Janeway’s New Toy

The escape pod looked as if it had been drifting in space almost four hundred years. Voyager’s tractor beam brought it into the shuttle bay.

“An unusual composition,” Janeway observed, noting the gaudy colors and the bold lettering.

“Plastic and cardboard, ma’am,” Torres confirmed.

“Late twentieth-century Earth manufacture,” Paris exclaimed in glee. “Oh, I’m going to love tinkering with this!”

Torres responded with a glare.

The pod’s hatch opened neatly along the perforated lines, and a square-jawed, space-suited figure stepped out. He approached Janeway, stood at attention, and saluted crisply.

“Buzz Lightyear reporting for duty, ma’am. To Infinity and Beyond!”