Old World Academy Blues

Posted on Mon Dec 27th, 2021 @ 8:47am by Lieutenant Myne Redal & Commander Kyle Reece

Mission: Season 5: Episode 3: CAPETOWN
Location: Academy Commandant Office
Timeline: MD 09 / 1346 hours
2451 words - 4.9 OF Standard Post Measure

//ON//

Don't stop, make it pop
DJ, blow my speakers up
Tonight, I'ma fight
'Til we see the sunlight
Tick-tock on the clock
But the party don't stop, no

Myne hummed an annoyingly persistent Human song from some period lost in Earth's ancient history. She discovered it during her homework assignment from Captain Lovejoy when he tasked her to do research into Human culture.

"Stop doing that." A voice spoke from over her right shoulder. "Focus child, this will be good for you." Sudra said trying to sound supportive.

"I am going to sing what I want in my head and I am still royally pissed off at you. So shut up you old drunk!" Myne bit back in a whisper to her former self, looking back with a look that could cut through steel. Her old instructor was so freaking annoying, why hasn't she sent him back yet? Why was he keeping him around?

With a wave of her hand behind her Sudra was there no more and Myne sighed. He was right now. Maybe teaching would be good for her. More work was always good, right? The concept of free time to relax was terrifying, frightening. All that time alone with her own thoughts, her feelings, her memories scared her to her core so much she began to tremble.

"Focus child, focus." She whispered to herself in the same manner Sudra would use in order to calm her down. Looking a bit more uncertain of herself she pressed the button and heard the chime. She wondered how meeting the Academy Commandant would go like? When she had been Sudra, the position had been offered to her, well him at the time. This time, she will be the one asking.

Inside his office, Kyle was going over the academic reports of his students. A few were already starting to shine in both their fields and their overall class rankings. Taking a sip of his hot raktajino, he was about to open a new report, when his door chime rang. Putting the PADD down, he looked up at the door and said, "Enter!"

As the door opened, Myne stepped in timidly, an uneasy smile betraying the uncertainty she felt. Approaching the desk, she waved at Kyle. "Heya there head teach. My name is Lieutenant JG Myne Redal. I am the Assistant Chief Operations Officer. Erm, I wanted to talk to you about something that is a bit sensitive if you have the time."

Sitting back slightly in his comfortable chair, Kyle gave the young Trill a soft, friendly grin. "Of course, Lieutenant. Please, have a seat," he indicated to the three chairs arrayed in front of his large desk. "Would you care for something to drink?"

"No, unless you have Ferengi cold cola. Earth drinks make me sick." Myne shook her head and brought her PaDD up for a moment, before handing over the custom, strangely built thing over to Kyle. It was opened on a file belonging to one Sudra Redal, Operations Instructor at Starfleet Academy back on Earth.

"That is, well was, still is me. I passed away in that incarnation a few years ago after teaching for over two decades." Myne began to explain in a timid enough tone, looking down and avoiding Kyle's eyes. "In a sense, I am struggling with the new me and I would like to submit the skills I have acquired in my last life to help new cadets. Help them and help myself by doing something that used to bring me comfort before I became the new me."

Standing, Kyle took the modified PADD, as he moved to his office replicator. "Slug-O Cola, chilled." In a flash, the thick, carbonated beverage appeared in the small alcove. After picking it up, he carried it back to his guest. "There ya go," he said with a soft grin. He then started to read the file as he moved back to his desk chair and lowered his powerfully-built frame back down into it. After a few moments of silence, he nodded to himself. "Interesting," he said softly.

Looking back up at the young woman in his office, he handed back the PADD and said, "Well, your current host certainly had the qualifications..." he stared off a little as if trying to remember something. "In fact, if I'm remembering correctly, I may have had one of his cross-training classes, during my sophomore year. I was in the Tactical and Security field then."

Accepting the drink she took a deep sip from it and exhaled softly. She looked at him a bit surprised and focused on his face a bit longer. Then her expression changed from one of curiosity to one of recognition. A cheeky grin, the like of which Sudra used to show his students, formed on her lips.

"Oh don't tell me. Nosy Reece? Didn't I try to throw you out of that class for being too nosy? Huh, and to think I ignored them when they told me to be nice to the cadets. Seems the tables are turned, who would have thunk?"

Kyle chuckled softly. "Well, Professor Sudra always accused me of digging further into what the coursework entailed. Though, I have to say, it did help me later in my career. I was in several positions where an operations mindset was needed to accomplish the Tactical goals of the mission." He sat back in his chair and considered Myne for a few moments. He then asked, "If I sign off on this assignment, how will it effect both your current position in Ops, and your personal life? Because, for both, I have concerns. One, your Ops position is an important one, and I would need you to gain permission from your chief to come here to teach, when your duties allow, and second, I won't have one of my instructors burning themselves out. Personal, off duty time is a must for every member of my staff. And I don't just mean off duty to shower, eat and sleep either. Time must be taken to unwind and relax after a busy day on duty. Can you guarantee both points I have expressed?"

"Yeah, I remember. I was in Sudra's classes more than you were. He was my mentor before he became... a former me." Myne said smiling more softly and looking a bit lost in thought. "I also used to annoy him, well, annoy myself now by poking my nose in places I shouldn't have."

Leaning back, more relaxed now, Myne sighed. "I honestly do not have a personal life. I do my shifts then spend my off-duty hours in Ops working until Chief Whavi chases me away." Looking at Reece she nodded softly. "As her assistant, I rather like to think my duties in Ops right are being handled in the same neatly, orderly fashion Sudra used to hold his classes. My classes? Damn it, it gets confusing thinking of myself as both the Sudra I knew before and the Sudra that is part of me now."

