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Star Date 56789.0
Brad Boimler stood on the white sand of a beach, head tilted up to look at a night sky aglow with too many stars to count, and yet there was no moon to be seen. Massive boulder blocks dotted along the edge of a rock slope leading into the beach. The planet itself was moderately tropical, a previously undiscovered planet within the Alpha Quadrant. It didn’t have a name yet. ‘Boim Prime’ ran through his head and he gave out a chortle.
“Heya, Boims, what’s so funny?” A familiar voice approached from behind. Ensign Beckett Mariner, close friend and fellow lower decker. The light from the stars was particularly strong on this planet. If he hadn’t known better, he would’ve sworn that same light was radiating from her, but he knew that was silly, even if the effect remained.
“Oh, just an inside joke”
“Yeah? With whom?”
“Why, myself of course!” that sounded better in his head, and Mariner burst out laughing, almost doubling over, “hey, it’s not that funny”
Mariner merely wiped a tear from her eye as she wrangled in the remaining giggles, “Sorry, that was just, mega lame, dude, like seriously!” She said, bursting out into another, much smaller laughing fit.
Boimler, meanwhile , threw his hands in the air and turned to leave. Mariner, who had been leaning on him for support, nearly toppled to the ground, “If that’s how you wanna be go pick on someone else, I’m not in the mood for your nonsense”
“Wait! Wait.” It was still a struggle to rein in the laughter, but rein it in she did, “I’m sorry, just a rowdy night”. Mariner looked back towards the camp and waved to some of their crew mates. She always found a way to be sociable, likable, the heart of a party, the works. It just came naturally to her, something Boimler often found himself being jealous for.
“Uh Huh, right, that’s what you always say” said he with a shrug, crossing his arms as he raised the Eyebrow of Judgment.
“Yeah, because it’s true! You just don’t know how to have fun”
“Do too!” Boiler retorted, and he said some other things too but Mariner was ignoring the ‘unnecessary things’ as she liked to put it.
Her hand went up, interrupting him as she looked him over, “Hold on, doesn’t sand give you a rash?” It wasn’t actually all that important, but she knew it was sure to get him in a huff.
And she was right. His stanced puffed up in some attempt to shield himself against her wit and general irreverence. It wouldn’t be enough, it was never enough, and they both knew it. Yet here they were, day after day, doing the same song and dance over and over again.
“Hey! That’s only if I touch it…” he said, grabbing his arm as he looked off to the side.
“Yeah, I believe you said, and I quote; ‘Oh, god, I always do’?” her impression was actually almost spot on, which did nothing to placate Boimler.
His shoulders were hackling up now, his voice raising into that subtle shrill that he can’t help no matter how hard he tries “Like I said, only if I touch it!”
The two of them continued to bicker on like this for a half hour, exchanging the occasional friendly push or shove. By the time they finished, their attention was pulled back to the stars. So bright and distinct, something about the way the atmosphere filters light. There was also the lack of a moon that made the night sky crystal clear from the ground. Aside from all that and the purple-lavender-ish tint to the atmosphere itself, one could almost mistake it for earth. Something about that struck a chord within Boimler. Despite all the alien craziness, there were elements of home, even out amongst the stars.
“384,403” said Mariner, her gaze remaining on the sky above.
Boimler cocker his head to the side, “What? Is that like a Starfleet code or something?”
“That’s how many kilometers Luna is from Earth—” she began to slowly look between Boimler and the sky, “—with a radius of 1,737 kilimeters and a surface gravity of a mere 0.1654 g, yet she has such a massive impact on the Earth itself. It would be a completely different planet otherwise.”
Her crew mate nodded, now looking up to the stars as well, “And here we are on a planet with no moon, but it’s so similar to Earth. There are differences, obviously, but if you filter those out it’s nearly the same thing”
He had a point. The galaxy, let alone the universe, was a wild place, unpredictable. But it has its patterns. Why fix what isn’t broken? Then again, Mariner had been in plenty of situations where the normal laws of the universe didn’t apply, so there’s that. Odd, really. She considered the thought that such a thing shouldn’t feel normal to a regular, sane person. Then she decided she didn’t care, she was living her best life at the moment, no need to fuck with that.
Looking at the bigger picture, however… Mariner wouldn’t say she thought the universe was entirely random and chaotic. Far from it. She knew that, from their tiny point of view, everything was by chance with no real system. Rules, maybe, but no real system that would make the universe nice and neat and predictable. That was because sentient life is too small to see the machine as a whole. Ex Machina sort of a deal. That’s not to say Mariner believed in a god or gods. No, she was agnostic at best. She just followed the flow of the universe, believing in its forms and functions. One big jumble of equations that would work themselves out in the end, and she and all of sentient life were but one of many variables. It made her glad to have met those she had, to have befriended them. To have formed a family with them.
“A universal algorithm, perhaps?” Mariner wiggled her eyebrows and nudged him, which only garnered him rolling his eyes away from her.
“I never said that, just… one time, I read something that Picard said—”
“Pffft” Mariner clutched her gut “seriously? God, you’re so obsessed!” she went into another giggle fit, if only for a few seconds.
“—shut up. I’m trying to say something” he crossed his arms, the Eyebrow of Judgment returning as his face displayed his weariness from their friendship.
“Alright, alright, sorry, continue” Mariner said, finishing with a brief clearing of her throat.
“As I was saying, Picard once described the universe as perfection. The balances of cosmic forces, the almost clockwork function of so many pieces. He thinks that the universe is larger than we can perceive; everyone’s right and no one’s right” Bradworth carried on, but Mariner was only half listening.
Not out of lack of interest, oh no. Instead it was more like… well, she didn’t have the word for it. Since she met him a year ago, maybe a little more, he’d been a weasel looking for promotion. Now… it was different. He absolutely still was a weasel, but he had grown quite a bit too. Now she truly saw the human in him too; his hopes, dreams, beliefs. He even proved his mettle from time to time. That’s it, she knew what she was feeling.
Pride.
Pride in her friend and his growth as a person (and of course in her ability to steer him towards the path of individuality). Pride in being friends with him. Pride in their work. Mariner was proud of both of them. She’d grown too, perhaps in part because of Boimler. Brad. Bradworth. Ok, maybe she’d stick with the former rather than the latter.
Finally, he stopped talking. Her hand went to his shoulder, subtlety pulling them closer, “Yeah, I see what you mean Boims—” she friendfully shook him in a show of solidarity, “—maybe I don’t agree, maybe I do, but…” her words trailed off as she looked skyward, now placing an arm around his shoulders. “Damn, if that ain’t one beautiful sight to behold.”