Catherine stepped back to admire herself in the mirror. Her short blond bob had just gone even shorter, into a cute pixie cut. She felt free!
She smiled to herself, funny how something as simple as a haircut could make her feel free when she had already left behind everything that was weighing her down.
She had been onboard the ship for several days now. She seemed to be the only biological life form aboard. There were no other humans on board or anything she would describe as an alien or even an animal. No plant life either. She was completely perplexed as to who was in charge here.
Until Frank spoke to her. Frank was what she was calling the computer, or maybe the ship itself, she was unsure what, exactly, Frank was. Maybe Frank was the on board computer that controlled everything or maybe Frank was the ship itself. The distinction was a minor one, she knew. All she knew for sure was that Frank spoke to her, prepared her meals, adjusted the environment of the ship for her and plotted the course they took.
She knew this, because he had told her so. “The air inside the ship now approximates Earth’s atmosphere to accommodate your needs.” He had told her.
“Approximates?” She had asked, wondering if she should worry about approximations.
“Well, the air you breathe on board here is much superior to Earth’s atmosphere.” Frank had responded and she swore he sounded haughty.
“The air that I have manufactured is free of pollutants and allergens so yes, it approximates Earth’s atmosphere, but better than Earth itself.” That time she was sure he had sounded smug and self satisfied. This argued against him being a programmed machine, at least she thought it did. Could the ship itself be sentient? She had no idea. She had never been on board a spacecraft before, after all. What did she know about the mentality of UFOs?
Angela Harrison 