That One Time When

Posted on 01 Apr 2018 @ 6:15pm by Ensign Callin Mastrel

349 words; about a 2 minute read

2381...The Cliff of Cataria...

~Go on, I dare you.~

The thought, the taunt hung in the air, almost as thick as the hot summer heat that poured out of the jungles in the afternoon. A group of skinny boys were gathered around a cluster of vines that trailed over the edge of the cliffs where the hot air mingled with the cold air coming from deep within the earth, causing constant eddies and treacherous ripples strong enough to lift a full grown man...for a time.

The girls were nearby, watching, imperious, practicing their haughty looks, but the boys paid them little heed. Not with the challenge in the air. Even their attention was diverted to the one boy up closest to that edge, stripped to the waist and thin frame bronzed golden by the sun. Black eyes peered over the side.

~Okay.~ Callin had sent, then took a few steps back to give himself space to run.

A ripple of shocked excitement went through everyone, with an undercurrent of absolute doubt, then a collective gasp. He hadn't hesitated, but watched the gusts and puffs of air highlighted by the dust and condensation, then went charging over the side of the cliff right then...


Present Day


"...that's what it feels like, I guess," he said, lying on his bunk with his hands beneath his head and boots off. "I remember both of those feelings that day, and I got to greet them again. To think, life, where there shouldn't be, a star behaving strangely. I never thought my first mission would be so...big. I fear for those people. I'm concerned about us. But I won't deny that I'm excited either."

He shifted onto his side and tapped the control on the table next to his bed, turning the lights out, then got comfortable. Shutting his eyes, sighing, he continued to speak, "Sometimes you gotta take a leap of faith that everything is going to turn out okay."

"Computer, end log."

---

Ensign Callin Mastrel
Science Officer

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