Davidson had been working to try and compile some information regarding enemy movements on the Federation borders for the monthly briefing when her system went down and while trying the little bit of technical knowledge she had no luck at getting the system back up. She cursed silently as this was not what she needed to happen today.

She grudgingly pulled out her PADD and made a request for the engineering department to come and fix the system, though it was classified the need for engineers allowed them to work on it because of the system integration. She sighed and looked at the desk seeing her pile of work and not being able to do it, as each station was locked to a specific user for security purposes.

A nervous knock at the nearby desk divider interrupted her musings in the silent office, as the slender form of Log leant out from behind the slim glass privacy screen. The young Tellerite shuffled awkwardly as he slung the engineering tool kit into view around the end of the curved desk.

“I was just down the corridor,” he muttered, motioning to the tool kit with the long fingers of his empty hand. “You asked for a security-certified engineer?”

Log took two-minute steps forward into the centre of the room, his short figure made even smaller by a slight deferential bowing of his head and shoulders.

“What seems to be the problem?”

Davidson shook her head mainly because this was not what she suspected, but also that she had to deal with these issues. She looked at the newcomer and motioned at the now-frozen screen.

”This thing has not been working for the past two hours and when I tried to fix it I didn’t get very far. I don’t need to tell you everything in here is highly classified. You have been cleared but that still means you cannot try to access just anything. If you do it’s my job to report it.”

She wasn’t trying to be mean, but this was one of those serious situations.

“Don’t worry Lieutenant, I’ve had plenty of confidential debriefs pass by under my nose. Couldn’t tell you what any of them said if you asked.” Log allowed a playful twinkle to hover on the corner of his lips before crossing the office and with a quick flick of the wrist causing the console’s rear covering to pop open. Quickly he disappeared into its inner workings, a waterfall of half-spoken whispers tumbling from his obscured face like the ebb and flow of the sea on the shore.

“What are you up to… That doesn’t… What are you doing over there…”

With a mustard arm he rummaged in the nearby toolkit, the myriad of glowing and pulsing devices clattering against one another with a series of gentle tinkles. Eventually, he alighted on a long green cylinder covered in familiar square runic characters and twirled it in his hands, adjusting the setting blindly with his long fingers. The slender tapering device chirped and whined as he made minute adjustments, his interrogative mutterings continuing to echo inside the case in a dull baritone.

Davidson looked at what the engineer was doing and immediately went over and stopped them. She pointed at the tool “That is not an approved tool to be using on authorized equipment. What do you think you’re doing?” She had visible anger on her face and a voice that indicated something was wrong.

“Oh! Sorry Lieutenant, it’s an old Tellarite depolariser. My mum sent it to me for my birthday a few months ago. It’ some much more efficient-” Log lept down from the console and raced over to Davidson with all the excitement of a child.

“- and isn’t the interface just so simple and ergonomic?” He moved some sliders effortlessly with the pad of his wide thumbs, causing the device to emit a glissando of tones into the room. “They really don’t make them like this anymore, apparently it was my grandfather’s. Which is weird because I don’t ever remember him picking up a tool in his whole life.” Log’s bushy eyebrows crawled up his forehead as he shrugged his shoulders dismissively, before making his way back to the desk, the long green tool rolling back and forth in his hands.

Davidson stopped looking at the very excited engineer and shook her head “I am not really someone who gets excited about tools, but I can see you’re excited and from all indications it doesn’t seem like the tool will cause any issues. I will continue to allow you to use it.”

She wasn’t sure what the engineer thought by bringing unapproved equipment into this section, but she thought about it and realized it brought no harm so she would not report it or cause any issues. The truth was, she had sometimes done things before getting into the position she was now, but it took time to get to where she understood.

“I do have a question though, what makes you so excited? Even with a simple fix like this you seem like a kid who is doing something that they love to do. I never felt that way…I love my job but I never have your excitement level, in fact, I haven’t had that for many years.”

A dull thud interrupted the chirps and whistles that emanated from Log’s tool kit as the young ensign’s head made contact with the inside of the console. Slowly withdrawing from the slim grey unit his face was a visage of confusion.

“What makes me so excited?” He motioned to the surrounding room, his arms making large circles in the air. “Everything!” Grabbing another tool from his kit, he dashed across to Davidson’s side.

“This thing for example,” he motioned towards her with the nondescript white pyramid in his hand. “It wirelessly reconfigures the bio circuitry of the gel packs, which is a bag of organic goo that processes calculations at near light speed using the architecture of neurons and synapses.”

Log dashed across towards the console and tapped its lid demonstrably.

“This console is connected to a massive system of similar ones that allow me to talk to my grandmother on Tellar Prime in essentially real-time, despite being trillions of kilometres away, because the messages are transmitted by bending the fabric of subspace.”

Log dramatically pressed a small button on the desk surface, causing the small blackout filter of the window in the corner of the office to shimmer away, revealing the splendour of the nearby Paulson nebula. Its vast purple form was ribbed with gaseous bones of red and crimson as it filled the horizon beyond the green sphere of Mellstoxx III.

“Which I have to do because I live in a giant floating city, with thousands of other people… in space.”

Log shook his arms towards the purple starscape beyond the window with barely contained energy.

“I live, in… Space.” the young man’s smile was barely contained, beaming brighter than the nearby yellow star of Mellstoxx that glowed from beyond the verdant planet below.

“How could I not be excited?”

Davidson was amazed at the excitement of the younger officer, in fact, it made her smile as it wasn’t something she had seen in a long time. She looked out the windows and saw the beauty of the nebula and the reflection in her eyes brought her back to when she was a child.

Her mother was an astronomer and she was taught about the wonders of the stars at a young age. She loved looking through her mother’s telescope and she had seen such beauty sometimes it made her forget just what made her love space. She of course found a love for intelligence, but it doesn’t change her love for space. How she had forgotten it she couldn’t imagine.

She smiled at Log “Thank you, Ensign, for reminding me that sometimes it’s the small things that need to be appreciated. You have an incredible outlook and excitement and with work, I had seemingly forgotten that.” She went to her terminal and pulled up some images that she had taken of space through the years.

She gestured for Log to come look “This is something I don’t share often, but I love the beauty of space if you can tell here.”

The ensign’s form slipped out from the console with surprising ease, his small belly causing the desk to bow slightly as leaned over the top of its grey form.

“That’s beautiful lieutenant, you have a good eye for composition.” He tilted his head at an awkward angle. “The Arachnid nebula?”

He twiddled the old tool between his stout fingers as his mind began to visibly wander.

“My mother used to tell me it was full of Risian Spiders, that they floated through the nebula on gossamer webs a hundred kilometres long.” He let out a quiet sigh of childhood happiness as his eyes became glassy with the fond memory.

Davidson smiled at the compliment and looked at the Ensign. “Thank you for the reminder of the small things in life. Can we finish up so I can get these reports done?”

Log flicked a few switches on his antique tool, causing it to sing a short melody of high-pitched tones. Moments later the console flashed awake, the familiar seal of the Federation filling the screen.

“You’re reports await Lieutenant.” Log offered a smile as he scooped up the toolkit and made for the door. As he approached the edge of the room and the doors swished open, the young officer stopped and offered a look over his wide shoulders before nodding towards the small window.

“Don’t forget to enjoy the view.”