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Che’ri didn’t know how she ended up here, but she had been hoping for something better for her first star day among the crew of the Springhawk.
She sighed audibly when Thrawn dragged her to another exhibit in the large art gallery on Naporar. How he hadn’t noticed her lack of enthusiasm was beyond her, but she had been trying to make it clear ever since the Senior Captain got excited over aliens’ twig figures. Despite his usual attentiveness he seemed lost in the art. In Che’ri’s frustrated opinion, she could have done a better job with her snaps and some graph markers, however, her doodles or constructions weren’t the ones presented to the public eye here.
Che’ri sighed again. She liked Thrawn and had loved him teaching her how to fly but right now she would have preferred to have Thalias there with them. They could have made jokes and left for ice cream, by now. But no, Thalias had had to go to some office leading to Che’ri’s current state of absolute boredom because joining Thrawn on his 500th tour of the art gallery would surely be more interesting than sitting in the waiting room of some bureaucrat somewhere. Right about now, Che’ri wasn’t so sure about that anymore.
When Thrawn started smiling and excitedly nodding at ‘art’ that looked like a heap of trash, like it told him the secrets of the universe, Che’ri gave up even trying to look interested. She distracted herself by planning what she would do when she finally got back into her room. If she hadn’t been so focused on distracting herself, she would have noticed Thrawn sliding into the gift shop and coming out with a large bag which he hid efficiently from her all the way back to their ship.
Che’ri was still not entirely out of her bored haze when she and Thrawn entered a conference room and the bridge crew exploded into shouts of ,,Happy Star Day!’’ For an instant, she must have looked like a fish, wide eyes and open mouth. Then a large smile spread over her face. This had been what she had been hoping for. She’d thrown her hopes for a surprise party overboard after looking at art for so long, it all started to mesh together in her mind.
Thalias came rushing towards her and hugged her tightly. Che’ri hugged back knowing she’d never want another caregiver.
,,Happy Star Day, Che’ri’’, Thalias whispered into Che’ri’s ear before pulling away and smiling at her. Che’ri smiled back but before she could say anything in return, she was lost in a sea of happy bridge crew officers all of whom wanted to congratulate her. She smiled her way through all the interactions, genuinely happy that they cared about her enough to throw her this party.
Che’ri liked all the members of the bridge crew but the dinner after the initial hug fest made them all feel like family. The atmosphere on the bridge always had a basic tension in it, always anticipating the next battle. During the dinner everybody was relaxed and laughing. Mid Captain Samakro told stories of his childhood, of searching for hidden treasures that turned out to be prettily colored and shaped rocks which the Mid Captain insisted were actually minerals. Che’ri laughed imagining a military officer collecting something as silly as rocks in his free time.
Senior Commander Afpriuh eventually managed to tangle Che’ri in a fierce game of trying to shoot torn off pieces of their napkins over the other’s edge of the table. One of Afpriuh’s napkin pieces landed in Samakro’s caf. He frowned into his cup and sighed but didn’t say anything. Various other pieces from both participants eventually adorned the other officers’ plates until Afpriuh ran out of napkins and raised his hands. ‘’I give up’’ he laughed and Che’ri grinned victoriously at having beaten the weapons officer.
Later on, Thrawn went to the table at the entrance of the room and came back with the large bag Che’ri hadn’t cared enough about to notice. Thalias stepped next to Thrawn grinning and winking at Che’ri. The Senior Captain handed the bag to the girl and said with a smile ,,this is a gift from all of us.’’
Excitedly, Che’ri opened it and pulled out real, physical, professional art supplies. Brushes, canvases, all kinds of colors. Whatever her heart could desire.
Since technology was everywhere and had replaced the more ancient ways of creating art, the prices for the latter had soared. It must have cost the officers a small fortune to pay for these. Far more important, though, they had actually listened to her on the rare occasion she had uttered her secret wish to do more than paint on her questis.
Che’ri’s lower lip wobbled and tears pricked her eyes. The first of them fell before another wave of hugs enveloped her.
Maybe her Star Day was just how she’d dreamed of, after all.