The new Wormholer Class starship slowly entered the interstellar port. The Odyssey’s well-known Captain expertly barked out commands as the ship twisted and turned inside narrow docking canals. Port personnel whispered, “the Odyssey is here,” and stopped to watch it glide by.

The Captain ordered, “All systems stop,” as the ship nestled into its resting spot. Deck lights flickered and the constant background hum decreased in volume slightly as the crew went to work securing the ship.

The Captain was upset about diverting from his mission to get a disruptive crew member off his ship. The next opportunity to do so would be in a year. The crew member kept breaking starship Life Rules.

“How the hell did he get on my ship,” asked the Captain over and over to himself. In the Arork wars he would have addressed this situation in a way that would not have required a port stop. The Captain always enforced the Life Rules one way or the other.

Luckily, there was a talented replacement candidate at this port. He quickly interviewed the candidate, actually, he grilled the candidate for hours.  At the end of the grueling interview the Captain noticed the replacement officer had a distracted look. She was not disrespectful but seemed to have something else on her mind.

“Officer Jenkins,” said the Captain, “are you bored?”

“No sir,” answered Jenkins. 

“Good,” said the Captain, “Then STAY ALERT, our lives depend on it, are we clear?”

“Yes sir,” replied Second Offer Jenkins. Her thoughts had drifted to something she needed to do soon.

The Captain was satisfied and welcomed her aboard. Then he excused himself to take care of some business.

Later, while walking in the port, Officer Jenkins happened to observe the Captain buying sweets. She was curious and followed him back to the Odyssey. She noticed he hid the sweets as he approached three alien children.

“Like clockwork, every night he does this” said a crew member to Officer Jenkins. “Those are his adapted children,” said another. “He is a tough bastard,” said the first crew member. “But, he has a hidden gentle side,” said the second. “Watch,” said the first.

The alien children cooed excitedly and ran to him when they saw him. He bent down and tickled them. The aliens lovingly hugged his leg and tugged as he smiled and gave out the sweets.

Officer Jenkins smiled with the other crew members. “Chase us daddy,” they squealed. The usually gruff Captain growled and the chase was on. Laughter filled the hallways. Laughter she had seldom heard in her own childhood. Jenkins had a lot to think about as she walked away.  

The ship soon resumed its mission and everyone fell into their routines. The Captain noticed Jenkins performed her tasks very well. He also noticed she liked playing with his three alien children and saw her with them often in the life-center.

Finally, one morning, Officer Jenkins stepped into the Captain’s office.

“Is everything satisfactory?” asked the Captain.

“Yes sir, it is,” replied Jenkins.

“How can I help you?” asked the Captain.

Officer Jenkins paused. She had difficulty speaking. The Captain saw she was under great stress and asked her to sit. Based on experience he expected her to confess that she had failed miserably because she had not followed exactly a minor procedure.

“What is it?” asked the Captain. Officer Jenkins lowered her head into her hands and tears flowed.

She whispered, “I failed you and the ship.” 

The Captain knew she would say that. The Captain asked, “What happened?” He had heard it all before. He figured she was ready now to confess whatever silly thing she did.

She blurted out, “I am pregnant.”

The Captain fell back in his chair. He did not expect her to say this. It was OK for married crew members to get pregnant and have a baby on a starship. But, it was not acceptable for an unmarried crew member to get pregnant.

“Officer Jenkins, your papers indicate you are single. How could this be?”

Immediately he felt like an idiot. He thought to himself, ‘How could it be? Is that what you just asked her? You idiot. Of course, you know how it could be. She obviously knows how it could be.’

She didn’t mind the question, “I met a USS officer when we docked at TiK-4.”

The Captain interrupted, “I know that outpost well, it’s a hell hole.”

The Captain knew from experience that remote outposts could be completely lawless. They harbored the castoffs of the universe, and TiK-4 was one of the worse. He should know as he had grown up there.

He was surprised to hear two USS ships were there at the same time. Something special was going on. If so, they would have brought along their specially trained persuader teams.

“Please continue,” he said. 

“He was talkative. I did not like him. I wanted to leave, but I couldn’t. Then I blanked out. I don’t remember anything. Now, …. here I am talking to you. I take full responsibility for my actions.”

The Captain was quiet. This was not good. A century of space travel had led to conservative Life Rules on starships. Marriage was an institutional necessity to keep order among mixed-sex crew members confined to live most of their lives inside essentially a large city block surrounded by walls hurtling through space. Having a baby out of wedlock challenged these rules and might cause crew problems which could not be allowed to happen on a ship deep in space.

“What is the officer’s name?” asked the Captain.

“I don’t know, the name he gave me was not on his ship’s crew list,” she said.

The Captain was not surprised to hear that. He knew that not all was what it seemed to be at these outposts. A lot of cloak and dagger activities occurred out of sight of the established space community. This ‘officer’ she met sounded like an alien persuader brought in for secret negotiations.

As a boy, he had watched them practice their skills by seducing USS officers, men or women. Jenkins would be a tough nut to crack, she was probably targeted by one of their best. Not surprisingly, many persuaders went on to assume high political positions in the star systems. Some people said they actually ran the star systems.  

