Fic: Those Who Can
Title: Those Who Can
Author: jeeshee
Characters: Kara, Zak
Spoilers: None (pre-mini)
Length: 2779 words
For merrykk who requested "Kara pre-series, either while on her way to a pro-pyramid career or as a flight instructor"
“Listen up kids. You’re going to be seeing a hell of a lot of me over the next few years so we need to get some things straight. My word on this court is law. If you don’t follow it, you’ll be off the team. As far as you’re concerned I’m a god, okay? Because if we want to win the championship, and gods know I’ve been waiting for a chance to blow Arcadian High out of the water for a long time, you’re going to have to trust that I know how to do things a lot better than you do. So when I tell you to pass, do it. When I tell you to drop, do it. And Thrace? If I see a foul like that again your ass is history, got it?”
“Yes.”
“Yes?”
“Yes, God.”
“Good girl.”
* * * * * * * * * * *
First days did not suit Kara. Her first day of school she’d tripped up the stairs on her way in, skinning her knee and making a hole in her tights that she knew her mother would yell at her for. A fat boy in the class above made a rude comment and gave her a smug grin that soon disappeared when she kicked him between the legs (hard).
Her first day at the Colonial Military Academy hadn’t exactly been successful either. She was monstrously hung over from the welcoming party held at the nuggets’ dorm, and had spent the whole day holding her head in her hands and remembering snippets of the night in flashes that made her face burn red. Even more mortifying was having to run out of the first lecture to puke in the bathroom - she supposed she was pretty lucky the early nickname “Upchuck” hadn’t stuck, or worse still become her callsign.
But today - today had to be different. It was a miracle they’d let her have the job after her recent performance. Then again, what commander would have her?
Do not frak this up. Do NOT frak this up, she told her reflection as she glanced into the mirror, straightening her dress jacket. Gods, who let me become a teacher? Worst student ever. Wait, what time is - oh FRAK!
She half ran to the car, shoving the key in the ignition and turning it with force. The engine gave a sputter and died; Kara slammed her hand down onto the dashboard. This was most certainly not a good start…
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“What was that out there today?” the coach yelled at the girls, who had trooped back into the changing room despondently. Nobody replied.
“That was the worst performance I’ve seen from you all year. We train for weeks for this game and you throw it all away? If you’re not serious about pyramid then don’t bother coming to practice next week,” she continued angrily. “Now get out of here!”
The girls broke into annoyed chatter, most of them stung by the coach’s harsh words. Kara took off her shoes and was putting them in the bottom of her bag when one of the other girls whispered in her ear,“Nice going, thanks for losing the game for us!”
“Whatever,” Kara replied sulkily, and made sure to elbow her “accidentally” as the girl brushed past.
“Kara, I saw that,” came a voice from behind her.
She shouldered the sports bag and turned to leave, but the coach laid a hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t even think about leaving yet!”
Kara turned back to the woman crossly. “What?”
“I didn’t appreciate you going off plan today. We discussed our tactics in the pre-match and I told you to pass to Sienna when the goal was clear.”
Kara raised an eyebrow. “We won the game. We won because I scored five times. What’s the problem?”
“Your attitude for a start!”
The other students had all gone, with the last stragglers no longer keen to hear Kara get another dressing down. Coach Flora looked around the now empty changing room, trying to tamp down her rising frustration with the girl. Kara held her breath, waiting for the inevitable discharge from the team. To her surprise, Flora’s expression softened.
“You’re a great player, Kara, I’m not denying that. But if you want to have a future in pyramid you’re going to have to play with the team, and that includes listening to the coach,” she said, her voice now gentler than before.
“A future in pyramid?” Kara replied incredulously.
“You could go pro, Kara. Quite frankly you’re the best player I’ve ever had, and I’ve sent three students to the Junior C-Bucs.”
Kara looked at the wall, not quite able to catch Flora’s eye. The praise was unexpected and, to her mind, wholly underserved. She had messed up the game today, and she knew it.
“I don’t see it myself,” she said.
Flora snorted with laughter.
“No, well, you wouldn’t. But I’ve got someone coming to watch the game next week, so make sure you’re in top shape, okay?”
She turned to go and Kara tried hard to get rid of the lump forming in her throat.
“Coach?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re the best.”
Flora winked.
“Takes one to know one!”
