Horsing Around Part I
Posted on Sat Jul 25th, 2026 @ 1:15pm by Captain Marc Kidd & Lieutenant Maya Canak
Edited on on Sun Jul 26th, 2026 @ 6:28am
1,730 words; about a 9 minute read
Mission:
Episode 3 - The One Who Got Away
Location: Holodeck 6 - Deck 6 - USS Artemis
Timeline: MD005 1800 hrs
Maya dressed in a pair of comfortable cotton jeans and a short-sleeved, scoop-necked blouse with embroidery on the neck and sleeves. It was what she often wore when riding in the Yucatan and was accompanied by a pair of ankle-length riding boots. Her hair was loose, but she had a scarf in her small pack in case she needed to tie back her hair. Her pack also contained a bottle of rum, as the captain requested, and some cookies to go with it.
She hadn't been riding since her last trip to earth and she was looking forward to it. She was also curious to see how her companion rode. She heard he was a horseman, but she had yet to see him in the saddle.
She was the first to arrive at the holodeck. Since she wasn't sure if he had a favorite program for riding, she waited outside the door for his arrival.
Marc was hot on Maya's heels and arrived moments later. He wore a plaid flannel shirt and a pair of jeans. A pair of riding chaps were slung over his shoulder and a cowboy hat was on his head. He wore a pair of brown cowboy style boots. A smile beamed from his face. "You ready Doctor. There is only one question. English or western?"
She took a moment to appreciate his choice of clothing. "Call me Maya, please. And western." She'd never ridden English-style. One day, she'd have to try--wearing a full skirt, of course. "Do you have a program you prefer?"
Marc smiled. "Maya it is." He turned to the console and tapped a few commands in. In short notice the program was ready. Two horses tacked western. "If I hear the word Captain come out of your mouth during this ride, you will be relieved of duty." He said with a laugh. "We are going to ride American Paint Horses through some of the mountains in New York where I am from. Come on." He stepped through the large doors of the holodeck.
Before them were two horses one was black and white, and the other brown and white. Both were paint horses. The horses were hitched to a tree and there was a path that winded through the woods. In the distance you can see the mountains of this particular section of the Poconos. It was early morning and the mist was clearing. The air was crisp and cool, it was autumn and the leaves had just begun to change. Early morning birds chirped, and there was a murder of crows squawking in the distance. "This is the foot hills of the Pocono Mountains in north western New York where I was raised." He spoke as he approached the horses. The ground crunched beneath his boots.
"It's beautiful," she said softly, looking around. "I've never been to New York before." It was cooler than she was used to as well, but the day would doubtless warm up. As she walked beside Marc, she looked over the two horses. One turned its head to watch their approach. The other just shook its head, making her smile.
"Well then mount up and we can see what we can see." Marc said as he approached the horse and gave him a pat on the neck. Marc put his chaps on and zipped up the legs of the shotgun chaps. He unhitched the animal from the tree and swung himself up into the saddle. "Now, this is so much better than a Captain's chair."
While Marc put on his chaps, Maya took a moment to talk softly to her horse before mounting. Then she tied her hair back with a scarf. "It's better than many things." It had been far too long and she smiled as she looked around again.
"These horses have been waiting and resting long enough. Try to keep up." Marc said and then turned his horse to the trail. With a kick of his heels the horse took off at a canter into the woods. The wind on his face, the smell of the air, and the trees whipping past, nothing was better to Marc than this experience. He was glad that he finally had someone to share the experience with.
Laughing, Maya leaned forward, gave her horse a kick, and chased after him into the woods. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful setting. That, combined with the joy of being on horseback again was a delight. She didn't let the horse get too far behind while she waited for more open terrain to try and pass Marc.
After about ten minutes of cantering down the winding trail through the foothills Marc reined his horse in. "Good boy!" He said while patting the horse’s neck. As Maya reined up next to him Marc tilted his head and spoke. "You know horses should have names. The computer that creates these programs does not take that into account. Lucky for us we are not a computer. So how about it?" His smile was warm and inviting. He practically laughed while he spoke. It was a side of Marc that he did not get to show too often with everything that the ship goes through. Yet it was a side of his personality that he wanted to show all the time.
She smiled back. Marc had a nice smile. "Yes. They deserve names."
She patted the side of the horse's neck. "Don't you, girl?" The horse huffed in agreement.
"Growing up..." Marc began and turned his horse back onto the trail. He began to walk side by side with Maya. "...I loved the Old American West. The stories, and mystery of it all kept me enraptured for days at a time. One person in particular was Doc Holliday, a dentist by trade and gunslinger by choice. So, to honor the childhood hero I think this boy here is Doc." Marc patted the horse’s neck again. As if in response to the name Doc rubbed his nose on Marc's hand. "I have always had a kinship of sorts with horses. Managed to allow my parents to let me keep some as a child."
"I love that. My grandfather had horses. He'd let us ride them when we were kids. He had horses for making house calls and horses to lend to people who needed them to help with one thing or another. He didn't want to use an air sled or air car if he could help it. He said it disturbed the gods of the land." She smiled at Marc. "I will not name her after one of the gods as he felt that was asking for their attention. So, I think I'll call her Nikté."
She turned her attention to the horse. "Do you like it, pequeñita?"
"There is something to that. Perhaps with all this technology around us, the ships, the weather satellites, all of it, we have forgotten what it means to live with and off the land." Marc spoke as he looked around. In this moment he forgot that they were in one of those technological marvels right then and there. "Quite often I wonder what life would have been if we never had warp drive, if we never had any of it. Would we have just went back to living with the land?"
"I like to believe there will always be a need for people to live off the land," Maya replied, watching him. "Even on earth there are places where men and women work with plants and trees. Although you mostly see it on the outlying worlds. I think we lose a part of ourselves when we forget our roots. You clearly have not forgotten because you choose to come to places like this."
Marc nodded and looked around at the scene as they passed through it. The path narrowed slightly but it was still wide enough for the horses to walk side by side. The trail entered what looked to be a natural apple orchard. "I need places like this to help me clear my head, and think about why we do all this. What makes all of this worthwhile." All at once he decided to kick his horse back into a canter. He went straight down the trail through the center of the orchard then turned to his right and cut through some of the trees to a higher path on a ridge. Marc plucked an apple off a tree as he passed through. A five minute canter down the ridge and up a hill of sort led to a ledge that overlooked a small part of the forest. It was here that he reigned in his horse. Marc took a bite of the apple and spit the chunk out in his hand. Deftly he reached forward with the chunk of apple in his hand and allowed Doc to eat it. He did not speak again until Maya reined up next to him.
Maya was a little behind, having paused a bit longer to pick an apple. It gave her an opportunity to watch him ride. He was clearly relaxing as he rode and it made her smile. She took a bite of her apple and fed it to her horse. Next time, she'd bring carrots.
Marc continued to look forward at the forest below, and the apple orchard along with it. "You know... when people hear what our ship does, they think it sounds exciting. High-speed pursuits, tactical engagements, bringing fugitives to justice. They imagine adventure. The reality is... mostly aftermath. You arrive after someone's home has been raided. After a colony's been extorted. After a freighter crew has spent days wondering if they'll ever see their families again. After a child has been brutally murdered and left in field discarded. You spend a lot of time looking people in the eye after the worst day of their lives."
A Joint Post By
Captain Marc Kidd
Commanding Officer, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Lieutenant Maya Canak
Chief Medical Officer/Medical Examiner, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
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