“Do you want to expel the baby?” he asked.

She teared up, “I was going to at first, but, after coming on board, I just couldn't.”

“You can still do it, only you and I would know,” said the Captain. “If you don’t, your career will be finished.” What a terrible choice thought the Captain.

“I will not expel this baby,” she said firmly. “I will not take its life for what happened to me.”

The Captain admired her for her convictions. He did not believe she had full control over her actions at the outpost but would not tell her that until he had done more investigating.

“Then you will need to depart at the next transit port,” he said.

“I know,” she replied.

Time went by quickly and soon the baby was born. It was a beautiful baby boy. The three alien children absolutely loved the baby and hovered around him constantly, purring and softly chirp talking. They seemed to be able to communicate with the baby.

The Captain loved watching the aliens, the baby and Officer Jenkins play together. The alien’s spacecat liked to drag its long blue hair along the baby’s face to make it smile and everyone laughed. The Captain slowly let his guard down and awkwardly at first joined in the play. The crew noticed a change in the Captain and they liked it.

The sad day finally came when the Odyssey arrived at the next transit port. It was time for Officer Jenkins and her baby to depart. The Captain had been dreading this day more and more as they approached the port. But, as Captain, he had to ensure the USS Life Rules were followed. There was no alternative or exceptions allowed.

When they were ready to leave, the Captain spoke to Officer Jenkins for the last time, “Officer Jenkins I only know of one other woman who made the same choice you did.”

Jenkins was surprised to hear that.

“She was slated to be a Captain, but, she chose to give up that dream. She gave birth to her baby boy at a remote outpost. They called him the ‘Bastard of Tik-4’.”

“How sad,” said Jenkins, “What happened to them?”

“They suffered shame, struggled to survive, but, she was determined that her baby was going to be successful.”

“She sacrificed a lot,” said Jenkins.

“Yes, just like you,” said the Captain.

“What happened next?” asked Jenkins.

“Well, that bastard baby grew up tough and excelled at everything he did. Finally, he got himself assigned to Federal gun ships, fought bravely in the Arork wars, received numerous war promotions, then eventually became an officer on USS warships.”

“That is incredible,” said Jenkins, “I want that for my baby. I would love to meet that man.”

The Captain stared at her and didn’t say anything, a tear rolled out of his eye.

She gazed upward at him. “What’s wrong?” she asked. Then she realized it, “Was that baby you?”

The Captain nodded, “Yes, ‘The Bastard of Tik-4’, in person.” He bowed and smiled slightly.

She continued to stare at him, slowly taking in this surprising new information. She wondered if that was why he had been so kind to her. In her heart, she did not let herself hope there was another reason.

The Captain said, “I have often been called a mean old bastard and a son of a bitch. It never bothered me because I knew they were just speaking the absolute truth.” He laughed.

Officer Jenkins smiled. “What happened to your mother?” she asked.

“She died a very happy old woman,” he said.

She stared at him. Then she hugged him. She stepped backed and apologized for hugging him. Then she thanked him and said she would never forget him.  The Captain sadly knew he would never see her again and said the same. She sharply stood at attention, clicked her heels together, and saluted, the Captain did the same.

She walked towards the transporter gateway and then stopped and held the baby up for him to see one more time, she had tears in her eyes, the baby smiled. The Captain had tears in his eyes as he raised his hand. The Captain’s heart was breaking.

She turned and walked to the gateway and got in line to depart off the ship. Other crew members were there helping. A low hum background noise was interrupted by a short loud swoosh sound as people exited through the gateway. The line was moving quickly, Officer Jenkins turn was next.

The Captain's hand clinched the rail tightly as he remained at attention watching. He had bravely fought many battles in the Arorks, but, he was more scared now than ever in his life.

His lower lip quivered. Then suddenly he took a deep breath and briskly walked forward a few steps, stopped, and hollered out loud, "STOP."

He took a breath, "Officer Jenkins, stop."

All movement in the transporter gateway came to a sudden halt as puzzled crew personnel turned to look at the Captain and back at Officer Jenkins with her baby. She stopped without looking back at him and lowered her head and waited.

Then, in a much softer and kinder voice he asked, “Officer Jenkins,” he paused for a moment, “Will you marry me?”

Silence filled the dock. She stood perfectly still, everyone was watching, then slowly she turned and looked at him.  She stood there, so alone, trembling, tears in her eyes, then in a soft gentle voice she slowly gave her answer.

No one knew at that time that her answer would one day impact galaxies.

You are sorry, i have heard it before, n before n before.  Say it again.  Go ahead.  Ya, say it.  I dare you, so many times, it doesn't mean anything to me anymore, words, empty words.  Who do you think you are.  'I am sorry', 'I won't do it again', then you do it again, and again, and again.  I think you believe it for a moment, just a moment, but the moment is quickly gone, then you do it again, you hurt, and just say it again, 'I am sorry', so poof, its ok, its all OK?.  Ya, ya, i hear you, it don't matter to me anymore.  I am numb to you, you are done to me, you are gone from me.  You have hurt me enough, too much, too long, so much, that i chose to be free.  So go on, go away, go away muttering, 'I am sorry'.  Empty words, do you hear me, EMPTY WORDS, that is all it is, you are empty, hollow, a fake, a liar.  Leave me alone.  No more sorrow.  I will be free, I am free.  I am going away.  You go away.  Go away.  

