Checking In

Posted on Sun Aug 10th, 2025 @ 8:09am by Lieutenant Mark Valleroy & Brenda Williams

Mission: Lower Decks
Location: ship's school

Mark poked his head into the ship's schoolroom when he had a few minutes during a time not long after school had let out. "How are things today?" he asked Brenda Williams, the ship's schoolteacher.

"Doing well, Lieutenant," Brenda replied. She held up a hand and said, "And yes, I know it's 'Mark' when the students aren't around, but maybe I']m a bit old-fashion, hmmm?" She gave him a wink.

Mark nodded. "Just wanted to make sure things have been going well since the attack the other day. I realize that it must have been a bit scary for you and the students."

"Well, I won't lie," Brenda said. "Having the ship rocking because of being under fire is never fun, and an intruder alert is something that as a teacher is something you never want to hear. We did have a good, long discussion the next day about it. I think it did the students some good to talk about it and about how they felt. Although it's not the kind of thing that's easy to talk about. We've been through a lot on this ship, and it seems like everyone knows someone who didn't come back, especially for those who have been on board since the beginning."

"Yeah, that's not easy, especially for those of us in charge of such things," Mark said. "I've questioned more than once if there was anything that I could have done differently. Being asked by the captain to pass on some note of condolence to family members is not something that's going to get any easier. There are just some things they don't teach you in school."

"Schooling is really the beginning of learning, not the end," Brenda replied. "The best we can do as teachers is to give our students as much as we can and then hope that it has some impact for the better in their lives."

"Is there anything you need here?" Mark asked.

"Nothing, really," Brenda said, "unless you just happen to be a Q or something along those line and can grant anything with the snap of fingers."

"Well, I'm not quite that far along in my evolution, but I'm working on it," Mark replied. "I trust my nephews haven't been giving you too much grief."

"They can be a bit of a handful at times," Brenda said, "but they're good kids. You should be proud of what you're doing with them."

"I do try," Mark said. "I'll admit it's not always easy." After a moment, he said, "If there's nothing else..."

"No, that's it," Brenda said. "Have a bit of straightening up to do in here, but that's it."

Mark nodded and left.