Maho's Christmas Carol; Stave Three

Posted on Sun Dec 21st, 2025 @ 10:47pm by Captain Maho Takahashi
Edited on on Sun Dec 21st, 2025 @ 10:47pm

1,684 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Christmas Vacation
Location: Captain Takahashi's Quarters, Galaxy-class bridge
Timeline: Christmas 2397

The next stimulant to Maho's senses that roused her from her slumber was the most extraordinary smell of food. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes and looking at the chronometer, she was surprised that the glowing numbers only read 0100 hours. Maybe Keisuke had gotten off watch late, and was making something delicious...

Maho rose from her bed and moved towards the doors to investigate the smell.

"Babe, are you making some...?" Maho began to ask until the doors swooshed open to reveal not the living area of her quarters, but rather the bridge of a Galaxy class starship, akin to either the Europa or the Ermiana. "...Thing?"

It was an unusual sight for sure, for most of the floor space on the bridge was packed with folding tables lined with food from all sorts of food from different cultures. From a human turkey to a Klingon roasted Targ and everything in between. Maho stood for a moment, dumbfounded at the sheer feast that lay before her, and how it had been packed onto the bridge of a Galaxy class starship.

"Captain Takahashi:" An English voice called Maho's name from the command pit.

Standing near the Captain's chair, from Maho's viewpoint appearing to tower above the food, was a man dressed in a more modern looking Starfleet uniform, bearing more recognizable features to the young captain such as command red, four rank pips indicating his rank as Captain, and a combadge. The lights of the bridge gleamed off his distinct lack of a hairline.

"Come!" He exclaimed. "Come in, and know me better!"

Reluctantly, Maho stepped forward, the doors closing behind her so as to prevent her from returning to bed. Carefully, she made her way around the tables to the command pit, stopping prior to where the installation began. Up close, it became evident to Maho that, despite this uniform being more modern than the one worn by the last spirit, it was still several styles outdated from what Maho herself wore. Likely being the uniform that her grandfather was last photographed wearing before his death at Wolf 359.

"I am the Ghost of Christmas Present." The spirit introduced himself, noticing that Maho wasn't meeting him in the eye. "Look upon me!"

When Maho met the spirit's eyes, she was expecting a disapproving look for her hostility towards his counterpart. And yet, she found instead a face of kindness looking back at her.

"You haven't seen the likes of me before." The spirit said.

"Only in my dreams..." Maho replied.

"You have never walked forth with my elder brothers?" The spirit asked.

"You have... Brothers?" Maho was confused, eliciting a laugh from the spirit.

"More than twenty three hundred!" He declared. "Twenty three hundred and ninety six, to be precise."

"Twenty three..." Maho paused as she considered the number the spirit rattled off. That being of the previous year. "Perhaps the most recent twenty nine?"

"I see." The spirit nodded, motioning towards the first officer's chair. "Have a seat, Number One."

As the spirit moved to assume the center seat, Maho stepped up into the command area, settling in next to him.

"Spirit... Conduct me where you will." Maho stated.

"Well, then; let us be off!" The spirit declared. "Engage!"

On the viewscreen, the Myogi moved out of sight before the stars began to streak past as if traveling at warp speed. Yet, even though it seemed as if they were traveling at warp, the journey wound up being much faster than even the fastest warp drive ship doing Warp 9.99 indefinitely. For within only a minute of leaving the Myogi behind, they arrived at their first destination:

It was a shipyard; Beta Antares from the looks of it. The spirit brought into the focus of the viewscreen one of the dry docks, which contained a specific Armitage Class starship in winter layup.

"I knew it!" Maho shouted when she made out the ship's name and registry number. "I called Beta Antares weeks ago, and they told me they had no availability for the holidays! Fucking Aisaka probably got the last spot!"

The spirit observed Maho's outburst before speaking.

"My two most recent brothers made me well aware of your disdain for this vessel and her crew, specifically her Captain." He said. "Your persistent damming of the bridge to prevent water flowing beneath it makes you think you hold the high ground, but the simple fact of the matter is that the floodwaters will consume you all the same, and Mrs. Takasu will be all the better off for it."

"Spirit... Where might Aisaka be right now?" Maho asked out of curiosity.

"At this time, she's made it back to Japan and is celebrating Christmas with her family, while you're miserable in space." The spirit said omnisciently.

Rather than allowing the conversation to continue, the drydock containing the Tokyo was left behind, as another "warp jump" was made. This one took longer than the last, but the next destination was still reached in less than five minutes.