What?  What did you say?  Do you mean it this time?  Will it truly be different? Can i believe you? I can.  Oh thank goodness, i almost walked away.  Yes, of course, i forgive you.  No, no, don't be sorry, not you, its me that needs to be sorry, i was wrong, it wasn't you, not you. Oh it will be so perfect this time.  

The mothership occasionally stopped at interstellar transit ports. These calls usually lasted several days.  During a break, the Yardmaster would rush ashore to bring back gifts for his three orphan aliens. Standing at the transporter dock, the orphan aliens waited anxiously for his return and chirped in excitement when they received their trinket gifts.

The ports were typically well run by the local aliens and followed Universal standards. Uniformed crew members transitioned on and off the Universal ships for routine job rotations and hard to get promotions. Some of the transit crew members were hopping ships to recycle back to the earth-moon base.

The Yardmaster looked over his five new replacements. They had been trained since they were children for these highly-specialized positions. Early childhood tests determined their life destiny. Every crew member on the mothership was fulfilling their destiny, and were very happy doing so.

Only occasionally did it not work out. The disgruntled or underperforming crew member was recycled back to the earth-moon base or if they wanted were left to live out their lives at a transit port or on a planet site. Regardless, they typically never found peace until they died because of their lifelong training expectations to serve solely on a Universal ship.

The Yardmaster noticed a slight distracted look in the new 2nd Engineer officer. She was not disrespectful but seemed to have other things on her mind. “Officer Jenkins,” said the Yardmaster, “are you bored with my little introduction?”

“Oh, no sir,” snapped back Jenkins. “I am honored to be here with you and to be on such a well-known ship, sir. I will NOT let you down.”

“Good,” replied the Yardmaster who then continued his orientation talk after which the Captain came in for a few words. The Yardmaster took the new crew to their assigned life-rooms and they began their new work routines.

The new replacements fitted in and functioned as expected. The Yardmaster noticed Officer Jenkins performed her tasks at an exceptional level. He could see why Universal was grooming her to be a Captain someday. He noticed she liked his three alien orphans and saw her playing with them in her spare time in the life center.

The mothership continued on its journey with no mishaps. Finally, one morning, Officer Jenkins asked for some of the Yardmasters time. They stepped into this office. “Is everything satisfactory on the ship, Officer Jenkins?” asked the Yardmaster, “You are doing an exemplary job.”

“Thank you, sir, everything is fine, the crew is outstanding and you have been most helpful to me,” replied Jenkins.

“How can I help you then?” asked the Yardmaster.

Officer Jenkins paused. She had difficulty speaking. The Yardmaster could see she was under great stress and asked her to sit. Based on experience he expected her to blurt out that as an officer she had failed miserably and wanted forgiveness because she had done some small silly thing that was not per exact procedure. The academy needs to tune down their overachieving graduates he thought. “Please, its OK, what is it?” asked the Yardmaster warmly.

Officer Jenkins lowered her head into her hands and tears flowed. She whispered, “I…., I have failed miserably in my responsibilities,” she said. The Yardmaster knew she would say that. “I need your forgiveness because I failed the Captain and the whole ship,” she continued. The Yardmaster knew she would say that also. The Yardmaster gently said, “It’s alright whatever it is.” He had heard it all before. OK, she is now ready to tell me whatever silly thing she did.

She blurted out, “I am pregnant,”

The Yardmaster fell back in his chair. Of all the things the Yardmaster expected her to say, he did not expect her to say this. It was OK for married crew members to get pregnant and have babies on Universal ships. But, it just was not acceptable per Universal life rules for an unmarried Universal crew member to get pregnant during a ship tour, therefore it just did not happen.

“Officer Jenkins, your transfer papers indicate you are single, how could this be?”

Immediately he felt like an idiot. How could it be? Is that what you just asked her? You idiot. Of course, you know how it could be. She obviously knows how it could be.

She didn’t seem to mind the question, it even seemed like she wanted to talk about it. She answered, “I met a Universal officer from another ship at the remote outpost in TK-4.”

The Yardmaster interrupted, “I know that outpost well, it’s a real hell hole. You are lucky you got out of their alive.”

The Yardmaster knew from experience that an outpost could be a dangerous place, but, a remote outpost could be completely lawless, and remote outpost TK-4 was one of the worse of them all. These remote outposts were home to the filth of the universe: shadow people, outlaws, mercenaries, alien vagabonds, humanoids, and even some synthetics. He should know as he had grown up on one. He was surprised to hear two Universal ships were there at the same time, that was very rare. Something special was going on. If so, they would have brought in their specially trained seeker teams.

He snapped back from his thoughts. “Please continue,” he said.

