Posted by Lieutenant Alison Barr (Chief Science Officer) in Office: DH - Cadet Tom Little Reporting

Posted by Cadet Tom Little (Scientist) in Office: DH - Cadet Tom Little Reporting

Posted by Lieutenant Alison Barr (Chief Science Officer) in Office: DH - Cadet Tom Little Reporting
Posted by… suppressed (9) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Tom managed to get into this strange community. From his previous experience, he could have joined other department. But he was fine with the third option. This was a fate from his family tradition.

“Cadet Tom Little reporting as ordered. ” He was at the door of the Department Head’s office and standing in attention, waiting for the response from inside. His sea bag on his right hand was filled with documents and very little personal belongings, zipped bagged. As told from the recruiter, simple packing should ease from the day one.

OOC: Welcome! Make sure to sign off on your posts at the end. It just makes it easier as we add on to these threads to keep track of who is who.

IC:
Alison looked up from the contraption she was working on, that was sprawled across the workbench on one side of her office.

“Yes, yes, yes. Now let me see your hands Cadet,” she gesturing him over to besides her.

Lt Barr - CSO

OOC: Thanks! I’ll keep that in mind.

IC: “?…Hands?” His mind puzzled for one second. “…Aye ma’am.” He walked to the Chief Science Officer with a poker face, at least he tried. he put down his bag and showed his hands. But he couldn’t stop thinking about her intention. The last time he showed his hands was for palm reading. There was a machine in the middle of the street when he was in a field trip. And the result was you know…half true. He was sure he clipped his finger nails properly. But…?

Cadet Little

Alison gripped his hands and took a quick look. “Yes, you will do,” she said letting them go.

Reaching back into the contraption in front of them, she held aside a bundle of cables. “See that gray screw next to the flashing green and blue light? Grab the screwdriver. Turn it 30 degrees clockwise, wait for the light to flash green 3 times, and then counterclockwise 15 degrees. As you are doing that, I have to turn this screw over here…” she said picking up her own screwdriver.

“Well? You ready?” Alison said looking up as she lined up her screwdriver ready to make the adjustment.

Lt Barr - CSO

“Aye ma’am.” Tom pulled his hands back and grabbed the gray screw driver next to the green and blue lights, a workbench.

“As instructed, this cadet will turn the screwdriver 30 degrees clockwise and wait for the flashing green light 3 times. After 3, he will turn the screwdriver to 15 degrees counterclockwise. Ready ma’am…” He read it back with a confidence, however he wasn’t sure the accuracy measurement. He wasn’t sure if the screwdriver had some kind of a bezel attached, like the one in the compass.

“An inquiry ma’am, how to turn the degrees?” He thought it was better to ask than sorry later. The experience told him that pretending to know everything would costs greatly later.

Cadet Little

Alison chuckled. “Relax Cadet, you are almost out of the Academy and in the fleet now. We aren’t so formal up here, don’t have time for all of that. As for how far to turn it, well consider this a test of your approximation and dexterity skills,” she said with a grin.

“Now on three. One… two… three…” Alison counted down before starting to make her own adjustments.

Lt Barr - CSO

“Understood, Ma’am.” Tom mentally tried switching to “casual mode.” It’s hard for him not to react in a formal way, especially when talking with a ranking officer. As the Lt counted to three, he turned the screwdriver to 30 degree right approximately, then the lights flashed. On 3, he turned 15 degree left with an assumption.

Cadet Little

As both of them hit their marks, there was a click and a whirl as the machine came to life.

“I think that’s it!” Alison exclaimed as she closed the top, and set the screw driver down. After a moment a gum ball dropped through a series of tubes that could now be seen with the device now sealed up, before dropping out at the bottom.

Picking it up she popped it into her mouth. “Gum ball?”

Lt Barr - CSO

“Gum ball?” The words repeated again and shut the Tom down for a moment. This time, he saw not Alison, but another woman who said the same thing before. It’s a flashback. As if she was speaking through the Chief Science Officer.

“It’s alright, thanks for asking Ma’am.” Before things went nuts, he immediately shook his head and replied as nothing happened.

“What just happened?” He frowned and thought. These years, he tried hard to forget about her, but it seemed impossible. She was the reason for him to survive that accident and rehabilitation.

“So, what now Lt?” He wondered inwardly.

Cadet Little

“Well you just helped me fix this little gumball contraption one of my roommates from back in the Academy helped me make, that’s what happened,” she said with a grin. Picking up the device, Alison placed it back on a side shelf in her office. “And I greatly appreciate the help, your timing could not have been any better.”

With it settled back in place, Alison looked over at the clock above the door in her office. “Speaking of timing, it’s just about time for my lunch break, a luxury some days. Why don’t you walk with me and tell me a bit about yourself. You aren’t assigned to a duty shift till tomorrow, as you are expected to complete your medical and psych evals this afternoon.”

Heading out the office door, Alison made her way for the door leading outside of the science lab. “So Cadet, tell me about yourself.”

Lt Barr - CSO

“Yes, Ma’am.” Tom reached out to his seabag and took a print from a folder. “Everything about me is right here.” He continued, “Permission to speak freely Ma’am, as you can see, I’m a bit older than the rest of the cadets.” He continued, “I spent most of the time with the computer-related things. I felt most things I’ve learned from the past are too technical and non-practical. The fleet gave me an opportunity to explore the universe and I’m really looking forward to it.” He then opened the second print, “However, my Physics, Astronomy and other science-related subjects are just passing…Do you think I’m qualified for working in the science department?” He concluded, “They’re many well-qualified cadets and top-score earners who’re not here, at least I didn’t see them in the waiting area.”

Cadet Little

Alison waved off the papers, she had already perused his file when she was told he was being assigned to the Challenger anyways. “Well it’s not up to me on if you are qualified enough to be here, that’s up to some higher power,” she said with a slight chuckle. They had stopped in front of the turbolift, it only took a minute before the doors opened.

“Deck 9,” Alison said as they stepped in. “What I am here to do is make sure you are prepared for a position in the fleet, presumably in the science department since that’s what you’ve been studying, and why you were assigned to my team. For me personally, I like to try and give as full of an experience as you can get while you are here on the Challenger. You might specialize in one area, such as computers, which is perfectly fine. But you need to be aware of the other areas, and what they do. Especially if you want to move into a leadership position. Does that make sense?”

Lt Barr - CSO

“Yes, Ma’am.” Tom replied with a mild voice and put those papers back in the bag. He felt glad to spent the past years in the Academy. Just as one of the staff members told him before he boarded the ship. We, all cadets were already well trained enough to hit the fleet. The curriculum covered everything in general from all departments. Those’re overwhelming but that’s the point. Each one of us had to have a shared understanding, a big picture of this organization. And the training continues after we’re assigned on ships.

As the turbo stopped, they stepped out.

Cadet Little