“And the connections didn’t die. You reconnected with us on the ship, stronger than ever. And now you’ve got your family back too. Give this Shastri bloke some time. If he was really such a fine friend, maybe he’ll come around. And in the meantime… well, I’m sure he was very far from your only friend at the Academy. So let’s talk to the others and find out if they can tell us anything.”

Uhura hugged him. “Thank you, Scotty. You’re right.”

Starfleet Academy

When Uhura tracked down her old Academy classmates to ask about Ravinder Shastri and any communications research she might have done with him, it finally seemed to bear fruit. More than one old friend confirmed that she and Shastri had worked together on some kind of unusual research project. However, they agreed that the two cadets had been reluctant to offer details, telling their classmates that whatever they were investigating was a long shot and they did not wish to commit to anything until or unless they obtained positive results. The interviewees also agreed that both cadets had stopped talking about it early in their fourth year, beyond saying that their research had led down a blind alley and been abandoned. Given the increasing frequency and size of the vacuum flares, Uhura could not afford to believe that assessment.

The next day, Spock and Uhura met with Admiral Kirk in his office. The admiral wasted little time getting to the point. “I had my staff investigate Academy records for any use of the communications or subspace physics labs by Cadets Uhura and Shastri at the time in question. They found nothing… or so it seemed.” Kirk handed a data slate of their findings to Spock. “Tell me if you notice the same pattern I did.”

It only took moments before Spock responded. “I see. Not merely an absence of evidence… but evidence of absence. Something has been redacted. With skill, but a footprint remains if one knows what to look for.”

Kirk nodded. “Which suggests that whatever you and Shastri were investigating, Commander, it infringed on a security or intelligence matter. Most likely you were ordered to drop it and sworn to secrecy, and the evidence was classified.”

Uhura sagged. “Scotty was right. It’s like the universe is conspiring to erase all the leads.”

“On the contrary, Commander,” Spock said. “This is our most promising lead yet. If Starfleet did order the matter classified… then someone in Starfleet knows why. If we can determine who gave the order, we should be able to persuade them that the vacuum flare crisis demands its disclosure.”