Shaking her head to try to get her thoughts in order Myne continued. "I am confident in getting Chief Whavi's permission. I am not so confident on the second part. I don't suffer from burnout, not from working too much. If anything I might suffer burnout from not finding a way to center my thoughts."

Kyle chuckled softly, remembering how Professor Sudra would be in his classes. The man had been intimidating, in his own way, which had earned Kyle's respect back in his Academtmy days. However, he frowned slightly when he heard the rest of what Myne told him. "While I will admit that you have vastly more life experience in you than I have, or will ever have, you are not a machine. If this is to work, you will need to discover a way to center and quiet your inner self, or selves. A person can only take so much, do so much, before they reach a breaking point. I cannot allow something untoward or hazardous occurring to my students."

He took a few beats, then continued. "I can see that you want to do this. And I have no doubt that my students would learn a great deal from you. However, before I agree to bringing you on, for a temporary setting only at first, bring me permission from Lieutenant Whavi, and show me that you can take time to quiet your mind, for a few hours at least, while off duty, and sleeping does not count. Do these things, and you have my word that I will find a slot for you to teach a few classes in."

"My internal clock has me running on a fifty-hour day cycle. The way you perceive time and rest tends to be a bit different for me. Which is why I was ahead of your snooping when you were my student. You had to go and sleep to function more often than I needed to. It was a battle of attrition that most of my more nosy students always lost." Myne chuckled and shifted in her seat.

Taking her PaDD she started typing on it before giving him a very very wide grin. Handing the PaDD back she nodded towards it. "Chief Whavi's permission on the first page. On the second page, the Super Garrett Fan Club, which I am the founder and president of. Approved by Captain Lovejoy the moment he made me Morale Officer. I think I might have just completed your requests in under a second? Why did it take you several hours to complete your assignments so many years ago?" She teased him and offered the dear Commandant the most innocent, kind, and cute smile in her arsenal.

Kyle was quiet for a few beats, his face unreadable. Then, a slow grin started to cross his lips. Taking the PADD back, he carefully read over both pages. He then glanced back up at the young Trill seated across from him. "Yup, Sudra is definitely in there." He chuckled, handing the PADD back. "Well then, it seems that you have, indeed, fulfilled my requests. So, as I am a man of my word..." he looked over at his desk computer and began to type a few strings of commands in. "Okay, I have authorized you class time, seventeen-hundred hours to eighteen-hundred hours, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, starting next semester, which is in about three weeks. Before the semester begins, I want a copy of your lesson plan to go over. Then, during the semester, there will be scheduled staff meetings that you will be required to attend, where I see how my instructors are doing. You will be using classroom number seventeen, over in the port side of the deck." He stood and moved around to the front of his desk, extending his hand to her. "Welcome aboard, Professor Redal."

"Told you. The old fox is still in here, being as sneaky as ever." She crossed her arms in front of her chest triumphantly. "Folks usually don't understand about us joined Trills. We are really the same person more or less, just with added stuff on top!" Myne chuckled before her joyful demeanor hit a snag and her face dropped.

"What? Lesson plan, really? Not this stuff again." The young Trill slumped in her chair, her bubble burst. "I'll give you a hint, Sudra never made any plans. He winged every lesson based on how he could push the cadets buttons really. Can I convince you to let that little snag of me making a lesson plan slide? You've been in his class and survived after all."

"The staff meetings are fine. So are the class times as well." She got up and took his hand and shook it. Well, she grabbed his wrist in a Roman style handshake. Sudra was strangely known for not knowing how to give Human like handshakes also. "Thank you, Commandant. You won't regret this. Not more than the Commandant back on Earth did anyway." She chuckled and smiled widely.

When she grasped his forearm, Kyle tightened his grip slightly and finished the Roman-style handshake, by pulling her forearm to tap his chest. Then, as he held her there, he smiled and said, "Professor Sudra may have gotten away with it, but Professor Myne will turn in lesson plans, if she wishes to be a teacher in my Academy." He winked at her then released her hand.

Myne yelped as he pulled her forearm towards him. Then she pouted in the most adorable way possible. "Damn it, Sudra was right. You are nosy and bossy." Taking her hand back she smiled and shook her head, sighing. "Fine, it was worth a shot anyway. Professor Myne will turn in lesson plans. Also, before Professor Myne leaves, Professor Sudra has a message. He did give you an almost failing grade on purpose. Seems like his gamble paid off."

Kyle chuckled softly. "Well, Old Crusty was one of the toughest instructors I had, even if it was just for one semester. It made me dig in even harder to my studies. So for that, I thank him."

The young Trill appeared to think for a moment before nodding firmly. "Yep. Old Crusty still hurts deep inside even in this host. Damn that nickname! But yes, I hope I will manage to match Sudra in the quality of his lessons. At the very least, I will give it my best shot to rise to my own standards. Well, my former standards." With that Myne took her PaDD and took a step back. "And if it helps, as you thanked him, I did feel quite a swelling of pride. You did your instructors proud Commandant."

Kyle dipped his head respectfully. "I warms my heart to know that." He then straightened up and asked, "Was there anything else you needed to speak to me about?"

She shook her head. "Nope, nothing else at this moment in time. I would be a poor instructor if I fed you all the answers. I'll the proper thing and tell you the other things on my mind once you catch me red-handed!" Myne winked and made for the door. "See you soon Commandant."

Kyle simply shook his head and chuckled, as he watched Myne leave his office. If she became half the instructor that Old Crusty had been, then he'd need to keep a close eye on her. After she left, he returned to his desk and resumed what he was doing before she arrived.

//OFF//

Captain Kyle Reece
Academy Commandant
USS Elysium

Lieutenant JG Myne Redal
Assistant Chief Operations Officer
USS Elysium