I was still stuck in the galley mopping the floor. It felt like I must have done that a dozen times already. Out of sheer boredom, I feel asleep and dreamed...again...
There was a soft light in the distance. Travis found himself moving toward it. He was being drawn to it. It's warmth and comfort calling to him, slowly enveloping him, blanketing him in the caring caress of a cherished memory. Slowly out of the misty white light colors began to fade in, taking form, solidifying. It wasn't a room he knew, not one he had ever set foot in, yet it seemed so familiar. 'Mom?' Still floating into the mist he called out. The emotions welling up inside carried the expectation of being greeted by family and friends at any moment. He was certain he'd soon be looking out of his bedroom window at the base of Pike's Peak. 'Mom!? Dad?'
Muffled voices began to cry out. Distant...he couldn't understand them. They weren't his parents. They all seemed to be calling to him at once. The voices grew louder and more distinctive as the mist gave way to color and form. 'What? What do you want!?' He struggled to understand them. An overwhelming need tearing at him to understand each and every voice, to answer each one, to...the children. They were his kids...but he didn't have any kids...children.
Suddenly he was there. Standing in front of them. An entire room full of bright eager faces staring up at him. But he wasn't standing there...he was above...outside...looking in. Yet he could also see the children...his children...through loving eyes. No, they weren't his, they must be her's, the young woman standing in front of them. He struggled to pull himself free of her eyes, to look on her from outside, to understand what was... 'Magge!'
Magge Reylana stood tall and proud at the front of the room. She'd been giving a lesson on the Mataals this afternoon, and it seemed she couldn't provide her children with the information fast enough.
She smiled as nearly every hand in the room shot up at the chance to answer the next question. Fifteen young faces stared at her from around the room. Each as eager as the next and all wanting the chance to impress Miss Magge.
Magge had graduated near the top of her class from a major Coridan university, and held a degree in Foreign Studies, with a minor in Inter-Species Relations. Such credentials would have assured a position in almost any Council agency both home and abroad. Instead, Magge had chosen to serve a tour at the local education center. Teaching had always been something she enjoyed, even if it wasn't her career focus, and she loved children. When the position came open to teach a 2nd year class of five year olds, the thought of passing up the assignment never crossed her mind. The career could wait.
That was two years ago. Since then there hadn't been a single moment of regret. But with each passing day, the end of her tour at the education center drew closer. She thought about it as little as possible.
"Who can list the Mataals?"
All the hands stayed up. A few seemed to grow an extra few inches as their owners stretched them as high as they could manage, trying to out do their neighbor.
"Well it looks like everyone was paying attention then." Tapping her finger on her cheek, Magge looked toward the ceiling as if struggling to think of a question hard enough to challenge her students. "Who can tell me...hmmm...all the Mataals in the order originally listed in the Mataal Directive?"
A few stumped looks now began to spread among her class, but most hands stayed up. They'd give it a shot anyway.
Magge pointed to one of the quieter Terran children toward the middle of the room. The little girl stood up, but didn't look completely confident.
"Jennie Frost, can you tell me?"
"Yes Miss Magge." Jennie held up her tiny little hand ready to count off each Mataal as she listed it. The first finger stuck out. "Population." Magge nodded. The girl extended her second finger. "Education." Magge nodded again. Jennie's face showed a little more confidence now. Her third finger extended. "Economy."
"That's right Jennie. Do you know the last one?"
Jennie nodded her head. "Infrastructure!" Her face lit up bright and proud. Then she flopped back to her place on the floor.
"Very good! You got that exactly right. Can everyone repeat them for me now?"
A chorus of little voices exploded, some starting sooner than others, so that hardly a word could be understood. "Population! Education! Economy! Infrastructure!"
"That's right! You've all done very good this afternoon. What do ya say we have free time the rest of the day? Sound like a good idea?"
The chorus answered again, "Yes Miss Magge!"
"Who's turn is it to pick free time?"
Everyone begin looking around to see who the lucky person would be.
Grela Karana, one of the few full-blooded Coridan children attending the school, stuck his hand in the air, "I think it's my turn Miss Magge. Brian went yesterday and I come after Brian." The young Coridanian tried to stand up straight, but the anxious hands of his neighbors nearly toppled him over as they tried to convince him of what he should choose.
"So what do you want to do for free time Grela?"
"UNDER THE SEA!"
The room exploded into cheers and everyone jumped up at once to take their place in line.
Magge headed them down the hall to the holoroom. "OK now. Go on in. But keep it fun. I don't want anyone being a bully in there. Is that understood?"
"Yes Miss Magge!"
"OK then, have fun."
With that the class filed into the holoroom, each choosing their starting place carefully. Magge punched in the code for the 'Under the Sea' program. Instantly the holoroom buzzed to life. Each child appeared to transform into their favorite sea creature, and the room became a deep-sea aquarium. Magge and a few of the other teachers watched from the observation lounge as the children swam back and forth. Chasing. Tagging. Diving. Swimming. And generally having a great time.
A hand was gently placed on Magge's shoulder from behind. She turned to see the Center Director. The look on his face seemed that someone had died.
"Is everything alright Director?"
He handed her a PADD. "We're going to miss you Magge."
Magge grabbed the PADD and scanned through the text flowing across it's screen, her eyes anxiously darting left and right. Something about Council expansion and Council needs and the good of Coridan...YOU ARE TO REPORT IMMEDIATELY TO THE DELTA QUADRANT FOR ASSIGNMENT AS ASSISTANT ATTACHÉ' TO AMBASSADOR HERBERT RESNO - GORVOSH STATION - HOPE ONE DYSON'S SPHERE.
She turned back to watch her children gleefully swimming past the observation window. They didn't notice the tear running down her cheek.
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