From: learnd@lafcol.lafayette.edu (Dave Learn)
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
Subject: Special Assignment
Keywords: story, short
Date: 17 Aug 92 17:29:23 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Lehigh University

I used to work as a student assistant at our school's 24-hour computer site.
At times, I discovered I couldn't make a shift, and when my creative side
kicked in, I would come up with unusual ways to request a sub:


A Creative Sub Request                                                          
                                                                                
     It was a typical afternoon.  Although the sky was overcast, I could        
see the brilliant sunlight's glare on the white pick-up just outside my         
window.  The trees by Kirby were undecided what season it was.  Some            
trees had new springtime buds, while others still held their leaves,            
left over from the fall which never really ended, but had lasted right          
until the new spring which was just around the corner.                          
     I sat on the chair in my room, enjoying the fresh air the breeze           
carried with it through my open window and working hard at understanding        
_The Sound and the Fury_ for my modern novel class.  If only Faulkner           
wrote in linear time!  Of course, if he had done that, _The Sound and           
the Fury_ would probably not have been considered such an incredible            
book by scholars.                                                               
     As I read Quentin's story for the third time, a pillar of light            
appeared directly in front of me with a moderately-pitched hum.  As I           
dropped my assignment to the floor in astonishment and fear, two six-           
foot tall . . . *things* appeared in front of me.  Their dress was a            
black outfit with a silver sash sliding from their right shoulders to           
their left hips and back around on their backs.  I stared up from my            
chair in amazement at them--shoulder-length black hair fell from the            
sides and back of their heads, and each had thick beards and moustaches.        
Coming down from their foreheads to the bridges of their noses was a            
lobster-like formation.                                                         
     "I am Captain Kolgan of the Klingon vessel shaQspere bulTin.  You          
will come with us," said the one on the left.  His voice was deep, and          
for an insane moment I hoped he wouldn't wake up my roommates.                  
     I shook my head.  Klingons?  That was ridiculous.  I must have             
fallen asleep while reading my Faulkner.  I've been working too hard on         
my Star Trek thesis, and this is what I get.  The second Klingon picked         
me up by my shirt with his right hand and held me at eye level.                 
     "Did you not hear the captain?  We must hurry," he said.  I winced.        
It was amazing my ACS shirt hadn't ripped, the way he was holding it.           
And if his vice-like grip wasn't bad enough, he had the breath to kill          
a charging rhinoceros.                                                          
     "I can't go with you!" I said.  "I have to finish reading this             
book and work on my thesis some more."                                          
     "You will come now," said Kolgan.  "It is essential that we com-           
plete our mission within a week, and this cannot be done without your           
assistance."                                                                    
     "Without my assistance?" I said, stunned.  "But--but--but I have           
to work at AHE 310 this week.  Rob Kamm's already going to sub for me           
tonight from 2-8 a.m., but I'd need someone else to sub for me on               
Wednesday night, from 2-8 a.m."                                                 
     The Klingon holding me roared and dropped me to the floor.  I              
groaned as I landed on the arm of the chair and rolled off onto the             
floor.  "A true Klingon would not hesitate to request a sub for some-           
thing this important."                                                          
     "All right, all right!" I said.  "I'll do it.  Just let me use the         
computer and get a sub first, all right?"                                       
     "Go, but hurry," said Kolgan.  "The shaQspere bulTin is waiting            
for you, and we cannot wait much longer."                                       
                                                                                
                                                                                
     "We have wasted hours now," said Marklowe (the second Klingon).            
"Has no one taken your shift yet?"                                              
     "Not yet," I said, and shifted nervously in my seat.  This was             
unbelievable.  Klingons?  In my dorm room?  What was next--Romulans             
in the shower?  With a sigh, I leaned back in my chair to check FORUM           
and see how the ethics debate was going.  There was a new post by               
Fritz on the inconsistencies expressed in an earlier post.                      
     Just as I started to get into it, a message flashed across my              
screen.  "You have received mail from Fritz Block, Editor, The News-            
letter Nobody Reads."  With a rush, I quickly exited the B-boards,              
wondering just why the college went back on its word about the Lair,            
and read my mail.                                                               
     "Well?" said Marklowe.                                                     
     "Fritz says he'll take the shift.  I can accompany you to the              
shaQspere bulTin."                                                              
     Kolgan nodded.  "Good.  If we are successful, you can return in            
a week.  You had best bring your homework with you to do when you are           
not otherwise . . . engaged."                                                   
     I nodded weakly and felt my legs buckle, but I did my best not to          
fall down.  I went into the mess I call my bedroom and grabbed my               
Complete works of Chaucer and my other books.  In a minute, I had               
rejoined Kolgan and Marklowe.  They had small communicators at hand.            
     "KoQlit, tchoi chu!" Kolgan shouted, and we disappeared in an              
eerie sparkle of light.  And that is when I saw the inside of their             
ship.                                                                           


Dave Learn, Knight of the Wolves         "What an extraordinary thing to
dl20@lafayacs.bitnet                      do--and you only a stutterer."