Working Class by Nathan Lowell

Author:Nathan Lowell [Lowell, Nathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-06-28T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

Mr. MacBradaigh came back earlier than expected and knocked on the cabin door frame at 1700. “You wanted to see me, Captain.”

“Yes. Thank you, Mr. MacBradaigh. Come in. I wanted to talk to you about the testing, but maybe you can fill me in on what you’ve learned about the Toe-Holds so far.”

He took a seat and laced his fingers together over his stomach. “What can I tell you about the testing?”

“Before you took them you seemed pretty confident. Well done on the two you passed.”

“Thanks. I’m not sure what happened on the other two. Engineering and cargo? The content across all four divisions was so similar, but the tests for engineering and cargo seemed to pull more questions from the specific areas than deck and steward did.” He shrugged. “Mr. Cartwright said I only missed by a couple of points on each.”

“What’s your opinion of the study materials?”

He blew out a breath. “I said before I think they’re good. Very good. The randomization in the practice tests seemed to balance well from test to test. The pools of questions have to be pretty large for that to happen.”

“What advice do you have for how to help more people pass?”

He frowned and looked down. “I suspect the number of practice tests is a good predictor. Getting them to take and pass more of those would be a good step.”

“How so?”

“It’s a mistake to generalize from a single experience, but I did the most practices in deck and steward. I did fewest on cargo. Engineering seemed to be just ‘more of the same’ and I only did a few of them. Same with cargo by the time I got to it.” He shrugged and looked over at me. “Test fatigue, I suppose.”

“It’s a common pattern.” I shrugged. “We encourage ratings to take at least ten practice tests.”

He nodded. “My experience would indicate that’s good advice. Advice which I believe you gave me, but which I failed to follow.”

“Will you try again?” I asked.

“No.” He shook his head. “I learned a great deal from that experience, but the last week has shown me where I need to focus.”

“On the Toe-Holds?”

“Yes. I can see why you and your crew are convinced that the Toe-Holds are the future.”

“Are you convinced yet, Mr. MacBradaigh?”

He sighed and shook his head. “Not convinced yet, but I’m forced to admit that my preconceived notions about what I’d find here have been thoroughly shattered.”

“Welcome to my world.” I grinned at him. “I didn’t have much by way of preconceptions, but what I expected went out the airlock as soon as I saw my first station.”

“I want to thank you for letting me up on the bridge to see it on the way in, Captain.”

“You’re very welcome.” I paused, unsure if I wanted to open a new can of worms. “Have you learned anything from your forays onto the station?”

He raised his eyebrows. “You know about that?”

“Logs show you leaving and returning pretty regularly. I have no idea what you’re doing there, but I have to admit I am curious.

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