Shining Twins... On a Spaceship

Posted on Mon Sep 29th, 2025 @ 5:43pm by Lieutenant Commander Andrew Star & Lieutenant Alice Penrose

1,593 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Ghost Starship
Location: Deck 2 - Officers Quarters
Timeline: Before post "Getting Up To Speed Part 1"

Twas the night, when all through the ship, not a creature was stirring, not even a space mouse... Expect Deck 2. A child's giggle could be heard throughout the entire deck. Whose child was running amok? Who brought their child aboard in the first place? So many questions, but no investigator... Yet.

Alice Penrose's steps slowed as she picked up the faint giggle. She tucked her PADD under her arm as she turned her head delicately, listening out for it again. Her features as calm as ever, she started on her way again, but this time in search of the phantom.

Andrew Star, the Chief Science Officer, was struggling to sleep, his brain was tick... tick... ticking..., imagination running wild... The only cure was exhusting his brain in imgation play.

A ginger boy who couldn't be more than 12 or 13, wearing a matching PJ set, dark blue with various cartoon drawings of planets and stars, his toes gripping the carpet, stood in the junction, with his arms extended in a mock airplane. He felt like he was being watched, and he turned his entire body left to see that he was indeed being watched. He didn't say anything except stare at her.

Alice stared back, her hazel eyes watching him with interest before glancing around to see if there were a guardian close by. She secured her PADD at the belt of her uniform, strolling a little closer so she could keep her voice to its usual soft tone. "I like your pyjamas."

The ginger boy let out a childish giggle. Laughing, not at Alice but at the situation, for it had been a long time since somebody mistook him for a runaway... So long, in fact, the curse of the Online made him forget how long it had been. "Thank you!" He replied, swaying his arms. "Does your PADD have games?"

"No, just work," Alice chuckled softly with an arched eyebrow. Because that was how exciting her life wasn't. Her gaze dropped, taking in the bare feet on the carpet, raising her concern a notch, but it was impossible to tell with her trademark measured manner. "I'm Alice, I'm the ship's counsellor."

"Andrew Star, Science Chief," He quipped, interested to see if she had read the manifest or just skimmed it and mistook Andrew for a Human and not an Online. "Pleasure to meet you, Alice!" She said with a little courtesy.

Alice blinked, a single motion that signalled her surprise before it shifted into processing the introduction with what she knew. "Ah, so you're 'Commander Star," she nodded slowly, relaxing a touch at realising there wasn't a child on the run.

"Lt Cmdr Star," He corrected, he wasn't a full commander just yet. "Sorry, did I wake up?" He asked, he was always unsure how loud he could be when he was in his own little world.

"No, I was going to get some tea in the lounge," she assured softly. Her sleep pattern was more than a little slapdash. There was something about going out for tea that helped more than just grabbing a cup in her quarters. She motioned to his bare feet, amusement shining in her eyes. "Is this your version of tea?"

The boy didn't understand what Alice meant by referring to his 10 toes and calling them "tea". With a shrug of his shoulders, he changed the topic... Whatever the topic was. "I was playing Starships!" He exclaimed. "I couldn't sleep, so I got up and played."

Alice folded her arms thoughtfully as she watched him with a small, curious smile. "You play Starships...even though you work on one for real?" she asked with genuine interest.

Childish giggles erupted. Andrew found the question amusing, tugging on his PJ shirt, Andrew replied with amusement, "I've been on starships for 116 years!" Likely longer than Alice. "I was imagining myself as Captain of a Klingon bird of prey fighting the dishonorable Romulan Commander Tomalak!" A life he never lived, as he was not Klingon, it'd be extremely unlikely for him to captain a Bird of Prey. "What do you like to play?"

The corner of Alice's lips pulled in weak amusement at herself, or more, at how her answer might sound. "I was never very good at playing. Not as a child, not now. Not like that at least. I play card games though...and the piano."

Andrew wasn't much of a musician, but he had hundreds of years, perhaps thousands, ahead of him to learn some. The mention of card games interested him more than the talk of a piano. "Ooooo!" he exclaimed. "I loved playing Screw Your Neighbour." The smile suddenly dropped, the memory of where he learnt it was forgotten, and the memory of who taught him was forgotten too. That was the curse of the Online, you see so much but you can't remember it.

Alice's head tilted just a touch at the sudden change in him. It was easy to see the heaviness of the moment on his youthful looking features. "I've not heard of it," she admitted gently, to smooth over any discomfort. "Perhaps you could show me how to play it?"

"Love too!" He replied with a frown. "You try not to get the lowest number in your hand!" His hand came up to massage his temple, trying to rub a memory out of his skull, but to no success. "Sorry, Miss. I get forgetful in my age, I can't remember who taught me, and it's making me very sad."

"No need to be sorry, I think it would make me sad too," she replied honestly but calmly, wanting him to know it was a fair reaction. "What...is your earliest memory of playing it? Maybe it's an image, or even a smell."

Andrew closed his eyes as if he was time-traveling back to the earliest memory. He could smell pine, hear steel deckplates... And it was cold, very cold. "The Sliver Lady!" He excamlied. "It was in the walk-in freezer. I was an engineering apprentice... Why were we in the freezer?" He asked rhetorically, his mind having forgotten memories once more. Shrugging it off, "Curse of the Onlie... Good job, I keep a diary." He finished saying with an awkward laugh.

"I journal in paper form," she offered in agreement to the value of keeping a diary. She could only imagine how much more vital it would be for someone from his background. "Although, I suppose paper volumes for you would require an entire shelf..."

Andrew let out a short giggle, covering his mouth with his hand as he did it. "I have a whole library!" He quipped, wishing it were just a shelf. "I don't like to read them, though. I remember a lot of good friends who aren't here anymore; it makes me sad."

"If they're still in your tomes, they're still here," she replied lightly as they walked, her tone matter of fact rather than saccharine. "Do you have any friends here that will end up in your journal?"

Andrew raised an eyebrow when Alice tried to continue the conversation, but began walking away. He quickly sped up to work beside her. "I write about everyone!" He said with a childish giggle while jogging. "What's the point of a diary if you can't record everyone you've met? Like, how could I remember what cup of tea I had with Tucker!" Tucker is a famous pop singer of the human race, or was when he was still kicking in the 2370s, kicking the bucket in 2381 due to a bad case of laryngitis.

"Well...I figured that not everyone would be interesting enough for you to make a record," she admitted with a soft chuckle. Because that might have said more about her than him. "Good to know there are people worth writing about on this ship..."

The truth of the matter was that he was still Human, but Humans have very short memories; if he didn't record every single detail about a person, from the colour of their hair to a mole on their neck, he wouldn't have enough to unlock a memory. "Did you say you were going to the lounge for tea? I can come along and give you company!"

"I'd appreciate that," Alice nodded with a small, gentle smile, clasping her hands behind her back as they strolled towards the bar. There was something about his way of talking that glided in and out like a butterfly. It would allow her to learn a new rhythm of the ship.

"Super! Let's bounce." Andrew said, smiling from ear to ear, that he was always up for making a new friend. He walked with Alice through the steel corridors of the Missouri heading for the lounge.

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