Under the bright lights of the promenade, Cadet Lyrakkiton Parze stood a little taller in her grey and red uniform.  Down on the Mellstoxx III campus, the cadet uniform blended her in with all her peers.  Among the varied beings passing her on the widely spaced walkway, the uniform singled her out as a student among the fleet.  Even though Cadet Parze was a senior in her academy progression, she was terribly junior in the work experience she’d been assigned on this day.

“What’s the game of patrol, lieutenant?” Cadet Parze asked the patrol shift leader she’d been assigned to for the day.  “What do you look out for?”

Sonja had been assigned a Cadet from the campus for a workday tag along. She wasn’t quite sure how this was going to pan out. The Cadet was in science and from the indications of her classes she had no idea of what Security even was for Starfleet, but she wanted to learn so it seemed as though that was the goal. The Cadet was standing beside Sonja as they walked the Promenade.

“I don’t know that I would call patrol a game, Cadet. It is a delicate job to watch and make sure that in the observation you do not cause problems. When patrolling we watch for anything suspicious and answer any calls that might come in that we need to respond to. As you can see the Promenade is a big place so it takes many officers on different shifts to do this job. As a Shift Patrol Leader, I do a lot more of the coordinating of the patrol for the shift I am on. Though I am out and about especially on occasions that something happens where I am needed.” She explained as the Saurian just looked at her.

“Ahhhhh, yes, I see,” Parze said, nodding fiercely.  Gesturing with her hands while she spoke, Parze thought aloud, “In a way, a security patrol is like observational science.  An experiment.  You want to observe the actions and the reactions, but you yourself don’t want to be observed.  You don’t want to influence your experiment by your presence.”  Perking up, even more, Parze asked, “Do you ever get to wear a personal cloaking device, like on a duck blind mission, Lieutenant?” 

Sonja laughed for a second “No Cadet, we’re not Intelligence or someone who hides in the shadows. There may be cases of such a thing being used, but here on the Promenade we do not do that. A good question though.” She stopped in the Promenade center “So what’s something you may find suspicious right here?”

Squaring her shoulders, Cadet Parze stood stock still, absorbing the activity of the promenade with her eyes, ears, and snout.  She didn’t say anything for about a minute, and then she started to spin around on the spot, taking in her observations on a 360-degree radius.  After another couple of minutes of observations, Parze scratched her scaly chin, in thought.  As subtly as she could, she pointed a clawed finger at each of her suspect targets.  “That human couple is sitting close and touching, in a way that suggests a romantic entanglement, but neither of them is looking the other in the eye,” Parze said.  “And that Boslic restaurateur has charged three customers different prices for what appear to be the same meals.  My mother would never allow that.”

Sonja was impressed with the amount of observation the Cadet had it was somewhat surprising as most people could care less about being observant, but Parze was different and Sonja had to make sure and record that. “Very good observation, though the relationship is not something I can tangle with I can watch to make sure the Boslic has a trend and send someone in to gather evidence covertly sometimes Security is also about staying in the shadows till the right moment to strike.”

“That sounds wise, lieutenant,” Parze said.  She nodded slowly, considering the implications of what Sonja said.  All the while, she still kept one eye on that Boslic restaurant.  Parze supposed aloud, “Civilians can be uncomfortable around security officers.  I don’t know if it’s more common for them to be afraid of being wrongfully accused or caught for their real secrets.  Have you noticed that at all?”

Sonja nodded “It is true that people can be uncomfortable when they see us, but that’s usually when someone is hiding something. In most cases people are happy to know someone is there to protect them, but people like to paint us as the bad guys. It is something we have to deal with quite often.”

Nodding once, Parze’s obsidian eyes widened at what Sonja shared with her.  “Does it bother you at all, lieutenant,” Parze asked, “if complete strangers look at you funny, or turn around to walk in a different direction because they see your uniform?”  The hubris of youth gave Parze the courage to ask such a personal question.  It wasn’t every day Parze had time to speak with a real, live Starfleet officer, doing what they do, out in the galaxy at large.  This was an opportunity she refused to waste.

Sonja thought for a moment. It was interesting to get such questions from a Cadet, but that made for a more interesting session. She had not really though about it, but it was a good question. “Truthfully I do not when is training for Security they help to teach you how to react and overcome that helps. I never really worried about it thought. I heard a saying once and its stuck with me. What other people think of you is none of your business. If you start to make it your business, you will be offended for the rest of your life. ” She smiled for a moment “That is why I am the way I am.”  

“I appreciate that philosophy.  It resonates.  My mother always says something similar about potential customers,” Parze said, a little bit wistfully.  Turning her head again, Parze scanned the promenade again for suspicious behaviour.  In particular, she stared at the Boslic restaurant one more time.  To Sonja, Parze asked, “What else might you look for on patrol?”

Sonja looked at Parze “Easiest way to explain this is that if it seems like it could be dangerous to the people you protect it more than likely falls into the Security purview.” She said trying to show the Cadet the best and easiest way to describe security.

Nodding heavily, Parze said, “Secure-ity.  It’s even in the name.  Your calling is to secure our people from danger.  There’s no more admirable a calling than that.”

Sonja smiled it was often a cadet thought highly of a position they did not want to occupy, but Parze was different “Indeed so, it’s about time to eat if you would like to join me for my lunch?”

“Yes, of course, lieutenant,” Parze replied brightly.  Her posture perked up and she immediately began her visual search for the vast array of food options on the promenade.  Upon a second thought, Parze looked to Sonja and she wryly said, “As long as we eat anywhere but the Boslic restaurant.”

Sonja chuckled and led Parze towards her favorite restaurant it was going to be an interesting second half of the shift, but Parze was a good person to have along. Sonja knew the Cadet would go far in her career.