Peace

Posted on Sat Aug 26th, 2023 @ 5:41am by Commander Riko McCord

800 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Rescue
Location: Riko's Quarters on Nomad
Timeline: MD 5, 2130

As it often did when it looked like autumn in Broken Drive, the day had a nip to it. Logic said there was no chill in the air, nor anything to remind Riko that Christmas was only a few months away. Nevertheless, those were the things she felt as she headed to her small quarters on the top deck of Nomad. It had been a long day of checking monitors, sensors, and supplies, making sure everything had been loaded before Isabella Perry had called them to Nomad to start their first mission. Although she knew the mission parameters, she hadn't thought a lot about that, but spent her time being sure they were ready for whatever came next. She hoped the spy they were rescuing wasn't another Verrana Nemis type.

While she felt at peace after the day's work, she also felt some melancholia creeping around the edges of everything. She hadn't had enough rest, none of them had, except possibly Podkayne, who didn't need it; they were still going out again. An assignment she felt she should know more about, she knew almost nothing outside of the barest minimum. Was Isabella substituting her ... significant friend for her executive officer? With a sigh, she waited as the door to her quarters slid open and then shut behind her again. She simply felt off in some way. She needed the peace only Elvis could bring. Words drifted across her mind, slower than she'd normally sing them or hear them, but the pace seemed suitable to her mood ... being alone in a vast universe.

Oh well, I'm tired and so weary,
But I must go alone
Till the Lord comes and calls, calls me away, oh yes.
Well the morning's so bright,
And the lamb is the light, And the night,
Night is as black as the sea, oh yes.

There will be peace in the valley for me, some day.
There will be peace in the valley for me, oh Lord, I pray.
There'll be no sadness, no sorrow,
No trouble, trouble I see.
There will be peace in the valley for me, for me.

McCord thought about the words. The lamb is the light - shining brightly across His people in the midst of a night as black as the sea. What was the valley? She had thought in the past it was the Valley of the Shadow, but could it be something more? Or less, perhaps?

As she continued to ponder the ideas of the hymn, Riko pulled open the doors of her altar cabinet and lit the fat blue candle in the middle of the main area. Blue for separation. Blue, the traditional color of being a little down ... not depressed exactly, but ... a little off from center, perhaps said it best.

The hymn of separation was sung at Christmas, when one was apart from family and friends and other worshipers. Still, blue always meant separation, and she was certainly alone in this part of the universe, as the repeated chorus of the song emphasized. She was going out alone, the only worshiper who followed the guidance of Elvis.

Well, the bear will be gentle,
And the wolves will be tame,
And the lion shall lie down by the lamb, oh yes.
And the beasts from the wild
Shall be led by a child, and I'll be changed,
Changed from this creature that I am, oh yes.

Idly, sitting back on her heels and staring at the flame, she wondered about Ava, and whether the almost-sentient computer might be someone to worship alongside her. Elvis wouldn't care that she was some kind of fancy computer, not a biological. That was the beauty of the guidance of Elvis Presley's hymns of praise ... and what could be more childlike than an intelligence like Ava? What would be more of a change than going from an almost-sentient intelligence to someone fully sentient? And was that where Ava was heading? There was something different about here, Riko sensed ... something Elvis would welcome and teach and support.

Change was a frightening concept most of the time, but as the peace of the song began to flow along in her blood, McCord realized the change Elvis meant wasn't frightening. It was a change from wildness into calm and peace ... in whatever valley she found herself. Just the way she felt at this moment, comparing it to the moment her door had slid closed behind her.

There will be peace in the valley for me, some day
There will be peace in the valley for me, oh Lord, I pray.
There'll be no sadness, no sorrow,
No trouble, trouble I see.
There will be peace in the valley for me, for me.

All was well. Elvis had brought what she needed ... as always.

 

RSS Feed