Requesting Favors

Posted on Sun 2nd Jan, 2022 @ 6:22pm by Commander Paul Graves PsyD & Renato Solis
Edited on on Mon 3rd Jan, 2022 @ 5:06am

1,065 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: A Good Day to Hunt
Location: Brown Sector Community Center
Timeline: MD: 8, 2100 hours

{Community Center}

Paul Graves walked into the Brown Sector Community Center wearing comfortable Betazoid clothing and carrying a tote bag containing sandwiches and tea. He greeted the people occupying the main room at this hour and headed toward the back to Renato's office.

He checked to see if Renato was there the way a Betazoid at home would--by first extending his senses to see if he could detect the other's presence. And ... Renato wasn't in his office. Interesting. Renato was usually holed up in there by this hour. Paul wondered what he was up to. He hoped this was a good thing, that Renato was becoming more comfortable with putting himself out among the public again. He seemed to be more comfortable, which was one of the reasons why Paul had come to visit him.

Kya waved at Paul. She was chatting with a few of the adults at a dinner table with dishes still dirty from the meal piled on top of it.

"Hello Paul! He's out, collecting favors for a repair job or something he is hot about lately. Can I help you with anything?"

"Good to see you, Kya," Paul said. He walked over to her and greeted the other people sitting at the table.

Two Humans and a Caldonian tended to their desserts and coffee opposite Kya, a group of women relaxing after the long day.

Tessa was a schoolteacher for the kids and resumed conversation about the nature of schooling on the station or lack thereof for Brown Sector kids lacking credentials. Ojja compared it to a slum, famous to Caldonian culture that rejected modern schools of thought for spiritualism and didn't attend secular schooling.

Kya offered, "Ojja, you and Tessa do great, if we could get a few more educated folks to agree to regular lessons that could be a real way out for some of these families."

For the most part, Paul listened to the conversation, once he surveyed emotions and saw that no one minded him being there. When a lull occurred in the discussion, he spoke. "What kind of help would the community accept from me in improving education down here? What kind of help would be unintrusive?" he asked, recalling how upset Brown Sector's residents had been made by station security only a few days before. Starfleet had made a surprising amount of progress in its relations with the people of Brown Sector lately, but much work remained to be done in easing resentment that had built up over two decades.

Ojja looked to Kya without a word, Tessa was quiet and didn't say anything either.

Kya took those cues and nodded, "Clean and safe rooms, with comm padds and link access. Some kind of staple resources or replication credits to create them. The civilian government put us on replicator rations some time ago, but nobody here is listed as an official teacher, so supplies come from our food and sundry allocations. Ojja got her accreditation but can't zone a safe space down here to call a classroom and still can't get listed as a Station worker or if hired, will be assigned to a schoolroom up top. Tessa has priors, they'll never let her in a classroom if Starfleet standards have anything to say. We try to send our kids up, but even then, barriers are raised, and we can't meet the high standards. We have to know as much as the teachers do, and the work assigned at home is intense. Some of our kids can read and write at elementary levels but they teach variable geometry to twelve year-olds now."

Kya hated lamenting the same lines over and again, but Paul was as good as Starfleet got, his work with Renato had pulled the man out of a gutter and started something new and wondrous. The Community Center they sat in was partly owed to Paul's encouraging Renato to seek solace in helping others. She stopped herself from going on, feeling she was heaping far too much at once onto the plate.

"May I join you?" Paul asked and pulled out a chair at a nod from Kya. "From what I heard you say just now, your most immediate needs are classroom space and funding. Up until a few days ago, I would have said there was no room available to convert anything. Since then, we've discovered spaces that could be used--but those spaces are scattered throughout Brown Sector and The Zodiac, and they're all makeshift--not part of official starbase design and not up to code. Let's tackle the issue we can immediately fix first, which is classroom and educational space. Ideally, would you prefer for the existing classroom space to be upgraded or for more space to be added--or both? Am I understanding you correctly?"

* * *

Renato got the page from Kya, turning to meet his compatriot, a burly Trill carrying two large crates with an antigrav sled. "I have business. Carry this to Ram'aKla." Renato almost stepped away but felt he had to add, "I got eyes the whole way, Ckill, so just carry it there, no detours."

Ckill was laconic, words cost extra. He was a good worker but absent minded enough to leave the sled unattended to go eat or piss. Sometimes even going through the crates just out of curiosity. Kya needed him, though; it was not up to debate. He jogged to the turbolift, but a line had formed so the descending ramp was his choice, and swung by the Treacle booth. He had little credit, but the Treacle guy was an old softy and knew the treats were for the kids, and simply handed the bag to Renato on the run. He arrived to his home at the community center out of breath, sorely aware of his lack of cardiovascular health. As an academic curiosity he took his pulse and vowed to get on the fields and run more.

"Ohhh children!" The usual crowd ran to him, and he tossed the bag of sweets to them. They stopped running to him and began tussling over the bag immediately. The parents at the table looked daggers at him for riling them up and giving them sugar just before bedtime.

Smiling at their dismay, he spotted Paul and Kya at the table and crossed to them, "Hello, nice to see you Paul, Kya, Ladies... evening."

OFF

 

RSS Feed