Lost and Found... Hopefully Part 1

Posted on Fri Apr 11th, 2025 @ 2:14am by Civilian Alexandra Winters & Civillian Liora Taran & Civilian Tristan Logan & Civilian Brunel Winters & Civilian Meressa Keena

1,401 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Side Plots
Location: Astrea
Timeline: That one weekend, 1430 hours

The hum of the USS Astrea’s engines thrummed beneath Liora’s feet as she stood in the middle of Deck 7’s playground, arms stretched wide in excitement. Her golden curls bounced as she practically vibrated with energy, her sky-blue eyes sweeping over the small gathering of kids she had rounded up.

"Okay, listen up!" she declared, her voice brimming with authority beyond her eight years. "This isn’t just any hide-and-seek. This is Astrea-class hide-and-seek! That means no easy hiding spots, no backing out, and absolutely no telling the grown-ups if you get lost."

A few of the kids giggled, while others exchanged glances—some excited, some slightly nervous.

Liora grinned, undeterred. "We’ll stick to decks six through eight. No turbolifts—unless you're super sneaky about it. No crew quarters. And no hiding on the Battle Bridge," Liora added with a dramatic eye-roll. "Because last time, someone—" she shot a look at Jax, the Orion troublemaker of the group, "almost triggered a red alert when they ‘accidentally’ pressed buttons they definitely weren’t supposed to touch."

Jax grinned unapologetically. "How was I supposed to know it would start tactical readiness protocols?"

Sarai crossed her arms. "Because it was labeled 'Tactical Readiness Protocol'?"

Liora clapped her hands, cutting off the argument. "Anyway! No battle bridge. I don’t want to explain to the captain why we’re all suddenly fugitives from Starfleet."

"Who’s ‘it’ first?" piped up Sarai, a dark-haired Vulcan-Human hybrid, her brow raised with an air of challenge.

Liora clapped her hands together. "We’ll do it the fair way—everyone pick a number between one and fifty, and I’ll think of one in my head!"

This, of course, was not a fair way at all, since Liora always picked twenty-five—but no one seemed to mind.

As the kids eagerly started shouting numbers, Liora rocked on her heels, heart pounding with excitement. This was going to be the best game of hide-and-seek the Astrea had ever seen.

And, if she had her way, absolutely no one was getting found without a challenge.

Keena grinned as she closed her hand around the mini tool kit in her pocket. Her papa gave it to her so she could help him work on the Holana. She had a ration bar in her other pocket, nobody would find her.

Tristan didn't know a single other person on the playground but he'd be roped into playing a game of hide and seek. He was normally confident around people but he was with new kids and didn't know them yet. "23!" he called out. He'd spent all bar one year of his life on a ship and was familiar with layouts, so he knew a good hiding spot.

"25,” a young Bajoran boy called out. 

Keena shook her head she knew Liora's trick. She was a little puzzled because she figured Elig would know as well. Elig was one of the only kids her age at temple so they were becoming friends.

Liora beamed as soon as Elig called out, barely holding back a triumphant laugh. "Elig, you got it!" she announced, pointing at him with a dramatic flourish. "That makes you it! Count to 63 and a half!" she commanded.

Elig groaned, but a grin tugged at his lips. "I knew you always pick twenty-five," he muttered, shaking his head as the other kids giggled.

Liora wasted no time. She spun on her heel and threw her arms up. "Alright, scatter!"

The playground exploded into motion as kids bolted in every direction, sneakers thudding against the deck plating. Liora shot Sarai a mischievous look before dashing off herself. Let the game begin.

ꐕBrunel and Alexandraꐕ

As soon as the group scattered, Brunel followed his sister, as the pair ran for the nearest door leading into the corridor. Once they were out of earshot, he deactivated his amulet translator, so he could communicate with her silently. While they were both still creating their own private sign language, they had enough so far to communicate with each other. "Where?" he asked her.

"Follow me to Deck 6," Alex whispered. She wasn't comfortable hanging around Deck 8 for very long, there really wasn't anything for kids down there, and while they might not get found, that wasn't the fun of it.

Nodding in agreement, Brunel did as his sister suggested, and the siblings hurried up two decks. Once there, they made their way to the Arboretum, finding a hiding places among the branches and leaves in the tall oak tree that was in the center of the compartment.

ꐕKeenaꐕ

Keena ran with the other children until she got out of the playground, then she began to walk casually, taking long deep breaths and watching her surroundings the way her Papa taught her. ‘We don’t run unless we’re being chased; we don’t want others to think we are up to trouble.’ Keena smiled at the memory, she didn’t know why people thought her Papa was trouble… Keena shrugged it. She knew where she wanted to hide, she just had to find a way to get there. The tall little girl walked into the Coffee Hound with an air of confidence. The room was fairly busy, and only a few grownups seemed to notice her.

“What can I do for you, Keena?” The woman behind the counter asked.

“I just need the little girl's room,” Keena said, bouncing on her heels as if she had a full bladder.

“Well, you know where it is.” The woman said before returning to make drinks.

Keena went into the facility room and ran into the last stall, then found an access panel on the wall. She used the tool kit to open the panel and revealed the small vent that would lead to a Jeffries tube. Keena crawled inside and pulled the panel closed. It was a little loose, but most people wouldn't notice.

Keena emerged from the Jeffries tube looking and closed the hatch,She'd been taught to hide from a young age. On a Quath’Mar ship it could be a matter of life or death if intruders boarded the vessel. The little girl moved down the hallway to the entrance to the emergency lifeboats. She knew there was a security system meant to keep kids out. but she had an idea. Bella had worked with the maintenance team on the boats last week and saw the code she’d entered when she’d brought her coffee. She paused for a moment, then entered a code into the console… the door hissed open, and she entered. She didn’t want to risk going into any of the boats, so she opened an access panel and squeezed inside. She was able to put the panel back.

ꐕJaxꐕ

Jax wasn’t about to make the same mistake as last time—no more pressing buttons that could get them all in trouble. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to pick the most daring, ridiculous hiding spot he could think of.

As the others scattered, he bolted toward Deck 7’s Astrea Café, dodging around tables and weaving through clusters of chatting people. If he acted like he belonged, no one would question him.

He spotted his target near the counter—a supply cart stacked high with crates of dirty dishes and drink syrups, waiting to be moved out of the way. With a quick glance around, Jax ducked behind it and wriggled into the narrow space on the bottom shelf of the cart, squeezing himself flat. It wasn’t the most comfortable spot, but it had just enough cover to keep him out of sight unless someone looked closely.

He grinned to himself. No way was he getting found first.

Except… as the minutes ticked by, he started to realize a problem. The café staff was still working, moving supplies around. And then—uh oh—one of them grabbed the cart.

Before Jax could react, it started moving.

His stomach dropped as he clutched the leg braces, barely stopping himself from yelping. The worker pushed the cart straight into the kitchen storage area, parking it right against a wall.

Now Jax was stuck.

He groaned silently. This was either the best hiding spot ever… or the worst.

And judging by the way his legs were already cramping, it was leaning toward the worst.

~tbc~

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