“He was very dynamic. But he was not my type. As we talked into the evening I just could not leave, and surprisingly I began losing all my inhibitions. That has never happened to me before. I wanted to leave, but I couldn’t. It was so strange. I don’t remember much else. Now, …. here I am talking to you. I take full responsibility for my actions.”

“Why didn’t you and this officer get married?” asked the Yardmaster.

“Even if I could, I wouldn’t, I don’t love him, he is not even my type,” said Jenkins.

The Yardmaster was quiet. This was not good for Officer Jenkins. A century of space travel had led to conservative life rules for Universal ships. Marriage was an institutional necessity to keep order amongst mixed sex crew confined to live most of their lives together inside essentially a large city block surrounded by walls hurtling through space. Having a baby out of wedlock and out of marriage could very easily knock the whole system out of whack, which could not be allowed to happen on a ship deep in space.

“Officer Jenkins, what is this officer’s name?” asked the Yardmaster.

“I don’t know, that’s just it, when I checked, the name he gave me was not on the other ship’s crew list,” she said.

The Yardmaster was not surprised to hear that. He knew that not all was what it seemed to be at these remote outposts. This is where a lot of cloak and dagger activities went on out of sight of the established space community. This ‘officer’ she met sounded like a high-level persuader brought in for secret negotiations. As a boy, he had watched them practice their skills of persuasion by seducing Universal officers, men or women. Jenkins would be a tough nut to crack, she was probably targeted by one of their best. This officer probably wasn’t even Universal but a mercenary. He would have to do some digging around later.

The Yardmaster knew she had already made a very important life decision just because they were now sitting here talking about this situation. “Do you want to expel the baby?” he asked, suspecting the answer based on the fact she had not already done so.

She teared up, “At first I was going to, but, I keep thinking about it, and I just could not do it.”

“You can still do it, only you and I would know,” said the Yardmaster. “If you don’t, your career will be finished on a Universal ship.” What a terrible choice thought the Yardmaster. Her whole life has been dedicated to serve on a Universal ship.

There was still an easy way out of this dilemma. A simple pill, a sick day in her life-room and then she would be back at the controls and no one would ever know. The Yardmaster knew the ‘easy’ option was always chosen in this situation, but, was never openly discussed with commanders like they were doing now. He only knew of one unmarried woman who had a baby who was quickly recycled back to the earth-moon base.

The Yardmaster could see her distress. He spoke gently, “Listen Officer Jenkins. Actions have consequences. That’s a basic Universal tenet. In this case this action, for whatever the reason, has lives consequences, not just a life, but lives, do you understand?”

She looked at him intently. “Yes sir,” she said, “If I only thought of my career, then I would quickly choose to expel.” She wiped a tear from her face. She continued, “But, it will also affect the life of my unborn baby.”

“Yes,” said the Yardmaster. “And not just your baby’s life, your decision will have a rippling effect on many future lives too, on people who will someday come to know your baby, or if you expel, on who will not get to know and be impacted by your baby.”

“Yes, you are correct,” nodded Jenkins.

“If you expel, you will someday be a Captain, but, you will always wonder what your baby would have done with its life for the rest of your life.” The Yardmaster leaned forward, “But, if you keep the baby, he will have its own life, and you will forever be part of it, but, you will lose your life’s goal. Both decisions have a great consequence to you.”

She slowly answered, “Yes, and great consequences to my baby, and to many others.”

She had been trained to assess problems, look at the action options and their consequences, then to decide, act, and to not look back but to go on to the next challenge. The Yardmaster could see she had selected her action option.

“I will not expel this baby,” she said firmly. “I will not take its life for what happened to me.”

The Yardmaster admired her for her convictions. He did not believe she had full control over her actions at the remote outpost but would not tell her that unless he was sure of it. Now she was left to carry this heavy package, all alone. He knew she was going to have difficult times ahead. He also believed she would be a wonderful mother and would somehow overcome and make a good life for her and her baby. He also sensed there was something special about this baby.

Time went by quickly and soon the baby was born on the mothership. It was a beautiful boy. Most of the crew accepted the baby. The three orphaned aliens absolutely loved the baby and hovered around him constantly, purring and softly chirping. The child aliens and their spacecat even seemed able to communicate with the baby. The Yardmaster loved watching the child aliens, Officer Jenkins and the baby played together with the spacecat brushing up against their legs. The spacecat liked to drag its long blue hair along the baby’s face to make the baby smile, then they all would laugh. The Yardmaster sometimes let his guard down and joined them in the fun.

Some of the crew did not take so kindly to Officer Jenkins and her baby. Most were quiet with their thoughts. Some looked at her in disdain and whispered ‘bastard baby’ when they walked by. After all, she had broken strict rules they all had to live by. She would have suffered worse treatment but the crew realized she had the protection of the Yardmaster.

The sad day finally came when the mothership arrived at the next transit port. It was time for Officer Jenkins and her baby to depart. The Yardmaster had inwardly been dreading this day more and more as they approached the transit port.

When they were ready to leave, the Yardmaster spoke to Officer Jenkins for the last time, “Officer Jenkins I only know of one other mother who made the same choice you did.”

