The orphanage

The front door to the orphanage flew open and Gerald stepped in.

"Hey everybody, I'm back," he announced playfully.

A little apayebian child ran up and punched Gerald straight in the groin. "You said you'd bring food," he complained as Gerald crumpled to the floor, moaning in pain.

Five Ssykes muscle men walked in, carrying the crates of vegetables.

"I did bring food," Gerald groaned.

A couple of dozen children of every shape and color poked out from behind worn furniture and peeked out through the flickering lighting. When they saw the food, they all began cheering and jumping in place.

"Oh, bless you, bless you, a thousand times bless you," Priestess M'Quagta called out as she waddled up, long strands of grey hair falling out from beneath her habit. She gave Jonarl a big grandmotherly kiss on the cheek, causing him to blush.

"Oh, you are just a blessing from Soeck himself." She looked down at Gerald and gave him a swift kick in the rump. "Get out of the way, boy, let me show these nice gentlemen in." As she led them back towards the sparse kitchen area, Gerald struggled to his feet.

Cha'Rolette wrapped her arms around herself as she stepped in and looked around. Here she seemed a different person almost. Her movements were unsure, her eyes sorrowful. She looked at the sputtering air filters, faded walls, and cracked windows. It was as if seeing this place caused her pain.

Once Gerald helped Priestess M'Quagta get dinner underway in the kitchen, he came back in and sat down with each kid, speaking with them in turn, asking them about their day. Some of the kids had drawings prepared, and explained to him in detail what they meant.

Cha'Rolette, for her part, mostly sat in a corner, trying not to draw any attention to herself. She watched him oddly as he talked to the kids, as if she were watching a stage magician and trying to see through the trick.

"Whatcha got in your pocket?" little Vixikiz demanded. He reeled back to try and punch Gerald in the gut, but he managed to turn out his pockets in time.

"Well, it just so happens that the hypermart down the street was emptying out their lost and found, and guess what they said you could have?"

Vixikiz perked up, his little freckled face trembling with excitement.

Gerald pulled out a small tablet.

"A D-16!" Vixikiz snatched the device out of his hand and happily scurried off to one corner to play the game.

"What do you say? Huh?" Gerald beckoned. "What do you say?"

Vixikiz ignored him and began tapping the tablet happily. Holographic images flickered to life in the air above him and he began zapping away. Gerald laughed and sat down next to Cha'Rolette. "That boy has never once thanked me, but I think I'm starting to wear him down. Another five years and I'll have one out of him, I'm sure."

Cha'Rolette narrowed her voice so she was only speaking to Gerald. "Why are you so kind to these kids? They've been discarded," she said remorsefully. Then she said something so faint he nearly missed it. Not so much her voice, but more like a stray thought accidentally projected. "Nobody loves them."

"I do," Gerald insisted, grabbing little Nust by the collar and pulling him close, and ruffling his hair.

Cha'Rolette's eyes grew wide with surprise. Her ta'atu flashed briefly as she peeked in his head to confirm it. "You really do, don't you? It's not just an act."

"Gerald's teaching me how to be a photographer," Nust boasted, holding up a piece of wood carved into the shape of a holo-recorder and making a 'click' sound.

"Did you carve that?"

Gerald shrugged. "Just a hobby of mine."

Nust smiled adorably, revealing a missing tooth. "You're a vewy bootiful wady, when I get famous, you can model for me, kay? He held up the piece of wood and said 'click' again.

"Um... thank you... I guess."

A few minutes later, the kids sat enthralled in a semi-circle as Gerald stood before them, acting out the climax of his story. "...then, just as The Enterprise cleared orbit, the Reliant came out from behind Regula and came after her."

Gerald slowly stomped around like a dinosaur. "Low and aggressive, it moved in for the kill."

Vlogt gasped. "What did Captain Kirk do?"

"He knew that his ship couldn't take on the Reliant on her own, but nearby, was the dangerous Mutara nebula, where neither ship would be able to see or defend themselves. There, the Enterprise would stand a chance, but... just... one... chance."

Vixikiz folded his arms. "Nebulas are just hydrogen and aether. What kind of ship can't see through that?"

"Not this one. This nebula was filled with lightning, fire, and blinding lights. It roared like a beast!"

Little Zagi sat up in shock, her eyes wide as saucers.

Gerald bent low, hovering menacingly over the children as he wiggled his fingers. "And then, the two ships plowed into the nebula, and all their sensors went black."

Gacar covered her mouth and gasped. K'h'u grabbed her pigtails and pulled them over her eyes. Even Vixikiz looked worried. "What happened to Captain Kirk?" he asked.

"I'll tell you after you wash up for dinner," Gerald announced as he stood up. The kids groaned in unison and dragging their feet as they walked over to the rusted bathrooms.

"You are very cruel, you know?" Cha'Rolette observed from where she sat in the corner.

"I have been called many things, but this is a first."

Sadly, she turned away as she watched Nust pretend to slap a fresh memory crystal into his camera, then she closed her eyes. "You're giving them hope. That is the cruelest thing you can do."

"Soup's ready!" the elderly priestess called out. The children cheered, sprinting across the creaky floor to the sparse table.

"Wait, kids, you didn't finish washing up yet," Gerald said, trying to stand in their way, but the kids washed over him like a tidal wave, knocking him to the floor as they ran around and over him, laughing as they went.

"Hey, watch where you're stepping, that was my eye!" he protested, but the kids sprinted on. A couple even took a moment to jump on him a couple of times before proceeding.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?"

Gerald grabbed Nust by the foot and wrestled him to the floor. The Zuburian child extended his claws and began tickling Gerald, who laughed uncontrollably as he tried to roll the kid off of him.

Cha'Rolette could not look away as she watched him wrestle and laugh with the kid on the floor. Slowly, her expression softened, and a faint little feminine smile grew on her lips.

She was distracted by a tug on her skirt. She looked down to see a grubby little Tateerian food dripping from the corners of his mouth, and a half-eaten carrot clutched in his hand.

"Do you need something, kid?"

Uslaw belched and wrapped himself around her slim waist, giving her a full-on hug. She recoiled at first, bringing her arms up to shove him away. The food on his mouth and tattered shirt was staining her clothes. She looked around, unsure of what to do.

"Will you come again tomorrow?" he asked, squeezing her even more tightly.

She froze in place.

"Pweeease?"

Her look of shock faded away, replaced by a tender expression. Her arms came down on their own to return the embrace. Just before her hands rested on his back, the front door flew open.