CINDERELLA IN SPACE

The Christa flew slowly through space. The past few weeks had been completely uneventful and the crew was bored. Commander Goddard began to get lenient on command post duty to the point where Thelma seemed to be on duty all the time. Ms. Davenport even felt the boredom, often canceling classes in order to sleep. They all seemed to be in desperate need of a change of pace.

The cadets lounged in the team room. Harlan lay on his back on the circle couch, staring at the ceiling. Suzee sat at the Minbar chess table with her head resting on her hands and sighed. Bova was asleep in the corner on the floor and Rosie was flipping through the Infocore on her compupad. None of them spoke or had anything to say. They had said everything already.

"You know," Harlan said, breaking the silence, "I never thought I would say this, but I miss Davenport's lectures."

"I wish something would break," Suzee said wistfully.

"I wish something would happen," Rosie added.

"I wish you would be quiet," Bova said from his corner. "Some of us are actually trying to sleep."

The team lapsed back into silence. A few minute later, the door opened and Radu came in. He took one look at his depressed friends and sighed quietly to himself. If it hadn't been for their collective heartbeats, he wouldn't have know they were there.

Radu stepped carefully over Bova and walked to where Rosie was sitting. He jumped over Harlan and sat down next to the Mercurian, who was deeply engrossed in her compupad. Radu read over her shoulder, but couldn't figure out what she was reading.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Shh!" Bova said.

"I'm reading a fairy tale," Rosie replied quietly.

"A tail?" Radu asked. "I thought it was a story."

Rosie giggled to herself. "It is a story. A fairy tale is a story that never happened, but it's supposed to teach the reader something at the end."

"Will it teach me the answers to Ms Davenport's next test?" Radu joked.

"You wish," Harlan laughed.

"What's the tale about?" Radu asked, ignoring Harlan's remark.

"It's the story of Cinderella," Rosie said.

"Read it out loud," Suzee suggested. "It will give us all something to listen to."

"Unless you don't want to listen," Bova grumbled.

**************************

Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful girl named Cinderella.

"What did she look like?" Radu asked, interrupting the story.

Rosie shrugged. "Like a beautiful girl."

"Let's just say she looked like me," Suzee suggested. "For the sake of the story, of course."

Harlan rolled his eyes and Radu blushed as Rosie continued the story.

Cinderella lived with her father in a huge house in the country. She had no mother, because her mother had died giving birth to her. Cinderella's father loved her very much, but felt that she wasn't growing up right because she had no female figure to model herself after. So, when Cinderella's father met a woman with two children of her own, he thought she would make a wonderful mother for Cinderella as well and he married her.

"I bet that wasn't the only reason he married her," Harlan said.

"Hush," Suzee scolded. "Let Rosie tell the story."

Unfortunately, only a few months after the wedding, Cinderella's father died.

"This is a children's story?" Radu asked.

"There are worse," Bova told him.

Once her father was out of the way, Cinderella's stepmother turned out to be quite wicked. She treated Cinderella like a maid and treated her own two daughters like spoiled princesses.

"Hang on a second," Harlan interrupted. "If Suzee gets to be Cinderella, who's the wicked stepmother?"

"Ms Davenport?" Suzee suggested.

Everyone laughed, except Rosie who seemed quite displeased with Suzee's comment.

"Then who are the two wicked stepsisters?" Bova asked.

"Well, Rosie is the only girl we have left," Suzee replied.

"But I'm not wicked," Rosie protested.

"We're going to have to change the story from two wicked stepsisters, to a wicked stepsister and a wicked stepbrother," Suzee said.

"Who's the wicked stepbrother?" Radu asked.

"Why, Harlan, of course."

Okay, the wicked stepmother treated Cinderella like a maid and treated her own son and daughter like a spoiled prince and princess. Cinderella was forced to do all kinds of things like sweep the halls, gather the fruits, all the baking and cooking, the sewing and mending and things like that.

Then, from out of the sky came a Spung Killcruiser and it was up to the wicked stepbrother to save the entire house from the evil lizard creatures. The stepbrother, who was really a karate master, bravely defended the girls of the family until -

"Harlan," Rosie said, "you can't just jump into the story like that!"

"Yeah, there weren't any Spung around when this was written," Suzee added.

"But it needs some excitement," Harlan defended. "So she's a maid, whoopee."

