New Students

Posted on Tue Jul 21st, 2026 @ 2:27pm by Paislee Kellan

657 words; about a 3 minute read

The hum of the USS Scharnhorst’s primary impulse engines was a familiar comfort to six-year-old Paislee Kellan, but today, her focus was strictly on the slight wiggling happening inside her oversized jumpsuit pocket.

Paislee was a girl on a mission. As the daughter of Captain Adrian Kellan, she understood the weight of responsibility. And frankly, it was completely unfair that she was getting an awesome Starfleet education while her two best friends were sitting back in their quarters, left in complete academic ignorance.

Her pet hamsters, Twiggy and Cheeks, deserved a future.

"Good morning, class," chimed a bright, slightly too-cheerful voice. At the front of the room stood Miss Gable, the ship’s primary Holographic Educational teacher. She flickered once—a brief micro-glitch in her Starfleet Education Uniform—before beaming at the eight other children sitting at their curved desks. Nine kids total. Standard deep-space classroom complement.

"Today," Miss Gable announced, gesturing to the interactive holoscreen behind her, "we are going to explore the basic principles of planetary gravity."

Perfect, Paislee thought, patting her pocket. Twiggy needs this. He falls off his wheel all the time.

She carefully reached into her right pocket and pulled out Twiggy, a scruffy brown rodent with a severe overbite, and slid him onto her desk. From her left pocket, she retrieved Cheeks, a rotund golden hamster who was currently using his pouches to store a stolen piece of Starfleet-issue freeze-dried strawberry.

"Now, class," Miss Gable said, pacing down the center aisle. "Can anyone tell me what happens when an object enters a heavy gravitational pull?"

Paislee raised her hand high. "They get heavy, and then they need a nap!"

"Not quite, Paislee," Miss Gable smiled, her algorithm defaulting to 'Nurturing Encouragement.' "Objects are drawn toward the center of mass. For example—"

Miss Gable stopped mid-sentence. Her eyes zoomed in on Paislee’s desk. Her programming paused for three point two seconds as her database attempted to cross-reference the two unauthorized organic lifeforms currently eating crumbs off a Starfleet PADD.

"Paislee," Miss Gable said, her voice dropping into a flat, synthetic tone. "Why are there terrestrial rodents on your learning console?"

"They’re auditing," Paislee explained with total, unflinching confidence. "Twiggy wants to be a pilot, and Cheeks is studying to be a chef because he likes snacks. They’re very smart, Miss Gable. They just need a chance."

"Paislee, school policy strictly prohibits unsanctioned rodents in the classroom," Miss Gable replied, reaching out a holographic hand to pick up Cheeks.

Her hand passed straight through the furry little guy. Cheeks blinked, utterly unfazed by the tingling photons, and continued chewing his strawberry.

Twiggy, sensing an opportunity for mid-class rebellion, immediately bolted off the edge of the desk, embarking on a high-stakes tactical sprint across the deck plates.

"Warning," Miss Gable’s audio glitched, her voice suddenly shifting to a stern male voice before snapping back to her normal tone. "Mobile fluff-ball detected. Initiating containment—"

"Twiggy, no! That's zero-gravity training!" Paislee squeaked, diving off her chair.

The rest of the class instantly lost all interest in planetary gravity. Mindy, Paislee’s bestie, started rowing soft-light blocks to build Twiggy an obstacle course. Within thirty seconds, the nine-person classroom descended into absolute, joyous chaos.
Miss Gable stood in the center of the room, her program wildly cycling through disciplinary subroutines, while Paislee army-crawled under desks, whispering, "It's okay, Twiggy! Daddy won't send you to the brig!"

At that exact moment, the classroom doors hissed open, revealing the ship’s Chef, and Paislee’s mother, Eliana Kellan.. She froze, taking in the scene: a holographic teacher flickering violently, eight kids screaming with glee, and his six-year-old daughter flat on her stomach, trying to coax a hamster out from under a power conduit with half a cheese stick.

Eliana looked around the room and her eyes settled on Paislee as she sighed. "Paislee... what did I say about bringing your hamsters to school?"

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