The hatch opened into the Jeffries tubes between Deck 7 and 8, as Keval Vras crawled into the small space, followed by an engineering cadet trying to manage with a large engineering kit.

“And this, cadet,” Keval was saying, apparently continuing a lecture he was already in the middle of, “is the ultimate in Starfleet design regulations gone amok.”

The Andorian crawled over to a very large panel and began removing it to access the interior, as he continued talking. “Do you realize that this is one of the most critical structural areas of Challenger?”

The panel was removed, showing a distribution relay. “We are currently in the area between the primary and secondary hulls. Above us are the docking clamps holding the two hulls together. Although the hull is reinforced here, internally this is weakest part of the ship. Therefore, it is vitally important that the engineering crew regularly inspect this area to ensure the two hulls remain secure.”

Keval paused as he stuck his head all the way into the access area, looking behind the relay. “Hand me the spectral analyzer,” Keval said, before continuing with his lecture.

“You would think that Startfleet would ensure that they would give enough work space for an engineering crew that has to regularly inspect this area. But because this is a ‘standard ship deck’, it has to have standard access through Jeffries tubes, which seem designed to be half the average height of the member species of the Federation. Why? Because that’s what the regulations say.”

Keval handed back the tool he was using. “Pass me a tricorder - let me see if we cleared up that problem.”

Returning to his lecture, the Andorian continued. “The lesson to be learned is this… Actually, what is the lesson? Oh, right. You will know you have finally become a proud, vital member of a Discovery engineering team when you finally get to report to Sickbay with a minor head injury trying to inspect the ahrak hull distribution relays.”

-Lt. Keval Vras, CE