Spooks Wanna Have Fun

[Shadow 0]

A Shadow Log

 

Taking into account the heterogeneous nature of the United Federation of Planets and that it was dedicated to “respecting the equal rights and self-determination of intelligent life forms,” one wouldn't think that the presence of an energy being aboard a starship would cause much of a stir. But when you consider that heretofore, just as parents hid their children from the mythical Lamia for fear of losing them to her insatiable appetite for succulent flesh, so did voyeurs and starship captains give wide berth to energy beings for fear of losing their ships, crew, and lives to said beings’ insatiable hunger for energy. To an energy being, a starship represented a veritable smorgasbord set conveniently by the creator into a grand pannier called space specifically for their enjoyment, and any supposititious attempt by the occupants of the craft to escape their appointed fate presented the most vile sacrilege.

 

So you see that, despite all good intention by the Federation, the presence of Shadow aboard the Agincourt could, indeed, present a problem. And it did, at least initially, cause a certain amount of schismatic behavior within the crew. Discussions ranged from a desire to study him to a desire for his complete destruction, the latter sentiment especially prevalent among those more prone to superstition and the reading of horror novels well into the night

 

And yet it was not his fault that Shadow occupied a finite piece of time and space which this crew called Agincourt. It was, in fact, none of his doing and completely because of Agincourt that he had entered, and had become trapped in, their reality.

 

Oh, how he missed his reality, his home, where energy felt no need to vest itself in flesh, bone, and sinew, and where one traveled as one wished when one wished in the space of a thought. However, with no prospect of escape anytime soon, he decided, without rancor, without blame to his captors, to make the best of his situation. As a geostrophic wind forms in the atmosphere of a planet, so Shadow’s initial trepidation had balanced against his innate curiosity to produce an emotional equilibrium.

 

And, for the first time in his experience, he realized he could have fun.

 

Enjoyment of life – enjoyment of anything for that matter – was something totally foreign to his kind. There one existed and served in his particular capacity for the betterment of the community. Recreation was totally unheard of. But while experiencing his first shore leave with Dr. Levy, he had surreptitiously drained the power from an assailant’s disruptor. The grins, the giggles, and the laughter following the retelling of the tale afterwards he found, to his amazement, extremely pleasurable.

 

As Shadow pondered the possibilities for this wondrous new experience, it occurred to him that the enjoyment of his particular state of matter in this particular reality could produce some fascinating reactions from his fellow crewmates. His research in the holodeck had produced a plethora of information, but recalcitrance was not a part of his nature, so he resolved to keep his activities within the bounds of propriety.

 

Shadows. Spooks. Ghosts. Goblins. Spectres. Infinite diversity in infinite combinations. Oh, yes – this spook would have some fun.