AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Although I do not own Star Trek itself, or any of the original characters, those characters which I have developed myself, and those situations which I have written about, and the story names I have created, belong to me, and may not be used by anyone else without my permission.

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Maat S'chn T'gai Vol 2

Chapter Two - Rooms to Live In

New Vulcan

June 2270

Varun

He worked long and hard on the floorplans for the new dormitory. On the ground floor there would be a large lounge, with small tables scattered about, and comfortable chairs, so that groups of students could congregate, to study or simply converse. And there would be the dining hall and kitchen, where three meals a day would be served, with light snacks available at all times. There would also be laundry facilities, where the Academy furnished sheets and blankets and towels would be cleaned by the staff, as well as the mitts and pads and towels used in the kitchen, and where the students could clean their own clothing, as well. At each end of the ground floor would be a wide staircase, going to the upper levels. Each of the upper levels would have a solid wall in the middle, dividing the level into quarters for male students on one side, and female students on the other. On each side of each of the upper levels would be a small apartment for the dorm parent assigned to that floor, and the rooms for the students. After much discussion, it had been decided that there would be communal bathing rooms. The construction costs would be much less, and the space required would also be much smaller.

It was the design of the single-person rooms themselves that he was now concerned with. He placed the windows high enough that privacy was ensured. There must be room for a bed, and a desk and chair, and a meditation space. And there must be a closet, and some place to store the luggage used to bring clothing and personal effects to the Academy. And shelves for books and a dresser for underclothing and toiletries. When he had drawn up several sketches, he went across to the other wing, and shared them with Tarel. The two men sat and discussed the sketches, with Tarel asking questions and making a few suggestions. He went back and revised the sketches, and shared them again, and got confirmation that indeed this was what was desired.

He made his final sketches - exterior on all sides, interior floorplans, sketches of all the rooms as they would be when furnished, including the kitchen and laundry. He made lists of all the necessary equipment that would need to be purchased, including the towels and sheets and dishes. When he had the entire package finished, he took it to Tarel for review before submitting it to the Educational Council, of which Tarel was now a member.

Tarel told him later of the three-hour-long meeting in which everything in the package was thoroughly discussed. He said that everything except the color of the hotpads to be purchased had been picked at, his eyes twinkling. Varun knew very well that he had not specified the color of the hotpads. The package was returned to him, with all the authorizations signed. As soon as his crews finished their current projects, construction would begin. The dormitory must be ready before classes started in early September.

He left it up to Tarel to order the sheets and towels and curtains and furniture, as well as the pans and dishes and other small equipment for the kitchen. He himself ordered the freshers and ovens and sinks. These things would need to be installed, requiring plumbing and electrical connections, for which he was responsible. He must make sure that the connectors were all of the correct type, and placed in the correct positions. The equipment would be delivered the second week in August. Everything must be ready then. The furniture would be delivered the third week in August. And all the soft goods would be delivered the fourth week in August, allowing just enough time before students began to arrive.

First they must excavate, leveling and smoothing the building site. And then the foundation was laid, carefully measured. After that the framework went up, and the roof trusses. Tarel walked through the building with him then, careful on the roughed in stairs and the planks laid on the beams for walkways, where the upper floors were not yet in place. They stood in one of the student rooms, feeling the size of it, nodding at each other.

After that, he put one crew to work on the roof, another on the plumbing and electrical conduits, and the third at hanging the windows. By the time all of that was finished, the stacks of rammed earth blocks had begun to pile up. Row by row they were staked down and sprayed with sealer, to protect them from wind and other mishaps. There should be no rain until after the construction was finished, but one could never completely rule it out.

When the exterior was complete, except for the final coat of stucco-like material, the real work on the interior began. Floors, walls, ceilings, all were put in place, with the opening for electrical connectors carefully aligned to the conduits previously placed. Door and window framing was completed, and the doors were hung. And then it was time to paint and varnish and stucco. Everyone wore masks for an entire week.

Once again, he and Tarel walked through the building, checking the stairs to be sure they were level, the doors to be sure they swung easily, the windows to be sure they shut tightly, so that very little dust filtered through. And then it was time to install showers and freshers and ovens, and light fixtures, and all the other things that would finish up the actual building itself, so that the furnishings could come in. All the equipment was delivered on time, and installed with no problems, as his work to be sure that the connectors were in the right places paid for itself over and over.

When the furniture came, they started with the topmost floor, and worked their way down. Each room was set up before proceeding to the next. By the time they finished with the dining room, it was late in the evening of the last work-day of the week. He thanked his crew, and reminded them that the next week would be much easier, and shorter. They would get at least two extra days off. He got no complaints at all.

Sheets and pillowcases were distributed, left at the foot of the beds. Pillows went at the heads. Basic firepots were set on the small tables provided. Stacks of towels went into the open shelves on the wall outside the bathing rooms, and smaller ones on the shelves inside. A study lamp went on every desk. Cushions went on all the chairs on the lower level. Supplies for the laundry room were unboxed and stacked on the shelves in that room. Pots and pans and small utensils, as well as hotpads and mitts and towels, were put away in the kitchen. Boxes and boxes of plain plates and bowls and cups were opened and stacked neatly in the full-length shelves designated for them. By late afternoon on third-day, they were folding the boxes down and compressing them for transportation to the recycling center. Tarel appeared for the final walk-through, his face beaming. Varun felt it was entirely possible that his own face was beaming. His crews had done an excellent job, and the students would have an extremely acceptable place in which to live. It was satisfying.