Jenkins was surprised to hear that. She thought she was the first.

“She was slated to be a Captain, but, she chose to give that dream up. She gave birth to her baby at a remote outpost. They called the baby a bastard. The ‘Bastard Baby of Post 71’.”

“That’s terrible,” said Jenkins, “What happened to them?”

“They eventually recycled back to the earth-moon base. They suffered shame, struggled to survive, but, she was determined that her baby was going to be successful.”

“She sacrificed a lot,” said Jenkins.

“Yes, just like you,” said the Yardmaster.

“What happened next?” asked Jenkins.

“Well, would you believe it, that bastard baby grew up and excelled at everything he did. Finally, he got himself assigned to Federal gun ships, fought bravely in the Arora wars, received numerous war promotions, then eventually became an officer on a traveler ship.”

“That is incredible,” said Jenkins, “I want that for my baby. I would love to have met that man.”

The Yardmaster stared at her and didn’t say anything, a tear rolled out of his eye.

She gazed upward at him.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. Then she realized it, “Was that baby you?”

The Yardmaster nodded, “Yes, ‘The Bastard of Post 71’, in person.” He bowed and smiled slightly.

She continued to stare at him, slowly taking in this surprising new information. She wondered if that was why he had been so kind to her. In her heart, she did not let her herself hope there was another reason.

The Yardmaster said, “I have often been called a mean old bastard and a son of a bitch. It never bothered me because I knew they were just speaking the absolute truth.” He laughed.

Officer Jenkins smiled. “What happened to your mother?” she asked.

“She died a very happy old woman who knew she made the right decision many years ago,” he said.

She stared at him. Then she hugged him. She stepped backed and apologized for hugging him. Then she thanked him and said she would never forget him. The Yardmaster sadly knew he would never see them again and said the same. She sharply stood at attention, clicked her heels together, and saluted, the Yardmaster did the same.

She walked towards the transporter dock and then stopped and held the baby up for him to see one more time, she had tears in her eyes, the baby gurgled and smiled. The Yardmaster had tears in his eyes as he raised his hand. The Yardmaster’s heart was breaking. She turned and walked to the dock and got in line to depart off the ship. Other crew members were there helping.  In the background a low hum was interrupted by a short loud swoosh sound as people exited through the dock. The line was moving quickly, Officer Jenkins turn was next. 

The Yardmaster's hand clinched the rail tightly as he remained at attention watching. He had bravely fought many battles in the Aroras, but, he was more scared now than ever in his life. His lower lip quivered. Then suddenly he took a deep breath and briskly walked forward a few steps, stopped, and hollered out loud, "STOP, Officer Jenkins, stop."

All movement in the transporter dock came to a sudden halt as the puzzled crew personnel turned to look at the Yardmaster and back at Officer Jenkins with her baby. She stopped without looking back at him and lowered her head and waited. Then, in a much softer and kinder voice he asked, “Officer Jenkins, will you marry me.”

Silence filled the dock. She stood perfectly still, everyone was watching, then slowly she turned and looked at him, she stood there so alone, then in a soft gentle voice she slowly gave her answer.  Her answer of yes or no would one day impact galaxies.

This story continues in the next Deck Log Report.

Reader, thank you for reading. If you want to know how the orphan aliens and the spacecat got on the mothership, then please read the other Deck Log Reports in my profile.  Thank you, DW

The docking alarm suddenly went off. The aliens were in the process of boarding the mother ship when it happened. Three of the smaller aliens had already passed safely through the airlock. The Captain yelled to abort the transfer and get the aliens back in their shuttle. The airlock had seriously malfunctioned.

The Yardmaster gladly yelled out, “Prepare for emergency separation.” Just minutes earlier he had cursed the captain for stopping to pick up these migrant aliens. The alien’s old shuttle had been barely limping along inside the transit route.

“Damn it Captain, we can’t pick up every alien in this quadrant, these vagabonds are everywhere, they are not our problem.”

“Easy Yardmaster,” replied the captain. “We can‘t just let them perish.”

“Captain, the bastards have blue skin and stink like sulfur, they are not like us, just cut them loose, or they will rip our guts out first chance they get.” He had heard about these aliens before.

The Yardmaster stared through the glass at five gentle creatures looking back at him. They looked starved and defenseless. The creatures seemed to understand the cause of the alarm and the predicament they were all in. They seemed relieved that at least three of them will survive. They made a soft purring sound that could be heard through the window.

“Yardmaster, provide visual systems protocol while I activate the separation process,” the Captain barked out.

“Gladly Captain,” spoke the Yardmaster as he continued to look through the glass. He had never seen this alien species before. He was curious.

He saw them look at each other while purring. One was holding a baby and gently passed it to the larger creature. It then walked to the glass and looked closely at the Yardmaster then looked beyond to the three smaller aliens behind him. The three smaller aliens moved forward with uplifted arms and purred in a soft manner. The Yardmaster realized this must be a family and was surprised at their affection towards each other.

