Chalk And Cheese

Posted on Mon Jan 7th, 2019 @ 5:47pm by Cadet Freshman Grade William 'Liam' Pardot
Edited on on Mon Jan 7th, 2019 @ 5:52pm

Mission: The First Step...
Location: Dormatories
Timeline: 2388/08/25 1800 (August 25 2388 6:00pm)

Liam sauntered into his new room and threw his bag on the bed nearest the window then walked over to said window to look outside. Even he had to admit that this place was beautiful. Being at the Academy was going to be like a working holiday. He'd heard that there were beaches nearby and he couldn't wait to get out and explore. Looking over at the other bed, he wondered what loser they had paired him with, not that he'd be spending much time there once he got acquainted with the female population.

For Adonai, this day had gone much better than he'd originally planned. While there was never any doubting his sincerity of actually doing the work to gain admittance in the Academy, it was always up in the air as to whether or not he'd get accepted. Evidently he'd done enough to convince the deans to permit him to try and he was accepted into the program. There was still much work for him to do though.

After finishing up at the orientation and meeting a lot of new people, Adonai wandered off to where his dorm was located. He'd never lived in a place as fancy and as beautiful as this. In some ways, it was a little difficult for him to believe that he was actually on this foreign planet. The fact that Adonai was completely in awe with his surroundings didn't really help him get to his dorm very quickly but when he did arrive and he opened the door to enter, he found that his room was already occupied. Not only was it occupied but the person currently in there was the same person that Commander Bannerman had warned him about.

"Oh, it's you," Adonai simply said. He didn't really mean to say it the way that he did. It probably would have been better for him actually greet the other teenager instead. That was a better idea. "I mean... hello... person that I was told not to interact with." Then a thought crossed his mind. "Is it true that the Commander is your grandfather?" Bannerman had denied it but maybe he just didn't want the truth to get out.

Turning to face the other boy, Liam inwardly sighed. Great. They had paired him with goodie two shoes. Shaking his head he replied "Hell no...I'm not related to that stiff. I just called him Granddad to mess with his head. He thinks he's God's gift to women and I wanted to rattle his cage ya know?"

Adonai closed the door behind him and moved over to the empty bed and deposited his bag, along with an arm full of PADDs onto it. "I think I understand what you mean," he said. "He does appear to fornicate with an endless amount of women. I just wouldn't have been surprised if he would have had an accident or two by now."

"Oh I'm sure that there are a few baby Bannermans out there somewhere, there has to be and one day one or two of them will probably come back to bite him on the ass." Liam chuckled as he turned away from the window, threw his bag on the floor and flopped down on his bed. The fact that Liam was exactly the same when it came to the female sex was totally lost on him. "So where are you from?" he asked before adding "Your face ain't one I'm familiar with."

"I am not familiar with your face either," replied Adonai as he began to organize the PADDs he'd dropped onto his bed. Of course, what he really meant was that he didn't know Liam at all. "I am from the planet Nygea Prime here in what you call the Delta Quadrant. It's my understanding that I am one of the first natives of this region of space to attempt becoming a Starfleet Officer."

"Seriously?" Liam looked surprised, "And they let you in just like that?" he added looking doubtful.

"It isn't as simple as that," corrected the Nygean. "You and the others have already been granted entry into the Academy. I still need to do the entrance examination to prove that I should be here. The Deans have not given me a date for that exam but they said it would be soon. It seems I will be spending the next several days engrossed in the contents of these reading devices." He held up one of the PADDs he brought in to show Liam.

"Sucks to be you." Liam shrugged, "You're gonna miss out on all the parties dude." he shook his head, "It's a shame you haven't got family high up in Starfleet like I do." he grinned, "They help you along with stuff like this." he added, knowing full well that he wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for the influence of the Admiral.

Adonai didn't reply to Liam right away as he allowed his comments to sink in. It almost sounded as if he was an upper-class person, similar in type to the people who had been holding back Adonai and his family for many years. "You... you did not get accepted into the Academy from merit alone?" the Nygean asked shakily.

"Hell no!" Liam laughed, "My old man saw to it that I'd get in. To tell the truth I think he liked the thought of me being in another quadrant of the galaxy away from him." he added, clearly not sad about the fact.

"I am beginning to understand why that might be the case," Adonai replied honestly. "I have a feeling that your family's background may not help you all the way out here. You will need to work on this leg of your life's journey."

Liam scowled at Adonai, not liking what the other boy was saying and grunted "I doubt it."

