C6 / Eberstark

Posted on Wed 30th Jan, 2019 @ 9:38pm by Lieutenant Commander Andrew Eberstark
Edited on on Sat 2nd Feb, 2019 @ 4:54pm

952 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Oblivion

It was… a Torii gate, perhaps, or a megalithic trilithon rendered in jacinth. A clear and obvious demarcation at the top of a ridge, seperating one realm from another. Dawn Addams paused. “Do not release each others’ hands,” she reminded her companions. With a look of determination, she took the last few steps to the ridge, and passed through the gate.

The Echos had been designed to be the perfect spies and assassins. In embodied life, they had simply known what those around them knew; understood their needs and desires and purposes. In the moment when the Witch, her matrilineal descendants, and their friends stepped into the valley they had closed, the Echos turned their attention their way. In that moment, they knew who had arrived, and why. They considered the Witch’s purpose, understood her points, reluctantly agreed.

There was a flash of light, and time was rearranged, reality was changed.

---

With his eyes closed, Andrew let his arm and hands instinctively flow over the violin creating the desired melody. Every small deviation of the instrument's tune from the song Andrew knew from memory made him wince as he continued to attempt to perfect his rendition. When properly outfitted, as was the case this particular evening, the Starbase's large multipurpose auditorium served as a far more than satisfactory replication of some of Earth's most famous symphony halls.

The seating had three tiers, each curving around the main stage in a typical u-shape pattern. The outer walls were made to replicate the look of dark brown wood to create a sense of warmth, while keeping the space eloquent. The viewing and stage area designs reminded him most of the main auditorium in Carnegie Hall on Earth in North America, however the more warmer lighting and wall colors made the space feel a bit more cozier in Andrew's opinion.

Thankfully, there was to be a concert in the coming days, so Andrew decided to take full advantage of using the temporarily altered space for a few hours while off duty. Andrew sat in one of the orchestra's designated violinist positions that he found to be the best location for the auditorium's acoustics.

Still focused on perfecting his music, Andrew sensed something different about the room and opened his eyes. Standing directly in front of him on stage was a child of what Andrew guessed was between six or seven years of age. She had a thin profile, even for a child her age, with shoulder length jet black hair and was holding a black case in her right hand. Her eyes remain fixated on him without saying a word, seemingly studying him intently.

Standing up from his chair, Andrew smiled warmly, "Hi, there. I'm Andrew," motioning to her case, "Did you come here to practice too?"

"Yes," the girl said. "Aunt Chlamydia says that studying music substantially increases mathematic abilities in developing children."

He raised an eyebrow at the mention of Dr. Addams, thinking a moment if he should call her and alert her of her niece wandering about the Starbase but decided against it and instead answered the child, "Well, I can't argue with that. Knowing why and how certain beats and rhythms are what they are can be related to math, geometry in particular," he paused again, realizing again whom he was talking to, "Although I can't say I've met somebody your age who likes geometry. What do you play?"

"The Triangle," the girl said, straight-faced. She set down her instrument case. It was rectangular, about a meter long and a third that wide, but only perhaps ten or fifteen centimeters thick. She walked over and grabbed a chair, dragging it to a position near Andrew.

Raising both eyebrows this time, Andrew simply nodded his head and forced back a smile as the child made herself comfortable in her seat, "Really? I haven't played it. What's your favorite piece of music to play?"

"No, not really," the girl said. She clapped her hands and listened to the acoustics of the room. "I was being facetious." Satisfied with the position of the chair, she returned to her instrument case and opened it, drawing out... a stick, and then a bow, similar to Eberstark's own. She unfolded the stick, locking it into a longer configuration, showing the ridges it had in place of strings. Climbing up to stand on the chair, she ran the bow across the strings, and a deep, pure note came forth. "I play the double bass," she revealed. She ran a quick scale, hitting about three-quarters of the notes properly. "Badly."

Andrew laughed at the girl's nonchalant duplicity and nodded at as she played her first notes, "I've heard worse. Besides, these acoustics are a blessing and curse. They are close to ideal but also highlight any mistakes in your performance." Picking up his bow and playing a couple notes, the last one one echoed off the walls deeper than intended. Wincing again, Andrew shrugged, "See what I mean?"

"Would you like to practice together?" the girl asked. "Do you know 'Scales and Arpeggios'? Ms. Suzuki has assigned it as our practice today."

Tilting his said slightly as if he thought about, Andrew feigned confusion, "I'm not sure if I remember that one. Care to lead?"

Six raised her bow to her instrument and began to play, starting to sing along after a moment, "Do mi so do do so mi do; Do mi so do do so mi do. Though it seems at first it doesn't show, Like a tree ability will bloom and grow, If you're smart you'll learn by heart what every artist knows, Your must play your scales and your arpeggios!"

 

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