Strangers In The Night

Posted on Sun Oct 13th, 2019 @ 3:17am by Lieutenant Commander William Gunnison & Cole Gunnison

It was late in the evening. Will sat in the living area of his quarters, glancing over some of the initial reports coming in from the systems diagnostics that he wanted to check on before calling it a night. So far, not much seemed to be out of the ordinary. A few minor system glitches that had come up that he'd have a couple of the newer Ops department members work on in the morning, along with a couple of hardware issues that he'd pass on to engineering that might warrant taking a closer look at.

He put down the padd he'd been reading from and stretched. He was about to pick up the padd when he heard a terrified cry from Cole's bedroom. Will jumped up and headed in to Cole's bedroom to find Cole sitting up in bed, tangled in the bed sheets. Cole's eyes were wide open, and he was breathing hard.

"Computer, lights, half," Will said as he immediately moved over to the bed and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Hey, buddy," he said. "It's all right. I'm right here."

Cole's eyes darted around the room for a few moments. "Did you see them?" he asked after a few moments, his voice quivering.

"Who?" Will asked.

"There were...I don't know what to call them," Cole said. "They were kind of in the shape of people, but they looked...blurry, and kinda transparent. They were right here, standing over me. It looked like they were about to poke me with something."

"No, I didn't see anyone other than you, Cole," Will said. "It was just a bad dream."

"But...I don't think I was quite asleep when I saw them," Cole said. "And they seemed so...real."

"I know your mom always warned you about eating just before going to bed," Will said, "and I think you may have enjoyed a little too much of the ice cream Ashe Zachariah picked up on Meria." Part of the supplies that had been picked up while the ship had been in orbit had been some of authentic non-replicated ice cream, reportedly largely for the younger denizens of the ship, but also for any of the older members of the crew with a sweet tooth who had the occasional craving for the real thing.

"How did you know about the ice cream?" Cole asked quietly.

"Ashe dropped me a note," Will said, "though I might have figured it out on my own. Everyone has to log in supplies they bring on board with the ship's quartermaster, who just happens to report to me, and who has to keep me updated accordingly."

"Oh."

"Like I said, what happened was just a dream," Will said.

"I guess," Cole said hesitantly. "But the funny thing is that they seemed...almost surprised or startled that I saw them. Then they disappeared immediately after."

"Odd, but if the kinds of dreams I've had in my life are any indication," Will said, "seemingly weird stuff happening in a dream would be pretty par for the course. Now, go back to sleep."

"If I can. It might have been a dream, but it was still freaky."

"Try reading for a little while, or listen to some soothing music," Will said. "But don't stay up too long."

"All right. Good night, Dad. Sorry for bothering you."

"Cole, you'll never be a bother to me. Good night."