The Mind Palace

Posted on Fri Dec 19th, 2025 @ 4:38am by Lieutenant Commander Emilio Navarro
Edited on on Sun Dec 21st, 2025 @ 7:01pm

1,217 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 1: A New Sheriff in Town
Location: Starfleet Academy North Campus Grounds, Earth
Timeline: Seven Days Prior to Joining Starbase Mohave

It was a dull Sunday morning.

The storm system that had passed through earlier had come and gone leaving behind a drizzle, thick gray clouds, and a growl of thunder which echoed between the buildings. A man in a yellow Starfleet uniform and black jacket stood motionless, eyes fixed on the ground before him, his sidearm secured to his hip m. His stance mimicked that of John Wayne or Dirty Harry about to commence a duel.

He was Lieutenant Commander Emilio Navarro, Acting Chief of Security for Starfleet Academy North Campus. Navarro was just over six feet tall, solidly built in a way that suggested function over form. His short black hair was damp from the drizzle. His dark brown eyes studied the scene. Investigations were his strength. He delegated paperwork to others without guilt.

Two feet in front of him lay the body of a young woman. She was pale, bloodied, and very much dead. Her body lay in the middle of a green space intersection which connected a few buildings. A small crowd had gathered at a distance, murmuring behind a security perimeter maintained by two officers. A third, a technician processing the area with a tricorder.

There was a pool of blood beneath her lower back. Her arms were raised above her head as if frozen mid dance. Her body was angled slightly westward toward the tree line. Her eyes were closed. A knife with a wooden handle lay beside her.

The victim had an abdominal wound which drew Navarro’s attention immediately. It was deep. About two inches. The killer went through a lot of trouble to make his message. The message was a symbol. It was the shape of a thunderbolt.

“Did you log this?” Navarro asked to the technician, nodding toward the knife.

“Yeah,” the technician replied. “Clear to collect.”

Navarro crouched and lifted the blade with measured care. The handle was finely crafted. It was reddish-brown, made of wood, probably from the Pacific Madrone species of tree but he was no expert on trees. That was a guess. He would get that confirmed.

The knife also had polished symmetry. It tapered from a thicker rounded grip to a narrower form, reminding him vaguely of ancient architectural columns. Roman, maybe. It was intentional. Almost ceremonial.

The blade itself was tritanium-plated and smooth. Etched along both handle and blade was the same symbol carved into the victim’s flesh. . A thunderbolt.

Navarro didn’t react outwardly. But inside, questions assembled themselves into layers. His training and experience kicked in: Method. Meaning. Message. Connect the patterns. Eliminate inconstancies.

Footsteps behind him interrupted him and his focus as someone approached. “Hey, Commander, I was looking for you.”

Navarro didn’t turn at first.

The voice belonged to Ensign Cortes. A short, stocky, reddish hair, with glasses which fogged at the edges. “I got your coffee,” Cortes said.

Navarro was the child of a family friend and did a favor by pulling strings and assigning him to his command. He slightly regrets it. However, Cortes can be useful at times.

Navarro rose smoothly and accepted the coffee cup. He took a sip. It was cold but he didn’t comment.

“Take a look,” Navarro said, handing Cortes a glance toward the body. “What do you see?”

Cortes hesitated. “I’m… not sure. What do you see?”

Navarro turned back to the scene before them. Took another sip. He hated it but he was thirsty.

Then he closed his eyes. The world dimmed. Sound receded. His breath steadied.

Navarro slipped inward to the place where noise fell away and details sharpened.

This was his Mind Palace.

A space inside his mind to remember and process complex information.

The Mind Palace technique was developed thousands of years ago by Greeks and Romans to memorize data. In this technique, the subject memorizes the layout of a building or room. When there was a desire to remember and process complex information, the subject 'walks' through a location that he or she is familiar and commits the item he or she wants to remember to each object in the space. - (Real life source provided upon request.)

Navarro stood inside of a darkened vacuum. He could not see anything around him but he knew whatever he stood in was wet. It was probably water. At least a foot high. To him water symbolized the fluidity of his brain processing information. This was just the way he perceived it.

Finally, the water began to flutter. Up and down. Small ripples and waves danced. His breath was soft and weak but it increased in intensity as the sound of shuffling and movement beyond became louder.

Light flashed just ahead of him. A desk and chair zipped and zapped into the space near and stopped to his left. Another flash before him, a small twin size bed flew into place on his right. The bed had white sheets neatly done, a white pillow, and a brown teddy bear which lay against the pillow. The bed frame, a metallic black with white chisel marks on the legs. Navarro smirked positively at the chisel marks.

A tall floor lamp, black, floated down from somewhere above and rested between the bed and the desk. Lastly, a brown rug. It floated down and landed at the side of the bed. Black slippers accompanied the rug.

Navarro was familiar with the objects. The inner workings of his hippocampus ignited with fire and brimstone. This was an exact replica of his childhood room in Puerto Rico. It was also during a time his father was alive.

“Descansa en paz, padre.” (Rest in peace, father), he whispered to himself.

He refocused.

He remembered the body and spoke into the space.

“The body is spread out on the ground. A stomach wound in the shape of a thunderbolt. Approximately two inches deep but to be confirmed via autopsy. The murder weapon. A knife on the ground next to her. The handle, wooden. It has a symbol just like the stomach wound. Seems ritualistic. The killer seemed to have a story to tell.”

Navarro filed the details away into memory. He assigned each detail of the crime scene to an object in his childhood room.

Navarro had seen enough.

The objects began to fade away. He began to come back to reality. He heard a voice call to him.

“Commander?” Cortes shouted as he and the security guard next to them were slightly alarmed.

Navarro’s eyes open.

“You did that thing again, didn’t you?” Cortes asked. “You need to teach me!” he added.

Navarro’s eyes were now fully open. He looked around him. He still held his cold coffee. He chugged it. After he cleared his throat he responded, “Ensign Cortes, teleport the body to the lab. Order the autopsy. Send the report to me when completed. I’ll be at the office.” Navarro gave his orders and began to walk away.

“Yes sir” Cortes replied as he watched Navarro leave.

Roughly fifty yards away at the base of the one of the science labs, and near a clump of trees, someone or something dressed in all black and a hood over their head watched Navarro walk away and the remaining investigative team finish processing the scene.

Navarro noticed.

 

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