TEST DRIVE #3 - Alien Bazaar/Ten Forward

[tenforward_m]

#1

Option 001. Alien planet, marketplace: So you're new to this whole space travel thing. The ship is cool and all, but there are hundreds of alien worlds out there. You want to explore. To see what the universe REALLY looks like.

Well, here's your chance! Your first stop is this lovely indoor marketplace, which looks kind of like a mall. There are stalls one after the other as far as the eye can see, and they sell all kinds of things: food, clothes, trinkets, animals, fabrics, jewelry, perfumes, books, etc etc. Some things look human, easy to recognize; other things look very alien. There are two levels, and constant chatter as people hawk their wares and discuss prices.

Do you want to explore? Poke at the weird shops? Buy a gift for a new friend? Flirt with someone at the food court? Maybe you see a pickpocket, and must run to the aid of the victim. Maybe there's some other villainy afoot. After all, a crowded marketplace is a good place for villains to lurk, causing trouble. Whether you're a hero or just an unassuming traveler, there proves to be some adventure for you on this planet.


2

Option 002. Aboard the Enterprise, Ten Forward: You have no idea what just happened. One minute you were home, and now you're on a spaceship, in the middle of a crowded room. It looks like a bar. There are people eating and drinking, some in uniform, others not. Some are clearly aliens.

You've managed to land in Ten Forward a long bar with barstools and a bartender, tables sprinkled throughout, and the far wall is nothing but windows out to space. It looks like a nice lounge, low conversation making the room hum.

Better ask some questions and find out where you are, or just tap the closest person on the shoulder and try to make friends. The bar is open.

Comments

[blindadoration]

Ziyal hasn't exactly had the thorough training of a Federation officer in keeping temporal incursions down, she hadn't even thought of the implications of telling her father she'd gone to school on Bajor.

"For a little while, yes."

She smiles at him, brilliantly, because despite everything she's been through she does love him still.

"I'd love to show you." She still wants nothing more than his approval, despite their...somewhat tumultuous relationship.

[blind_arrogance]

And Dukat wanted her love. At the moment, far away from Cardassia Prime and Terok Nor, she was all he had. And his welcome on board the Federation ship hadn't exactly been stellar. So her love and adoration hadn't gone unnoticed.

"Why don't I get these for you," Dukat gestured to the merchant to start wrapping up the supplies for Ziyal," and we'll go get something. You can tell me everything over lunch."

Still, Dukat looked around, absolutely sure at this moment someone at the Obsidian Order was watching, recording and documenting this whole thing. He was going to have to tread carefully and plan, if this was going to work out. Spending time with her on a Federation ship was one thing, but out in the open?

[blindadoration]

Ziyal was happy to not even consider the political implications of being with her father--he'd already paid that price in her own time, long ago, and came back to power again.

Telling him everything, still, she thought, might be a bit much. Would he feel guilty, knowing about the years she spent as a Breen prisoner?

What would he do if he knew that she had been nearly dead when she arrived here, saved only by Doctor Crusher and Doctor Bashir? She didn't want to hurt him.

For now, she just looked at him with love in her eyes, grateful for the second chance she'd been given--maybe the Prophets looked out for their half-Bajoran children too.

"Thank you, father."

[blind_arrogance]

Dukat was convinced he was doomed. Completely and utterly. But all that worry went away the moment Ziyal looked up at him with those eyes. I'd been so long since he'd be able to get away and visit his family on Cardassia Prime--and he certainly wasn't letting them visit Terok Nor. Between the assassination attempts, outright violence and with Naprem and Ziyal so close, it was much to dangerous.

"Anything you for you, Ziyal." He took a few steps back from her, looking her up and down. "I just can't get over how much you've grown. You were barely thirteen when I saw you yesterday and now? Well, clearly any of your belongings back on Terok Nor are not going to fit. Do you need any clothes? I saw some beautiful dresses in a stall not too far back."

[blindadoration]

That's right, it was still Terok Nor--the Occupation was still going on, and she felt a pang in her heart as she thought of Nerys, in the throes of the Resistance.

Her father and his people had hurt so many of her mother's people.

"I'll be fine, Father, I don't need much." She smiles, takes his hand--cooler than hers, but not by too much--and after their business is done with the peddler woman Ziyal thanks her too, and leads him off.

[blind_arrogance]

"Nonsense. You need clothing. You wont fit into any of the ones currently on Terok Nor and you aren't walking around in something Federation issued. Besides, it gets cold in space and especially on a ship with no other Cardassians."

Dukat smiled oh so charmingly and lovingly at his daughter, and grasped her hand as she grasped his. "Come on. Let's look at the dresses. I think I saw a beautiful blue one that would look splendid on you."