The Sweetest Christmas, Part 1
Posted on Mon Dec 30th, 2024 @ 3:33pm by Lieutenant JG Jane Sinclair
1,215 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
Christmas Vacation
Location: The town of Clearlake, Proxima Centauri II
Timeline: Christmas time
Jane Sinclair, Personal Log.
I’ve been given leave to visit my mother back home on Proxima. It’s been a busy year, and we’ve not been able to speak over subspace as much as we wanted. This’ll be a good time to reconnect.
I don’t want to be gone for long though. It’ll be nice to visit mum but I got away from that town for a reason. Life is too slow there. It’ll be nice to get back to the Myogi. It’s a busy, fast-paced life, and for a racer like me there’s nothing I want more. Besides, they need me there.
End log.
The shuttle touched down at the family property landing platform and Jane Sinclair stepped outside. She took a deep breath, taking in the fresh cool air of Clearlake, Cochrane District, in December. A light dusting of snow coated the fields. The temperature hovered around zero Celsius, but Jane didn’t mind. She slipped on a pair of leather gloves and earmuffs and skip-walked home the way she loved to do in the planet’s lower gravity. I suppose it really has been too long. Best make the most of it.
She made it about halfway before having her legs taken out from under her. For she did not see or hear the golden retriever dog running at top speed on a course crossing hers. The mutt intercepted one leg at the worst moment possible in her stride, sending her tumbling to the ground.
“Oh my goodness!” A warm – if distressed – voice was carried over the wind and into Jane’s ear. She rolled onto her back and saw a woman running toward her. Tall for a human (but on the shorter side for a Proximan, like Jane), with honey hair and a worried expression. “Bailey! How could you?” She collected the dog’s leash and held it tight, and extended a hand down toward Jane. “Ah’m so sorry, Miss! This little devil made me drop his lead and he bolted. Are you alright?”
“Yeah,” Jane said, taking the offered hand and letting herself be pulled up. She stumbled forward and the woman caught her, their eyes locking just a moment. Jane blushed and regained her footing. “Yeah thanks.”
“Anytime,” the woman said softly before letting go of Jane’s hand. “Hey, Ah know you.”
Of course it happened some of the time. Jane was once a public figure, and her face was still sometimes in the news on the sports page. But this was different. This girl was familiar… “Emmy?” Jane asked. “Emmy Doyle?”
The girl grinned. “Jane Sinclair.” She didn’t recognize Jane because of her racing career. She recognized her from their time in high school. “So good to see you! How long has it been?”
Jane did a bit of math in her head. How long had it been since graduating? “Seventeen years?” she guessed. Then she smiled. “Too long.”
Emmy Doyle. A good friend, way back when. They ran in the same social circles. Book club, volleyball, footie, and drama, plus a few classes and shared friends groups. Beautiful then, drop dead gorgeous now. Jane had had a bit of a crush, but hadn’t acted on it. Emmy had spent the first half of high school dating Tom Peterson, and when they broke up she’d moved on to Rick Lombard. There was talk that she was bi but Jane never saw evidence of it. That six month window when she was single was when Jane was dating Vanessa Beech.
“I’m on my way to my mum’s place,” Jane said, pointing down the road. “Want to come have some tea and we’ll catch up? There’s a fenced area where…Bailey, was it?... can have a run.”
Emmy smiled sadly. “I’m sorry but I need to get to the bakery. There’s too much to do before the Generosity Festival. Come downtown tomorrow though. Sweet Haven Bakery, corner of Maple and Oak. I want to hear all about your adventures, both racing and Starfleet.”
“Will 1330 work?” Jane asked. “Just after lunch rush?”
Emmy nodded excitedly. “Make sure you save room for dessert! See you tomorrow!” She turned away and ran off, Bailey setting the pace for a run back towards town.
“See you then,” Jane said. “And bye, Bailey.”
A few minutes later, she was inside her childhood home. “Mum! Never guess who I ran into!”
**
The downtown centre of Clearlake, such as it was, was virtually unchanged from Jane’s childhood. Yes a handful of shops were new but most of the staples were still there, from Uncle Jim’s farm-fresh market to the Mighty Oak Pub to the non-denominational prayer and meditation centre.
And all along the waterfront, as they did every year, many shops were setting up booths for the annual Generosity Festival. Being a bit early, Jane stopped to watch a team of engineers bring online the main feature, a digital screen which displayed the number of Fed-Cred’s donated to the festival’s charity so far.
“Well if it isn’t Jane Sinclair?”
For as long as Jane lived, she would always recognize that snide tone. “Trent Harris.” She turned around to see the slicked back hair and punchable face she had hoped she would never see again. A rival inasmuch as he always felt the need to compete and never let it go when he lost, he often made competitions worse simply by showing up.
Alongside was another familiar face. Lily Adams. Were these two together? An interesting pair. Lily had never been the strongest personality and here she was now, holding onto Trent’s arm as he smirked at Jane.
“What brings you back here?” he asked, feigning politeness.
“You know my mum still lives here,” Jane said, her brow furrowed. Her mother Ellen was a fixture in town, repairing people’s shuttles and aircars in her garage. “Hi, Lily,” she offered the girl politely.
“Jane,” Lily replied, nodding. “Nice to see you.”
“You know they don’t have a race during the Generosity Festival, right?” Trent teased. “Not sure what you bring to town except to increase its loser count. That or uphold the fascist regime. Yeah we saw you on the news. Killing patriots who were just trying to take back the Federation.”
“Ah,” Jane said simply, and she couldn’t stop herself from grinning. She hadn’t killed anyone that day, and everyone knew it, but he was just some Miyahara-worshiping idiot who bought into all the lies. It wasn’t surprising. “Well listen I gotta go.” No need to engage. “I’ve got an appointment at Sweet Haven.”
“Sweet Haven Bakery?” Trent said. He laughed. “That talentless hack is gonna lose. Lily and I opened Sugar & Nice and she’s four times the baker of anyone at Sweet Haven. Isn’t that right?”
“I’m just happy to compete,” Lily said quietly.
“Ha! My girl is so modest!” Trent boasted. “She’s gonna kick ass.”
“Whatever,” Jane said, annoyed more than anything. “See you around.”
“Not if we see you first!”
Trent always had to get the last word.
To be continued…
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