The Waiting Game

Posted on 31 May 2018 @ 5:56pm by Lieutenant Amaranai Franklin

437 words; about a 2 minute read

Sitting in the holding cell, Amaranai didn't worry too much about her situation. What she did worry about was Lirha and Charlotte. Lirha, because if Amaranai were to be stuck on this planet without hope of rescue, Lirha would be devastated. Amaranai knew that Charlotte would feel the same way and the lieutenant hoped that Lirha would take care of Charlotte as long as possible, or at least get her back to Earth and Commander Nara - at least the woman would be willing to take Charlotte back.

Amaranai had been in her fair share of holding cells from a young age, so this one didn't bother her. She wasn't worried about not eating, not drinking, not sleeping. She just worried about Lirha and Charlotte. She didn't even contemplate thinking about her own family. They didn't care enough about Amaranai any longer, so she didn't care if Starfleet were to ever notify them if she died - here or sometime in the future.

Waiting was nothing new to Amaranai either. Waiting to be caught (more like, wanting to be caught), waiting for acceptance to Starfleet Academy, waiting for graduation, waiting for the first assignment, waiting to be reprimanded for various infractions, waiting for a promotion. She had waited for just about everything - even love - and now that it was within her grasp, Amaranai was stuck in a holding cell on some backwater planet that was being slowly destroyed by its sun.

Still waiting.

But it hadn't been that long - barely half a day. She knew protocol. She trusted her companions to do the right thing - recon and research before rescue. And she knew she would be rescued. She just had to wait. So while she waited, she considered things. Her promotion and the many new things that were involved. Of course, she would just have to wait longer to become Security and Tactical Chief, but she had waited this long . . .

Amaranai's mind had wandered back to Lirha and Charlotte. Had she waited too long for the three of them to sit down and have an adult conversation? Sure, Charlotte was only sixteen, but she was going to be on the ship with the lovers for the next several months and Amaranai didn't want it to be awkward, even though she had a feeling it would be.

The sound of a door caught Amaranai's attention. Someone stepped close to the cell and dropped a platter in front of the cell. He said it was food, but Amaranai was not so sure. She ate it anyway.

Back to waiting.

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