The Captain and the Android
Short Story Part 1
Lea Johannsen
Short Story Part 1
Lea Johannsen
Captain Elina looked up from her desk when the nervous cat-eared lieutenant hesitantly knocked on her door and entered the cabin. “Yes?” she snapped. Why were these people always bothering her? Go bother the Vice Captain, who didn’t have any paperwork to do, or at least never bothered to do it!
“Madam Captain, a package from Mission Control has arrived for you,” said the lieutenant, somehow managing to keep the quiver out of his voice and salute at the same time. Elina sighed when she heard this. Now even Mission Control was interrupting her paperwork. And she couldn’t ignore Mission Control half as well as she could ignore, say, Mark. Oh well. Elina stood up, straightening her white tunic as she walked to the door. The moment his captain was past him and heading away down the hallway, the now extremely relieved lieutenant practically sprinted back to the safety of his office, ears pinned back to his head.
Elina strode down the hallways of her ship, the Dragonfly, which was her pride and…well, not exactly joy, but rather a sedate and moderate pleasure. Her brown leather boots clacked on the shining black floors, meeting no obstruction from cords or other equipment. Elina ran a very clean ship, and her crew had learned early on that leaving anything in the halls lead to a stern scolding from the captain. This stern enforcement of rules and regulations had led to the crew actively avoiding their captain.
The door to the command and equipment relay room slid open cleanly as the captain approached, revealing an unusual amount of hustle and bustle centered around a hastily erected hover table. Mark, in his white Vice Captain’s uniform, walked over and spoke to Elina. “We have it unpacked, E, but not activated yet. Mission Control sent it to you with very specific instructions.” Elina growled and took a swipe at the smiling man beside her.
“How many times do I have to remind you not to call me E!?” Mark simply laughed and dodged the blow as the two of them walked towards the hover table. And then Elina saw it. Lying on the table was what looked like a young man with blonde hair and robotic hands.
“His name is R. Andrew,” explained Mark to his Captain, “He’s your android companion for the space exploration missions they’ve assigned you, E.”