* * * * * * * *
Being late meant that her carefully laid plans went more or less out of the window. By the time she arrived, panting and flustered, the students were already in their seats (or out of them), the girls chatting excitedly and the guys lounging around in a variety of positions with their limbs draped over desks and chairs.
“Attention, nuggets!” Kara barked as she came in, throwing her pile of folders down on the desk. The class didn’t move.
“Attention nuggets!”
A few of them begrudgingly sat up. A quick scan of faces revealed boredom, lethargy and, in some cases, an irritating arrogance - all things Kara remembered well.
“Thank you. Okay, listen up. I’m Kara Thrace, callsign Starbuck and I’m going to be your flight instructor for the next year,” she told them, hoping that her quivering voice didn’t betray her nervousness.
“How’d you get the name Starbuck?”
It was a young man in the front row who’d spoken. Kara looked him in the eye. Quite an attractive kid if you liked them cocky.
“I don’t think that’s relevant right now, do you?”
“I bet Major James could tell us,” came another voice from the back of the room. There were sniggers, and Kara felt a frozen smile solidify on her face, pushing away the slight blush creeping up her neck. She should have realized her reputation would have preceded her. As if the students sensed her fear, they piled in like sharks round their distressed prey.
“Or Captain O’Malley,”
“Yeah, why’d you get thrown off Triton?”
“Who’d you frak to get this job?”
It was the kid who’d heckled her first, and it was a step too far. Not blessed with the longest of tempers anyway, this was the last straw.
“Okay, you, smart ass! Get out of my classroom!” she snapped at him.
“I didn’t do anything!” he responded with faux surprise.
“You’re rude and I don’t like you, so get the frak out before I-”
“Before you what?”
But he didn’t get an answer. She grabbed him by the collar of his uniform, hoiking him out of his seat with a strength he hadn’t anticipated. He staggered backwards and then, with annoyance, smacked open the door with the flat of his hand and exited, with a muttered phrase that sounded suspiciously like “crazy bitch”.
“Anyone else want a go?” she challenged the rest of them. Unsurprisingly, everyone stayed quiet.
* * * * * *
“Where were you on Saturday, Kara?”
She looked down at her shoes, unable to look at Flora directly, focusing on the unravelled shoelaces and smudges of dirt on the tongues.
“Well? The team can’t play without its captain. You let a lot of people down.”
“I…was busy,” Kara replied hesitantly.
Flora put her hands on her hips and sighed. A note of severe disappointment crept into her voice.
“Busy doesn’t cut it. I really thought you were serious about this game, that’s why I gave you the responsibility of leading this team even when some other teachers told me not to. You’ve let me down as well.”
“Sorry,” Kara answered sincerely, looking up at the woman. She wished she could say more - that she had wanted to come to the game more than anything, that she was so grateful for the opportunities the Coach was giving her, that she had cried for hours over missing it - but that would just raise too many questions, so she kept it simple.
“Apology accepted, but I’m not going to give you any more chances. And Kara, you need to take better care of yourself physically. Where the hell did you get that burn?”
The truth died on Kara’s lips as quickly as it had bubbled up in her throat. “It was the stove. I burnt myself on the stove. I’ll be more careful in future,” she replied, praying that Flora didn’t notice the fact that the wound was rather smaller and shaped like the end of a cigarette.
“Good,” the coach said, relaxing into a smile. She could never stay mad at her star player for long. On the other hand, she had a reputation to maintain.
“Now get out there and give me ten laps,” she added.
Kara smiled back. Punishments she could deal with.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As soon as she got back to the apartment she went to the closet where she kept her few sentimental possessions, reaching to the back where her fingers closed around the familiar figures of metal, carefully wrapped in cloth. If ever she needed the comfort of prayer, it was now. An official warning from the Sergeant for manhandling students, and a class that probably hated her - maybe she should just quit now and save them the bother of firing her. She couldn’t believe she’d made such a mess of controlling the class and her own temper.
As she pulled out the idols something rolled out of the closet and landed by her foot with a soft thud. It was a pyramid ball, scuffed and marked from heavy use, and she bent to pick it up. Its weight felt natural in her fingers, as if she’d just put it away yesterday. In fact it had been years since she’d used it. The evocative smell of the pyramid court seemed to permeate the leather and she pressed it to her nose as a wave of nostalgic emotion rolled over her.
Reaching into the closet again she plucked out her old diary, laughing to herself at the pictures of half naked pyramid pin-ups she’d stuck on there, and the scrawled slogan “KT luvs BG 4eva.” She couldn’t even remember who that was. Scribbled on the inside of the back cover was a number, the number she was looking for. Taking a deep breath she carried the book to the phone and dialled.
