Star Trek: Uncharted

20 || The Ensign

Ensign Elden stood in the same room as before, pacing back and forth. He had been unable to stop them from dragging Commander Spock away, and now he was alone.

Well mate, it's been worse than this, he reminded himself as he thought back to Altamid. But that was different. Even when he was there, being attacked by the swarm ships as they tried to escape the destroyed ship, being imprisoned in Krall's prison camp, he wasn't alone. There was always someone by his side, but now that they had taken the commander, he felt more alone than he ever did in his entire life.

Elden touched the pewter cross around his neck, trying to remember the prayers his mother would mumble under her breath. The ones she would gently whisper to him as a child before she put him to bed. But as always, the words wouldn't miraculously come to him.

With a frustrated sigh, he sank back down onto the cot. His stomach growled. The guards had given him crude protein rations earlier in the day, but they weren't exactly filling by any means.

He would have to find a way to escape. Get out of the cell, get a hold of a weapon and try to regroup with Commander Spock. The commander would know what to do, how to get back to the Enterprise and how to find the Captain. He would know how to get them out of the mess they inadvertently found themselves, because quite frankly, Elden had no idea what to do.

The door suddenly slid open. A guard entered, the dull black gleam of its helmet visor studying Elden carefully. Elden stood as the guard pushed someone into the room. A young girl tripped and fell. She looked at Elden with wide, terrified eyes. She gasped and stumbled to her feet, heading towards the now closed door. She pounded on it, begging for the guard to come back.

"It's okay," Elden said, holding out his hands to show her he meant no harm.

The turned girl and flattened herself against the wall. Her dress had ripped and the knitted shawl was slipping down her shoulders. She was younger than Elden, perhaps around sixteen, with wild blonde hair and a pale, pointed face. A strange tattoo was on her cheek, similar looking to a barcode.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Elden told her, slowly moving forward.

The girl slid to the floor, her chest heaving with stifled sobs of terror. She hugged her knees tightly, burying her face in the flowing white skirts of her dress. Elden stopped and as smoothly as he could, so as not to make any subtle movements, sat down in front of her. The girl peeked at him from under her messy blonde hair, but quickly hid her face again.

"It's okay, I won't hurt you," He tried to say in a soothing voice. "My name's Elden. What's yours?"

The girl sniffled, raising her head and wiping at her tear soaked cheeks with the back of her hand. "Grace," she said in a small voice.

Elden smiled. "It's good to meet you Grace."

Grace tried to smile back. She was silent for a long time, refusing to acknowledge his presence. Finally, after several long and awkward minutes, she turned to the young ensign.

"Are you from Earth?" She asked in a small voice.

Elden nodded.

"What does it look like?"

"Um...well it..." Elden hesitated, trying to think. Most of his time spent on earth was in a crowded apartment with his extended family in the heart of London. He had spent the majority of his days sitting at the cramped kitchen table behind a mountain of books and lost among the broken pieces of electronics he always fiddled with. As soon as he could, he left for Starfleet academy. He tried to think of his time there instead, since it was definitely more scenic than the home he left behind.