A creature in the back now stepped to the front and knelt down before the Yardmaster. It held out a yellow glowing object and gestured from it to the Yardmaster then to the three aliens. It then set the object on the floor and stepped back bowing its head.

“Captain, they have about a pound of yellow terrarmite and I think they want me to have it to save the other three aliens.”

The Captain yelled back, “That’s a fortune, but, they can’t give it away, they will need it to power the life support systems in their ship, without it they will all be dead in a minute.”

“What trick are these bastards up to,” whispered the Yardmaster.

Without being told the aliens shuffled away from the window towards their shuttle. Two seemed to move extra slowly and had wrinkly skin. The other ones gently put their long arms around them and helped them walk. They then stopped and looked back one last time at the three aliens inside the mother ship. The aliens in the airlock had blue liquid drops coming from their ears rolling down on their long necks. “I think they are crying,” the Yardmaster said.

He looked back at the three aliens and saw liquid drops rolling from their ears also. “Oh man, these little ones are crying too,” said the Yardmaster.

The Yardmaster watched intently. Something inside him stirred. He faintly remembered playing with aliens as a lonely child so very long ago. He wondered if he had misjudged these aliens and had rejected them solely on idiotic rumors.

No one had ever told him that they had families and could show affection towards one another. He could see they weren’t the devouring beast monster with fangs and claws he had always heard about, stories probably made up by people like himself who had never met one before.

He stared through the glass.

The Captain yelled, “Begin process function one.”

They will be dead in a few minutes thought the Yardmaster.

The Captain yelled again, “We gotta do this now, or, we will lose the airlock permanently.”

The baby looked directly at the Yardmaster with large blue toned eyes, it lifted one of its hands towards him. “Oh, God don’t do that,” said the Yardmaster.

The Captain screamed, “Yardmaster get moving.”

The Yardmaster paused, then began a flurry of action. “I have an idea,” he screamed.

“It’s too late,” said the Captain.

“No, give me a minute,” pleaded the Yardmaster. The three small aliens held hands.

The Yardmaster opened the side panels around the lock and began a calibration sequence. The five aliens recognized he was trying to help but knew they needed to leave quickly to save the mother ship. They continued moving back into their shuttle while looking back.

The Captain was in a panic.

The Yardmaster screamed, “Stop the sequence, Stop, STOP, I fixed…..” At that moment, there was a large whish and the ship shuddered. The Yardmaster quickly looked through the window. The back of the air lock was open and he could see the shuttle drifting away.

He saw through the shuttle window one of the aliens looking at him. It had its arm outstretched toward him. Then the shuttle drifted downward toward the planet with no power to stop itself.

The Yardmaster sat down and lowered his head. Why didn’t he move sooner? Why had he wasted time being so critical of the aliens? He could have fixed the airlock with just a few more seconds. Then he felt a soft touch on his shoulder and looked up, the three small alien creatures gazed at him and moved closer to him to comfort him. He lowered his head and cried.

A few moments later a small explosion was recorded near the mother ship. The three child aliens looked at each, somehow they knew their family was gone. The Yardmaster did not realize until decades later that these aliens were of royal lineage and at one time had great influence in their star system, but, that is a story for another time. 

Reader, thank you for reading this story. If you would like to know how the orphaned aliens later reacted to the spacecat and the bastard baby while on the mothership than please read the other Deck Logs found in my profile. Thank you, DW

A few weeks ago

we walked amongst

grey gravestones

in the town cemetery.

You spoke aloud

the names in stone

those at rest

in the quiet cemetery.

Old friends and lovers

people you knew

waiting for you

in the friendly cemetery.

Tell me now

are they with you

all your friends

from the empty cemetery?

Are you happy now

lonely anymore

healthy again

gone from the cemetery?

Now I walk

amongst the grey stones

I see your name

in the cemetery.

A name I knew

a person I loved

I am not alone

walking in the cemetery.

I walk quietly

tell me now

of the times we had

outside of the cemetery.

The Yardmaster could see the three orphaned aliens were very sad. They were allowed to stay together in the same life-room next to the Yardmaster’s on the upper deck of the mothership. They greatly missed their recently deceased alien family. That is why at the last stop at the transit port the Yardmaster bought a gift, a very rare and expensive gift, a highly illegal gift, he bought a spacecat to bring back on board and give to the orphans.

He kept the spacecat hidden until the mothership had left port. These spacecats were not quite like the cats you often remembered on earth so long ago. They had no reproductive systems, were gender neutral and were bio-genetically ‘birthed’ in Bio labs and were designed to live on long life traveler ships. The original genetic base sequence code was usually the old Himalayan cat breed.

This breed was selected because of their beauty, their long soft hair which was a pleasure to stroke when they sat on your lap and their desire to purr. They also had low energy and a desire to sleep most of the time. Clever Bio techs genetically expanded on these traits to create a mutated breed that did not shed hair, shed skin and never had eye staining. They even slowed down its metabolism system so it only used the bathroom once every few weeks. The genetic codes were secretly shared among the Bio labs and improved upon from time to time, but, as an inside joke they often created odd colored cat hair. This spacecat had very long flowing blue hair and one dark blue eye and one light blue eye.

