Orion, the Broody Red Panda in Space
#2 of Slices of Life
A Slice of Life written for Courage.
The Slice of Life is a commission experiment aimed at capturing a glimpse of someone's character in action. The idea is to see if a quality piece of writing can be made in a short length of time, and if someone would be amenable to paying for such a thing. They involve four prompts, ten minutes of writing, and five to ten additional minutes of finalization.
The prompts for this story were
Name: Orion
Species: Red Panda
Descriptor: Broody
Setting: Space
Orion, the Broody Red Panda in Space By Finn Panther
In the movies the security guards saw a lot of action. In the movies the main characters were always sprinting down long corridors, hoisting some sort of weapons, and wreaking some manner of havoc in the inner working of the ship. Sabotage, espionage. Rebels on a mission of destruction, stowaways making an urgent escape. And the ''heroes'' would always find a security guard - there was always a security guard - and put him down. The guard was slow to react, he was unaware, in some movies he's sleeping while the monitors are clearly showing the heroes kicking ass on the ship.
There was one security guard, however, who would never let something like that happen to him. One guard who would never be caught unaware. One guard who remained vigilant, during the most boring moments of deep-space waypoint security. For this guard, a system breach was to be unheard of. It simply wouldn't happen. Not on his watch.
His name was Orion - and sure enough, nothing ever did happen on his watch. Because nothing ever happened.
For years he had been stationed here. It was a dream, at the time. He would be the unsung hero! When someone needed this space station sabotaged, for whatever reason - Orion would be there! He would stop them red handed, with a keen laser pistol and a sense of duty like none other. A sense of duty which hadn't done terribly much for him, not so far.
But Orion was never to be deterred. The red panda had dreams of ascending the ranks. From a security guard to a security officer. Always another promotion, always his hard work rewarded. It had been a dream for years of his life. Every day he would wake from his cot in the bunker, ready his security vestments, set his phaser to stun, and finally drink his cup of morning joe. While his comrades in arms were always groggy, always in a poor mood, and always unhappy with their lot in life, Orion kept his ears perky and his tail bushy. Because today was going to be the day. Today, Orion would change everything. Today was going to be his day!!
Certainly Orion was never to be deterred.
But that was years ago. Too many years to count.
Proper training had drilled in his head to never repeat a pattern of patrol. Never be predictable, always be on the move, and always be alert.
But to Hell with being alert.
Eyes groggy, and ears wilted, Orion made another round. Down engineering, through to the reactor. Here he gave a friendly nod to Busk. He was a doberman, young and fresh to the field. Orion saw in the young furre all of the starry dreams that the panda once had, when the world was still new and exciting. It almost gave Orion a glimmer of satisfaction knowing that one day the Doberman would also lose faith. Because nothing happened on this ship. Nothing had ever happened on this ship, and nothing ever would. And just like Orion, that doberman would never rise in ranks. He would never rise to become a security officer. And he would never rise to anything beyond that.
No. He would stay a guard. Always and forever, a guard.
Orion's tail flicked - it was ratty and mangy, and it was waiting as desperately for the end of the shift as Orion was. How tremendous, at the end of the day, to hang up the pistol, and to once again hang up his dreams. How great it was to return to his cot, where again nothing happened, and to prepare for the next day. Of nothing. A day of nothing, just as the day before it, and just as the day before that.
Nothing ever happened, Orion said to himself. Nothing ever happened.
But that was at 12:57 in the morning, on an unauspicious day during a disinteresting week.
But then 12:58 happened. And Orion's life would never be the same again.