When Calista Shepard woke up, she immediately jumped out of bed, her bare feet hitting the familiar rubbery floor tiles with dull slaps. When she got to the door of her living quarters, she turned left into the small corridor, running toward the large view port she had spent hours in front of, watching the ships fly by, sometimes docking with the station. It didn't take long for her to pin-point the ship she was looking for. It was huge, as big as a dreadnought, but nowhere near as heavily armed. Instead, it housed large numbers of fighters, something that fascinated Calista: a ship that had loads of smaller ships inside it. A carrier.
Even though she knew which carrier it was, she still looked for its name, and when she saw it, Einstein, she smiled and bounced on the spot. As she did so, she heard a door opening to her right and her head snapped in its direction. The crowd of people in the corridor walking toward her were vague faces, most of them smiling and happy, heads turned toward each other, talking, bags slung over shoulders and suitcases held at sides. Her mother's face was the only one she paid any attention to. She darted forward and ran the length of the corridor towards the crowd, none of them noticing her. She collided with her mother's leg and hugged it tightly. The woman flinched and looked down.
"Callie!" Hannah Shepard dropped her bags and knelt down to scoop her daughter into a hug. "I missed you so much!" She said, as she peppered the child with kisses. "Have you been a good girl for your daddy?"
"Yes," little Calista said, not letting go of her mother, head buried in the crook of her neck.
"Have you been a good girl for Mrs Holloway?" Hannah said, her nose in Calista's hair.
"No. She looks like a fish." Hannah laughed. "I like duh lessons, dough. I can count to a hundud, now."
"A hundred? You're a clever little girl, aren't you? Let me look at you," Hannah said, as she pulled away from her daughter to take in her face. Her hair had grown since she'd last seen her two months ago, her light brown locks were now past her shoulders. Her eyes were as green as ever, possibly greener than Hannah remembered, and her faint row of freckles on her upper cheeks that trailed across her nose made Hannah's heart melt. Hannah leant forward and pecked Calista on the tip of her button nose, causing the little girl to rub it as if it irritated her. Hannah chuckled.
"Mommy, my tuff came out. Look," Calista said, as she pulled her bottom lip down to reveal a missing tooth. "I pulled it out."
Hannah cooed at the gap in between her daughter's teeth. "You're a brave girl. Did it hurt?"
"Nope. Dare was blud, dough. But I wasn't scared. Daddy told me to yank it out, so I did."
Hannah rolled her eyes and made a mental note to try to talk the little girl's father into not being so short with her, though she didn't think it would do much. He was a stubborn fool.
"Come on, let's get you home. Do you want to carry Mommy's bag?" Hannah said as she held out the small backpack she had freed from over her shoulder. Her daughter took it with the enthusiasm only a child could have at being given such a tiny responsibility. She turned around with it over her shoulder, just like how her mother carried it, and almost marched forward, her little feet slapping the ground as she went, not waiting for Hannah.
As the little girl turned the corner, her mother heard her cry out with glee. "Daddy! Mommy's back!"
"What have I told you about running off, girl?" Hannah heard her husband reply. She rolled her eyes again, and turned the corner to see Calista in front of her father, the backpack had fallen from her shoulders as she stared up at the tall man. "Get inside," he said pointing sharply at the door. The little girl obeyed quickly, leaving her mother's backpack forgotten behind her.
Hannah sighed and paced towards her husband. "For God's sake, Paul. She's just excited to see her mother." As she reached him, they bumped lips together, the kiss more of a force of habit than a sign of affection.
"She need to learn to listen. Her teacher said she's more interested in making her friends laugh than she is on her work."
"Work? She's 5 years old! And her teacher is a fucking idiot, Paul. Callie's probably the most intelligent kid on the station, without trying. She'll be fine, just cut her some slack. This shit-hole of a galaxy is gonna erode her spirit enough as it is, she doesn't need you and her dickhead of a teacher doing it, too." Before her husband could reply she stormed past him through the door and after her daughter.
She found her at the small children's terminal her daughter had in her bedroom, she was tapping away at the haptic screen quite enthusiastically, as if her father hadn't just lambasted her. Hannah thought that if her father and her prick of a teacher wanted to break Calista's spirit, they might have try harder.
"Mommy, look. I made a ship," the little girl said as she spotted her mother watching her from the doorway. She was pointing to the terminal in front of her. Hannah stepped behind Calista and leant over to closely examined the display. Calista had a program up that allowed the user to create 3D shapes. It seemed a little more advanced than the kinds of programs usually found on a terminal designed for use by children. The ship model itself was quite impressive for one made by a 5 year old, Hannah noticed. She swelled with pride.
"You made this?" Hannah asked, and her daughter nodded with a smile. "You're a smart little thing. What's it called?"
"The SSV Calista!" She answered, and Hannah laughed.
"Of course it is," her mother replied with a smile. Hannah pulled up her omni-tool and gestured it toward the terminal, pulling the design onto it, where it hovered above her arm, slowly rotating in orange 3D. Calista stared up at it, her mouth slightly ajar. "I can send this to a friend and he can make it into a toy, if you want. We can get some paint and some brushes and paint it together. Would you like that?"
Calista nodded fervently with a big smile and wide eyes.