SD: 21.0712.0330 (GMT)
Scene: USS DEMORA-SULU,
Shuttlebay One
Time: minutes to scheduled
departure
******************************

LtCmdr Reetaw'agah was certain her daughter was going to
collide with something.... or someone. The second Alew
was told they were switching ships again, she'd tapped
out a query into the size of the new vessel. The instant
she found out the DESTINY was smaller than DEMORA-SULU,
she'd spent every second on the wing that she dared to.

And, young as she was, she was --quite-- daring.

Even the corridor hadn't been safe; she'd flown to the
turbolift and back to her mother until Agah had walked
the distance. Alew had returned to standing on the deck
in the 'lift, but when they reached the shuttlebay....
In the past five minutes, she'd startled six different
members of the flight deck staff. One had even dropped
a section of conduit, narrowly missing his toes. Agah
had made Alew apologize, but it hadn't dampened her
spirits for more than fifteen seconds or so. Then, off
she went again in a blur; a feather or two floating to
the ground where she had been.

Agah sighed as the pilot and deckhand conferred about
the shuttle's flight readiness check. Agah stalked over,
to give herself something more decorous to do than chase
her daughter. Chief Sam Hatherly looked up at her- a
very cheerful, stocky fellow that made you feel at ease
right away.

"Just another minute or two, Commander. Almost finished."

"Sorry, chief, I'm not impatient to go. I'm actually
dreading all the time sitting still," Agah said.

"Or, more specifically, trying to get the little one to
sit still?" he suggested with a knowing grin.

With another sigh, Agah nodded ruefully.

"I've munchkins of my own, so I can relate. It seems like
kids have the same amount of energy that adults do, but
it's packed in so much more tightly that it's busting to
get out."

He laughed and Agah relaxed a little, crest spreading in
a slight smile. The pilot, PO Jesmikar, chose that moment
to peek out of the back of SHELL GAME and give Hatherly
a thumbs-up.

"And there you have it! We're ready here," he said,
looking up at Alew as she flashed past the umpteenth time.

With a sharp caw, Agah called Alew abruptly down. Her
little chest heaved in reaction to her exertions, but her
eyes were bright and she looked as though she could have
kept going for an hour or more.

"Now, Grah?" she asked, disappointed.

"Time to go, Alew," Agah replied firmly.

Hatherly crouched down.

"It's not gonna be the some without you, Short Stuff!"

"I'm going to miss flying here, Chief. Thank you for
letting me stretch!"

"Sure thing. You be good, okay?"

"Okay, Chief!"

After they were settled inside, Jesmikar got clearance
for shuttle SHELL GAME from DEMORA Flight and Alew
watched with a certain amount of awe as they exited the
Threin-class vessel. Once they made the jump to d-warp,
though, she went to the back and curled up to sleep.

So, the trip turned out to be more relaxing than Agah
had thought it would be. Between naps, Alew looked over
DESTINY's specs and became somewhat fascinated with the
holoemitters placed throughout the vessel. The fact that
it was a training ship was what really stuck with her,
though.

"You will be teaching people, Grah? Like you teach me?"

"Well, it won't be quite the same. They'll all be grown
and trying to learn how to do their job the way Starfleet
likes it done. You are still learning things they already
know."

"Like how to think about other people?"

"I think that is something you can learn more about your
whole life."

"You --never-- stop learning it, Grah?"

"Some things you can never finish learning, but you can
stop learning them. Do you understand the difference?"

"I think so, Grah. Like you can stop eating dinner, but
that doesn't mean you ate it all."

"Something like that."

--------------------
Best Wishes,
Janet Gist

Cmdr Darr'chuh
USS OLYMPUS-MONS, CO

LtCmdr Reetaw'agah
USS DEMORA-SULU, CMO
Shield of Alexander 19.0813

Lt<jg> Tyn Alamy
USS DESTINY, instructor/CSciO