"Hebitia?" Maho asked, recognizing the planet below. "Spirit, why have you brought me here?"

"This is the home of your Intelligence Chief, Chrirhc Chihc." The spirit explained. "Unfortunately, Mister Chihc has to spend yet another Christmas on assignment because you denied him holiday shore leave. Enhance:"

The image of the viewscreen changed from the orbit of Hebitia to the inside of a humble Hebitian home. Chrirhc never spoke to Maho about his personal life, as that was his own, so she would have to rely on the dialogue between the gathered Hebitians to determine who was who. It appeared as if Chrirhc's wife had invited guests over to help with the Christmas dinner, and Maho listened intently to the conversations to figure out who that was. Fortunately, there were children under foot, bothering one of the women.

"Mommy, mommy, aren't we going to hear daddy's holo-message?" One of them called out.

"Yes, dear, but we have to wait for Miniscule Michael first." The woman being bothered by the children replied.

"Here I am!" Another young voice called from the stairs.

Maho was taken aback when a hobbled Hebitian child slowly made his way down the stairs, using his crutch to help him descend.

"Spirit... Who is the hobbled one?" Maho asked.

"Miniscule Michael is very ill..." The spirit replied, age evidently entering his voice. "If things remain unchanged... I see an empty seat at the Chihc table... And a crutch without an owner..."

"Alright, are we ready to see daddy?" Chrirhc's wife asked.

"Yes!" Miniscule Michael and his siblings said excitedly.

"Okay, here he is..."

A pre-recorded holographic message was initiated, and a holographic image of Chrirhc appeared before the gathering.

"Hello, children; hello Madeledam." The hologram greeted. "If you're watching this, then I unfortunately am spending another Christmas on assignment... At this point, I've missed so many, I doubt I'd recognize any of you... Especially you, Miniscule Michael. Daddy's known from the moment you were born that you were a fighter, and I'm elated to know you're still with us. You are the greatest gift of our family, year after year. But alas, duty continues to call my name, and I only have a short time to record this message. So, I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas, and I pray that next year shall be different."

"Merry Christmas to you as well, dad!" Miniscule Michael called out. "And a Merry Christmas to all!"

Maho couldn't believe the things Chrirhc had brought up in his Christmas message.

"I... Knew his committed to the service..." She muttered sheepishly, "But I didn't know he was... This committed..."

"There are some in your Starfleet who claim to know me and my brothers, and do their deeds of ill-will and selfishness in our name." The spirit said, anticipating that Maho was about to blame the holiday next. "These so-called devout and faithful are estranged to me and my kin as if they had never lived. Charge their doings to them, not us."

At this point the scene of the home and the bridge around them faded away. When her chair disappeared out from under her, Maho fell to the harsh wooden floor of a darkened clock tower in surprise. Looking up, the spirit, standing once again, looked multiple decades older than it had been when they had first met.

"Are spirits' lives so short?" Maho asked as she got back to her feet.

"My time in this galaxy is very brief." The spirit responded, looking up to the inverted clock face. Though it appeared to display the time as 0005 hours, the actual time was 2355 hours. "It ends tonight, at midnight."

As the spirit noted that the time was drawing near, Maho looked into the darkness where the forward bridge consoles had once been, and saw two pairs of glowing eyes staring back at her through the darkness.

"S-spirit?" Maho asked, pointing in the direction she saw the anomaly. "I don't believe those two were there before..."

"They have always been there, for they are man's:" The spirit explained as two figures stepped into the light, revealing their appearance to be two Soong-type androids. "The boy is Mister Ignorance, and the girl is Miss Want. Beware them both, but especially Mister Ignorance, for on his brow I see that which is written doom, unless the writing be erased."

At this moment, the clock struck midnight. The spirit clutched his chest and groaned in pain.

"Deny it!" He screamed. "Admit it for your facetious purposes, and make it worse! And bide the end!"

"Have they no refuge or resource?" Maho asked.

"Are there no prisons?" Mister Ignorance replied.

"Are there no workhouses?" Miss Want added.

As the bell continued to toll, marking midnight, the two hideous androids disappeared, and all that was left was the spirit, now very old and in his death throes, laughing at the absurdity that was Maho's concern for the welfare of Ignorance and Want as he too turned into dust.

Posting by

Captain Maho Takahashi
Commanding Officer
USS Myogi

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