<USS Avalon> "New Kid on the Block"

New Kid on the Block
by Sergeant Major Greg Williams and Cadet John Forester

The couple of hours that they'd spent in the shuttle together had Greg's
head spinning. Anna had been interesting and charming. He'd not seen her
since he'd got on board but he'd heard through the grapevine that she'd been
promoted. Talented as well as sexy. Picking up the bouquet of flowers he'd
replicated, Greg swung out of his room and trotted down the corridor. She
would be in the CMO's quarters by now so that's where he headed on the off
chance that she wasn't on duty.

As he approached he saw a young man, couldn't be much out of the Academy,
let himself into her quarters. He was attractive and he had her access
codes.

"Of course." Crestfallen, Greg turned away and trudged back down the
corridor.

Instead of going back to his lonely room, he headed to the Science labs. If
he did a little work, he'd feel better, right? Being an essentially combat
based ship, the labs were small but well fitted. When he entered he saw a
silent, tallish lad stooped over a microscope, frowning.

"I'm never gonna get this," John mumbled as he stood and stretched. "I hate
biology."

"Oh come now, son, don't be like that. Biology can be lots of fun." Greg
wandered over and recognised the cadet uniform. Offering his hand to the
shocked young man, he said, "Sergeant Major Greg Williams. You look like you
need a bit of help."

Slumping down onto a stool, John just shrugged and glared at the microscope
again.

"What's your major?"

"Astrophysics." Glancing at the bouquet still clasped in Greg's hand, he
raised an eyebrow but said nothing. "It's much more fun than this crap."

Chuckling, Greg dumped the flowers down on the tabletop and pulled himself
onto a stool. "We all think that our speciality subjects are more
interesting than everything else. Personally, I'm an expert in pathogens.
Not particularly interesting to anyone but those who are passionate about
it. But it still has its place and its uses."

"I guess." John mumphed and shrugged. "I'm never going to pass this semester
at this rate. I'm supposed to have a good understanding of all the lab
equipment but I hate biology so much that I don't really know one end of a
microscope from the other."

Smirking, Greg pointed to the apparatus on the labtable. "The bit that
points upwards is the bit you look through, the flat bit is the bit you put
your specimen in and the turny knobby thing at the side adjusts the zoom."
The sour look that the cadet gave him made him roar with laughter. "Why are
you even using one, son?"

Pointing to the giggling duty science officer, John said, "Because he told
me to." He blushed at the now clear joke and tried to sink deeper into his
seat.

"Here," Greg said as he picked up a tricorder. "What are you looking at?"

Sliding the specimen out, John handed it over. "It's supposed to be a small
insect or something but I couldn't get the scope to focus."

"Right, you know how to work one of these, right?"

"Well yeah," John said as if it had been the most stupid comment in the
universe.

"Then use it and tell me what it says."

Snatching the tricorder, John aimed it at the specimen. The readings it took
made him frown. "This can't be right."

"What's that?" Greg leaned close and then smirked. "I'm afraid the tricorder
never lies.

"But... since when does a flee have a human face?"

"I don't know, how about you enlarge the image and see what your new
discovery looks like properly."

When he did, John cried out in disgust. "That's not fair!" Throwing the
tricorder at the science officer, John stomped to his feet. "That's just not
fair!"

Finally losing the battle against the onslaught, Greg cracked up. "I think
you've been had, son."

The science officer caught the tricorder deftly and grinned broadly. "See?
Biology can be fun. Want to know how I did it?"

Before exploding again, John perked an eyebrow. "You mean it's real? Not
just a computer etching or something?"

"Of course it's real. As the Sergeant Major said, the equipment never lies."

"Tell me." John dashed over, leaning down and peering at what the older man
was showing him.

Picking up the specimen slide, Greg smiled to himself. He twiddled it around
his fingers as he wandered over to glance at what they were doing. "Ah yes,
I do believe I've seen that one before. Now, have you ever managed to give a
spider klingon ridges?"

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