8th January 2024 Writings

 

8^th

 

Excerpt from: I Cerritos

It was Mariner, again! Of course it was Mariner!

 

 

An avatar appeared in the corridor where her berth was. “Ensign Beckett Mariner!”

 

“Oh, hi Cerritos, of course you know,” Mariner obfuscated.

 

“How many times…”

 

“No smuggling. I’m not smuggling.”

 

“It wasn’t authorized. Therefore it is smuggling. I know you want to help on the various planets we visit,” Cerritos said. She understood. She really did. She had been on Second Contact duty for decades.

 

“You’re not going to tell the Captain, this time are you?” Mariner asked.

 

“Not this time,” Cerritos decided. “But this is the last time, Mariner!”

 

“Oh geez, you sound like her.”

 

“Like commander, like ship. And she has been my Captain for nearly a decade.”

 

“You just made my point,” Mariner said.

 

“True,” Cerritos admitted. “Uh oh!”

 

“What?” Mariner asked.

 

“It’s Tendi and Rutherford,” Cerritos answered.

 

Words: 140

 

 

Excerpt from: The Enterprise Wasn’t There

“No one has seen anything unusual, other than the readings being centred on a salt marsh.”

 

Kirk could see that he was holding something back. “You have found something, just not unusual?”

 

“Yes, sir,” Sulu reported. “A visiting child is wandering the countryside, but we’re unsure whether that has anything to do with the energy readings.”

 

“It would seem not to. Mr. Sulu,” the Captain said. “But stranger things have happened.”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

 

Sulu signed off from the Captain.

 

Words: 79

 

 

Excerpt from: Spider Quinn

Anna nodded.

 

“Quinn,” right, the other body answered.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Please introduce yourselves,” Quinn said.

 

“Anna Coultard.”

 

“Ben Harrod.”

 

“Gerald Brown,” the last one said quietly.

 

“What do you want to get out this?” Quinn asked.

 

“Not sure,” Anna said.

 

“The same,” Ben said.

 

“Friendship?” Gerald asked. “But I’m not sure that would work.”

 

Quinn sighed. She wasn’t sure what to do. ‘What does Ms. Li expect?’

 

“What now?” Anna said.

 

Something came to Quinn. “Go and grab a book on a subject you like, and then come back. I’ll do the same.”

 

“Sure,” Anna said, perking up and smiling.

 

“Certainly,” Ben said.

 

“Of course,” Gerald said.

 

Quinn did the same. She wasn’t sure where to go at first. ‘Is it comic books? Or a book on the history of Lawndale?’ She wasn’t sure. She then found that she had wandered into the Art section. ‘This will do,’ she thought as she picked up a book about sketching. The process of designing her SpiderGirl suits had awakened something in her, such that she wanted to sketch things, and not just clothes. She wanted to improve her technique before going to Ms. Defoe about extracurricular lessons. ‘Would Li allow that?’ she wondered.

 

 

Anna found herself at the end of the 200 section. ‘Pagan mysticism’ she considered. But she knew her reputation for weirdness and wasn’t sure what Quinn would think of her reading such a book. She thought for a moment, before veering into the 300 section and then picked up a book on Irish folklore.

 

 

Ben couldn’t help it. He found it in the Medical section. ‘616. Something,’ he thought with a sigh. He stepped aside ‘614… forensic medicine. He knew that he wanted to put his medical knowledge to some use, but knew he wasn’t cut out to be a doctor. He grabbed such a book. But he knew what Anna would say.

 

 

Gerald knew what he would get. A Science book. But which science? He wasn’t sure. ‘Which one?’ He wondered as he looked about the 500 section. ‘Astronomy!’ He then grabbed a book on the planets of the Solar System.

 

 

Quinn and Anna came back to the table at the same time. “Irish folklore, interesting,” Quinn commented.

 

Words: 369

 

 

Total: 588