CONTINUING EDUCATION

Door 10

By Kiddo

In Loving Memory of Jonathan Brandis

Disclaimer:

I don't have any rights to the TV show "seaQuest DSV," and I am not making any money by writing this.

A special "Thank You" goes to my wonderful beta-reader Jackie.

A couple hours and three stations later...

A sporty-looking man with short black hair was already waiting for them. On the ground next to him lay a ladder. Other than that, they could see nothing that told them what this station was about.

Krieg rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "And what great thing will we do here?"

The sporty-looking man pointed to a tree that stood a few feet away from them. There weren't any branches at the bottom of the tree; they only started higher. And between two of the highest branches lay a small container. "Your task is to get the container down here."

"And how are we to do that?" asked O'Neill.

The man shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, you'll just have to think of something. I can't give you any suggestions on how to get the container down."

Benjamin Krieg looked at the situation. "Am I right in that we are not allowed to use your ladder?"

The man nodded. "Yes, that's right. I only have the ladder so that I can get the container up again for each team."

Commander Ford decided that he didn't want to say anything at first. He had an idea but wanted to wait to see if anybody had a better one.

Ortiz looked around. "Maybe we can find some pinecones or something and throw them at the container until it falls down."

"I don't think that that will work. We need something heavier," said Hitchcock. "But, let's give it a try anyway and see what happens."

The next few minutes were spent by searching for, and throwing pinecones. But even when they managed to hit the container, nothing happened. As Katie had said, they needed something with heavier.

Dr. Westphalen shook her head. "This is pointless; we have to try something else."

Ben wrinkled his forehead. "We do need something heavier." He looked around and when he couldn't find anything, he just pulled his shoe off of his foot. Before anyone had the chance to say anything, he lobbed his shoe toward the container at the top of the tree. Unfortunately, his shoe missed the container by a few inches. But what was even worse was that his shoe was now caught between two other branches. The look on Krieg's face spoke volumes.

Commander Ford had to turn around and bite his lip to keep from laughing. The sight of their supply officer standing there with a shoe on one foot and just a sock on the other was too funny.

Bridger raised his eyebrows. "Nice going! Now we have a second problem. Anyone have any ideas that might actually work?"

They looked silently at each other. Finally, the commander raised his voice. "I could position myself under the tree and Lucas could climb up on my shoulders. If we're lucky, he should just be high enough to be reach the container."

The teen wasn't looking very happy with Ford's suggestion. "NO WAY! I have nothing against you, Commander, but if you move even just a little bit, I'll fall down, break both of my arms, have to stay in the hospital over Christmas, and won't be able to do anything on my computer for weeks!"

It was clear to everybody that Lucas's main concern lay with his computer.

Jonathan tried to convince the young genius. "Don't worry. I won't move. This is completely safe!"

Crocker nodded thoughtfully. "Ortiz and O'Neill can stand next to Ford, and can make sure that you don't lose your balance." Ford's idea was the only one they had at the moment, and it looked like it could work.

The teen frowned - was everybody going nuts? "But why do I have to do this?"

Ben sighed. "Because out of everyone here, you weigh the least." He looked pleadingly at the boy. "Please, you have to save my shoe."

Dr. Westphalen didn't say a word; she didn't like the idea either. But on the other hand, she didn't want to be a spoilsport, and Lucas was young and fit. It shouldn't be a problem for him to jump down from the commander's shoulders if Ford moved or tripped. And the teen did have a very good sense of balance.

Finally, and very reluctantly, Lucas nodded. "Okay, I'll do it."

"Great, I was really afraid that I have to walk around in nothing but my sock."

It wasn't long before the computer genius was standing on the commander's shoulders. As expected, he reached the container and threw it down to Hitchcock. Then he looked down at Ford. "Could you please very slowly move a step to the left? I can't reach the shoe from here."

"Okay." As carefully as he could, Jonathan took a step to the left. "Is that enough? Can you reach it?"

Lucas nodded. "Yeah, that's perfect."

And with a soft "plop," the shoe landed on the ground.

Written November 2004 – Translated November 2005