Going In Circles

Posted on Tue Mar 25th, 2025 by Katelynn Bancroft

1,166 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: M01 - The Hooke
Location: Bancroft Quarters, USS Hooke
Timeline: Present

The first thing Kate did once she'd made it to the quarters occupied by her parents and herself was to change into something far more comfortable. She was exhausted from being on the planet, and simply wanted to call Rebecca, which was something she'd promised to do just as soon as she'd returned to the ship. Kate knew the other girl probably wanted to know how things went, and frankly Kate wasn't sure what her answer was or what it should have been.

Just as soon as the screen flickered on and her friend answered Kate waved somewhat weakly. "Hello." She managed to say, though her voice was somewhat quiet in the moment.

=/\="Hello Kate," Rebecca replied though she frowned almost immediately. "What's wrong?"=/\=

Kate shrugged, "Nothing really," She answered. "I'm just tired from going down to the planet because we did quite a bit of walking around Logan City." She added the last bit because that was a part of why she was so tired, but there was a lot more to it than that. "I don't really know how I feel about the two of them."

=/\=Again, Rebecca found herself concerned by the response. "What's wrong with them?"=/\=

Once again Kate didn't have an answer and as such simply shrugged a second time. "There's really nothing wrong with them, from what I've seen, they're really good friends. At least they seem like really good friends?" She looked away for a moment and thought about the implications of what she was telling her friend. "They're like..." She paused for a brief moment and looked back at Rebecca.

"I guess they're kind of like us. They're really close," Kate added, "And I'm afraid that if I'm friendly with either of them I may get caught in the middle or turn out to be just a third wheel. Besides, I at least have you."

=/\=Rebecca's expression turned from a frown and concern to a warm smile. "I don't think you'd be a third wheel, and I don't think you need to worry about that Kate." She told her friend, "Besides weren't you saying the other day that when you got to this new ship you hoped to make some friends too?"=/\=

"Yeah I guess," Kate answered. She wasn't sure what else to say to that besides playing the guessing game with her friend on the other side of the conversation. "I suppose I wasn't expecting to have two possible friends on board the ship, this isn't that big of a ship. Though, it's a bit larger than what the last ship was." She felt like she was talking in circles and it had became somewhat exhausting to her.

=/\=Rebecca maintained her warm smile, "I think you're making a lot out of nothing Kate." She was being honest with her friend which was her typical course of action. "I also think there's more to it than that."=/\=

Kate really considered what Rebecca was telling her, and it was true there was perhaps a lot more to it than that. Kate didn't trust them just yet, that part was quite common with her. She didn't trust Rebecca right away in any of their subspace classes. It had taken her a lot to open up to the other girl, and it took her a lot to open up with a lot of people including her parents.

Kate wasn't sure what caused that particular problem. She simply accepted that as part of her character, perhaps it was a flaw or it was a defensive strategy. She didn't have that answer, Kate was only twelve after all. "Okay, okay..." She felt slightly exposed to the other girl, "I don't really trust them. Not yet."

=/\=Rebecca's expression remained even as did her voice and tone. "That is what I expected you to say instead of all this about being a third wheel. They've known each other probably about as long as you've known the two of them I'll bet. They probably don't fully trust each other either." She then frowned as she prepared to tell her friend what she needed to talk about in the first place.

"There's something I needed to talk to you about, unrelated to your trip to Terra Nova. Which is why I wanted you to call me after the trip, and of course to tell me how it went." Rebecca told her, "I found out yesterday that the ship I'm on just received new orders. We're going into deep space."=/\=

Kate had been on a ship that was essentially a courier vessel, "Deep space assignment? What's that mean?" She asked, "I mean... I know what that means, but what do you mean?" She felt suddenly confused and hesitated in speaking further.

=/\="It means we're probably not going to get to talk very much over the next few months. I just didn't want you to feel like I was abandoning you if suddenly I stopped answering calls," Rebecca told her with a frown. "I'm sorry."=/\=

Kate understood, she was going to have to chart this course on her own. But, it seemed like Rebecca was having a difficult time with this and Kate wanted to be there for her friend. She smiled warmly, "Oh," She answered and gave a slight nod. "I understand now," She added. "You'll be out of contact range for a while."

=/\=Rebecca nodded, "Right."=/\=

Kate felt somewhat saddened by that development, but at the same time she knew her father would have told her they couldn't control this decision. Long distance relationships were hard, maybe that's why she had such a distrust of other people? Kate hardly had the answer for the question, "That's okay. As long as I know you're safe out there and we get to talk again after you come back into range it's okay."

=/\=Rebecca breathed a sigh of relief, she hadn't known what to expect as an answer to what she had just said. Rebecca was certainly thankful this was the response. "I'll call you in the morning before we get out of range, and I'll try and send messages whenever I get the chance."=/\=

Kate smiled warmly, "I'd like that." She said then looked at the chronometer. It was time for dinner, "I'll talk to you in the morning then, I'm going to get some food. I'm pretty hungry."

=/\="Okay Kate. Goodbye talk to you in the morning." Rebecca answered before closing the communication.=/\=

Kate's smile faded away to a frown after the screen had faded to black. It seemed like fate was trying to play a dirty trick on her or something. She sighed and hopped away from the desk where she was sitting. Kate would accept this hit, but she still didn't fully trust the other two girls. Nor did she want to be a third wheel to them either. She sighed uncertain as to what she should do.

 

RSS Feed