Halfway to Wolf ((Curtis))

[Caroline Curtis 0]

"Computer, begin personal log, stardate 61001 mark 2."

 

Caroline let herself drop onto the couch in her quarters with a sigh, tipping her head back against the wall. For a moment she didn't say anything further, letting the silence hold the floor while she got her thoughts in order.

 

"We're a day out from Wolf 359 yet. It's a day closer than we were, but I can't help noticing the tension starting to build (that is, after all, what I'm here to notice). And I can't help feeling it myself, either." She paused, then frowned. "I'm honestly starting to wonder if -- ouch!"

 

Her introspection was broken by a loud yelp as a heavy, pointy weight landed on her shoulder. "Nelson, stop it!"

 

The small orange fluff-ball of a kitten which she had purchased at Starbase 435 mewed in her ear and then toppled from his perch, landing -- claws down again, of course -- in her lap.

 

Caroline made an aggravated noise at the impact, then paused and smiled slightly. "Poor kit...probably wondering what all those lights are about, huh?" she murmured, stroking the small animal's fuzzy back absently. "You and me both, I guess."

 

The kitten mewed again, rolling over onto his side and pawing gently at her fingers.

 

Nelson had been named after Horatio Nelson, a general of Earth in the mid-1800s. However, the young cat was about as far away from the straight-backed staid military discipline for which he had been named as anything Caroline could immediately imagine. Closer inspection of the room around her revealed that since the morning, he had managed (through, Caroline could only assume, dedicated effort, or perhaps as a response to the inexplicable loud noises and flashing lights) to completely tip over one of the chairs in the room and roll it over onto its side.

 

"You're a little hellion, aren't you, kit?"

 

He mewed proudly in response. Caroline chuckled, slouching back gently against the couch and looking up at the ceiling before resuming her log. "I'm honestly starting to wonder if we might not do better to pull over somewhere and get our bearings a little bit; we haven't stopped moving since we got here. No one will actively go for the idea -- I wouldn't like it myself, to be honest -- but if whatever the Captain is planning at Wolf 359 doesn't pan out, we may need to consider the idea of finding somewhere to hole up." She paused, then looked down at Nelson and smiled tightly, her voice taking on a heavy note of irony. "After all...it's not like we don't have plenty of time."