A Message

Kairi grunted as she pulled on her boot, her blue face scrunched up in concentration. Now, finally dressed for duty, the young empathic female felt a sense of readiness. Opting for the dress uniform, rather than the Patrol jumpsuit, seemed suitable for bridge duty — a task primarily involving data reading and system monitoring. Or so she hoped. 

If her career in the Patrol had taught her anything, it was the unpredictable nature of their work; situations could escalate from mundane to critical in moments.

Glancing at the chronometer in her sparse and small quarters, she noted the ship's time. There was still a window before she needed to report in. Sighing, she settled into the lone chair in her quarters and secured her red hair back from her elfin ears with a hairband.

In idle boredom Kairi activated her console and began perusing her photo collection, each image was a mini time capsule for her, and though the photos themselves didn’t radiate emotions they did bring emotions bubbling from within Kairi. She smiled as she flipped through photos of her with her old schoolmates, felt a surge of nostalgia as she saw the picture with her and her two best friends at the Star Patrol Academy.   

Liva the bat-like Gishtaving, and Carols, the blonde human woman. They stood alongside Kairi all striking a silly pose despite being in uniform. Kairi flipped through a few more photos before she paused and her lips pursed in confusion. 

“When did I take this?” She mumbled to herself.

Kairi was positive she hadn’t taken that particular picture. She would have remembered such a sight. 

The picture was of a yawning cave mouth with symbols carved around the exterior and orange dust covering the rocks. As Kairi focused on one of the symbols she felt something. Just as she could sense the emotions of her shipmates, Kairi could feel an emotion coming from the symbol: this wasn’t the sense of nostalgia she felt from her own photos, this was a tangible emotion - From a picture on her datapad of all things! 

It filled her with a sense of longing. Moving her eyes to the next symbol her eyes began to well up with tears as she felt a profound sense of loss. Kairi flicked to the next photo and the sensation was gone.

Ever curious, Kairi flicked back to the mysterious photo and began to feel the emotions associated with each symbol, she looked at one she hadn’t before and gasped. Kairi dropped the pad on her desk and backpedaled away screaming. 

Fear. 

Her heart felt as if it was going nova, and her chest rose and fell rapidly as she took a steadying breath the fear fading. Getting to her feet Kairi looked around. She needed answers. She also felt a new feeling within her: A sense of longing. She wanted to go somewhere - somewhere important to her - but she didn’t know where that was. 

“What the thrache is going on here?” Kairi muttered.   

She trusted her instincts, and her instincts told her that what she had felt from the photo was not some hallucination or trick of the mind. The fact that a photo she had no memory of taking of a place she had never been to had appeared in her camera compounded the mystery. She knew just what to do.

Though the Endurance’s primary mission as a Patrol Cutter Rocket was keeping the peace and responding to crises in space and planetside, the possibilities of making new discoveries warranted keeping a few esteemed scientists aboard. Professor Yvone Ingrid, with a speciality in relativity distortion technologies, was one such individual. Kairi trusted him: they had both survived a particularly dangerous away mission on T3-Cairo with the whole Technonomicon incident. 

The older human’s dark, wrinkled face was even more wrinkled as he scratched his head covered in snow white hair. Kairi could feel the confusion, wonder, and curiosity emanating from the man as he examined the photo on the datapad.  

“I’m not sure what to make of it, Lieutenant. All my years in space and teaching and I’m still at a loss.” 

“Surely you must have some thoughts?”     

Professor Ingrid drummed his fingers on the metal desk of his workstation. “Well, let’s start with what I can say for certainty: It’s not an ordinary picture.” 

Kairi smirked. “Never would have guessed.” 

The professor rolled his eyes at the sarcastic response. “I tried to copy it from your datapad but the file was not recognized as a file.”

Kairi folded her arms. “Almost as if this was meant specifically for me.” 

Yvone held up a hand, “Let’s not jump to conclusions until we have more documented data. You should return to your duties, if you can part with this tablet for a bit I’ll run more tests and contact you if there are any new developments.”

Kairi nodded. “Of course. Be careful, that’s my personal datapad.” 

“I shall be as unobtrusive as I possibly can be,” the professor promised her. 

Letting the matter be but still full of curiosity, Kairi made her way back to the bridge and took her station, monitoring ship systems. The time passed just like the infinite stars that passed by the viewscreen. Kairi watched the first officer’s watch end as Captain Sphinx took his turn on the bridge. He radiated confidence as he took a report handed to him. 