The Captain had watched his gruff Yardmaster assume the guardian role of the child aliens with inward amusement. “Some one’s gotta take care of those blue critters,” the Yardmaster would roughly say. Some of the crew volunteered to do so but the Yardmaster always had an excuse why that person could not do a good job. Soooo, thought the Captain, by default only the Yardmaster can take on this role, how interesting.

The Captain and the Yardmaster drank coffee alone in the Yardmasters life-room. The bio-engineered coffee was excellent of course. The mother ship’s bio-genetics lab could do just about anything with a genetic code. Sometimes as a prank, or out of boredom, they would violate the Universe Life Respect Law and combine an earth genetic sequence with an Alien sequence, usually only on something very small in their life labs. The Captain heavily frowned on this and only once had to follow up with discipline on this matter. But, that is a story for another day.

The Mothership mandate was no pets allowed on board. There was just too much risk of animal interference with the advanced systems on the ship. If animal hair was shed and bypassed the filtering systems it would be a problem, if a pet crawled into a recess and touched or chewed on intricate systems there would be problem. When the Mothership left the earth-moon shipyard decades ago there were no pets allowed on board. But, the Yardmaster planned to approach the Captain to change that.

“Captain, the little blue buggers are not doing well,” said the Yardmaster.

The Captain had noticed that for a while. He had the same concern, “Any ideas on what we can do?”

“I have done everything I could think of,” said the Yardmaster, “I have brought them down to the life centers where our young ones play but they don’t interact. Our soul counselors say they have broken hearts.”

“Yes, I can imagine that. It was very traumatic for them to watch their family die. They probably have guilt about being the only survivors.”

The Yardmaster replied, “Yes, the soul counselors said this species have extra deep relational dependencies…”

The Captain interrupted, “That just means they are extra loving and family oriented, right?”

“Aye Captain,”, replied the Yardmaster, “If these critters don’t improve, they will all die, and die soon.”

That was a surprise to the Captain. He and the rest of the crew had grown fond of these gentle orphaned aliens. It would break their hearts to have them die.

The Captain took a long sip of his coffee. He was used to successfully solving life and death problems. He had been trained since he was a young child to be a Captain. He racked his brains but had no solutions to this problem. He was perplexed and was very worried and beginning to feel sad.

“No,” the Captain said, “we have to find a solution.”

“Well Captain,” said the clever Yardmaster, “I do have an idea.”

“What?” demanded the Captain with strong interest.

Then the Yardmaster stood and walked to his sleep room then came back out. When he came back the Captain’s eyes grew wide, “Yardmaster, WHAT have you done?”

“Captain, let me explain,” as the Yardmaster quickly put the blue spacecat in the Captains lap. The spacecat settled in and began to purr. The Captain instinctively put his hand on the cat and felt its softness.

“You must get rid of this,” said the Captain as he heard the spacecat purr softly and lovingly.

“Captain, I can’t, I got it at the transit port, we can’t go back, but, if you really want me to jettison it I can,” gambled the Yardmaster.

“Yes, by all means, do it,” said the Captain as the spacecat continued to purr and softly move its paws back and forth on the Captains lap, as if it knew its fate was being decided. It looked gently upward into the captain’s eyes and began alternatively blinking one dark and one light blue eye at the Captain.

The Captain remembered as a child being given a spacecat with green hair from his Alien friends. He knew his own family would say no to it. So, he first put the spacecat on his mother’s lap and won her over. Then the both of them did the same to his father and eventually his father gave in. These spacecats were genetically designed to know how to survive and knew how to favorably soften hearts when they had to.

The Captain inwardly smiled as he remembered his father relenting but followed with a long list of rules, that everyone initially said yes to, but, were never followed. He knew what his clever Yardmaster was doing, he himself had done it before. But, the Captain knew he could not relent. The Captain had to say no and say it firmly so this never happened again.

As he spoke he looked at the spacecats blinking blue eyes, “Yardmaster, I am disappointed in you for bringing this contraband on board in violation of at least 5 Universal codes.” He kept his hand on the spacecat staring at its blinking eyes.

“Yes sir, I am guilty sir,” said the Yardmaster with no resistance.

“Purchasing this cat is illegal,” the Captain kept looking downward, “and carries severe consequences.” Why is this spacecat blinking at me like that, thought the Captain.

“It is a health hazard,” continued the Captain although knowing that these spacecats had been genetically cleansed for long term ship living. He soon realized there appeared to be pattern to the blinking.

“I will jettison the spacecat immediately,” meekly replied the Yardmaster.

“Yes, I want it immediately…..”, then the Captain stopped and watched the spacecat for a while.

The Yardmaster cringed and kept watching his Captain, willing to follow his orders no matter what.

“I don’t believe this,” whispered the Captain.

“What?”

“Its eyes, the blinking......,” faltered the Captain.

“I noticed it, but, what about it?”

“I think I know what it’s doing, it’s incredible,” stated the Captain.

“Damn it Captain, WHAT is going on?” impatiently spoke the Captain.

