Carpathia IV: Episode 73 - Wooden Figures
Space, NCCS Shadowdancer, Kit's Quarters
With the investigation complete and the restrictions lifted, Amenaru stood inside the rubble of Kit's quarters looking around aimlessly. Though they already knew where Kit was and now sped to him, Amenaru still wanted to look around for little clues that could give them at least a small idea of what to expect when they arrived at the Savea pirate ship. Alas, there were none. Kit appeared to have kept little from his time before joining the Exploration Force. All the books were Carpathian. All the non-uniform clothes were Carpathian. His life before Carpathia wasn't something Kit wanted to remember, if Amenaru were to guess.
With him was Mrs. Tiggywinkle, ears flat on her head and wearing a gloomy expression neatly mirroring Amenaru's. She pawed and sniffed through the rubble as though she too was searching for clues.
Kit put up a fight. That much was clear, for there was little that was undisturbed. If only any of the officers had been off-duty at the time, they surely would have heard something. Alas, all were busy managing the Savea visit. This left Amenaru staring longingly at one of the few undisturbed places in the room, a shelf full of little wooden figures, each about eight inches tall and meticulously painted. All were members of the crew that Kit knew best. The entire bridge team. The engineering staff. The medical staff. The cadets, Tayet and Quenya were also present, though Quenya wasn't complete, half carved and unpainted.
In front of the pack, and taller than the others, was Amenaru himself, standing straight and tall, legs spread wide, with one hand on his hip and the other waving cheerfully. Though there was another Amenaru behind, mingling with the rest of the figures, this one was special. It was the only crew that had a duplicate and while the others were all expertly carved and painted in their own right, the taller Amenaru figure was on a much higher level. The level of detail was nothing short of miraculous as Amenaru noted that even the figure's hand had faint little etchings that mimicked the lines in his own palm. He wondered when Kit could have possibly noticed any of this.
Amenaru didn't notice when Teek entered, but Mrs. Tiggywinkle certainly did, immediately putting herself between them and hissing.
Teek: Whoa!
Hearing the commotion, Amenaru snapped from his little trance and ran to Mrs. Tiggywinkle, scooping her up into his arms.
Amenaru: It's okay, Tiggy. This is Teek. She's been keen to follow me around since Rhalma was here.
Amenaru pet Mrs. Tiggywinkle a few times before stepping closer to Teek.
Amenaru: Hold out your hand and let her give it a sniff.
Teek did as he was told, holing his hand close to Mrs. Tiggywinkle. After sniffing a few times, she seemed satisfied and rubbed her face on his fingers.
Teek: You alright?
Amenaru put Mrs. Tiggywinkle down and clenched his fists, returning to the shelf with the little wooden figures.
Amenaru: Of course not! How could they do this to him? Look at all this! He's not only smart, but he made these.
Teek joined Amenaru to study the figures on the shelf.
Teek: He even made one of me, after all I did.
Teek carefully nudged the others aside to pick out the one of himself. This one had Teek with a big grin on his face and his arms folded across his chest, standing with a slight arch to his back and his head held high, not unlike Teek's own action figures and statues of game characters that he keeps in his own quarters.
Teek: I suppose they don't like Kit because he's not like them, physically or mentally. He's everything they're not. I had to help Commander Unas try to manage the chaos when those big tokki guys ransacked our kitchen. Kit is shy and kind. Those guys were loud, aggressive bullies.
Amenaru didn't respond and Teek continued to examine his own figure in silence, marvelling at its detail. The green and yellow paint matched his own skin and scales nearly perfectly. The shape of the spikes were also well proportioned and so small and delicate, Teek hesitated to touch them for fear of breaking them.
Teek: I wish I had noticed what Cinnai and those guys were doing. They did a pretty good job distracting us. We never really knew where all three of them or Cinnai was at any time.
Amenaru turned to Teek and gave him a sad smile.
Amenaru: It's not your fault. They were obviously prepared. If they could sneak Kit past Commander Unas, they could sneak him past anyone.
Teek put his hand on Amenaru's shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
Teek: We're going to do our game night. Good way to pass the time while we wait. It might take our minds off everything else for a bit.
Amenaru glanced down at the floor before answering.
Amenaru: You go ahead and get ready. I need to put Tiggy back in my room and do one more thing here.
Teek: Alright. You're bringing your cards, right?
