Walter (or Ken?) Minne says:

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Since we don't actually know how the grading testing was done, it is possible that the testing science had advanced so much that either the testing process itself was so reliable as to be accurate despite the willingness or otherwise of the subject, or that trying to deliberately fail the test was also taken into account.

But as you say, "we don't actually know how the grading testing was done," so all of this is just speculation.

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It sometimes seems to me that many people on this list think that the Federation is the be all and end all of evil, corrupt governments, down to the lowliest trooper and civil worker as greedy and blood thirsty,

Not me. However, don't underestimate the power of greed!

though we do see many sympathetic Federation characters, and

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even military officers. I have speculated on the Lyst in past that for the Federation to survive on its own (corrupt and evil though major elements of it are), without collapsing in complete anarchy, a major portion, and possibly the majority of the whole Federation system has to be run under some sort of "Rule of Law".

That's not speculation, just common sense. (See Cygnus Alpha and Gauda Prime for instance)

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So large portions of the Federation would operate under a kind of default option system of genuine standards and responsibilities, even if most of the time, the sufficiently rich, and the sufficiently powerful, could ignore them if they wanted to, though even that had limits.

Well, this is what basically Rumours of Death states, yes.

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Hence the young Vila, faced with the choice of testing into a group from which the military automatically took all the candidates for training as Space Captains,

Again, supposition.

or failing the exam deliberately ( and who

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knows what the punishment for that would have been, sold as a slave to an outer world maybe ),

How would they know that he had failed the exam deliberately, especially if he really did have the IQ of an Alpha grade?

did the only thing he could do, bribed the

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tester to change his result independent of the testing process so that he could remain safe on Earth.

Then again perhaps Vila was... lying? (surely not!)

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The other point about Vila not wanting to be a Space Captain, is that the Federation training for Space Captains would likely as not have been fatal to anyone like Vila with an enhanced perception of the value of his own skin and no military useful redeeming features or friends in high places. Either the trainers would arrange a fatal "accident" as an incentive to the other recruits, or the other recruits would themselves tear him to pieces for stuffing up a unit exercise one too many times.

But surely any test would have taken this into account. If you are looking for a fearless commander type, then why not make that a part of the IQ test?

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Young Vila would have wanted to avoid a near fatal career path any way he could, and bribery was probably the only option.

Look, if you bother to watch the episode you'll see that Vila's reference to 'all the Space Captains being killed' is a reference to the Galactic War. Something he could not possibly have foreseen all those years ago when he allegedly flunked the test. There is no need for all this elaborate theorising, when the answer is simple: Vila was a thief, and therefore, like most thieves, Vila was a liar as well. In fact just a few seconds later he lies about his feelings for Dayna. Vila continually lies throughout the series. Even when we first see him, Vila lies to Blake about why he has his watch.

Jenny

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