literature

Now Get Out of My Starship

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Literature Text

“You heard me! Out! I’m Captain, and if you don’t vacate this area immediately, I’ll have no choice but to have you incarcerated for the rest of the voyage!” The stooped old woman shoved her cane at the nurse, rapping his knees.

With a patience developed over years of caretaking, he side-stepped the attack, putting a table between them. “Now, Mrs. Handra, you know there are no starships anymore. The last one landed long before you or I were born. Now sit down and eat your lunch.”

She acquiesced, grumbling about disorder in the ranks and the decline in interstellar food. The nurse watched long enough to make sure she didn’t cause any trouble with her cafeteria neighbors and left to attend to other duties.

Mrs. Handra turned to the well-worn man next to her. “These people. No respect.”

Mr. Zhao shook his head, “Well, it’s true. You never were a captain.”

She let out a giggle, momentarily revealing a vivacious young officer. “Well maybe not quite but-” Her face fell at the renewed memory of lost potential. “If those three-legged know-it-all’s had left well enough alone, I might’ve been.”

Mr. Zhao frowned. “It was for the best, you know. If humans could still populate every star in reach we’d only stretch ourselves until we snapped. We got far enough. This backwoods planet, for example, could be a lot worse.”

Mrs. Handra raised an eyebrow at him. “Been attending your brainwashing classes, have you? I remember a time you ranted about our rights to space travel until even the old-timers like me were sick of it.”

“We have no power anymore, Handra. The Tri-bees could’ve killed us for our knowledge of ships and star drives but, instead, they replaced the specifics with longevity. Maybe not a fair trade, but you know what they say about beggars.”

The woman heaved a deep sigh. “And the longevity is fading, just as the memories would have. Only you and I left now.”

He patted a gnarled hand against her arm. “Last on this planet, in any case. Even if no one but you and I know it.”

She brightened slightly and glanced around for a nurse. “But honestly, how old do they think we are?”

“Not old enough.”

They shared a smile, two children with a melancholy secret.

“I suppose,” Mrs. Handra mused, “I guess I just hoped that, since we ended up with more time than any human could reasonably expect, we might live to see the starships fly again. Not just the Tri-bees visiting, but ours.”

“Who knows, Handra? Nothing lasts forever. Maybe we will.”
From the "Write a Story for this Title" thread at 365tomorrows.com
© 2014 - 2024 chesterchatfield
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SimonJM's avatar
Nice, wry and intriguing slice of life.