“Hmm,” the human captain commented, “Seems there’s been an archeological find on Tsarvista II: Another lost civilization in our galaxy.”     

Kairi felt something then that yearning to return. Thoughts came to her, thoughts not her own, Tsarvista II was not the name of the planet. It was commonly known as Albrien. 

“We have to go there -“ Kairi blurted out. “- Sir.”

The bridge crew all looked at her and Kairi could feel their surprise, and concern. 

“What now, Lieutenant?” Captain Sphinx asked. 

“I…” Kairi started before she felt a pain splitting her head. She cried out as the pain overwhelmed her, her vision blurring. When Kairi came too she found herself in the all too familiar sterile feeling sickbay. The automated doctor droid hovered over her. 

“How are you feeling Lt. Faas?” 

“Better,” Kairi muttered. “Where’s doctor Tulia?” 

“Doctor Tulia is tending to other patients, you suffered a severe migraine and were given pain suppressants.”     

Kairi rubbed her temples. “It triggered when Captain Sphinx spoke of the archeological discovery,” she mumbled. 

The automated doctor didn’t reply, simply recording what she had just said.

“Are you undergoing any trauma related to the event?”

“No, no,” Kairi said, annoyed at the literal interpretation of the android physician. When Kairi was finally discharged from sick bay she immediately received a summons to the ready room. 

“Now what?” the blue-skinned woman muttered. 

Arriving at the room, Kairi found Captain Sphinx, Professor Ingrid, and Doctor Tulia waiting her. Tulia was a Gishtavin covered in dark brown fur beneath her uniform and winged arms folded across her chest. Her batlike ears twitched and her muzzle seemed to be in a frown. She could feel concern wafting from each of them, but they were so professional that she couldn’t discern the seriousness of their concern.

Kairi felt a lump in her throat as the fear of being relieved of duty began to weigh on her. What if they all thought she’d cracked? ...Gone “space mad” or something? 

“Lt. Faas, reports as ordered,” Kairi declared in a confident voice as she snapped to attention. 

“At ease,” Captain Sphinx said in a calm voice. “I’m sure you already have a theory why you’re here?” 

“The incident on the bridge. Sir, I am still fit for duty I…”

Her captain raised a hand, “Easy there. We have no intention of relieving you from duty. But we’re going to need you for something other than routine duties right now.”

At that professor Ingrid cleared his throat, “Yes, I was studying your mysterious photo when it gave out some surge of energy, being the scientist I am, I noted the time. It happened at the exact time as your incident on the bridge. Those present along with Doctor Tulia, both have confirmed this.”       

Kairi nodded. “I see. I had my suspicions.” 

“Can you tell us what went through your mind?” Doctor Tulia prodded. 

Kairi thought back to the incident. “It was the mention of the archeological discovery. I knew the planet had a different name, and I felt a longing to go there. Not in a curious way, but as if I... belonged there, if that makes any sense.” 

The three exchanged glances, their emotions a mix of curiosity, concern, and alarm. 

Captain Sphinx spoke first. “There’s more you should know Kairi.” 

Tulia glanced at Sphinx. Kairi could already feel disagreement in the doctor’s emotions, before Sphinx even elaborated. 

“We’ve altered course,” Sphinx began. “Officially it’s to keep any opportunists from trying to plunder the archeological site. Unofficially, it’s because we have received intel that this site... Tulia, how would you phrase it? 

Tulia straightened her tie and stepped forward. “We received a few preliminary photos from the archeological team, Kairi. Does this look familiar?” 

She showed a photo on a datapad, the exact same cave with the carvings as in her photo. The angle was different but it was undoubtedly the same place. Kairi felt the sensation of longing again, along with the old physiological symptoms. Kairi felt her stomach drop and her legs go weak, but managed to nod in spite of them. 

“It’s the same. I- I don’t understand it but I feel as though... as though this is a message. A message meant for me, sir.” 

Sphinx let out a breath. “Well then, I think you deserve to find some answers.”       

Kairi smiled. “Thank you sir.” 

Professor Ingrid smiled warmly. “Don’t worry Kairi, we’re on the threshold of a great discovery. I can feel it.”   

Kairi sighed, “I suppose we are.”