Amenaru nodded and Teek headed for the door.
Teek: Okay, see you there.
In Teek's quarters, a somber mood prevailed, despite the game, yet most played on. Quenya was there this time and Amenaru sat off to the side with a pile of broken wood and some glue.
Quenya: Thanks for having me. Sorry I couldn't make it last time.
Phobos: We're just glad you know how to play. The more the better!
Quenya: Are you kidding? You know how much of a geek my dad is.
Tayet: Heh. Too right. He taught both of us to play.
Phobos: I just downloaded the rules into... um...
Phobos paused while Teek looked at him expectantly. Tayet and Quenya, however, smirked at each other knowingly.
Phobos: Into my computer. The rules are simple enough, heh heh.
Teek nodded, but only partially interested as he craned his neck over Tayet's shoulder to Amenaru, who was conspicuously absent from the gaming group trying to fit little bits of broken wood together.
Teek: You can join us in the game, Amenaru.
Amenaru didn't look up, instead focusing on putting just the right amount of glue on the wood piece that he was holding.
Amenaru: You go right ahead. I don't think I could concentrate on the game anyway.
While he was talking, Amenaru carefully stuck two of the bits of wood together and held them tightly.
Quenya: What is that, anyway?
Amenaru picked up one of the large pieces and held it out for all to see. It immediately became clear to all what they were looking at.
Teek: Wow, he was carving a model Shadowdancer out of wood too.
Amenaru put the big piece down and resumed gluing some of the smaller ones.
Amenaru: I think this is what he was working on when Cinnai took him and it got smashed when the table broke.
Phobos: Is it even worth fixing? Besides being broken, it's pretty dented up.
Amenaru: I don't mind if Kit wants to make a new one when he gets back. At least he'll have the choice to fix this one if he wants.
Teek: I just hope we do get him back. How much longer to the Savea pirate ship?
Phobos: About 29 and a half hours from now, if we keep this speed.
Tayet: Waiting is the hardest part. Captain Valro, Commander Joust, Doctor Teagan, and Lieutenant Silaron are spending a lot of time strategizing, aren't they?
Teek: I just hope they put me on the extraction team.
The game continued in silence for awhile, with several turns of play passing and only the barest of communication pertaining to the game. Attack. Block. Teek even played a magic card and didn't say a word about it, just letting everyone read the contents.
Tayet: Too quiet and it's weird not having access to communications. We're not even getting entertainment broadcasts.
Quenya: The Chief and Lieutenant Sokari physically severed the long-range comm system, except for a two encrypted lines from the Captain's quarters and Commander's quarters.
Teek: Must be using that one to talk to Nalma's people. I hope they come up with a good plan.
Though the others were momentarily distracted from Amenaru's toy spaceship repair, they all heard a crack coming from Amenaru's direction. They all turned just in time to see Amenaru throw the pieces to the floor and tearfully stammer out explicatives.
Amenaru: Fucking... Stupid...
This was his breaking point, for Amenaru disintegrated into a blubbery, sobbing puddle.
Amenaru: My dad can be a right stubborn bastard sometimes, but I'll take him over Rhalma any day.
Teek: We'll get him back.
After taking some time to calm himself, Amenaru turned his head and gazed out of the window at the stars zinging by.
Amenaru: Sometimes I sit in my quarters and stare out of the window. 400 billion stars in our galaxy. Some say that there are at least three million inhabitable worlds. Beyond that, a trillion galaxies in our universe with three million or more worlds in each of those. In all of that, only one Kit.
Amenaru looked away from the window and picked up one of the large pieces of the Shadowdancer carving, the entire bow section all the way back to the bridge, of which both of the wings were broken off.
Amenaru: The universe has a way of making you feel like a speck of nothing and the most important thing in existence all at the same time. It's plain evil they won't let Kit just be who he wants to be.
Teek laid his cards on the floor and scooted over to Amenaru and the model Shadowdancer parts.
Teek: I've had to repair some of my character figures more than a few times, you know. Can I use your glue?
Amenaru looked up, glassy eyes wide with surprise as the others put down their cards and scooted over too, forming a little circle around the Shadowdancer debris. Amenaru smiled, allowing himself a slight chuckle.
Amenaru: I'll go get a couple more tubes.
Commissioned art in this episode from:
AvareonArt
Zelbunnii
Thatwildmary
Colourbrand