“Hello?”
It was her, unmistakably. She still had the same slightly hoarse voice, which Kara had always imagined was a result of years of yelling at her team.
“Coach Flora? It’s Kara Thrace,” she said. There was a pause as the woman processed this unexpected information.
“Oh! Kara? My gods! I haven’t heard from you for a long time!”
“No. Sorry about that,” Kara replied apologetically.
“I understood though. About that. I mean, I’m really sorry about what happened. You would have been a great player.”
“I’m over it. I’m a teacher now. At the Academy, teaching flight,” Kara explained.
“No way! Now that’s something I wouldn’t have predicted,”
Kara had to laugh in agreement. “Look, I need some advice, if you’ve got a minute to spare. I’m kind of new to the job and I don’t know…I don’t know how to do it. The kids are walking all over me and I lost my temper today.”
“What happened?”
“The kids were just picking away at me, and then I had to throw one of them out. I kind of told him that I didn’t like him. Then for the rest of the lesson they were all terrified of me, and they wouldn’t answer any of my questions,” she explained.
“Oh. Well, as you now know, it’s a mistake to lay your emotions out for them like that,” Flora replied wisely. “Kids see it as a sign of weakness.”
“You did an alright job with me on your team, and I was the worst kid ever. How’d you do it?” Kara asked.
Flora went quiet for a moment. It was a difficult question, because in some ways she felt she’d failed Kara in ways she’d never admit to the girl herself.
“I just try to understand my students,” she replied eventually. “What makes them tick? You’ve got to get them on side, treat them with the respect you want in return. At the same time, you’ve got to make them understand that you’re in charge from the word go. Firm, but friendly when it’s appropriate, that’s how I always tried to be. Did I ever manage it?”
“You were a great teacher. The best,” Kara said with sincerity.
“It’s all about performance, really. Like we always did before the game: suit up, psych yourself, give ‘em a show they won’t forget, that’s how to get them to pay attention,” the woman mused. “If you believe you’ve got it, you’ll have it. Useful?”
“Yeah. Thanks, for everything.”
“Good luck, Kara. I think you’ll be a fantastic teacher.”
“Takes one to know one,” Kara answered, and rolled the pyramid ball in the fingers of her free hand. She had a few ideas about how to make the next class a whole lot better.
* * * * * * *
She stopped outside the door to put on the sunglasses and light her cigar. Seemed a little silly, but once the caramel-tinted barrier was in place she felt her confidence soar. The cigar was an expensive prop, but if there was one thing that was bound to get their attention it was smoking in class.
She stepped up to the lectern and took a drag on the cigar, watching as the students began to mutter to one another in surprise. Her previous victim scowled and she winked at him with a smile - there were no hard feelings. Today would be a blank slate and even Mr. Cocky was going to love her by the end of the class.
“Listen up nuggets. You’re going to be seeing a lot of me over the next year so we need to get a couple of things straight. My word in this classroom is law. If you don’t follow it, I won’t hesitate to kick you out on your asses. As far as you’re concerned, I’m a god, okay? Okay. First lesson: how to not get killed on your first flight. Sounds fun, huh? Someone name the key safety features of a Mark VII, go!” she said, mustering all her confidence and managing to deliver the speech without a waver.
Now that she’d decided to bring Starbuck into the classroom instead of Kara Thrace, the class did actually go a lot better than it had previously. The students were more responsive to her sparky persona, and with the law laid down from the start she didn’t need to resort to physical violence to get them to shut up and start taking notes. At the same time, she managed to strike up a little friendly banter with the aid of her props. By the end they were wishing her goodbye as they left the lecture room with a note of respect in their voices instead of contempt.
She spotted the cocky boy just about to leave, and called him back with a sharp, “Adama?”
“Yes?”
“Sorry about yesterday,” she said in as friendly a voice as she could. “Let’s start again, okay?”
He smiled at her. “Yes sir!”
“But if you ever, ever speak to me like that again, I’ll personally make sure you never pass flight, and your sorry ass will be kicked back to basic again and again…and again,” she told him with some satisfaction. The smile vanished from his face.
“Okay,” he replied.
“Okay?”
“Okay…God.”
“Good boy. See you round, Adama, maybe at the bar tonight?”
She couldn’t help feeling that this job was just going to get better and better.