Rosie and Suzee rolled their eyes and both turned their backs to Harlan as Rosie began to continue the story.

"I thought it made it rather interesting," Radu whispered to Harlan.

"You ain't seen nothing yet," Harlan promised.

Cinderella was forced to dress in rags and sleep in the barn, but no matter what horrible task the stepmother made her do -

"Like astrophysics homework?" Bova asked.

- Cinderella remained beautiful and carefree. Her stepmother was furious, but Cinderella didn't care. She remained beautiful and carefree.

"We know already," Harlan pointed out. "You already said she was beautiful and carefree."

"I guess there's a repetitiveness glitch in the compupad," Rosie frowned.

Suzee's eyes lit up. "Oh good! Something to fix. Give it here, Rosie."

The Mercurian handed over the compupad and Suzee began to fiddle with the wiring in the back. Rosie sat back and sighed.

"What happens next?" Radu demanded.

"Suzee's got the story," Rosie reminded him. "I'm not sure what happens. I just skimmed it before. Something about a Prince and a pumpkin and a ball."

"A ball?" Bova asked. "Like when Harlan tried to teach us baseball in the cargo bay?"

"Why would the Prince have a baseball?" Radu asked.

The door opened and Commander Goddard came in. He looked just as bored as the others had been minutes earlier.

"Mr. Band," he said, "it's your watch."

"Just a minute, Commander," Harlan agreed. "I want to hear the rest of the story."

"Now," Goddard said in a tone that showed he wasn't kidding.

Harlan sighed and left the team room with Commander Goddard close behind him.

"Well," Suzee said, "finish the story."

Um, Cinderella was out in the back of the house playing with a red rubber ball one of the other servants had given her. She threw it high in the air and caught it. On one of these throws, the ball went flying through the air and hit someone. Cinderella ran to where the ball had fallen to see who it had struck. She was surprised to find that it had knocked a handsome young man off his feet.

"Who's the handsome young man?" Bova asked.

"Well, we've already got Harlan as the wicked stepbrother," Suzee said, "so I suppose the handsome man would be - "

Bova leaned forward expectantly.

" - Radu," Suzee finished.

"Figures," Bova muttered as he sank back into his chair.

"Oh good sir," Cinderella apologized when she saw him. "I'm terribly sorry for hitting you with my ball."

The handsome man was so stricken with her beauty that he forgot about the lump on his head and slowly got to his feet.

"I don't think being hit on the head with a rubber ball would knock an Andromedan down," Radu protested, "and I'm sure it wouldn't leave a lump."

"Pretend you're an Earther," Suzee said. "It would hurt then."

The man forgave the apologizing girl and asked politely for some ice to put on his head because he was sure that the hit he had gotten was making his brain swell up and bleed and he would soon die because of the -

"Bova!" Suzee snapped. "Even Earthers aren't that weak."

"Hey!" Harlan said.

Everyone was surprised by the sudden appearance of Harlan's voice. They all looked up and saw that he was watching them on the screen.

"Aren't you supposed to be on watch?" Radu asked.

Harlan shrugged. "The Commander didn't tell me exactly what I was supposed to be watching, so I'm watching you. Keep telling the story, Rosie."

"Okay," The Mercurian agreed.

Anyway, the handsome man had forgotten about the lump on his head and was staring at the beautiful girl in front of him.

"What's your name?" the man asked.

"Cinderella," she replied. "What's yours?"

"I'm Prince - "

Rosie broke off her narrative.

"Prince what?" Radu asked.

Rosie frowned. "I don't think the prince ever had a real name. He was always just 'the Prince'."

"That's dumb," Bova said.

"Well, I haven't finished reading the story yet," Rosie confessed. "Maybe he's got a name later."

"I'm almost done fixing it," Suzee said, picking up the compupad she had put down to listen to the story. "Give me a minute."

"You're doing fine, Rosie," Radu encouraged. "Keep it up."

Cinderella was so happy that she had met the Prince, she didn't even wait until he had told her his name before she curtseyed politely, turned, and ran back to her house.

"Why would she do that?" Radu asked.

"I don't think this is how the story is supposed to go," Harlan agreed. "My mom used to tell it to me when I was little and I'm sure they went dancing and Cinderella looses her shoe."

The Prince followed Cinderella to her house and asked her nicely if she wanted to go dancing. Cinderella told the Prince that she couldn't because she didn't have anything to wear, so the Prince gave her a communicator and asked her to contact him when she got a dress. Then the Prince went back to his palace to wait.

