Bedtime Stories 1

Posted on Tue Jul 7, 2015 @ 9:22pm by Lieutenant Cassandra Kennings

1,327 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: All this has happened before...
Location: Kansas, United States of America, Earth

"MOMMY!!!!!" came the scream of a terrified little girl.

The girl's mother left her room swiftly, her feet treading fast over the centuries-old hardwood floors. She opened the door to her daughter's room and was greeted by two wide, terrified, violet eyes and a mane of rainbow-colored hair sticking out at all angles despite having been brushed diligently before bedtime.

She smiled down at her daughter, and walked over to her bed, sitting on the edge and smoothing her hair down. "Now, now," she said gently, "what's all the fuss about?"

"I had a bad dream," the frightened six-year-old said, sniffling a bit. "I want Daddy."

"I know, Darla. I miss Daddy too," Cassandra said, smiling sadly and leaning forward to kiss her daughter's forehead. The child's faithful feline, an alien, green-colored, ocelot-type animal, leaped up onto the bed and sat up, watching them. He was Darla's stalwart protector, but even he couldn't protect her from a nightmare. Only her Daddy could chase those monsters away.

Cassandra and her husband, Richard, had rearranged their work schedules and lives to ensure that they were home with their daughter as much as possible during these early years. The only major exception had been two years prior, when Cass had taken her daughter on what was supposed to be a minor off-world diplomatic mission to help her see more of the galaxy. The trip ended up being a near-disaster, and while Darla had gained her loyal pet out of the adventure, it had also reinforced her belief that her parents needed to be in comm range at all times.

"When is he coming home?" Darla whined.

"Two more days, my love," Cass said, stroking her hair gently. "And he'll be back to tuck you in and kiss you goodnight like always." She gave Darla another smile and kiss and pushed her gently back onto her pillow. "Now, time for bed."

"Mommy, why aren't you scared?" Darla said.

Cassandra smiled. "Because I know that your daddy is coming home," she said. "Your daddy and I made a promise to each other many years ago, that no matter what we would always come home."

"When I was a baby?" Darla said, curling up under her sheets.

"Oh long before that, my darling," Cassandra said, tapping Darla on the nose with a fingertip. "I used to be in Starfleet, traveling the galaxy. I missed being away from your father, but we made it work. But there was one time when I had come home to see him, and we had a talk. He told me how much he loved me, and we made a promise that no matter what happened, we would always come home."

"And you always did?" Darla said.

Cassandra smiled at the innocent question with such an obvious answer. "Always, although it wasn't always easy."

"Like when?" Darla said, looking up at her with big, fearful eyes.

Cassandra smiled and ruffled Darla's hair gently. "Oh...there was this one time..."

I had been invited to a medical symposium to speak about psychology. Your Aunt Nicole was giving me a pre-flight checkup. Overall she was happy for me, I think.

"I still don't understand why you're going to this," Nicole groused.

"Because I was invited," Cassandra said, smiling at her friend. "And how often does that happen, hm? I jumped at the chance to meet with others in my field on this side of the galaxy. They will have some very unique perspectives, and benefit from hearing about someone's viewpoint from such a complex network of cultures as the Federation."

"And meanwhile you're abandoning all of us and leaving me stuck with every crying ensign who needs to talk about their feelings," Nicole complained, giving Cass another injection. "You should be staying here."

"How does that garden grow?" Cassandra said, shaking her head slowly and grinning.

"I beg your pardon?" Nicole said, looking up from her tricorder.

"'Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?'" Cassandra recited. "It's an Earth nursery rhyme my father used to tell me."

"And I'm 'Mary'?" Nicole said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well you're certainly 'contrary,'" Cassandra said. "If I had declined the invitation you'd be at my door insisting i should go. You're just set and determined to argue."

Nicole sniffed and turned her back, trying to hide her smile. "Fine. It's not like I wanted to go anyway."

"Oh, so that's it then," Cassandra nodded, knowingly. "Yes I can hear you now. One lecture in you would be complaining about the--" she paused and did her best to match Nicole's accent, "stuffed-shirted head-shrinkers who are spending all our time examining their navels." She stuck her tongue out at Nicole's laughter. "Yes, you're just dying to accompany me, I can tell."

Nicole turned back toward her friend and gave her a strong hug. "Try not to have too much fun without us, hm?"

Cass laughed, hugged her back and hopped off the biobed. "I'll do my best. And now, my runabout awaits."

The conference was a bit over a day's journey from the Victory. They were on a humanitarian mission and didn't need me, so I was able to take off on my own. I treated it like a little vacation. I ate a bit more than I should have, slept in a little that next morning, and in general enjoyed the feeling of having my own little home to fly around in. But it was the next afternoon when it happened...

"Warning," the computer said, "incoming vessel traveling at Warp 8 on intercept course."

Cassandra almost spilled the bowl of jambalaya she'd been enjoying in her attempt to grab the controls. "Identify vessel. Is it the Victory?"

"Negative. Ship is of unknown configuration," the computer said. "Unidentified ship now within weapons range."

Cassandra threw the runabout to the side and began a zig-zag pattern, attempting to keep the other ship from locking onto her. "Computer, send a distress call to the Victory."

"Unable to comply," the computer said. "Enemy ship is blocking frequencies."

"Computer take us to Warp 3 any heading," she said. She needed to get herself away from the ship and buy time to think. Instant military strategy wasn't her forte and if all she could do was barely dodge, they'd catch up to her in no time.

She felt the ship suddenly shudder as the warp field collapsed. "Enemy ship has engaged a tractor beam."

"Waited too long," she sighed. She stood up and grabbed her handbag, slinging it over her shoulder. She would not set the self destruct system. Whoever was attacking her, she would never risk killing them in the process. "Computer, initiate Rubicon protocols, authorization Spectrum-Green-Fifteen."

"Acknowledged," the computer said. "Please specify level."

Cassandra was about to answer when she heard the sound of a transporter. She whirled around, eyes ablaze with energy as she prepared to defend herself, but she was met with empty air. She looked around curiously, certain she'd heard a transporter beam. She'd even thought she'd seen it shimmer into the cabin.

It was then she realized she was still seeing a shimmer, specifically the shimmer of a refraction field, the poor man's cloaking device. She had enough time to shout "Lot!" before a beam struck her in the chest.

The world went black before she hit the deck.

*************************************************************************************************************

Cassandra looked down at her daughter, now snoring softly, her head resting gently on the pillow she was holding onto. She gently brushed Darla's hair out of her face again and stood up slowly, not wanting to rock the bed and risk waking her daughter again.

She somewhat regretted Darla falling asleep at one of the scarier parts of the story, but it couldn't be helped, and she certainly wasn't going to wake her up to continue it. She quietly closed the door to Darla's room and went back to bed to get ready for another day.

 

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