--0--
Author: jeeshee
Characters: Kara, Zak
Spoilers: None (pre-mini)
Length: 2779 words
For merrykk who requested "Kara pre-series, either while on her way to a pro-pyramid career or as a flight instructor"
“Listen up kids. You’re going to be seeing a hell of a lot of me over the next few years so we need to get some things straight. My word on this court is law. If you don’t follow it, you’ll be off the team. As far as you’re concerned I’m a god, okay? Because if we want to win the championship, and gods know I’ve been waiting for a chance to blow Arcadian High out of the water for a long time, you’re going to have to trust that I know how to do things a lot better than you do. So when I tell you to pass, do it. When I tell you to drop, do it. And Thrace? If I see a foul like that again your ass is history, got it?”
“Yes.”
“Yes?”
“Yes, God.”
“Good girl.”
* * * * * * * * * * *
First days did not suit Kara. Her first day of school she’d tripped up the stairs on her way in, skinning her knee and making a hole in her tights that she knew her mother would yell at her for. A fat boy in the class above made a rude comment and gave her a smug grin that soon disappeared when she kicked him between the legs (hard).
Her first day at the Colonial Military Academy hadn’t exactly been successful either. She was monstrously hung over from the welcoming party held at the nuggets’ dorm, and had spent the whole day holding her head in her hands and remembering snippets of the night in flashes that made her face burn red. Even more mortifying was having to run out of the first lecture to puke in the bathroom - she supposed she was pretty lucky the early nickname “Upchuck” hadn’t stuck, or worse still become her callsign.
But today - today had to be different. It was a miracle they’d let her have the job after her recent performance. Then again, what commander would have her?
Do not frak this up. Do NOT frak this up, she told her reflection as she glanced into the mirror, straightening her dress jacket. Gods, who let me become a teacher? Worst student ever. Wait, what time is - oh FRAK!
She half ran to the car, shoving the key in the ignition and turning it with force. The engine gave a sputter and died; Kara slammed her hand down onto the dashboard. This was most certainly not a good start…
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“What was that out there today?” the coach yelled at the girls, who had trooped back into the changing room despondently. Nobody replied.
“That was the worst performance I’ve seen from you all year. We train for weeks for this game and you throw it all away? If you’re not serious about pyramid then don’t bother coming to practice next week,” she continued angrily. “Now get out of here!”
The girls broke into annoyed chatter, most of them stung by the coach’s harsh words. Kara took off her shoes and was putting them in the bottom of her bag when one of the other girls whispered in her ear,“Nice going, thanks for losing the game for us!”
“Whatever,” Kara replied sulkily, and made sure to elbow her “accidentally” as the girl brushed past.
“Kara, I saw that,” came a voice from behind her.
She shouldered the sports bag and turned to leave, but the coach laid a hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t even think about leaving yet!”
Kara turned back to the woman crossly. “What?”
“I didn’t appreciate you going off plan today. We discussed our tactics in the pre-match and I told you to pass to Sienna when the goal was clear.”
Kara raised an eyebrow. “We won the game. We won because I scored five times. What’s the problem?”
“Your attitude for a start!”
The other students had all gone, with the last stragglers no longer keen to hear Kara get another dressing down. Coach Flora looked around the now empty changing room, trying to tamp down her rising frustration with the girl. Kara held her breath, waiting for the inevitable discharge from the team. To her surprise, Flora’s expression softened.
“You’re a great player, Kara, I’m not denying that. But if you want to have a future in pyramid you’re going to have to play with the team, and that includes listening to the coach,” she said, her voice now gentler than before.
“A future in pyramid?” Kara replied incredulously.
“You could go pro, Kara. Quite frankly you’re the best player I’ve ever had, and I’ve sent three students to the Junior C-Bucs.”
Kara looked at the wall, not quite able to catch Flora’s eye. The praise was unexpected and, to her mind, wholly underserved. She had messed up the game today, and she knew it.
“I don’t see it myself,” she said.
Flora snorted with laughter.
“No, well, you wouldn’t. But I’ve got someone coming to watch the game next week, so make sure you’re in top shape, okay?”
She turned to go and Kara tried hard to get rid of the lump forming in her throat.
“Coach?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re the best.”
Flora winked.
“Takes one to know one!”
* * * * * * * *
Being late meant that her carefully laid plans went more or less out of the window. By the time she arrived, panting and flustered, the students were already in their seats (or out of them), the girls chatting excitedly and the guys lounging around in a variety of positions with their limbs draped over desks and chairs.
