Corridor Encounter

Posted on Wed Jul 24th, 2024 @ 8:10pm by Captain María Zavala
Edited on on Wed Jul 24th, 2024 @ 8:11pm

821 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Episode 1.01 - "Ad Astra"
Location: Corridor - Deck Nine, USS Carina
Timeline: Day 03, 1742 Hours

ON: [[Corridor - Deck Nine, USS Carina, Day 03, 1742 Hours]]

“The quartermaster said it was down this way and to the left.”

“Are you sure,” the woman asked, adjusting the child in her arms.

“Pretty sure,” her partner replied, though the falter in their steps seemed to indicate otherwise.

“Mommy, I’m hungry,” the child whined.

“I know, sweetie,” the woman said, trying to reassure them, “I just need you to wait a little longer, okay?” Patting the child on the back, she turned her attention back to her partner. “Look, we’re going in circles…literally. You’re tired, I’m tired, the kid is tired. I’m thinking maybe we just forget about the quartermaster and ask the computer.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right…”

Around the next corner, and several meters further down the corridor, Zavala was making her way back to her own quarters. It had been a long day of going over ship status reports, approving crew transfers, and bopping in-and-out of meetings. She was ready to call it quits and to spend the rest of the evening doing something more…relaxing. After all, there were still plenty of places she hadn’t tried yet on the station, and only so many more days in which to do so.

Zavala was interrupted in her thoughts by the sight of two young officers approaching her in the opposite direction. Upon seeing her, they both stopped and stood respectfully while she passed. She nodded politely in their direction and continued along.

Neither of them were familiar to Zavala, but that was not a surprise. It’d been nearly impossible to keep track of all three-hundred-fifty people’s names and stories aboard the Ariel (and Carina’s standard compliment was at least three times that!). What’s more, there were still quite a few engineers and technicians from the station aboard finishing up the overhaul. And yet, Zavala was not concerned. She knew that the days of her having personal connection to every individual who served under her were long gone.

As she rounded a corner, she happened to see two more individuals out of the corner of her eye. They were standing a little ways away, seemingly engrossed in the nearby wall interface, and talking urgently back and forth with one another. Zavala almost didn’t give them a second thought except that she noticed the one was holding a small child (who appeared perhaps two or three Earth years old). The child’s face was looking over what Zavala presumed was their mother’s shoulder, though they hadn’t seemed to have noticed her yet. They were far too interested in the small stuffed animal they were playing with instead.

Zavala felt a smile coming to her face.

At that very moment, however, the stuffed animal suddenly fell from the child’s hands and landed (quite unceremoniously) on the deck below. They stretched out their arms toward it, but the effort was in vain. It was too far. They shifted, squirmed, even whined a little. But the adults with them were too busy discussing whatever was on the display. Zavala could see that, with each passing moment, the child was becoming more and more upset. She knew where this was heading…

…and so, she bent down, picked up the toy from the deck, and handed it back to the child. “Here you go, little one,” she said.

The child did not hesitate in the slightest to reclaim the lost companion. With much enthusiasm, they reached out and grabbed the stuffed animal with both hands, pulling it close and embracing it completely (as if hoping to prevent a repeat incident).

Meanwhile, the adults (having heard Zavala’s voice) finally took notice of what was going on. Both turned toward her. One of them opened their mouth to speak, but closed it quickly again when she caught sight of the four silver pips on Zavala’s collar. “Captain,” she exclaimed, doing her best to snap to attention while also holding a small child. Her partner also seemed to straighten up a little, and both appeared to be somewhat embarrassed by the suddenness of the encounter.

“At ease,” Zavala told them, “I was just passing by when I happened to notice this little creature’s escape attempt…”

“Ahrina,” the child interjected, holding up the stuffed animal.

“Ahh, yes…Ahrina’s escape attempt,” Zavala said, accepting the correction with a graceful smile.

“I’m so sorry, captain,” the woman said, “I was just…”

“Oh, it’s no trouble,” Zavala assured her. To the child, she added, “Just make sure to keep an eye on them. A whole lot of worlds to be explored right here.”

“Have a good rest of your evening,” she said to the adults, then turned and walked away.

“You, too…ma’am,” the woman holding the child replied.

OFF

 

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