A twisted laugh worked its way through his throat.Bones
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