“Attention, nuggets!” Kara barked as she came in, throwing her pile of folders down on the desk. The class didn’t move.
“Attention nuggets!”
A few of them begrudgingly sat up. A quick scan of faces revealed boredom, lethargy and, in some cases, an irritating arrogance - all things Kara remembered well.
“Thank you. Okay, listen up. I’m Kara Thrace, callsign Starbuck and I’m going to be your flight instructor for the next year,” she told them, hoping that her quivering voice didn’t betray her nervousness.
“How’d you get the name Starbuck?”
It was a young man in the front row who’d spoken. Kara looked him in the eye. Quite an attractive kid if you liked them cocky.
“I don’t think that’s relevant right now, do you?”
“I bet Major James could tell us,” came another voice from the back of the room. There were sniggers, and Kara felt a frozen smile solidify on her face, pushing away the slight blush creeping up her neck. She should have realized her reputation would have preceded her. As if the students sensed her fear, they piled in like sharks round their distressed prey.
“Or Captain O’Malley,”
“Yeah, why’d you get thrown off Triton?”
“Who’d you frak to get this job?”
It was the kid who’d heckled her first, and it was a step too far. Not blessed with the longest of tempers anyway, this was the last straw.
“Okay, you, smart ass! Get out of my classroom!” she snapped at him.
“I didn’t do anything!” he responded with faux surprise.
“You’re rude and I don’t like you, so get the frak out before I-”
“Before you what?”
But he didn’t get an answer. She grabbed him by the collar of his uniform, hoiking him out of his seat with a strength he hadn’t anticipated. He staggered backwards and then, with annoyance, smacked open the door with the flat of his hand and exited, with a muttered phrase that sounded suspiciously like “crazy bitch”.
“Anyone else want a go?” she challenged the rest of them. Unsurprisingly, everyone stayed quiet.
* * * * * *
“Where were you on Saturday, Kara?”
She looked down at her shoes, unable to look at Flora directly, focusing on the unravelled shoelaces and smudges of dirt on the tongues.
“Well? The team can’t play without its captain. You let a lot of people down.”
“I…was busy,” Kara replied hesitantly.
Flora put her hands on her hips and sighed. A note of severe disappointment crept into her voice.
“Busy doesn’t cut it. I really thought you were serious about this game, that’s why I gave you the responsibility of leading this team even when some other teachers told me not to. You’ve let me down as well.”
“Sorry,” Kara answered sincerely, looking up at the woman. She wished she could say more - that she had wanted to come to the game more than anything, that she was so grateful for the opportunities the Coach was giving her, that she had cried for hours over missing it - but that would just raise too many questions, so she kept it simple.
“Apology accepted, but I’m not going to give you any more chances. And Kara, you need to take better care of yourself physically. Where the hell did you get that burn?”
The truth died on Kara’s lips as quickly as it had bubbled up in her throat. “It was the stove. I burnt myself on the stove. I’ll be more careful in future,” she replied, praying that Flora didn’t notice the fact that the wound was rather smaller and shaped like the end of a cigarette.
“Good,” the coach said, relaxing into a smile. She could never stay mad at her star player for long. On the other hand, she had a reputation to maintain.
“Now get out there and give me ten laps,” she added.
Kara smiled back. Punishments she could deal with.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As soon as she got back to the apartment she went to the closet where she kept her few sentimental possessions, reaching to the back where her fingers closed around the familiar figures of metal, carefully wrapped in cloth. If ever she needed the comfort of prayer, it was now. An official warning from the Sergeant for manhandling students, and a class that probably hated her - maybe she should just quit now and save them the bother of firing her. She couldn’t believe she’d made such a mess of controlling the class and her own temper.
As she pulled out the idols something rolled out of the closet and landed by her foot with a soft thud. It was a pyramid ball, scuffed and marked from heavy use, and she bent to pick it up. Its weight felt natural in her fingers, as if she’d just put it away yesterday. In fact it had been years since she’d used it. The evocative smell of the pyramid court seemed to permeate the leather and she pressed it to her nose as a wave of nostalgic emotion rolled over her.
Reaching into the closet again she plucked out her old diary, laughing to herself at the pictures of half naked pyramid pin-ups she’d stuck on there, and the scrawled slogan “KT luvs BG 4eva.” She couldn’t even remember who that was. Scribbled on the inside of the back cover was a number, the number she was looking for. Taking a deep breath she carried the book to the phone and dialled.
