Enga mellom fjella

"90210" (991 words) — Stardates 4157 23-26-28

4157 23 — Threading the needle

Officer Kat [announcement]: I will guide this ship for the next two days. It should be a matter of simply staying on course; but, apparently, not everyone wants us to get to our destination. When Wing 90210 takes over she'll explain. Her command of this ship is critical.

Wing 90210: Well said.

Kat: You know how much I hate this.

90210: Why you. Why me.

Kat: I dreamed this moment. When I saw the eyes in the sky, I knew I needed to take command. I have the focus, the authority and the ability to thread a needle.

90210: And me?

Kat: You're like a sheep-dog herding sheep. We'll be in great danger and the crew must totally trust you. They don't trust me.

90210: Because of the last time?

Kat: No. They're human ... or close enough. I'm not. I studied Humanology. In their mythology I'm either a goddess to be feared or a pet. I'm neither.

90210: You could have been Queen.

Kat: I WAS Queen! And not just any queen, but it wasn't enough. I had dreams. And those dreams meant leaving for the stars.

90210: You're different from your kind.

Kat: We all are. On our various planets among our own kind we bicker, divide ourselves into groups and fight. This ship has no factions. No fighting. Total allegiance to our mission is crucial in spite of our various understandings of it. We have individual jobs and positions but we act as a group. One group. Us.

90210: So ... I need to keep us unified.

Kat: Yep. And there's no one more qualified to do that.

90210: Do you think I'll need to wake up others?

Kat: Perhaps not. That's your decision. I intend to lock myself in chambers and go back to dreaming. I have no skills to offer for fighting the Green Star.

90210: It has a name...

Kat: One that my people avoid mentioning. Our myths consider it a deadly menace. Everyone will need a clear mind, without that mythological baggage, to deal with it. In my dream we don't engage it. We just leave it behind.

4157 26 — We will NOT engage

90210: Yes, they're humanoid. No, we will not contact them. Yes, there are very good reasons to avoid them. Slavery among them. Irrationality reigns.

Wing Jaafar: Said so sweetly and gently, not one note out-of-place. Not one argument to defend. No sense that you are even ruffled.

90210: I'm not.

Jaafar: Impressive.

90210: You should've met my aunt. They say I take after her. As unmovable as a rock and about as much empathy. I get my empathy from my maternal grandfather. Skipped a generation.

Jaafar: Empathy.

90210: Can move people to move planets. Some believe in competition that, in it's worse form, leads to warfare. I believe that peace serves the universe better.

Jaafar: You're good at it.

90210: If I weren't we'd all be enslaved or sold at the meat market.

Jaafar: That bad.

90210: Worse. The humans of the Green Star wracked havoc as soon as they discovered interstellar travel. It's why the humans of Sol were kept out of space for thousands of years. They did better on their third try many stardates ago.

Jaafar: But before then...

90210: Interdicted. Banned. Blocked. Kept in the dark. But humans are intelligent. Those on the Green Star still want to escape. They entice unwary travelers until they can.

Jaafar: We didn't fall for it.

90210: You might have. This crew is vulnerable. But Kat's dreams are true. And Kat's and Cook's people have suffered immensely.

Jaafar: And you?

90210: Not as sure-of-the-future as Kat. Not as wary as Cook. Not as steadfast as my aunt. But I know this crew and I know how to read their thoughts better than the Green Star does. And Kat says we leave them behind in her dreams. And that I am the one to guide us through. And that is enough.

4157 28 — The chat

Cook woke me up again. 90210 wanted to have a chat. Since she's in charge I can forgo my nap. But I needed something stronger than soup to wake me up. Cook just shrugged and said, "you'll just go back to bed again and complain about not being able to sleep". He has a point.

90210: I'm not worried, but I needed to chat. What do understand about the Green Star?

Me: Kat knows better. Her people have a bitter history and Humans are her specialty.

90210: I know, but no one wakes Kat from her Kat-nap. You could die in her dreams.

Me: [laughter] A fate worse than Death itself... You're human so what don't you understand?

90210: I expect them to be swayed by compassion.

Me: Or logic, or rational behaviour. The humans I've known are capable of forming healthy connections and means of communication. These humans seem to have had it bred out of them.

90210: It could be that. It was hard to tune them out and so important that no one else could tune in. I can command a ship but not a planet of lunatics or a crew infected by their insanity.

Me: Kat chose well.

90210: Thank-you.

[sipping tea / sipping soup / lots of sipping]

90210: I needed to hear that. Not just from anyone, but from a fellow Xeno.

Me: You're a hero you know. The quiet kind that no one notices because there's no need to rise to the occasion if the occasion doesn't arise. Kat will tell you that you did well.

90210. She already knew when she handed control over to me. Not one ruffle in her fur. I'm always amazed by her. She said I'd do fine because she knew I would. All I had to do was make it happen. So I did.

Me: Ah, motivation. The fear of having to wake her up.

[we both laugh]

90210: There was that.

(991 words)