A Halo Parting

[Savros 0]

Kimiko stirred in her sleep and pulled the covers tightly over her. Something was different. She opened her eyes slowly and noticed the amber glow of a small fire. Where was she?

 

She shook off the sleep, sat up to take in her surroundings. The ceiling was smooth waves of earth with the occasional stalactite, some of which were dripping water. She was in a cave. Her mind conjured up imagines of a Neanderthal hitting her on the head and dragging her into his lair. She smiled knowing that she was more than a match for most men twice her size. Any Cave Man was in for a surprise.

 

She felt a little cold and pulled the covers close to warm and noticed they had the appearance of fur. Feeling the inside of the covering, she recognized the feel of a Star Fleet blanket. Clearly this was only skin deep. She felt the fur, this time she noticed the imagine of fur flickered as she rubbed it. It was some sort of an elaborate holographic projection.

 

The glow of the firelight filled the cave (room) and she heard singing further in the cave.

 

"...What fun it is to sail and sing a slaying song tonight." If she wasn't mistaken, it was Commander Gage. "Oh...Hack and slash, hack and slash, laughing all the way. What fun it is..." The song stopped abruptly. "It appears my guest is awake."

 

Kimiko lay back in bed, uncomfortably covering herself. There wasn't supposed to be anyone else.

 

"Good morning, Captain." Jaden spoke as he stepped into the flickering firelight. Kimiko noticed that a large man, probably 2.5 meters (>8 feet) tall and 140 kilograms (>300 pounds), standing just beyond Jaden. A Cave Man?

 

Jaden noticed her discomfort and walked over to and reached his hand into the fire, where he seemed to be adjusting something. A moment later, the cave was gone. They were back in his room with dim lighting.

 

Kimiko sat up and looked at Gage. He was a tall, blond, muscular man with a small scar on his forehead. "You really know how to show a girl a good time. What was all that?"

 

Jaden smiled, "I hope you don't mind. We talked about the thrill of the hunt in my home," he spoke openly as he walked towards his closet. "I thought you might like seeing it."

 

"You hunt in caves?" Kimiko said sarcastically.

 

"No. It just seemed like a better place to wake up than in a forest," he looked at her wondering if she did not like the surprise. "Ideally, we hunt then look for a good cave to sleep in. In most cases, we sleep under the stars." He paused and began dressing. "I'm sorry if I startled you. I have to be on duty in a half hour and wanted you to see this before you had to go."

 

"Well, thank you. It was certainly a pleasant dream. Your homeland must be gorgeous! But, what was that thing hiding in the darkness? And, was that a version of Jingle Bells you were singing with it?"

 

"Oh that. That was my father. We used to like singing that song together."

 

"Your father?" Kimiko's pupils dilated in disbelieve. "Your related to a Cave Man?"

 

Jaden let out a burst of laughter. "I suppose from your perspective, he does look rather strange. I think I should explain." He took a deep breath, put on his uniform and continued, "He's my father as I remember him. I was a little boy when he died and I like to think of him as the large man I knew then. I suppose if I had an accurate holograph of him, he might be a few inches taller than me. I programmed him to look that way, but I'm afraid, I don't quite have the hang of it yet." He leaned over and picked up a circular orb from off the ground and tossed it to Kimiko. "Maybe your engineers can do something with it. It took mine weeks to make it this far."

 

Kimiko caught the orb and turned it around. It was a polished jet black color with a small circular indentation.

 

"You press the button on top and it will open up for programming," spoke Jaden. "Try it. There should be a memory card slot that you can use for storing programs."

 

She touched the indentation and the orb folded out revealing some interface cables and a memory card in a slot. "I bet Abe will have a field day with this," she spoke with a smile. "It'll probably be worth a few kegs of root beer that I can use for barter when we return home. Or maybe even a private jacuzzi..."

 

Jaden hurried to finish dressing. "Do with it as you like. They are all the rage on Risa." He fastened his boots and moved over to her. "I hope you enjoyed your visit."

 

Kimiko wrapped her arms around him and stared into his blue eyes before giving him one last kiss. "You know I did."