A Personal Journey

[Hanna-Beth Rieve 0]

It had been a week since she had left Theta Proxima. Hanna-Beth, whose farthest trip had been to visit a cousin in another settlement, had now traveled hundreds of light years in an assortment of ships. Getting from the colonial backwater to Earth was no easy task. First, she had to book passage on a freighter to Starbase 444. From there, she hitched a ride on a transport to Epsilon Indii spaceport. As she walked out into the crowded spaceport, she felt just how small she was. More people walked past her in those corridors than lived on her home planet. She felt out of place, or like she was being stared at. But, it wasn't like she wasn't drawing attention to herself. To the others, she must have looked like a lost girl; in some sense, she was. And, she couldn't help but take extended glances at the variant forms of non-humans who walked in the port, each one a distinct individual, each one going about his own business. Hanna-Beth reached into her left pocket, then continued on, carrying only herself and her bag of possessions to the next destination.

 

From Epsilon Indii, she took a large passenger liner to Jupiter Station, Sol system, via Alpha Centauri. Finally, she grabbed a Starfleet shuttle from Jupiter Station to Earth.

 

The shuttle approached Earth on the night side, from between the Earth and the moon. She didn't take her eyes off the window. She could see other ships passing the shuttle, coming from all directions in the highly choreographed motion controlled by Earth space traffic control. But what really moved her was the view of the whole planet and its moon, both covered in lights. Each light was the sum of millions of other smaller lights, uniting into one. She reached into her left pocket, and took out a slip of paper that she had written many years ago, an ancient message learned by her in middle school. "I am the dust of the earth," it said.

 

Finally, a shuttle took her to the Starfleet Marine Division Academy and training grounds. After registration and assignment of shared quarters, her first stop was the subspace terminal.

 

As she oriented herself, and rested a while, she felt a certain simultaneous excitement and nervousness. She made it to the Academy. Now, all that was left were four years of grueling physical and mental challenges. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry at that thought; She had been reminded many times that the officer candidate exams were tough, and, mostly because the test was not about what you know.

 

~~~

 

Four years later, she stood on the parade grounds, standing tall, in full dress uniform. A new pip was placed on her. Gone was the scared girl who left Theta Proxima. Now, she was a Marine. After the ceremony, she reached into her right pocket. There, on a yellowed, torn slip of paper, in the handwriting of a long-gone twelve year old, was written: "the world was created for me."

[Kansas_Jones 0]

Gone was the scared girl who left Theta Proxima. Now, she was a Marine. After the ceremony, she reached into her right pocket. There, on a yellowed, torn slip of paper, in the handwriting of a long-gone twelve year old, was written: "the world was created for me."

Hanna Beth - that ending tag line "the world was created for me" is really cool. ;)

 

- Kansas

[Hanna-Beth Rieve 0]

Thanks, but I can't take credit for the concept, although its use in this log entry is kind of twisted.