"A communicator?" Suzee asked.

"Isn't that how people keep in touch on Earth?" Rosie wondered. "That's how we do it on Mercury."

"Rosie, this story takes place before Earthers knew where Mercury was. They didn't even have - oh, what are those things called?" Suzee looked at her friends for help. They all shrugged.

"What are what called?" Ms Davenport asked, coming into the room.

"Those things Earthers used to talk to each other before communicators were invented," Suzee said.

"You mean the telephone, invented by - "

"Yes, that's it. Thank you, Ms Davenport."

Okay. The Prince told Cinderella to come to the palace when she had a dress and they would play ball together. Cinderella's wicked stepmother over heard the entire conversation and told Cinderella that she was not allowed to ever play ball again and that she had to go outside and -

"Do astrophysics homework?" Bova suggested.

- do all the gardening. Cinderella obeyed and went to the garden, knowing that she would never see the Prince again.

But while Cinderella was gardening, the stepbrother came outside because Earth was being invaded by the Luff and only he could save them!

"Harlan!" Suzee snapped.

Radu began to laugh until a dirty look from Suzee made him stop.

"Mr. Band," Ms Davenport said sternly. "Aren't you supposed to be on watch?"

"Uh, yes, Ms Davenport," Harlan replied.

"Then I suggest you start watching space instead of watching the team room."

"Yes, Ms Davenport," Harlan said.

Ms Davenport left the team room, muttering something about incompetence and how hard it is to find good help.

"It's fixed!" Suzee declared. "Okay. Someone break something else."

"Uh oh," Rosie said, her eyes skimming the compupad. "We're not even close to the real story."

"Keep making it up until we're close again," Radu said.

All right. Cinderella was gardening when her evil stepsister and stepbrother came outside to see her. They were being very smug because they had received invitations to a party at the palace. The Prince was trying to find a wife -

"A wife?" Radu asked, looking very uncomfortable.

"Yes, a wife," Suzee said, sliding closer to the Andromedan.

"You read ahead, didn't you?" Bova accused.

Suzee shrugged. "A little, but there's no harm in that, is there?"

- and the party at the palace was to invite all the unwed young women in the kingdom so he could pick.

"You got an invitation too, Cinderella," the evil stepsister said, holding out an envelope.

"Really?" Cinderella said, reaching out to take it.

The evil stepsister tore the envelope in half. "Sorry, Cinderella. I guess you were just uninvited."

"I would never do that!" Rosie objected.

The night of the party, the evil stepmother and her children were all dressed up and ready to go. Cinderella stood at the bottom of the stairs, watching her step-family and tears fell from her eyes. Her stepmother came over to her.

"Don't cry, dear," she said. "I've made sure that you'll have plenty to do tonight to keep your mind off the party. To start, there's the dishes from dinner to wash, there are floors to sweep, mending to sew, chickens to feed, meat to prepare, coal to shovel, ironing to do, laundry to wash, curtains to beat and rugs to clean. Of course, you still have to prepare for tomorrow's meal, milk to cow, and dust the furniture. You'll be so busy that the party won't cross your mind."

"Yes, stepmother," Cinderella said sadly.

"And when your stepsister marries the Prince and becomes Queen, you'll have the entire palace to clean."

"Yes, stepmother."

"Come along, children. We mustn't keep His Highness waiting."

The stepmother and Cinderella's two step-siblings left the house in a mess for Cinderella to clean.

"Why does everyone want to marry the Prince?" Radu asked.

"To become a Princess, of course," Suzee replied.

"Why does everyone want to be a Princess?"

"For wealth and power, I guess," Suzee answered.

"I don't get it. Andromedans don't want wealth and power. Whatever we have, we share with the community. "

"Earthers are strange," Bova said. "When do I get to be in the story?"

"Soon," Rosie replied, suppressing a giggle.

Cinderella was so upset that she sat by the fire and cried.

"I wish I could go to the party and dance with the Prince," she wished.

"You can, if you want," a voice said behind her.

Cinderella turned around and saw a woman standing behind her.

"Who are you?" Cinderella asked.

"I'm your fairy god-Uranusian," she replied.

"No way!" Bova said. "I'm not a fairy."

