Captain's Daughter
Posted on Wed Mar 19th, 2025 by Paige Cohen & Lieutenant Choyi Zaimu & Katelynn Bancroft & Charlotte Preston
1,232 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
M01 - The Hooke
Location: Logan City, Terra Nova
Timeline: Present
Paige had been standing in the line for a minute when something brushed her shoulder, at first she thought nothing of it. Then it happened a second time, the young girl turned in the direction where it kept happening. That was when Paige first saw the boy standing next to her and her heart immediately fluttered while her breath caught in her throat. "Oh..." She started nervously, "Hello there."
Hayden Logan smiled warmly after he'd caught the girl's attention, "Sorry to disturb you," He began to say, "But I couldn't help but notice you while I was sitting over there." Hayden pointed toward the corner table where another boy was sitting currently. "I've never seen you in here before," He figured that he'd be stating the obvious, however, Hayden didn't really care if that were the case or not.
Paige found that level of nervousness to increase from the pit of her stomach, up into her chest. She couldn't quite explain it, but she felt a strange tingle throughout her body. "Um," She began only because she didn't know what else to say to this boy that was now giving her attention. "I'm not from around here," She told him as she took another step forward in the line. "My friends and I," She pointed at the table where the other two were sitting, "Are from the starship Hooke."
Hayden looked in the direction of the two other girls before turning his attention back upon the girl, "Oh, that Federation starship that's orbiting the planet." He said with a grin. "I'm Hayden Logan by the way, what's your name?"
Paige could hardly believe she was being asked this, much less talked to by this other person. "I'm Paige Cohen," She said with a slight hint of a giggle behind her words. She blinked a few times, 'Don't be awkward, don't be awkward.' She kept repeating it in her head.
Hayden smiled, "That's a cute name for a cute girl."
Paige thought her heart had skipped a beat when she heard herself being called cute. Her eyelids fluttered for a moment and her ability to think came to an unexpected screeching halt. "Thanks," She croaked, "You're cute too Hayden." She said despite her cheeks flushing slightly.
"So you're on the starship huh?" Hayden asked, "That's pretty cool. I live here in Logan City with my Mom Emma." He told her, "Perhaps after you've left orbit we could continue to talk via subspace or something?"
Paige barely registered words after that, she thought he seemed a little older than her though she didn't truly care about any of that. "Um, yeah." She said. "Do you... Do you have your subspace contact information?" Paige took another step forward, however by this time she'd forgotten what she was going to order at the counter which was two people away from her.
"Yeah," Hayden answered he dug a small PADD out of his pocket and put his contact information on it then handed it to her. He took out a second PADD that was blank and handed that to her as well, "Here put your contact details here," He told her.
Paige was smiling uncontrollably as she took the two PADDs and put her information on one of them. She handed it back to him, "Here you go." She said. "It was nice meeting you Hayden I can't wait to talk to you more." She managed to blurt out.
Hayden grinned wildly, "It was nice meeting you too." He said and gently patted her on the shoulder after taking her hand and giving it a slight squeeze. Hayden looked over his shoulder and saw his friend was about to leave, "Call me as soon as you can." He said to her before disappearing.
Paige had determined she was never washing her hand again as she got to the counter and managed to recover enough to order the tea. She forgot to order the snack and returned back to the table where the other two girls were sitting where she handed Kate the tea.
Kate took the tea, "Thanks," She said. Then Kate had a look of dread on her face, "I thought you were getting yourself a snack too?" She asked Paige.
Paige shrugged, "I forgot." She answered. Her thoughts were already a million miles away and nothing really seemed all that relevant anymore. "I met a boy in the line and he is cute!" She replied.
"I told you," Charlotte said to Kate, then she turned her attention back onto Paige. "We saw him standing next to you and I thought the two of you were talking. What did you talk about?" She asked.
Kate took a sip from the hot tea and leaned forward, "Yeah?" She asked suddenly finding herself rather interested in their conversation as well.
Paige found herself shrugging a second time, "Nothing much," She said. It wasn't that she was trying to play it cool, it was that most of the conversation had gone through her mind without sticking there. She had been concentrating so much on his dreamy eyes that nothing else seemed to really make any difference. "He gave me his subspace contact information though," She told the other two. "And he has mine now too."
Charlotte had an uncontrollable smile on her face after that. She could tell that Paige was smitten by this boy, "You have a crush on him don't you?"
Paige frowned, "No." She lied while shaking her head vigorously. Then she stopped shaking her head long enough to think about it. She really did have a crush on this boy, "His name is Hayden though," She remarked. Paige at least remembered his name and had his information in her pocket.
"Your Dad probably won't like you talking to some random boy," Kate pointed out. "Sorry," She sheepishly said suddenly when she realized she might be raining on Paige's parade.
Charlotte looked at Kate and realized the other girl was probably right, "Probably not wrong." She frowned.
Paige looked between the two girls, "I'll just wait for the right time to tell him." She said to them, "He's on the bridge a lot I can call Hayden after school each day and be off the call before my father gets home. That's assuming he doesn't look at the subspace records."
Charlotte shrugged, "I doubt he will." She said, "That's usually only done if it's suspicious and they have reason to look at the records in the first place. I think that's also something security does, calls to Terra Nova won't seem so suspicious."
Paige nodded her head slowly, "You're probably right." She said to the other two girls.
Zaimu had left the table where she was sitting, "Want to go walk around the city for a little bit before we have to head back to the ship?" She asked them.
Paige looked at the other two and nodded, "Oh yes of course." She answered at the sudden appearance of the counselor. She'd have to continue this conversation with Kate and Charlotte later, her stomach growled angrily at her and she ignored it. Paige was still on cloud nine even as they left the coffee shop. She'd met a boy and was already thinking about what she was going to say to him next.
Hayden Logan
Written by: Choyi Zaimu
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