VAI

After more than a week aboard the Shadow, and with our journey of exploration officially begun, I was having some trouble adjusting to starship life. Perhaps that was just because it was this starship -- the Shadow, the ship that had almost single-handedly defeated the K'thaktra, and the only remaining icon of the life I knew before this one. Perhaps it was because FTL speed looked so dreamily unreal -- the constantly changing arrays of stars beyond the windows, sheened-over with a strange iridescence, shifting from one vista to the next multiple times per second. Perhaps it was because even my clothes were wrong. Apparently no one wore boots or cloaks or jackets on a starship. They were either tight and crisp in their color-coded Gathering Exploration Fleet uniforms, or soft and baggy in their off-duty clothing with geometric pastel patterns and kaftan-ish shapes.

Whatever the reason, I felt far away from everything, a stranger in my own body. I rarely left the quarters to which my father and I had been assigned, and when I did, I got lost, luckily Warpaint was always with me to guide me back.

I needed to make peace with the ship. Preferably before starting G.E.F. school next week. Toward this goal, I had tasked myself with visiting one of the Shadow's public venues every day.

It was early in the evening, and the lighting in the corridors had taken on their pre-programmed twilight glow. I was entering the museum just passing below the sign that read --

MUSEUM OF THE I.A. SHADOW

The doors slid open with an almost inaudible whisper as Warpaint and I stepped through. The doors slid shut behind me and I stood there staring at the various displays. I wondered if I was supposed to start with the displays on the left, right or the middle. I decided to go with the ones in the middle.

Inside the first glass case was the old Captain's uniform. There was a little plaque in front of the display that explained not only about the last Captain and his duties, but also what materials were used to make the uniform.

I moved to the next display.

"Hey, pretty lady. Come here often."

My body jerked alert. I hadn't seen anyone when I first came in and I had assumed, wrongly, that I was alone. Warpaint's head swiveled around.

Further into the museum to my left, at an exhibit called Aether Field Prototype, I saw the captain of the ship for the first time. She was Bundu-Jo same as Papa, but she was a vibrant blue and her stripes were snow white. Papa was obese in a way that wasn't supposed to be possible for Bundu-Jo. The captain was taut with pure muscle.

The bridge above her blue eyes arched upward as she stared down at the little human standing between her and the Aether Field Prototype display. He wasn't a child, just a little person standing at about 1.22 meters. I guessed he was about my age. Was he the one who had spouted that ridiculously outdated pickup line?

Warpaint opened his mechanical mouth as if to speak, but I shook my head at him and he grew still beside me.

"Are you speaking to me?" The captain asked the little person.

"Of course." The young man replied. He spread his arms out wide around him. "You're the only pretty lady here."

"I don't understand why a human child is asking me this."

He turned his eyes to the ceiling before settling back on her. "I'm not a child. I'm just small. The smaller the size, the greater the package, eh?" He nudged her leg with his elbow.

A laugh almost escaped me. I bit my bottom lip hard. Warpaint lifted a hand to point at my teeth biting my lip, but I pushed his hand back down to his side.

"I don't understand," the captain said.

"Maybe we could grab dinner together and I'll explain it to you."

"I don't think I should have dinner with a human child."

"I'm not . . ."

"For one thing, I'm the captain. See." She pointed to her shoulder patch.

"That's great! I sure know how to pick them. Beautiful, smart, powerful. Just my type. And I'm not a child, so having dinner with me is no problem."

I bit harder on my bottom lip and turned to look away back towards the door. I had no idea who that crazy guy was, but I liked him. Warpaint followed my lead and turned around to face the door.

"Are you sure you're not a child?"

"I'm sure. Humans come in all shapes and sizes you know. So how about that dinner?"

I turned back around to watch them as if pulled by his unseen charm. Warpaint shadowed my movements.

"Well, I'm still the captain. I need to have a certain amount of decorum. What's your job on the ship?"

"Besides loving the captain you mean?"

A small giggle did escape me then, but luckily it was quiet enough neither of them seemed to have heard. I covered my mouth with my hand. I hadn't laughed since...before my long sleep - before I lost my friends - before my dad became my father - before I lost a time that I belonged to. Warpaint seemed surprised and opened his mouth to say something again, but I shook my head and he closed his mouth.

"Let's say I'm a man with the means to procure whatever you need," the young man said.

"That's not really an answer. I still don't think it's appropriate with me being the captain and all."

"But you're being persuaded bit by bit aren't you?" The young man nodded. "I have that effect on women. You won't be able to resist me long."

"How old are you, human?"

"I'm the perfect age of 17."

The captain scoffed and patted his head. "Try again with someone else when you're older, child."

"Seventeen's old enough," he said.

"Not old enough for an adult. Now run along back to your quarters." She waved her arm to indicate for him to move away. He stepped away from her and faced us for the first time.

His face lit up almost as if he were the sun rising in the dim artificial evening light of the Shadow.

"Hey, mechatronic," he said and walked to Warpaint with his hand outstretched. Warpaint took the small hand in his and shook it in a slightly exaggerated way. My peer didn't seem bothered by this in the least.

"Hello, little human," Warpaint said.

The young man withdrew his hand and looked up at me. "You're a lot taller standing up."

"Uh...You've seen me before?"

"We were on the same shuttle. Don't you remember? Your mechatronic brought you on and you were screaming and screaming. I came up to you and said everything was going to be all right. I would have patted you in a comforting way, but you looked like you were dying. Sounded like it too."

"You thought I looked like I was dying and still told me it was going to be all right?"

He smiled and whispered. "I'm a good liar."

"You're Lieutenant Commander Ma'amaloa's son?" The captain asked. She stood directly by the Aether Field Prototype display now.

"Yes."

"Humans," she said and shook her head. "Why is one child very small and the other very tall and yet the same age? I don't think I'll ever understand."

"You're 17 too?" The guy in front of me asked. I nodded.

"Great. I already have a friend in school."

Friend? I didn't even know his name.

"Go back to your quarters. It's past your bedtime," the captain said.

"Bedtime? It's not even 8 yet," my classmate said.

"Isn't that bedtime for human children?"

We both shook our heads.

"I'll never understand," she said again. "Just leave. I have things to do."

My classmate looked at the Aether Field Prototype display and then the captain and then said. "Sure, let's go friend." He stepped in beside me and Warpaint as we left the museum.