Suzee and Rosie were practically on the floor laughing as Bova turned redder and redder. Radu tried his hardest not to laugh with the girls, but soon, he couldn't help himself.

"It's the only role left, Bova," Suzee said, wiping the tears of laughter from her eyes.

Bova looked angry and he sulked on the corner of the circle couch.

"Can't I at least be a male?"

Okay. Just for you, Bova. The fairy god-Uranusian was not a female, but was a male. He still had fairy wings and a wand, though.

"I'm going to make your wish come true," he said. "You want to go to the party, then you will go."

"But I don't have a dress," Cinderella replied.

The fairy god-Uranusian waved his wand and Cinderella's dirty rags were replaced with a gorgeous gown. On her feet were glass slippers.

"You have until midnight to meet your Prince, then the spell will be over and you'll return to rags, so don't screw it up, even though you probably will." he warned.

"Thank you," Cinderella said happily.

The fairy god-Uranusian waved his wand and Cinderella disappeared, only to reappear moments later just outside the palace.

"Isn't there supposed to be something about a pumpkin?" Rosie asked. "I'm sure I read something before about Cinderella coaching a pumpkin."

"That's boring," Suzee said. "My way is much faster."

Cinderella met her Prince at the ball and they danced all night and fell in love.

Radu coughed uncomfortably.

Suddenly, the clock struck midnight and Cinderella knew she had to leave. She turned and quickly ran down the stairs towards the gates of the palace. As she ran, she lost one of her glass slippers. The Prince was right behind her and he picked up the slipper.

"Wait!" he called. "I don't know your name!"

But Cinderella was already gone, leaving the Prince with the shoe.

"I'll marry whoever fits this slipper," he vowed.

"I don't get it," Bova said. "Is Cinderella the only person in the kingdom with that size foot?"

"I guess so," Rosie answered. "Maybe her foot was extra small."

"Or extra big," Harlan laughed as he appeared on the view screen again. "Next time warn me when Davenport is around."

"Uh, Harlan?" Radu said.

Harlan turned slowly to see Ms Davenport standing behind him, looking very displeased.

"Five demerits, Mr. Band, and turn off that view screen," Ms Davenport said.

The picture went dark again.

The Prince traveled from house to house, asking every unmarried girl to try on the shoe. There wasn't a single girl whose foot was that small.

"Thank you, Rosie," Suzee said. "I do not have huge feet."

Finally, the Prince came to the last house. He knocked on the door and the evil stepmother answered it. She had heard about the Prince's quest and had gotten her son to lock Cinderella in the closet to keep her from trying on the shoe.

"That sounds like Ms Davenport," Suzee said.

"And Harlan," Bova added.

The Prince tried the shoe on the evil stepsister, but it didn't fit. Even the stepmother tried it on, but her feet were too big.

"Are there any other women living in this house?" the Prince asked.

"No, your Highness," the stepmother replied. "Just myself and my daughter."

Suddenly, the fairy god-Uranusian appeared. He looked angry and he zapped the wicked stepmother with his electricity.

"I've always wanted to do that," he said smugly as the stepmother fell to the ground.

"Bova, what are you doing?" Suzee demanded.

"My role was too small, so I came back," Bova replied. "Did you think I would spend that much magic on Cinderella only to have her stay locked in a closet?"

The fairy god-Uranusian led the Prince to the closet where the stepbrother had hidden Cinderella. He then zapped the lock so it would open and out came Cinderella. Take it away, Rosie.

Cinderella came out of the closet and curtseyed to the Prince. He immediatly recognized her as the girl who had hit him on the head with the rubber ball. Cinderella tried on the slipper and found that it was a perfect fit. The Prince then took her away from the wicket stepmother and step-siblings and married her. The End.

**************************

"Great story, Rosie," Radu said.

"Thanks," Rosie replied.

"It killed time," Bova shrugged.

Everyone in the team room lapsed back into the same boredom they had been experiencing before. Rosie put her compupad back onto the table and Bova began to doze off. Suzee let her eyes follow the rhythmic rising and falling of Bova's chest and Radu closed his eyes to listen to the Christa.

"Attention, attention," Commander Goddard's voice rang out on the comm. system. "Everyone, get to the command post. We've got some trouble."

"Finally!" Suzee said, jumping to her feet.

"Here we go again," Bova sighed.

The space cases filed out of the team room to embark on yet another great adventure in space.