| Date & Time: | Day 01, 1044 |
| Location: | Ortega Quarters |
| Written By: | Ashley Ortega Paige Cohen |
| Post Date: | 02/15/2026 |
| Episode: | Ep. 1 – Fool’s Errand |
Ashley unpacked her bags from the trip to the station, the twelve-year-old was still trying to come to grips with what happened to her parents. It was as if in a single blink of an eye they were both gone and there was nothing she could have done to stop it. The preteen was rather bitter about it, though she didn’t dare say anything to her sister. With such a large age gap between the two, Ashley found herself wondering if her big sister understood.
Paige had learned about Ashley Ortega being on the station, and the twelve-year-old decided to sneak out of the quarters belonging to her father and her. She remembered her Dad saying to stay in their quarters for the time being with all the construction still going on in several places. She slipped down the corridor while checking different active terminals to find where Ashley was.
Once Paige was outside the quarters that she thought were the correct ones the twelve-year-old reached up and activated the chime. She then stood there waiting for the other girl to come to the door, hoping they were the right quarters. It had been a couple years since Paige had seen Ashley, they had met during one of the times Paige had gone to spend time with her grandparents. They did, however, communicate via the subspace system.
Ashley heard the chime and looked up from the bag she’d been unpacking then she tilted her head slightly. Her sister was probably at station operations, and the twelve-year-old assumed the person on the other side of the door was probably there for Alexandra and not for Ashley. Then she went over and opened the door.
Ashley was surprised to see Paige standing there and at first she didn’t do anything nor did she say anything. Then Ashley remembered that Paige’s father was now the Captain of the station and it shouldn’t surprise her that the other girl was on board. A wild grin soon formed over her face and she sprung forward, wrapping her friend into a hug.
Paige grunted as she was nearly knocked over by the other girl. “Hello to you too,” She grunted as she returned the hug. Once Ashley had let her go Paige slipped into the quarters. She looked around for a moment, “Sorry to hear about your Mom and Dad.” She told the other girl with a pang of regret in her voice.
Ashley shrugged, “I still remember you telling me about your Mom,” The twelve-year-old confided in her friend. She went over and sat down on the sofa that was in the quarters, it was rather warm there. But, she remembered her sister saying that was something that had to be worked out. “We were eleven when you mentioned it.” Ashley sighed.
Paige sat down next to her friend and stared at the wall opposite from the two of them, “Yeah but I barely remember my Mom. You’re parents just…” She hesitated for a moment trying to find the words to say. “They just died,” She looked over at her friend as thoughts of what to say swirled around in her head.
“We don’t have to talk about this,” Paige pointed out, “Not if you’re not up to it.”
Ashley was staring forward as she listened to what her friend was telling her. That was true, Paige was very young when her mother had died. She also still had her father around whereas Ashley had lost both parents in one go. She nodded, “Yeah, I think you’re right.” She answered softly. Then she looked over at Paige, “How’s your Dad doing?”
“He’s okay,” Paige answered her friend. “He doesn’t know I left our quarters because he’s up in his office. But, when I learned you were aboard I had to sneak out and come see you.” She looked over at Ashley for a moment with a glint of happiness in her eyes. “Do you know who’s going to be running the school?”
Ashley shook her head, “My sister talked about doing it, but something tells me she’s going to be quite busy.” She looked over at Paige for a moment with a slight frown, uncertain what to say to the other girl as she watched her closely. “Are you still talking to that boy?” Ashley asked.
Paige felt a surge of embarrassment as her cheeks turned bright pink, “Yeah,” She whispered remembering the boy Ashley was talking about. His name was Hayden but she refused to tell her father about him. He was someone else she’d met while visiting Earth, but that was more recent than when she first met Ashley.
“My Dad has no idea,” Paige said softly. “I think I like him, he’s cute,” She pointed out to her friend. The strange set of emotions running through her stomach as she started to think about Hayden. The butterflies felt so strange as they fluttered around in the pit of her stomach.
Ashley was relieved that the conversation had strayed away from her parents, thankful to be talking about something else. “I’ve seen the pictures you sent me,” She said and looked at Paige. “He is cute, your Dad would probably turn into a wild animal if he knew his daughter was talking to a boy.” She laughed a little bit at the very thought.
Paige laughed nervously, “Yeah that’s why I haven’t told him.” She then remembered she hadn’t told Hayden she’d moved to the station. “Once they get communications working I’ll have to call him. It’ll have to be while my Dad isn’t in our quarters though.” She looked forward while she thought about Hayden.
He was older than Paige was, he was fourteen years old, Paige wondered if he liked her too but she’d not been brave enough to ask him. She didn’t want to be rejected by him, and she didn’t want her father to know about her first crush either. “I’ll… I’ll tell my Dad eventually,” She said.
“I’m sure you will,” Ashley replied to her friend then she slid closer and hugged the other girl. “Supposedly we’re not the only girls on the station. Did you know that?”
Paige nodded as the subject once again changed, “Yeah,” She answered. Paige knew the Executive Officer and the Operations Chief both had daughters who were on the station. “At least it’s not just the two of us. Not that this would be a bad thing,” She added.
Ashley grinned, “I’m all for more friends,” She said. “Maybe we should call Hayden now?” She suggested, “Unless the communications are still broken?”
Paige nodded, “Dad said they won’t have the communications fully operational for at least the next two days. It’s kind of like the heat, they can’t quite get it functional for some reason. I wonder if Deep Space Nine had these problems?” She questioned rhetorically and shrugged. “I’ll call him as soon as they get it fixed unless you have another idea.”
“We could go to that ship that’s docked?” Ashley suggested.
Paige grinned, “Sneaking back on board a starship?” She thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. “Nah, I can wait until communications are working,” The twelve-year-old said. “Though I can help you unpack?” She said and pointed at the luggage in the room that she assumed belonged to Ashley.
“Sure,” Ashley answered with a shrug. Ashley stood up and went into the room in front of Paige. She opened the next bag and began removing her outfits and putting them into the drawers. “Have you unpacked your things yet?”
Paige nodded, “I finished an hour ago.” She told the other girl, “And as soon as we finish this we can find something to eat.” She then focused on the task at hand. Paige watched Ashley carefully while unpacking. A warm smile forming on her face as she helped her friend.