Waiting

Mimps sat on her rock watching twin suns slowly slide towards the distant horizon and not really thinking of anything. She called it her rock, but as there was no one else on this godforsaken planet, technically all the rocks could be hers. She was beginning to lose count of how many of these sunsets she had watched. At first she had counted the passing days but eventually she had to admit there was no point, no one else was here to care what day it was so why should she. She had been marooned, left, abandoned. Transported to an empty planet by a sentient starship. A temperamental, uncontrollable, jealous starship. The USS Carolina, an experimental Starfleet vessel, now rogue and lost in unknown space and unknown time.

The first sun disappeared behind a distant mountain and the sky took on a soft rose hue as the second smaller sun began to follow it. Mimps absent mindedly picked at a small hole in her dragon skin pants. “Lucky I was wearing these, toughest hide in the galaxy,” she thought to herself, “and lucky that stupid bitch of a ship marooned me here and not some acid ridden airless rock”. It was not the first time that thought had occurred to her.

Carolina was one of a kind, a sentient starship, powered by bio-neural gel packs. In the first years after her commission she was the most efficient Starfleet ship in the Alpha quadrant. Able to self diagnose and repair, she could be easily operated with a minimal crew. But things soon changed. An alien temporal transporter had flung the Carolina and her crew into another universe and another time. Here there was no Starfleet and no home to get back to. Here there were strange forces at work opening and amplifying the hidden parts of their minds, here they were all changed. The ship and the crew were dragged to the darkest side of their character and emotions. Not all survived, but some did, some managed to cling to the final thread of their Starfleet training and find a way back. But they were never the same, ship and crew had opened doors deep within themselves and released things that could not be put back again, they had been changed forever. The Carolina became wilful and temperamental, turbo lifts failed, doors would lock unexpectedly, navigation and helm were often offline, and she began ‘talking’ to the Captain.

When he was given command of the Carolina Captain Seelowe was keen to see what she was capable of, he knew the bio-neural gel packs had unexplored potential and he knew he was the one to discover how far, physically and cognitively, they could go. He was ambitious and passionate, with determination and ruthlessness tempered by Starfleet training. But when those mental bands were released in the alternate universe it was his ruthlessness that nearly killed the crew and destroyed the Carolina. During his darkest moments in that universe he became obsessed with the ship and would wander the darkened corridors talking to himself and to her, confiding in her, reassuring her, seeking comfort for his tortured emotions. After clawing his way back to normality Seelowe was once again, outwardly at least, a Starfleet officer. The ship however had completely changed.

** ** ** ** **

For the second time, the Starfleet badge attached to her uniform gave the familiar chirp.

“Commander Masala to my ready room,” repeated the voice of her Captain.

“I’m on my way Captain,” she said giving the badge a quick tap but suspecting it was a useless gesture.

“At least I would be if this bitch of a ship would let me out of the turbo lift,” she muttered to herself and kicked wall for emphasis.

“Come on Carolina,” she pleaded, “let me out....please.” She looked expectantly towards the ceiling waiting for a response. She knew from experience it was no use trying to manipulate the controls, the Carolina had the capability to override any clever tinkering she attempted. “Okay, what is it this time,” she sighed, leaning her back against the wall then sliding down to sit on the floor, “What have I done to upset you?”

“You are a distraction, Mimps,” said a soft voice in the well modulated tones of artificial intelligence. “You are distracting him, and you have to go.”

Mimps snapped her head up, a frown making deep creases between her eyes. “What are you talking about?” she said, slowly rising to her feet again. “Carolina? What do you mean…I have to go?”

“You are distracting him,” the voice repeated. “He must be Captain, he must think only of the ship, he must think only of…” there was a slight pause and Mimps imagined she heard a change in the tone of the voice, “…me.”

Mimps sighed again, “Carolina, we have been through all this before,” she took on the tone and attitude of a parent talking to a wayward teenager. “I am the first officer it is my job to keep the captain informed of all that is happening on the ship. I have to make reports, I have to ‘distract’ him, its my job.”

“It will be your job no longer, you will go,” said the voice, the dispassionate tone had returned.

Mimps took a step forward and banged her hand flat against the door. “Oh for heavens sake, Carolina, stop this nonsense and let me out of this lift.”

“As you wish, Commander,” said the voice quietly.

Mimps’ eyes widened as she felt and saw the effects of a transporter swirling around her body, she only managed to form the start of a protesting yell before she was caught in the beam and disappeared from the turbo lift.

** ** ** ** **

Captain Seelowe tapped his comm badge with growing irritation for the third time.

“Commander Masala to my ready room….now,” he added for emphasis. He waited for a response.

“Where is that woman?” he muttered to himself. His finger touched a button on his desk. “Carolina, what is the location of Commander Masala?”

“Commander Masala is no longer aboard,” said the voice with just a hint of triumph.

** ** ** ** **