#86 A Chance Meeting

Posted on Wed Dec 14th, 2022 @ 10:51pm by Lieutenant JG Ainkara "Kara" {Meji}

Mission: BUGS OH NO!!
Location: USS Amandora
Timeline: current

ON:

Ainkara had been up, down, and side to side aboard the Amandora, aiding and assisting where she could with the base personnel. Her Eidetic memory meant she would not get lost while escorting the teams, and being Vulcanoid she did not require the amount of sleep that other species did. So, as was her way, she worked and worked, remaining duty bound and following the oath she gave to Admiral Stone, Commander Green, and Commodore Song.

During a lull in activity Ainkara stepped into a small conference room, dousing the lights and relying on the panels for illumination so as to rest her eyes and to clear her mind. What she had not expected was to find another person sitting at the table, and the young human looked up when the lights went down. She could tell by the way his neck craned that he was squinting in the dark to see who she was.

"Hey, I need the lights, please." A young, male voice came at her.

So, not to be a bother, she tapped the lights key and they came back on. Now she was certain he was a young human, not that her olfactory senses did not already know that. "Pardon me. I did not expect another to be within."

The young man, maybe 14 by the looks of him, looked her up and down. "Well, you're not Vulcan, so what are you?"

Ainkara grinned at that. Not the best way to start a conversation but children often did not have barriers in their speech. Not until others downloaded their own woes into them. "First, my name is Ainkara. And, you are correct, I am not Vulcan, I am Vulcanoid. My species is called Voran."

The boy got up and came around to stand near to her, extending his hand to be shaken. "Nathan Spector, Ma'am. Glad to meet you."

Glancing to the table a moment and seeing a few PADDs strung about where the lad had been sitting, Ainkara brought her eyes back to him. "Why the seclusion? Too many moving bodies for you?"

"No," Nathan replied, a bit of a snit in his tone. "Some ensign told me I couldn't be where I was originally. I found a dead end corridor, a niche, and parked myself there to be out of the way. So, we got in a fight."

"A fight!" Ainkara said with considerable distress.

"Not punching and stuff. But that isn't it; he just kept being snarky to someone just trying to stay out of the way."

"Nathan, perhaps it would be better if you did not speak of the officers aboard in such a manner."

"I'm doing my math homework, minding my own business. It needs to be turned in tomorrow." Nathan looked at her pleadingly, as if his very eyes were asking for aid.

Ainkara gave a grin and moved towards the table, grabbing a chair of her own and moving it over near to the one he had been occupying. "Please, come show me your lessons and I will see if I can aid you in this endeavor." She sat down and gave him the 'well?' look.

Young Mister Spector showed relief behind his eyes and came right over, plopping down in his chair and getting his PADDs in order. Ainkara brought forth her own palm PADD and connected with his. Though her face and eyes did not show it readily, she was surprised to find that this boy, this fourteen year old human, was studying advanced theoretical mathematics. and, doing a fine job of it according to what she saw in his paperwork.

"Where are you stuck," asked Ainkara.

Nathan smiled and started to show her as he explained. "I followed projecting the n-dimensional hyperplanes into n-1 dimensional spaces, but I got a little tangled up when they started to intersect."

Tapping keys to follow his work interfaced on her own screen, she looked to the lesson. "I will try to see where you got...a little tangled up." It was refreshing to help a young person after what her own childhood had put her through. But, sitting here talking to Nathan she realized that her own childhood was anomalous, rather than being the way of a deliberately cruel universe. Cruelty existed, indeed, but natural law did not demand it. "Here," she finally said after a few minutes of visual investigation. Your tangle, it is right here." Tapping keys she showed him where the problem was.

Young Nathan gave a woot and tapped keys, adjusting his own calculations he had jotted down and corrected them. "Thank you!" Too quickly to understand what was going on before it was too late, Ainkara received a pleasantly warm and friendly hug from the boy. She hugged back lightly, not exactly sure herself how to respond so, she hugged and patted his back as she had seen others do on board when showing a grappling affection. "You are awesome, Ainkara! Thank you, thank you."

When he let go and sat back down Ainkara gave another grin. "It was my pleasure. Remain in here and you should be able to finish the lesson in no time. Until we see each other again, take care." Getting to her feet Ainkara went to the exit, not breaking stride as she left the compartment, hearing one more thank you coming from behind her. That made her grin to herself.

OFF: