I quietly
crept toward the garbage disposal, clutching a tiny bundle in my hand. I held
it as closely and inconspicuously to my body as possible, and my fingers were
wrapped around its throat in a death grip. My eyes shifted to the left, then to
the right as I neared the disposal. 10 feet from the disposal… 5 feet… all my
problems would soon be over… 3 feet…
“Oriole, what are you doing?” a voice prompted
behind me.
I paused and
held my breath, cringing just slightly.
“What do you
have there?”
I turned
around, quickly moving my hands behind my back, and smiled at my friend. “Hey, Sade!
I was just about to dispose of something. I’m not late for our lunch date, am
I?”
Sade
narrowed her brown eyes at me and put her hands on her hips. “You’re a terrible
schemer and a worse liar, girl. Now, answer the question: what are you doing?”
I backed up
a step. I was so close to the disposal. I could not fail now. “I wasn’t lying,
and I’m not scheming anything dreadful. I’m doing this space ship and her crew
a favor,” I took another step backward “I am just disposing of some garbage.”
Sade raised
her dark eyebrows, her eyes widening just before she lunged for me and grabbed
my arms.
“Hey!” I
yelled as she yanked the object free of my hands.
“Oriole,” she
exclaimed as she held it up “This is Mervin’s Elf on the Shelf!”
I planted my
face into my right hand. “Yes. Sade. I know.”
“You can’t
throw this away!”
I looked up
at the taller girl and narrowed my eyes, setting my teeth firmly. “Sade, you
know how I have always feared that I might wake up to find one of these creepy
things in my room?”
Sade raised
an eyebrow.
“Well, IT
HAPPENED!” I shook my fists and stomped my feet, making my short brown hair
bounce in all directions “My alarm went off, the sound of sweet singing birds
filled my room, I heard the computer croon “It is now 6:00 AM earth time” and
when I opened my eyes, BAM! There it was! It was staring into my soul, smiling
with evil intent, hanging right above my head on a string!”
The expression
on Sade’s ebony face was the perfect definition of “unimpressed”. She looked at
the doll, then back at me. “Girl, you have issues. It’s just a doll. It don’t
got no evil intentions.”
I twisted my
face into the look of crazed horror. “You’ve never had one staring at you in
your sleep!”
She rolled
her eyes and turned around, walking away. “Mervin’s Elf was passed down from
his great grandma. It’s an antique, an old family heirloom. You ain’t throwing
this doll away.”
I jumped up
and down like an irritated little kid, then I followed after her. “Sade, I
can’t live on this ship knowing there is an Elf on the Shelf that could come
sneaking into my room at any time! It’s an heirloom that needs to DIE.”
Sade shook
her thick, dark, curly hair. “Oriole, what are the horrors you have faced during
your time in Starfleet? A little doll ain’t nothing compared to Ferengi
interrogation or Romulan death threats.”
Desperate
for an excuse, I quickly interrupted her. “That’s it! That’s why I can’t stand
it! It looks like an evil little Ferengi! The horrors! The memories!”
“Psh! Don’t
give me that malarkey. I know you better than that,” she said, waggling a
finger at me “Besides, this is Christmas Eve. Tomorrow, the evil little doll
will be put away and that will be the end of it.”
“Are you
kidding me!? I have next year to look forward to.” I squeaked in agony.
“Then, next
year you might be able to get away with trashing it, because I won’t be here to
catch you.”
I quickly
stepped in front of her, stopping her, my mood instantly changing to a much
more somber one. “Whoa… so, it’s official? You’re being transferred?”
She looked
down and nodded, her lips turning up in a forced smile. “Yeah. And I’m being
promoted.”
I blinked in
shock. “Promoted? Really?”
Her smile
grew slightly. “Second class Petty Officer!”
I blinked
again, trying to force myself to be happy. I should be happy. I was happy for
her. But my joy in her promotion was overshadowed by the fact that she was
leaving. We were practically sisters. We had grown up together, gone to school
together, roomed together at the academy, and blasted into space together. But
we weren’t being transferred or promoted together. It was hard to take. Finally,
I forced a smile to my face and wrapped my arms around her, grabbing her in a
big hug. “I’m so excited for you!” I managed to say in a sincere voice “Moving
on to new horizons! Making your mark on the world- er, universe!”
She pulled
her arms out from under mine and wrapped them around me, giving me a gentle squeeze.
“Yeah, I know. Quit pretending, dum, dum. The pretender’s face looks awful on
you.”
I pulled
back and brushed my short hair behind my ears. “Well, I am happy for you. I
just… I’d hoped…”
She shrugged.
“I know, but we can’t win them all,” she laughed lightly “Hey, it gives us a
great excuse to party like crazy, wild Sehlats this Christmas.”
I pulled my
shoulders up in a mopey shrug. “I guess so.”
She spiked
an eyebrow. “You guess so? Girl, there ain’t no guessing in this game. It is
gonna be a fact!” she snapped her fingers.
I grinned,
deciding to go along with her. “We will rock this ship with our party style.”
She nodded
and winked. “That’s the spirit.” she walked past me, but as she did, I snatched
the Elf from her.
“We shall
start the partying by sending this evil creature into the underworld.” I made a
mad dash for the garbage disposal as I spoke.
“No
murdering of heirlooms, especially before Christmas!” she whirled around, her
long legs quickly catching up with me before I had made it even half way to the
disposal.
Several
hours later, the ship was abuzz with every crew member preparing for the ship
to dock at space station Triumph. This space station was where we would spend
Christmas.
“Hey girl,”
I looked up
from my tablet and turned around to see Sade hurrying towards me, flashing her
pearly white smile at me. “Talk and walk, girlfriend. I’m on my way down to
engineering.” I said as I turned back around and continued walking, averting my
eyes back down to my tablet. I suddenly staggered to the side, nearly crumpling
to my knees when something was smashed onto my head, ruffling my hair.
Sade laughed.
“You make a cute little elf!”
My mouth
dropped open and I yanked a hat off my head. “You stinker. I’m not wearing
this!” I declared as I looked at the elf hat, complete with elf ears, sparkles,
and all.
“Yes you
are. You lost the bet. You promised.” Sade insisted.
I shook my
head in confusion. “Whoa. I lost a bet? When?”
Her brown
eyes sparkled. “Thomas Axton’s wedding party.”
I planted my
face into the palm of my hand as I remembered. “Oh. That. Great.”
She laughed
again. “Don’t worry, you look adorable.”
I cleared my
throat and slapped the hat back on my head, straightening it as I started
walking again. I was acutely aware of the sniggers and grins from the other
people passing us by, but I was determined to fall for Sade’s lie and believe
that I was cute.
“And look,
I’m a reindeer!” she said as she slipped a pair of antlers on and giggled.
I shook my
head. “Where you come up with this antiquated garbage for us to wear is
certainly beyond my understanding.” I said.
“Oh, don’t
be so grumpy,” she poked me in the elbow “It’s fun!”
I narrowed
my eyes and looked up at her. “You realize that one of our superiors will
probably make us take these off, right?”
She shrugged
dismissively. “You, they might. You’re an officer. But I doubt anyone will
care. It’s Christmas, and we’re all about to get shore leave.”
I shrugged
in turn. She did have a point. However, I seriously wondered if I wanted to
step off this ship with this ridicules hat on my head. Pushing the thought
aside, I looked back down at my tablet and frowned. “Have you noticed that it
seems like a lot of personnel are being transferred?”
“Uh, no. I
don’t keep up with that. Not my problem.” Sade replied.
“Well, I
thought I would look, because you failed to mention where you were being
transferred to. It looks like over half the crew is being reassigned or
transferred.” I passed her the tablet to look at.
Her dark
eyes scanned it for a moment, her ebony face growing more somber. “You ain’t
pulling my leg, girl. That is most of
the crew,” she flipped through the list a moment longer then passed it back to me
“And most of them have been reassigned just within the last several hours.
What’s up with that?”
I sighed and
looked around. “I don’t know. I would ask, but everyone is kind of busy right
now.”
Sade tilted
her head. “Well, if it’s important, the Captain will certainly let us know.”
I looked
back at my tablet and prepared to exit the listing of personnel, when a new name
suddenly popped up. My name. I stumbled into a passer-by, apologized to them,
and then grabbed my friend’s arm. “What… Sade, look!” I showed her the tablet
and poked my name. My picture and information came up, along with a new title
under my name.
Sade’s eyes
grew wide. “Promotion to lieutenant!” she declared in surprised, yanking the
tablet away from me “Wait a moment! Some monkey has gotten to the computer and
is punching buttons! This can’t be right.”
I grabbed
the tablet back from her and looked at it to make sure there was no mistake.
“I mean,
don’t take me wrong, you totally deserve it, girl. You’ve worked hard! But that
just don’t happen to first-year-of-active-duty kids. And definitely not
ordinary kids, like us.”
I looked up
and squinted at her, shifting my eyes between her face and the stupid antlers
on her head. “Ordinary?”
She rolled
her eyes and flicked her hair over her shoulder. “You know what I mean.”
A whistle blew and the shipwide intercom
clicked on. “Attention crew, this is the
Captain speaking,” the Captain’s voice echoed through the hall “I would like to commend each of you for your
fine service aboard this vessel over the past year. You have been a wonderful
crew, one of the best that a Captain could ask for. Unfortunately, all good
things do come to an end.” he sighed “The
USS Auriga is being decommissioned. I and a small complement of crew are to
return the ship to Earth the day after Christmas, which means we will have to
travel through Christmas day. I’m sorry. The rest of you will be staying at the
Space Station Triumph where you will be reassigned to new ships and stations.”
again, he sighed “This is as sudden and
unexpected for me as it is for you. I’m sorry that this could not have happened
at a better time, but then, when is a good time to break a family apart? My
only expectation of you now is to keep your heads high and to complete your
service aboard this ship with excellence, honor, and dignity, and then carry
that same level of excellence with you to your next assignments,” there was
a slight pause “Once we have docked at
Triumph, you will have 6 hours to pack and say your goodbyes. Captain out.”
Sade and I
exchanged stunned looks before I looked down at my tablet. “I’m one of the
personnel stationed to stay aboard and return to Earth,” I mumbled “No wonder I
was promoted. Only 20 crew members will be returning with the Auriga.”
There was
silence between us for a moment, then Sade silently slipped the reindeer
antlers from her head, losing her festive spirit. “Well… don’t that beat all. I
didn’t think a ship could run on so little.”
I looked up
and blinked, trying to wrap my head around the shocking news. “I- I have duties
to attend to, and I imagine that I need to report to the Captain for my new
station.”
Sade nodded
sadly.
I took a
deep breath and straightened the dumb hat on my head. “Hey, Rudolf. I’ll see
you as soon as we dock. I’ll help you pack, then we will have a few hours of
party time to kill,” I slapped her on the arm “Forget rocking this ship with
our party style. We are going to rock the entire space station with it!”
She looked
at me and forced a small smile to her face.
“No one can
take us down, at least, not without a big, big bang,” I put on as big a smile
as I could muster, before taking the antlers from her and slipping them back onto
her head “And if I am going to wear this crazy hat, then you have to wear these
ridicules antlers.”
Seven hours
later, Sade and I stood together at the airlock that would soon separate us.
“Well, we
always knew it would come down to this at some point.” she said with a heavy
sigh as the two of us stared at the line that separated the Auriga from
Triumph.
I took a
deep breath. “Yep,” was all I could find to reply with.
The two of
us simply stared at the door until a feminine voice echoed in the hall. “USS Auriga preparing for departure.
Separation in t-minus 30 minutes.”
I sighed and
turned to Sade. “Well, kid, here is where the road separates.”
Sade
sniffled and I frowned. “Oh, shut up. You promised you wouldn’t do that.” I
snapped.
“I can’t
help it. I thought I had cried it all out in my quarters when no one was
around. I cried enough to draw a bath with!” she sobbed.
“Lieutenant
Zayne?” a voice drew my attention to a tall Vulcan man walking up to the two of
us. His uniform indicated that he was a Commander, which instantly made me
stiffen my posture out of respect for his rank.
“Yes sir,
I’m Lt. Zayne.” I replied.
He regarded Sade,
who was loudly sobbing without shame, then he looked at me, his dark eyes
showing careful calculation as he considered the situation I was in. “I wished
to congratulate you on your promotion and to say that you and I will be at the
helm for this ship’s final journey. I look forward to observing your skills as
a navigator.”
“Thank you, Commander
Davak. I’m honored.” I said haltingly, glad that I was able to recall his name.
With that,
he walked past us and down the hall into the Auriga.
Sade sniffed
and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief. “That was his nice Vulcan way of
telling you to hurry up and get your booty on that blasted ship.”
I rolled my
eyes and grabbed her in a hug. “Are you going to be all right?”
“Yes. I’ll
be fine. But I already miss you.” she said, grabbing me tight.
“I know. I
do too.”
“If you get
a chance to go on world, tell the folks “Hi” for me, won’t you?”
I hugged her
tightly. “You know I will.”
The sound of
boots coming down the hall made the two of us break apart and watch as a young
man approached us. “What? The two of you are still here?” he asked with a
smirk.
“It’s about
time you showed up, Mervin.” I said, nodding toward Sade “Take care of her.”
He threw his
arms open. “Hey, what is a boyfriend for?” he wrapped an arm around her
shoulders and thrust a hand out to me “Just take good care of yourself, huh?”
I shook his
hand and winked. “I’ll do my best.”
Sade
sniffled again. “Wave to me, before you go into warp.”
I widened my
eyes and looked at her in disbelief. “Are you serious?”
She nodded,
her lip quivering. “Yes, I’m serious.”
“But,
Commander Davak said he’s going to be “observing” me. Remember?”
Mervin
coughed, choking his own laughter, but Sade narrowed her eyes at me. “Just do
it, please? And I’ll wave at you.”
“We won’t
see each other waving, silly.” I put my hands on my hips. She gave me “the
look” and I sighed, dropping my hands to my sides. “Fine. I’ll wave.”
She grabbed
me into a hug once more, and only let me go when Mervin separated us. “Come on,
you two. It’s not the end of the universe, and she needs to get to her
station.”
I took a
deep breath and turned, quickly stepping across onto the Auriga. I turned back
around and smiled at her “Merry Christmas,” I said fondly with a wave.
She smiled
and returned the wave “Merry Christmas,” she replied. With that, the airlock
door closed and locked, blocking us from each other’s view.
“Lt. Zayne?”
I turned to find Commander Davak staring at me at the end of the hall, which
did very little to settle my nerves. He dipped his chin, inviting me to join
him. I quickly accepted his invitation, and we walked down the quiet hall together.
“We have some preparations to make, if you are going to keep your promise to
your friend.” he said.
“Promise,
sir?” I asked, wondering how much of our conversation he had overheard.
“Yes. To
wave goodbye. Vulcans, and some humans, believe promises are meant to be kept.”
I nodded.
“Thank you, sir. I believe they are meant to be as well.”
We stepped
onto the turbolift together and he ordered it to the bridge. “What does
Christmas symbolize in your culture?” he asked.
His question
took me by surprise, so I hesitated until I could find the right answer. “For
most people, Christmas is a time of giving and receiving. In my family, and Sade’s
as well, we believe the Christian God sent His son to us as a free gift to be
accepted, or not, according to one’s preferences.”
He nodded
lightly. “And, according to the Bible, God’s Son came to earth specifically to
die for the sins of man, thereby giving man the gift of eternal life, correct?”
he looked at me.
I briefly wondered
where he was going with this conversation before I replied. “Yes. That is
correct.”
“For
something good to come of his birth, he had to die in order to bring about
something new.” he noted. The turbolift door slid open to the bridge, but neither
of us moved to leave it. “Therefore, by his example, one can learn that change,
even hard change, often leads to good.”
I blinked,
finally figuring out what he was doing. I smiled sheepishly and looked down at
my feet. “Yeah. I get it,” I looked back up at him and smiled “Good analogy.”
He spiked an
eyebrow and tilted his head to the side just slightly. “I’ve learned that
humans often need a “pep talk” when they have experiences such as this.”
My smile
grew. “Well, thanks. You’re pretty good at it – the pep talk, that is. You
shifted my mind to thinking about what really matters.”
He dipped
his chin and stepped out of the lift. I followed him and we both took our
stations. “Do not forget your promise.” he reminded softly as we both began to
input the proper calculations for separation from the space station and a jump
into warp.
I nodded
with a smile. “Yes sir. How could I? It is my gift to her, after all.”
Biography:
