Steev...Musings of a lonely engineer
Steev wandered out of the room after the demonstration of the probe was
completed. A distress buoy? And that planet...so lush and green...it
certainly seemed the place where all his failings and inadequacies would be
overlooked. Plus, he was sure that a competent engineer would be welcome in
the planet...maybe he should change his name beforehand though? Or maybe
his appearance..and gender to be on the safe side.
"Wonder what the planet actually is though?" He said to himself. Maybe it
was time to consult the Ladybird Big Bumper Book of Space Facts....
___________
Steev's room
____________
Steev entered the room. He fast realised that he hadn't actually seen this
place since he first arrived. His gear was still all packed up, and the bed
had not been lived in. He had been reduced to cupboards and lockers for his
entire time here. Gradually this sense of displacement washed over him, and
he sunk to his knees. It had been an active time here, but it was in
Steev's nature to be alone and think, this having been forced onto him
through his name. It was this need which called to him now.
"I wanted a quiet life." He thought. "I just wanted to live a quiet life
in a nice house, with a caring wife and adorable kids...why couldn't I have
that? It's all I ever really wanted!"
A tear started to run down his cheek.
"But no, I couldn't, because of one freak accident at birth...because one
guy was too hungover, hadn't been getting enough sleep, he crushed my...my
dream..."
The flow started to increase.
"And now where am I? On a ship in the back end of bloody beyond, with an
insecure captain, a geeky Chief engineer, an unhinged security team and a
sadistic hologram...I sleep in lockers most of the time, I'm covered in
grease, and I have to live in fear of being laughed at for stating my name!"
Steev was now in full wail.
"WHY? WHY ME???" he wailed. "What..did..I...do..wrong???"
Steev lashed around with his feet, kicking his bag. Suddenly, one of those
fated occurrences happened. A photograph fluttered out of the bag into his
hand. Steev stopped to look at it....
It was the planet. Just as it was on the probe. Steev turned it over. It
had a message from his father on it. Steev never really knew his father,
and treasured this picture always as some sort of link with him. He read
the message again.
"Steven, If you ever go into space, heed this advice: If times are hard, and
you're feeling down, seek out this planet. I won't tell you what's there,
and I won't tell you how I know about it, but what's there will make you
feel better."
Steev stopped and sat up. It was the planet. They had found it. And now
nothing was going to stop him getting there. Steev stood up and broke into
a smile. He was happy, really happy, for one of the very few times in his
life. With a renewed vigour he unpacked and furnished his room. Things
were going to be alright....
_________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.
Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com.