Cookie Monster

Posted on Saturday, 16 April 2022 - 5:37pm by Lieutenant Alex Kingsley
Edited on on Monday, 18 April 2022 - 8:30am

Mission: Shore Leave
Location: Vulcan
Timeline: 1 week after arrival

A gentle breeze stirred the air, drifting lazily through the air and carrying with it the sounds and smells of the ocean. Reaching out, blindly seeking out the bed sheet, Alex tugged it closer as she rolled over and clung to those last few moments of sleep. It was a futile attempt, given the sunlight now streaming in through the open window and the sound of voices just outside of her bedroom door. And something else...

Cookies!

The realisation that she could smell not only homemade cookies but her mother's speciality - chocolate chip cookies - was more than enough temptation to make her abandon her bed and walk barefoot across the wooden floor towards the door. She paused for a second, struck by the sudden realisation that she had absolutely no idea where she was. Turning in a slow circle, her blue eyes swept the room from the four poster bed and the white furniture to the floor to ceiling windows overlooking a beach and crystal clear waters beneath a cloudless blue sky.

Definitely not the Standing Bear. Definitely not Ni - Vulcan... not with an idylic blue sky. And while it was warm it wasn't quite that warm.

"Alex, time to get up!"

Her mother's voice snapped her out of her own thoughts, echoing the tone and volume (mostly volume) her mother had employed during Alex's teenage years when waking up before noon was something of a novelty if she wasn't due in class. It was more out of reflex than any real annoyance that Alex groaned while calling back 'I'm coming!' in a tone that suggested it should have been obvious to her mother that she was already up by virtue of some sixth sense. Not wanting to get on her mother's bad side - which was rare but always to be avoided - Alex turned and in another step was throwing open the door ready to face her mother but most importantly chocolate.

Except -

"What the hell?!" Where the open doorway should be was just a wall of red bricks, completely solid just as much as they were completely and utterly out of place. Beneath her hands she could feel the coldness, the rough texture... all very real. Yet it couldn't be. Another breeze came in through the open window, and pushing away from the impossible wall, she hurried to the windows, drawing back the small sliver of fabric covering the only open pane to find that while the window was indeed open, she was on a room at a dizzying height with nothing but a deadly drop should she think it an alternative escape route. Leaning out the window she tried to find something familiar in the view offered from on high but there was nothing.

"I don't think hell offers such nice accommodation," a familiar voice commented between sips of tequila, "but if that is what you really want, I'm sure I could get creative."



******

Nursing a cup of tea, Laura Kingsley found herself staring at the clock. How many hours had she sat here, in virtual silence, like a guardian angel watching over her daughter. Again. It was a feeling, as a mother, that she could never come to accept and one she had been in no hurry to feel again. Yet here she was.

“It’s another insanely warm day,” she observed, expecting and receiving no reply as she got up and moved to close the blinds, darkening the room and blocking out the formidable Vulcan landscape. The room itself was kept pleasantly cool, in recognition of the fact that most Humans were not accustomed to the planet’s climate. It was a surpringly kind gesture although she wondered how much of it was just normal consideration and how much was due to the frequent visits from a certain Ambassador…

A smile played at her lips. He had been a blessing. From arranging transport to ensuring someone was always on hand to help with anything Laura may need, while managing to avoid appearing intrusive. It was a fine line but so far he was walking it well.

He had raised an eyebrow or two when Laura had woken up at the crack of dawn to make cookies. She had dreamed of them, and when she woke it just seemed the best thing to do. The children had bo doubt devoured the batch she had made for them but it seemed the batch made especially for Alex would remain untouched. Again. With a sigh, Laura set aside her cup and decided it would be a shame to let them all go to waste. And they were quite delicious.

“These are good, if I say so myself,” she concluded, nodding to herself. “Extra chocolate. Perhaps I will take some to Soral, Hmm?”

She wanted the box of cookies to be snatched up out of her hand but no… with a heavy sigh, Laura sank back into her chair. Ready for another long night as she accessed the computer to find something to watch. “Do you think they get Love Among the Stars? It’s bad, but in a good way. I never missed an episode back on Risa. You’d hate it but I guarantee you will be hooked.”


OFF