Layouts

Posted on Thu Feb 20th, 2025 by Lieutenant Shral ch'Vyrhor & Katelynn Bancroft

1,100 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: M01 - The Hooke
Location: Classroom, USS Hooke
Timeline: Present

Katelynn had wandered the ship for a while before settling inside the classroom, the lights were dimmed when she first entered. Despite the lights fully activating, Katelynn had instructed the computer to lower the light levels while sitting down in the chair at the far right desk. She crossed her arms and stared at the screen with a blank expression.

Katelynn wasn't sad about anything, she wasn't nervous about anything, she simply wasn't used to as much space as she had right now. It was a bit overwhelming to her. Tomorrow would be the first official day of class in the room where she was at. Despite Katelynn not knowing how to get to the classroom she knew enough of the computer system to find it.

A light sigh passed her lips as she let her thoughts slowly transform into missing the friends she made via subspace. She'd have to call them as soon as she could tomorrow. Katelynn stared at the screen and began to believe it would still be subspace, it would just be in a centralized place. Katelynn smiled warmly, she'd no longer be stuck in the same general place all the time.

Shral ch'Vyrhor had been looking in different areas of the ship as he located each one. Eventually he'd came to the classroom and entered having not expected anyone to be inside. The Andorian officer paused when he saw the girl sitting in there. "Oh hello." He said softly as if trying to not startle her.

Katelynn heard the door open then close, she knew she wasn't alone. It wasn't until the voice spoke that Katelynn steadily turned around and saw the Andorian officer standing there. "Um, hi." She replied with a wave before getting out of the chair.

"I was just looking around," Katelynn remarked.

Shral raised his hand, "You're allowed in here," He told her. "Lieutenant ch'Vyrhor, I'm the Chief Security Officer on board. I wasn't trying to intrude on you or anything Miss...?"

"Katie Bancroft," She identified herself.

Shral smiled warmly, "Katie Bancroft," He repeated her words. "You're Lieutenant Bancroft's daughter right?"

"Yes," Katelynn answered. She pressed her hand into the edge of the desk, "I was exploring the ship and decided to sit in here for a while. I hope that's okay?"

Shral took another step into the space before answering her, "Oh that's all right," He replied. "I was doing much the same thing as you, exploring the ship. I've never been on this type of ship and thought it would be wise to get to personally understand its layout. How long have you been sitting in here alone?"

Katelynn didn't have an answer, but chose to sit back down anyway. She breathed a slight sigh of relief that it wasn't her father trying to find her or anything. At the moment she really didn't want to talk to her parents or anyone else. She accepted the officer's presence despite that because she assumed he meant no harm. "I don't know," She was honest in her answer.

Shral took another step in and leaned against the desk nearby. "I'm not trying to interrogate you I hope you know that."

Katelynn nervously grinned, "I know."

Shral nodded and looked around the room, "So this is the classroom." He eventually looked at the large viewer on the bulkhead, "I'm sure Lieutenant Lazol will find this to his liking."

Kate tilted her head slightly, "Lieutenant Lazol?"

Shral nodded a second time, "He's an El-Aurian I don't know if you've ever met one. They look like you humans do, just they live for an incredibly long amount of time. Though, Lieutenant Lazol is perhaps one of the youngest El-Aurians I've ever met in my life. I've not met very many as there really aren't that many in Federation space.

"Anyway, part of the reason he's on board is to teach you three so you don't have to do subspace classwork all the time." Shral told her, "You probably thought it would be all on subspace didn't you?"

"Yeah," Kate answered honestly. Her thoughts went to the fact that they would have someone in the classroom with them. Kate honestly didn't know how she felt about that, but it would certainly be a welcome change for her. "I haven't met the other children on board yet."

Shral crossed his arms over his chest, "There are only three of you. The Captain's daughter Paige, the Executive Officer's daughter Charlotte, and you."

"Oh," Kate said. Well perhaps it was for the best that there were only three girls aboard the ship as opposed to there being more. "Do you know how old they are?"

Shral thought about it for a moment trying to remember the details on the crew manifest that he'd read up on. "I think they're pre-teenagers but I'm not completely certain."

"Same age as me then," Kate concluded. Things were looking up for her from where she was sitting. "I'm twelve."

Shral grinned, "I know," He told her. "But yes you three will have someone in the room with you. I don't know if there will be times where it'll be via subspace, but Lieutenant Lazol was specifically requested to be on this ship to instruct you. He'll have other duties to perform as well, he's still one of the officers, but he'll be in here with you guys."

Kate found herself smiling somewhat warmly as she thought about not having to do everything by herself. She knew the first thing she was going to do tomorrow after class was tell her friends via subspace about it. They'd probably be a little jealous, the last Kate knew they were still doing subspace schooling. "I like the sound of that."

Shral looked around the room, "Good." He told her. "Have you found any of the other facilities on board yet?"

Kate shrugged, "I know there are holodecks and a gym. They didn't have those on the Eisenhower," She admitted. "That'll take some getting used to I'm sure."

Shral nodded, "Probably, but I'm sure we'll all manage."

Kate stood up, "I think I'll go check them out." She waved idly at the Lieutenant, "It was nice meeting you." She told him then left him alone in the classroom.

Shral watched her leave and uncrossed his arms. He wasn't entirely keen on having children aboard a starship because he knew how dangerous it could be. And one of the children on board was the daughter of the Captain, that could affect the Captain negatively. He'd have to make a mental note of that moving forward.

 

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