The Galaxy Awaits

Posted on 04 Feb 2018 @ 2:20am by Lieutenant Amaranai Franklin

905 words; about a 5 minute read

Charlotte was in Amaranai's apartment. She had just fed Snuffles and was getting ready to relax. For a student that had no real classes nor expectations, Charlotte was extremely busy - Amaranai had made sure of that. Almost within the first hour of her sister being gone, Charlotte received a message with a list of things to do before Amaranai returned. Most were busy work with an added book to pay attention to or video to review.

Charlotte mumbled to herself when the comm chimed. She had hoped to not have to move from her bed for several hours and this was already a mess. Rising from her bed, the girl made it to the comm to see that a message was coming in from Avondale Shipyards.

"What the hell?"

Charlotte pressed the answer with audio only button and waited a moment.

"Charlotte?" her sister's voice boomed. "Charlotte, are you there?"

Recognizing her sister, Charlotte flipped the video switch and saw her sister's face.

"What's going on?" Charlotte said. "Where are you?"

"The same place you need to be," Amaranai responded.

"What?" Charlotte said.

"No time to ask questions. I've already contacted Commander Nara. She'll explain on the way to the transporter."

At that, the door chime rang.

"That's her," Amaranai continued. "You have to pack quick. Get Snuffles and as much as you can carry in a couple of bags. Your transport will leave within an hour."

"But . . ." Charlotte attempted to get a word in but the chime at the door continued to distract her.

When she turned away from the screen, Amaranai disconnected the communication and Charlotte was left with looking at a blank screen. The girl went to the door and verified that it was Commander Nara, which it was.

"What is going on?" Charlotte asked her former guardian.

"Amaranai is preparing to leave on the Galileo and she wants you to go with her. In order for that to happen, you need to get to the Avondale Shipyards in the next few days."

"What?"

The girl was surprised and confused and many other emotions all at the same time and though Commander Nara had gotten used to seeing the girl react in this manner, it was still not pleasant.

"Calm down," Nara said. "I'm here to help. I'll get you to the transporter. We'll get to the shuttle and I'll help get you into the OPM system by the time we're there."

"What's OPM"

"Office of Personnel Management," the commander stated and stepped to the girl's bedroom.

It took some time, but after an hour, the girl had packed four bags and the targ and headed to a local transporter station, which would transport her and Commander Nara to a shuttle that would take them to the shipyards.

"Why are you doing this for me, commander?" Charlotte asked, once aboard the shuttle.

"Charlotte," Nara said. "I've taken care of you for the past three years. A few more days is nothing." The woman cracked a smile and held a datapad out for the girl. "Besides," she continued. "Your sister is special to me. She helped me just as much as I helped her and that's not an easy task. I owed it to her to help you no matter what. And based on your sister's assignment, this will probably be my last helpful act for you for a while."

The brunette stared at the commander for a moment and put the datapad down.

"What do you mean?" she said. "What sort of assignment did Amaranai get?"

"It's a deep space mission," the commander said. "I don't know more than Amaranai has told me, but it seems as if it will take almost six months before the ship even reaches its mission destination."

Charlotte looked at the woman, stunned, unsure of how to respond.

"Don't worry," Nara said. "Your sister will be there. She wants you there. That's why we need to do this."

The shuttle entered warp and during the time, Commander Nara assisted Charlotte with getting all of her information registered with OPM. Once all the information was taken care of, Charlotte took a moment to contact her sister.

"Amaranai," Charlotte said when she had some privacy. "What the hell is going on?"

"You're on your way, right?" her sister asked. "Like as fast as possible?"

"Yes," she said. "Commander Nara says we'll be there in a day and a half. It was the best she could do."

"It's fine, really. It's fine," Amaranai offered. "We don't leave for a few more days. You'll make it."

"Fine," Charlotte said with a huff. "Can you just explain what's going on?"

Amaranai noticed the confusion in her sister's tone and sighed.

"I've been offered a position on the Galileo-A as Assistant Chief of Security and Tactical. I actually thought I was coming to the shipyards for a different ship, but I got this one instead."

"Congratulations," Charlotte offered wryly. "But Commander Nara mentioned it's going to be a deep space mission?"

"Yes," the older Franklin said. "That's why I had to make sure that you got here fast. I didn't want to leave you alone on Earth any longer. Not with the chance that dad might return."

Charlotte looked away from the screen for a moment.

"Thank you," Charlotte said quietly. "I guess I'll see you soon."

"Rest up now," Amaranai said. "The galaxy awaits."

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