Posted by Lieutenant Kendric Tor (Chief Engineer) in Ready Room - Engineering Gets A Case Of The Blues (Tag CO)

Posted by Captain Aaron Foley (Commanding Officer) in Ready Room - Engineering Gets A Case Of The Blues (Tag CO)

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“I’d hope that there wasn’t any major issues with the ship right now,” Aaron said with a chuckle. “The Challenger is an older ship I at this point, and she does have its quirks. But I do leave my department heads to run their departments as they deem fit. Yes the cadets are here to learn, but they are also here to learn how a ship in the fleet actually operates, and not just a simulation or out of a textbook.

“If that is how you like to operate, I have no issues with that. As long as the ship remains operational, and it isn’t going to affect day to day activities. Plus I like keeping the cadets on their toes now and then. We have so many conveniences these days, it’s important for them to remember that unexpected situations that technology can’t solve can still pop up.”

Capt Foley - CO

Tor grinned. “Then you’d love my ‘Practical Applications of Engineering Principals’ course. I give the Cadets a single system that I have disabled in some way. I then have them tell me why it’s not working and how to fix it; but they can’t use a diagnostic program and no tools that require a power cell outside of a voltage meter. And just to throw them a curveball, if they tell me ‘You have to replace the ‘X’ component.’ I tell them that for the purposes of the exercise, that component isn’t available.” and he chuckled. “Oh, the dirty looks I get from that.”

Tor, CE

“Oh that is just evil,” Aaron said chuckling before taking another sip of his coffee. “But you are right, I do like it. We had to get a bit more creative over in the science department. And poisoning the cadets was frowned upon.”

Capt Foley - CO

Tor waved off the last statement. “What good is being an instructor if you can’t risk the lives of your students? Seriously, where would the fun be then?” and he laughed. “But in all seriousness, Captain… how has the caliber of Cadets been in your tenure here? I ask both as an instructor and as a crewman. I know for a lot of these Cadets, it’s their first time working on a star ship. And that is a whole lot different than being a passenger on a well-appointed runabout.”

Tor, CE

After sitting his cup down, Aaron leaned against the edge of his desk. “I’ve definitely seen a wide range of cadets during my time here on the Challenger. But that’s also partially because I was the ship’s XO, before getting promoted to Captain.

“In general though, we do tend to start at the higher end of the Cadet pool, academically speaking. As you know, while every Cadet typically has a chance to spend some time on a ship in the fleet, there is only so many opportunities to do a semester, or a year, tour on a ship. Because of that, for the most part our cadets are either ahead of their class in the classroom setting, or have demonstrated that they are very capable of working in an independent learning environment.

“That makes a difference in approach and in what we need to be on the lookout for.” Tor said.

“And while these cadets are all very smart on paper, that’s very different when putting those skills into a real world situation. Some cadets can take that stress and thrive. While some, well, don’t. Which is fine, not everyone is cut out to serve on a starship. Starfleet needs people to serve in a wide variety of locations. And I’d rather a cadet find that out now, instead of when they are on a deep space mission with no chance of transferring out.”

Capt Foley - CO

Tor nodded and said “Exactly. I kept trying to tell the stuffed shirts in the Commandant’s office that we need to incorporate more real-time and realistic training scenarios… especially for Engineers. I even submitted a proposal to have decommissioned ships put in a stationary orbit and used as Practical Application labs.” and he shook his head. “They almost laughed the blue off my aft section for that one.”

Tor, CE

“Well at least we can help a few cadets each term here on the Challenger. It’s the little bit we can do.

“So we’ve got through our teaching styles. Any questions for me so far?”

Capt Foley - CO

“Yessir.” Tor said without hesitation. “I like to cook. Love to cook, actually. And the more I can cook for, the better. In that vein, I’d like your permission to utilize the kitchen in the Officer’s Mess from time to time to cook for the crew. I’ve done that on all my past ships, so I know how to do it efficiently and without disruptions to work. But it also means sometimes getting supplies brought in. But I don’t do anything without your approval first.”

Tor, CE

“Easy enough, and I don’t see a problem with that. The only stipulation, nothing that is going to get the brass calling me. I’d also check with Demara. She is the new host of our lounge that just joined. She can probably help arrange delivery of some ingredients that the quartermaster would not normally be able to easily obtain.”

Aaron figured he didn’t need to say something about making sure he had plausible deniability if anything came up, he hoped that it was understood. Not that he was that worried about it, but you never knew.

Capt Foley - CO