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see," the Nygean offered. Adonai leaned over and grabbed the stack of PADDs and brought them over to one of his cupboards to deposit them inside. As he was putting them away, he asked his roommate. "What do you plan on doing in Starfleet?"

"I have no idea." Liam shrugged, "Figured I'd work that out as I go along." he added, looking genuinely clueless.

"But aren't you going to be studying a specific subject?" Adonai prodded further.

"I dunno...I just ticked a few things on my application forms." Liam replied, "Guess I'll find out soon huh? I don't remember what I put." he added in a voice that left a doubt as to whether he was joking or not.

Well that certainly didn't sound very good. Was he purposely looking to fail out within the first semester? Adonai scratched his head lightly. "What if you chose something you're not very good at? I'm not certain what that would be since I just met you. What if it was something like science or medical?"

"I'll wing it I guess." Liam shrugged, "I might be lazy but I'm smart enough to get by."

Whether that was actually true or not, Adonai didn't know. He simply nodded in agreement with his roommate's suggestion. With that being said, he had no idea what 'wing it' meant. Once Adonai had finished with the PADDs, he began to unpack some of his clothing and he placed them in some of his cupboard drawers. He thought about asking Liam about his comment. "Do you have... wings?" Realistically, he wouldn't be surprised considering he'd already met R'Maia and she was strange in her own right.

"What?" Liam laughed, "You're kidding right? I'm human, we don't have wings. Why in the hell did you ask that for?"

Adonai was a little confused. "You said that you would... 'wing it'. I thought that implied that you were going to use wings to benefit you in some way for this task."

The comment had Liam laughing harder as he said "Dude...wing it means that you take a chance and improvise then hope it's right."

"Oh! I see," Adonai replied as he chewed on his bottom lip. He imagined that this wouldn't be the last time that he got lost on an alien expression. It was certain that he'd encounter many more in the coming days, if not weeks. Once he finished putting his clothing in his cupboard, Adonai walked over to the lone window in the room and looked out of it. "Is the Academy on Earth very similar to this?" he asked his roommate.

"Not really." Liam replied, "Back home it's in the middle of a city...here, it's located in the middle of nowhere and it's much more pretty."

Adonai nodded. "Do you know if this Academy has one of those imagery chambers? You know.. the ones that you can program to show you all kinds of places? I'd like to see what Earth looks like.. especially if I am to become a Starfleet Officer."

"Holodecks?" Liam replied, "Yeah, there'll be lots, mostly for training use though they can probably be booked for recreation."

"Then perhaps, once I pass my exams, I shall take a stroll at the Earth Academy in San Fran... San Francisco.." it took a few moments for Adonai to actually recall the name of the city where Starfleet Academy was located. "..and look upon the Golden Goot Bridge in all its glory!"

"Gate." Liam laughed, "It's the Golden Gate bridge." he shook his head, figuring he was going to have a lot of fun with the other boy. He was going to be so easy to wind up.

"Oops. I hope I didn't cause offence," Adonai quickly apologized. It wasn't really his fault that he mispronounced the word. He was just starting to get to know about everything.

"No way dude...I don't like the place anyway." Liam shrugged. In fact, there weren't many places he liked at all.

"You don't? Why not?" prodded the ever curious Nygean. He pulled himself away from the sights beyond the window and then sat on the edge of his bed.

"Dunno, I guess that it reminds me too much of the old man and my grandfather." Liam shrugged.

Considering he'd mentioned something of the kind earlier, Adonai opted to simply nodding his head in understanding. Figuring that he'd spent enough time chatting with his new roommate for now, he stood back up and gathered a few items from his drawer. "Well, I should go find some place to study. I only have four weeks before I take the entrance examination. I want to make sure that I pass it."

"Stay here." Liam stood up, "I'm gonna go find me some fun." he added as he headed for the door.

Well that worked in his favour. "Very well," Adonai said. "Have some... extra fun for me while you're at it. I'm afraid that I won't get much of that over the next seven days."

"I will, catch you later buddy." Liam said before closing the door behind him and heading off to find some mischief.

Once his roommate left, Adonai shook his head slightly. "Liam is an interesting person," the Nygean muttered to himself. In some ways he couldn't really understand the other teenager for his purposes of being at the Magellan Academy. Adonai secretly hoped that Liam's bad habits, or at least bad thinking or vibes wouldn't get the best of him. With that particular thought in mind, Adonai laid back into his bed and began reading the first chapter of his course text. There was so much for him to do and so little time.

Cadet Freshman Grade William 'Liam' Pardot
Cadet
Magellan Academy

Acting Cadet Freshman Grade Adonai
Cadet
Magellan Academy