PNPC Charlie McQueen: An Unexpected Comrade (NT, JP with Katya Pavlova, backstory pt 2)
Kayla Drex
((Lightside Station - timeskip - about 1 month later))
:: Charlie was running again. Running this time from station security. They’d almost caught her this time - stealing a small meat pie called an empanada. She had needed to resort to theft this last month in order to eat. Hiding in the back corridors, catching short periods of sleep when and where she could, and constantly avoiding security had taken a toll on the young girl. Eventually, she’d used the last of her money to catch a ride to Starbase 281 in an attempt to start fresh. She was tired of hiding and running, and every time she was close to the docking port where the Athena had been, she felt sick to her stomach.
:: Now she was walking down a corridor, looking for a shop that might hire her, when her eye caught two men in non-Federation uniforms. Security guards from the Spike. They’d followed her here? She noticed a group of kids about her age walking with a clearly exhausted and overwhelmed chaperone. She dusted off her clothes and slipped into the group near the back. Charlie couldn’t help but chuckle at her own cleverness as she walked right past the guards. But wait … those weren’t guards. They were just visitors to the station. She was imagining things.::
::Katya went to school on the Eagle, but like many children being independently schooled she also had larger activities planned for her whenever her ship was at a base or port. Often it was other homeschooled kids brought together for a class or excursion, or like today, it was a regular outing from the local school that allowed add-ons. While Jazmine didn’t usually look for such outings, Katya loved them as they were a chance to meet other kids her age.
Today’s outing on Starbase 281 was particularly interesting as they were visiting a number of business owners and then attending a base business counsel meeting to learn about how small economies worked.
What she didn’t expect was for someone to join the group after the meetings were over as they returned to the base school, or in Katya’s case, to the USS Eagle.::
Katya: The counsel meeting wasn’t too interesting. They talked down to us, but the dressmaker showed us her accounting and the ice cream parlor gave us samples.
:: Charlie jumped a little as she realized someone was talking to her. ::
Charlie: What? Ice cream? Uh, yeah. Dresses.
:: She looked frantically around for a way to hide. It would not be good to get caught sneaking onto a Federation starship. It’s not like she was trying to stow-away. ::
Katya: I’m Katya.
Charlie: :taken aback by this friendly stranger:: Hi, Katya. I’m Charlie.
::Katya knew the look, or at least thought she did. She’d been captured by Orion syndicate members on Duronis trying to use her to get to Irina, and had escaped. This girl had the same look about her of someone trying to get away. That, and her clothes looked pretty dirty and worn, not to mention didn’t smell so good.::
Katya: Your clothes are really dirty. You look about my size, I can give you some if you need them.
Charlie: Um … I’ve had a pretty rough month or so. I’d love to be clean again.
:: Tears began welling in Charlie’s eyes at the thought of the hellacious month she’d just passed. She fought the tears back, replacing them with a warm smile. ::
Charlie: We’re gonna get in a lot of trouble if I’m caught on the ship though, won’t we? I can hide pretty well from the Aggregate, but this is a Federation ship - not all patched together.
::Hide on the ship? Katya hadn’t said anything about hiding her on the ship, only about giving her some clothes and maybe some food.::
Katya: Let’s just get you some clean clothes and something to eat, then we’ll figure out where to go.
Charlie: Ok, sounds good. I just … can’t go back.
::She didn’t know why, but Charlie trusted this girl. And if she was honest with herself, her own smell was starting to turn her stomach. It was going to be really nice to be clean again.::
Katya: Come on, follow me.
~ Charlie McQueen ~
Simmed by:
Lieutenant Kayla Drex
Chief Science Officer
USS Eagle, NCC-74659
Image Collective
Writer ID: E239510KD0
Science is life, art is soul, love is home
And
Katya Pavlova
Printzyessa
USS Eagle
Author ID O238908HA0