A Hiding Place

Posted on Tue May 2nd, 2023 @ 8:22am by Lieutenant Commander Rin

Mission: Season 6: Episode 2: Survival
Location: Senior Staff Command
Timeline: MD 4
937 words - 1.9 OF Standard Post Measure

Rin was flipping through a stack of PaDDs when a noise caught her attention. He gaze flicked in the direction it came from, but nothing was obvious. Then it came again, a sort of shuffling sound like something not overly large moving across the ground.

The camp had been critter free, so far. The local wildlife wasn’t willing to brave the presence of all these people. Now, Rin wondered if something had finally gotten adventurous.

One of the chairs at the room’s large table shifted. Something was definitely inside the tent.

Rin carefully circled around, not wanting to startle whatever it might be.

Another chair moved, knocking into the one next to it. And there was a squeak from under the table.

Rin leaned over to catch a glimpse of what might have gotten in before it could scurry off again.

Among the chair legs, a little girl sat huddled. She was tiny. Three, four, six? Rin wasn’t good with ages.

She took quick stock of the situation. The canvas of the tent flapping slightly at the far side of the room. One of the fasteners must have come free. No adult could have gotten through the resulting gap, and she was surprised even a small child managed it, yet here she was.

“Come out of there, please,” Rin said. She wasn’t sure what kind of tone she was supposed to use. The child most certainly did not belong here, but she had no wish to scare the child either.

In response, the little girl shuffled around the chair legs, trying to get farther away.

Rin pulled out one of the chairs. “It’s ok. You’re not in trouble. But I need you to come out of there.”

The child scooted backward in response, staying out of arm's reach.

Now, Rin circled the table, pulling out a second chair. The little girl crawled away to the side. So Rin kept pulling out chairs, hoping the kid would come out once she realized there was nothing more to hide behind.

The child was not cooperating. Her knees were drawn up to her chest and she looked up with an expression that was half mischievous, half scared.

Rin certainly could have easily grabbed the kid and dragged her out, but that would just leave her holding a terrified toddler, which really wouldn’t be an improvement on the current situation.

"Please?" Rin repeated, a little pleading.

The little girl shook her head in response.

Rin sighed, got down on her hands and knees, and carefully crawled under the table in a manner she hoped was not too threatening.

“Ok, it’s ok,” Rin said in a tone she hoped was consoling. “I’m Rin. Can you tell me your name?”

The child looked at her for a bit, then looked everywhere else, perhaps debating her chances for escape. “Candace,” she eventually said with a sniffle.

“Hello, Candace. Are you lost?”

“I don’t know,” Candace replied after a pause, as if thoughtfully considering the question.

“You don’t know if you’re lost?” Rin asked.

Candace just shook her head.

“Well, you’re not supposed to be here. Who are… you staying with?” Rin avoided saying “parents.” For all she knew, the little girl was a recent orphan.

“Mommy and Daddy.”

Ok, one landmine avoided.

“Do you know their names?”

Candace frowned. “Mommy and Daddy.”

Ok, less helpful.

"Do you know your last name?"

Candace shook her head.

“Um… are they part of Starfleet? Do they wear uniforms?”

Candace nodded.

“Can you tell me what color uniform?”

“Black.”

Which was, of course, a perfectly correct answer. Everyone’s uniforms were primarily black.

“Can you tell me what other color is on the uniforms? Like mine…” Rin pointed to the piping on her clothes and then realized the futility of the gesture. Her pipping was gray. She was essentially wearing black and a lighter shade of black. Not a helpful example.

I can interrogate hardened criminals, but I can’t get answers from a three year old. Or four year old. Or… whatever Candace was.

"Why did you come here?"

"I was cold."

Rin's gaze flicked over Candace's clothing. She was wearing all of the standard stuff that had been assigned to people, minus a pair of gloves. Rin slowly reached out and took the little girl's hands in hers in an attempt to warm them up.

A several long moments they sat there under the table like that before Candace interrupted the silence. “What happened to your face?”

Don’t go with the truth, Rin.

Actually, Rin thought it was incredibly sweet. Her metal implants advertised what she was to most people on the Elysium. But this little girl was thankfully entirely ignorant of their meaning.

“Oh, I… I got hurt a long time ago. And the doctors made me better, but… I needed some extra parts.”

“Why?”

“You’d have to ask them,” Rin dodged.

“Why?”

Oh dear. I’ve read about children falling into recursive loops, and rebooting them is probably not the correct solution.

“Do you want to see Mommy and Daddy?”

Candace nodded.

“Ok, we need to get out from under this table. Will you do that?”

There was a long pause. Finally, Candace nodded and crawled her way out, followed by Rin. Rin reached out her hand, Candace took it, and together they walked out of the tent, quite to the surprise of the guards at the entrance.

“We’re going to review security procedures when I get back.”