Who Was That Masked Man?

Posted on Thu May 16th, 2024 @ 9:27pm by Commander Mindo
Edited on on Fri May 17th, 2024 @ 1:37pm

Mission: The Only Thing Left Was Hope
Location: Risa
Timeline: Current

ON

Soon after he had left the bar, Mindo headed for a privacy room reserved for employees and fell sound asleep. He dreamed of Caradan again. How he missed her so much. Cara was a Changeling and the Chief Engineer on the USS Tornado, where Mindo met her. She'd been an outcast from her own people, much like Mindo. Out of all of the lovers Mindo had over the years, Cara was the most unique, and the most beautiful. Even in her natural state she was beautiful.

In most of his dreams, he could hear her voice. He never could remember what she had said when he awakened, but this time he could hear her perfectly. The situation was always different in the dreams. Sometimes they were working together, as they had started, in the core of the USS Tornado. Sometimes they were in Mindo's quarters. This time, though, they were floating in a pitch black abyss. They were both illuminated by an unknown source.

They were holding hands, but suddenly Cara's grip began to loosen. Her hand turned into her gelatin-like natural form, and the rest of her was melting into a whirlwind. Mindo reached out to grab her, save her. She moved away, like some unseen force was dragging her further into the blackness. As she fell further and further away, he could hear her calling to him.

"Return home!" she said. "Return to the Pandora!"

She said it again but this time the voice was different. Mindo realized he was awake. There was someone else in the room with him, but with the lights dimmed Mindo could only see the outline of the man's shadow.

"Find her," the mysterious voice said. It wasn't Cara this time. The voice was low, masculine.

"Find who?!" Mindo said back. "Find Cara? Find the Pandora?"

The shadow disappeared. Mindo stood. "Computer, bring illumination up to one hundred percent."

The lights came on and Mindo looked around the room. He was alone. Mindo bolted out of the room into the open. It was still daylight. By Mindo's calculations, it looked like he'd only been asleep ten minutes.

"Cara?" Mindo called quietly. "Who..." But there were only tourists around, having a great time. Mindo stood outside the entrance to the privacy room.

"Hell with it," Mindo said at last. "Just a stupid dream."

All the same, Mindo decided it wasn't a good time to nap after all. He decided to rejoin civilization, forcing a smile. He wasn't prepared for what happened next.

OFF