Post # 55 - Schooled in the School

Posted on Mon Oct 12th, 2020 @ 5:06pm by Lieutenant Damien Saunders

Mission: Star Base Mercury
Location: School Classroom
Timeline: Current

[ON]

[Deck 36]
[Main Engineering]

"It's happening again." Ensign Humphrey shook her head, standing at the master systems display. "There." She pointed her finger to the master systems display cross-section. The EPS conduit was fluctuating.

"Your positive?" Damien had raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yes. As positive as I like cheesecake. There is a problem with the dual fluctuators." Humphreys asserted.

Lt. JG Horton then charged in on the conversation. "Chief, she's been telling you all week. You've been too busy training the mercury staff." He stood next to them.

"Fine. I should go take a look at it then." He imaged the cross-section and entered the coordinates with the Jeffries tubes to that section.

[Deck 14]
[Primary Care - Classroom]

"That's about it." He tapped his com badge. "Saunders to Clinton, how'z she look now?" He questioned. Damien had spent what seemed too long, having to re-align the magnetic field surrounding the conduit infrastructure. "Something had screwed up its phasing coils. I don't know. We'll have to take a closer look at my tricorder data..." He tapped out his com badge.

"Clinton here. That sounds about right. What Eva's been stating all week, Sir." He quietly chuckled.

"I am not ignorant!" He grumbled. His week was long, and nights were longer going through training scoring. "Nor a teacher!"

"All right, best, get back here. Clinton out."

Damien had lost all direction. Inside of the Jeffries tubes, it was a universe to its own. He pulled his tricorder out and scanned an access hatch nearest an adjacent room.

Unlatching and securing the codes, he suddenly tripped through the hatch to a resounding thud! There suddenly was a few faces staring at him. "What in hell?" He saw kids. Children. There seemed to be a handful of them, and a lady was standing in the center of the room. There were colorful diagrams on the screens.

He suddenly heard a few giggles start from the children to the sudden surprise inside the classroom.

"What on gods?" He rubbed at his forehead. He was incredibly tired. "Where am I?" He was about to reach for his tricorder to access his entrapment.

Christina smiled. “You’ve arrived at the ship’s nursery and school.”

"A school?" His eyes narrowed in pure thought and doubt. "A classroom? For children? On a Starship?" He had missed there being a classroom on the Amandora. He had heard of other facilities on some starships, but he was amiss to this ship.

“I’m Christina Monroe, ships teacher, nursery leader and handy babysitter for those in need.” She gave him a concerned look. “Are you alright?”

Saunders smiled as he had looked around. "My apologies." He got up and dusted his self off from work in the nearby conduit. He stood tall, as his engineering kit he was holding on to, then unclasped open, furthering his engineering tools to drop out across the classroom floor.

He was eliciting further giggles from the children. Damien paused a moment. Perhaps this could be a learning experience.

As he knelt, he held up his hand at Teacher Ms. Monroe. "Ma'am. If I may borrow the attention of the classroom, for a..." He laughed at his self. "A moment." He coughed, the children's attention already interested in the suddenly drop-in.

Around the classroom of seven children, varying ages and races. He spoke. "Children. I am Lieutenant Saunders. It is awesome to meet you all!" He friendly smiled, his eyes searching every one of the Federation's futures at hand. Their yearning, learning eyes.

"Uh," he reached forward, took hold of his broken phase delineator. "This is something we Engineers. I am an Engineer. We help make the starship work." He took the broken component that he had extracted from the Jeffries tube.

"How many of you kids, if you can raise your hand for me." He held up an engineering tricorder. "Have seen your Mommy or Daddy carry around one of these?"

Damien flipped it open as the engineering lights flickered.

A few of the children then eagerly raised their hands.

"Yes, you," the young girl with blue hair. "What is your name?"

"Etienne D'Alors!" She exclaimed, wiggling in her seat.

"Etienne! That is a great name! You are so lucky to have it. Do you know what this is? What it does for our ship?"

"Mommy has one! She brings it home to place on her desk in our quarters. She tells me not to touch it." She angled her head at the display.

"And you? Your name, Sir?" He had called towards the Andorian child, a male. "What is your name?"

"My name is Antock..." His eyes fixated.

"Do you know what this is?"

"It is a tricorder." He nodded, while Antock's antennae flexed slowly.

"Yes, your both right. It is a tricorder. This helps me," Damien got up and holding out his engineering kit. "With all of this. It tells me what is wrong when things happen on this ship." He smiled. He then punched in a few key codes into the device. "I can...." He then changed the color of the lights in the classroom from a light white to a blue.

"It's magic!" He clasped his hand. "How can I do this?"

"Your inputting something." The Vulcan child had spoken up, raising herself from her seat.

"Your right, your right. But what am I inputting into the tricorder?"

"A code!" Etienne exclaimed.

"Yes! Etienne. A code, I can... Make the lights turn blue. I can..... Scan my body. I can scan yours. It tells me just what I need to do as an Engineer. Coding makes our ship work together and sends things. Like the lights, a code."

"What code am I sending now?" He then pressed in a few buttons. Then a site to site transport hybrid of a silver plate of white frosted cupcakes had appeared on one of the desks.

"Cupcakes!!" The children exclaimed. "Mrs. Monroeee Cannn Wee?"

"I want a cupcake!" Antock raised his hand eagerly. "I would like a frosted cake as well." Stated the Vulcan female.

"Well. It looks like my magic here is done." He then stood up and cleared up the flooring, as the various children looked towards Teacher Monroe to allow them access to the treats.

"I am sorry for the disruption, Teacher Monroe," Damien was no longer as embarrassed. "I will let myself out now, Ma'am." He smiled, seeing the children excited and happy, no longer bored.

Chrissy grinned and nodded to her students that it was alright to have a cupcake. “You are a natural with children Lieutenant, have you ever thought about teaching? Would you consider holding a class for the children once a week?”

Saunders had smiled at the thought. Yet, he was so busy.... But the kids. It was so wonderful interacting with them, seeing their encouraging and learning need. All of them he could tell were just wonderful.

"I.. Well. I will have to think about it, perhaps." He swallowed. He let his eyes see them happily eat the baked goods. "Maybe I can stop in from time to time and teach them some new engineering stuff." He secretly wondered if that would allow him to work around such a teacher.

“I’m sure the children would love that.” Chrissy smiled warmly. “Thank you for err ... dropping in.”

"Of course. I intended on dropping.... In." He winked. Before he then had left.

[OFF]