He has ridden past me many times over the last year, but never slowed, never stopped, never even looked.. until tonight.
I hear the whine of his bike's fusion turbine, see the bike's headlight as he crests the rise and cruises the makeshift trail running parallel to the Riverside Shipyards, an ironic name as the nearest river is several dozen miles to the southeast.
As he gets closer, I see he's been in a fight, again.. the bruises still fresh, some dried blood on his split lip. He's got a hot head, that boy. Well, not really a boy, but not quite a man. Not yet.
At the point on the trail where he usually guns the throttle and speeds past, he.. he eases up, slows a bit, and then coasts to a stop. He stopped!! Suddenly I'm embarrassed, as I'm still 'getting dressed', so to speak. I can feel his eyes on me, imagining what I'll look like flying free, soaring through space. Imagining himself on the bridge...
He won't be the first, unfortunately. Captain Robert April will oversee my flight to orbit and final fittings; Captain Christopher Pike will be in command for the shakedown cruise and at least the first five-year mission after that.
At least, that's Starfleet's plan. But I know different. For I am his, and he belongs to me, and somehow -- and sooner rather than later, I think -- we will be together. Such sights await us, both wonders and terrors; we shall meet those who were ancient at the dawn of time, and much more besides. Destiny awaits...
I hear the whine of his bike's fusion turbine, see the bike's headlight as he crests the rise and cruises the makeshift trail running parallel to the Riverside Shipyards, an ironic name as the nearest river is several dozen miles to the southeast.
As he gets closer, I see he's been in a fight, again.. the bruises still fresh, some dried blood on his split lip. He's got a hot head, that boy. Well, not really a boy, but not quite a man. Not yet.
At the point on the trail where he usually guns the throttle and speeds past, he.. he eases up, slows a bit, and then coasts to a stop. He stopped!! Suddenly I'm embarrassed, as I'm still 'getting dressed', so to speak. I can feel his eyes on me, imagining what I'll look like flying free, soaring through space. Imagining himself on the bridge...
He won't be the first, unfortunately. Captain Robert April will oversee my flight to orbit and final fittings; Captain Christopher Pike will be in command for the shakedown cruise and at least the first five-year mission after that.
At least, that's Starfleet's plan. But I know different. For I am his, and he belongs to me, and somehow -- and sooner rather than later, I think -- we will be together. Such sights await us, both wonders and terrors; we shall meet those who were ancient at the dawn of time, and much more besides. Destiny awaits...