“He is communicating to us, look, dot dot dot, dash dash dash, dot dot dot, then it goes to dot dot dot, dash dash dash, dash dot dash dot, dot dash, dash and it repeats it over again, “said the Captain.

The Yardmaster watched and then realized the Captain was correct, “Why, that’s the ancient communication language of Morse code.”

The Captain laughed loudly in disbelief,” Do you see it? SOS, Save Our Ship. It did that to get our attention.”

The Yardmaster was stunned, then regained his composure and also loudly laughed, “Then it follows SOS with SOCAT, Save Our Cat, over and over again.”

They continued laughing together as they watched the spacecat communicate to them.  The Captain continued to stroke the spacecat's long blue hair, "A Bio Tech must have inserted an extra genetic boast into this spacecat."  The Yardmaster knew the Captain was won over.

“Permission granted to keep this spacecat on a trial basis Yardmaster,” said the Captain.

“Aye-Aye Sir”

Then the Captain communicated a long list of rules and guidelines for keeping the spacecat which they both knew would be ignored.

The Yardmaster then called in the three aliens from the room next door. They came in slowly and sadly. The Captain stood up and handed the spacecat to the blue child aliens. At first, they didn’t know what it was or what to do. Then they gently held it and passed it from one to the other. Then their faces transformed into excited radiance. The aliens purred and the spacecat purred.

Then the spacecat began blinking, then after awhile the Captain and the Yardmaster stared in disbelief as the Aliens began blinking back. At first in copycat Morse code. Then after a while they noticed they were expanding their vocabulary.  

“Unbelievable,” said the Captain.

“Way to go you wonderful blue critters,” blurted the Yardmaster, “I am so proud of you.” Then the Yardmaster contained himself and became reserved, but, inwardly was bursting in pride of ‘his blue critters.’

It was obvious the spacecat was a hit with the orphans and there was now a chance for them to have a foundation from which to begin rebuilding their lives.

The spacecat became the ship’s mascot, was loved by the crew and stayed on the ship for many decades after the Captain, Yardmaster, and the Aliens grew up and left. It was never forgotten by anyone on the mothership.  Finally, its genetic DNA began to crumble. At that time the Bio-lab regenerated another identical spacecat, but, with a few enhanced capabilities.

Reader, thank you for reading this story. If you are curious how the spacecat later tickled the bastard baby born on the mothership then please read the other Deck Logs found in my profile.  Thank you, DW

Lost my way

Night comes

Rains too.

Where?

Stumbled along

A light shines

Thank you.

Three of the smaller aliens had passed through the airlock before the alarm went off. The Captain yelled to abort the transfer and get the remaining aliens back inside their shuttle. The airlock had malfunctioned.

The Yardmaster gladly shouted, "Prepare for emergency separation." Just a few minutes earlier he had cursed the Captain for picking up these migrant aliens, "Damn it, we can't pick up every drifting alien in this quadrant; these vagabonds are not our problem."

"We can't let them perish," replied the Captain.

"The bastards have blue skin and stink like sulfur, they are not like us," said the Yardmaster. He stared through the window at the five gentle creatures. They looked starved and defenseless.

"Begin separation protocol," said the Captain.

"Gladly," replied the Yardmaster.

He had never seen this species of alien before. One was holding a baby and gently passed it to another. It then stood in front of the Yardmaster and looked at the three smaller aliens. They held their arms towards each other and purred. The Yardmaster realized this was a family with strong affections.

The aliens moved towards their shuttle. Two walked very slowly and had wrinkly skin. The other ones gently helped them along. Then they paused and looked back. Liquid blue drops came out from their ears and rolled down their long necks.

The Yardmaster watched intently. Something stirred inside of him. He realized he had misjudged them and had rejected them solely on idiotic rumors. He could see they weren't monsters with fangs, stories made up by people like him who had never met one before.

He stared through the window.

The Captain yelled, "Begin separation."

They will be dead in a few minutes thought the Yardmaster.

The Captain yelled, "Let’s GO."

The alien baby looked directly at the Yardmaster with large blue toned eyes; it lifted a hand towards him. "Please, don't do that," said the Yardmaster.

The Captain screamed, "Get moving."

The Yardmaster paused and then began a flurry of action. "I have an idea," he hollered.

"It's too late," said the Captain.

"No, give me a minute," pleaded the Yardmaster.

The Yardmaster opened the side panels and began a calibration sequence. The five aliens stepped into their shuttle.

The Captain was in a panic.

The Yardmaster shouted, "Stop, STOP, I fixed ......" At that moment, there was a whish sound and the ship shuddered. The Yardmaster looked through the window. The back of the airlock was open and he could see the shuttle powerlessly drifting away toward the planet below.

He saw one of the aliens looking at him through the shuttle window.

The Yardmaster sat down. Why didn't he move sooner? Why had he wasted time being so critical of the aliens? He could have fixed the airlock. Then, he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder. The three smaller aliens gazed at him and leaned kindly against him. He lowered his head and cried.

Moments later a small explosion was recorded near the mother ship.