“Hello?”
It was her, unmistakably. She still had the same slightly hoarse voice, which Kara had always imagined was a result of years of yelling at her team.
“Coach Flora? It’s Kara Thrace,” she said. There was a pause as the woman processed this unexpected information.
“Oh! Kara? My gods! I haven’t heard from you for a long time!”
“No. Sorry about that,” Kara replied apologetically.
“I understood though. About that. I mean, I’m really sorry about what happened. You would have been a great player.”
“I’m over it. I’m a teacher now. At the Academy, teaching flight,” Kara explained.
“No way! Now that’s something I wouldn’t have predicted,”
Kara had to laugh in agreement. “Look, I need some advice, if you’ve got a minute to spare. I’m kind of new to the job and I don’t know…I don’t know how to do it. The kids are walking all over me and I lost my temper today.”
“What happened?”
“The kids were just picking away at me, and then I had to throw one of them out. I kind of told him that I didn’t like him. Then for the rest of the lesson they were all terrified of me, and they wouldn’t answer any of my questions,” she explained.
“Oh. Well, as you now know, it’s a mistake to lay your emotions out for them like that,” Flora replied wisely. “Kids see it as a sign of weakness.”
“You did an alright job with me on your team, and I was the worst kid ever. How’d you do it?” Kara asked.
Flora went quiet for a moment. It was a difficult question, because in some ways she felt she’d failed Kara in ways she’d never admit to the girl herself.
“I just try to understand my students,” she replied eventually. “What makes them tick? You’ve got to get them on side, treat them with the respect you want in return. At the same time, you’ve got to make them understand that you’re in charge from the word go. Firm, but friendly when it’s appropriate, that’s how I always tried to be. Did I ever manage it?”
“You were a great teacher. The best,” Kara said with sincerity.
“It’s all about performance, really. Like we always did before the game: suit up, psych yourself, give ‘em a show they won’t forget, that’s how to get them to pay attention,” the woman mused. “If you believe you’ve got it, you’ll have it. Useful?”
“Yeah. Thanks, for everything.”
“Good luck, Kara. I think you’ll be a fantastic teacher.”
“Takes one to know one,” Kara answered, and rolled the pyramid ball in the fingers of her free hand. She had a few ideas about how to make the next class a whole lot better.
* * * * * * *
She stopped outside the door to put on the sunglasses and light her cigar. Seemed a little silly, but once the caramel-tinted barrier was in place she felt her confidence soar. The cigar was an expensive prop, but if there was one thing that was bound to get their attention it was smoking in class.
She stepped up to the lectern and took a drag on the cigar, watching as the students began to mutter to one another in surprise. Her previous victim scowled and she winked at him with a smile - there were no hard feelings. Today would be a blank slate and even Mr. Cocky was going to love her by the end of the class.
“Listen up nuggets. You’re going to be seeing a lot of me over the next year so we need to get a couple of things straight. My word in this classroom is law. If you don’t follow it, I won’t hesitate to kick you out on your asses. As far as you’re concerned, I’m a god, okay? Okay. First lesson: how to not get killed on your first flight. Sounds fun, huh? Someone name the key safety features of a Mark VII, go!” she said, mustering all her confidence and managing to deliver the speech without a waver.
Now that she’d decided to bring Starbuck into the classroom instead of Kara Thrace, the class did actually go a lot better than it had previously. The students were more responsive to her sparky persona, and with the law laid down from the start she didn’t need to resort to physical violence to get them to shut up and start taking notes. At the same time, she managed to strike up a little friendly banter with the aid of her props. By the end they were wishing her goodbye as they left the lecture room with a note of respect in their voices instead of contempt.
She spotted the cocky boy just about to leave, and called him back with a sharp, “Adama?”
“Yes?”
“Sorry about yesterday,” she said in as friendly a voice as she could. “Let’s start again, okay?”
He smiled at her. “Yes sir!”
“But if you ever, ever speak to me like that again, I’ll personally make sure you never pass flight, and your sorry ass will be kicked back to basic again and again…and again,” she told him with some satisfaction. The smile vanished from his face.
“Okay,” he replied.
“Okay?”
“Okay…God.”
“Good boy. See you round, Adama, maybe at the bar tonight?”
She couldn’t help feeling that this job was just going to get better and better.
--0--