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

[aehallh]

Logically, Irian is aware of approximately how much time lies between them, but hearing the number aloud still staggers her a little. She takes a drink from her water glass, partly as something to do while she considers her answer to his question, and partly because her throat feels suddenly quite dry.

She dislikes sharing too much information; it's both a cultural trait and one she learned working in an occupation where the right words overheard by the wrong person could cost one one's life. On the other hand, what he's asking is common knowledge in her time: 'safe' information that she doesn't need to feel too reticent about giving away. All the same, she bides her time for a moment, letting him wait while she thinks about how to word her response.

"They are far better than they have been in many years," she says finally. "But at great cost."

She pauses, and her brows arch slightly, an expression a bit like one he might wear. "I've heard Starfleet has regulations regarding discussion of future events. Perhaps I should avoid saying any more."

And perhaps she is seeing if he'll ask her to provide details regardless.

[emotional_security]

Spock has great respect for diplomacy, but if the Commander is aware of his reputation, then she must know he would never personally betray her trust. And he is not here in an official capacity, as he has already indicated to her.

"I am currently as far removed from Starfleet as you are from Ch'Rihan," Spock prompts her. "Despite appearances to the contrary," he adds, indicating the distinctive uniforms of the ship's crew all about them.

The server returns, setting down Spock's glass of fragrant Valerian tea before him. Spock waits for him to leave before continuing.

"I am not asking you to speak unwisely, but as a Vulcan, learning that time has done much to heal old wounds would be greatly encouraging."

[aehallh]

Even if she were not aware of his reputation individually, she knows the reputation of Vulcans in general; they are not, on the whole, an untrustworthy people. But Irian has great difficulty trusting anyone, and perhaps it is even more difficult for her given that his reputation among her people specifically is rather mixed.

"I imagine that it would," she says, somewhat cautiously. "But, as I've said, there was a great cost."

For the first time in the conversation, she looks away from him entirely, glancing down at the table. When he said she was far removed from her world, he was right, in more than one sense — and it pains her, unexpectedly. More so for the fact that she cannot go back, for any reason.

"Some twenty years ago in my time, there was a great disaster that destroyed ch'Rihan and ch'Havran. Those of us who survived split into two factions. One, which seeks to rebuild the Empire as it was, and one which would choose a different path from what the Empire had become."

She pauses, and looks back up at him.

"Those of us in the latter faction have formed our own government. The Federation has chosen to give us aid —" Her look goes a little wry. "— as have the Klingons."

Strange, how it often takes such great disaster to bring their people together. It always has.

[emotional_security]

After a particularly long contemplative silence, Spock bows his head in a gesture of submission.

"Commander, you were correct to remind me of Starfleet protocol," he admits, still trying to process the future destruction of two planets. "I have no right to question you further - you have endured great suffering with honour."

[aehallh]

Irian shakes her head slightly. "It was my choice to answer," she says. She pauses a moment, then adds, more softly, "But your words are well meant, and for that I thank you."

Her shoulders straighten, almost imperceptibly, though Spock with his Vulcan intuition will likely notice. Honor — that was the right word to use. Irian was raised in one of the old Rihannsu families, the ones who still believed honor and nobility were things to strive for, not to be thrown aside in the name of expediency, power or fear. Whether or not she has kept that honor over the course of her life is, as her people would say, for the Elements to decide — but she would like to believe she has some small scrap of it left. If nothing else, she certainly has her pride.

"And as for you," she says, changing the topic deftly — clearly the events of her own time period are a thing she no longer wishes to discuss, at least not so openly, "what are conditions in the galaxy like for you?" Irian has studied twenty-third century history, naturally, and she knows a little bit about the Enterprise and her five year mission — from an admittedly biased perspective — but it's different to speak with someone who has lived through those events. She settles back a little in her chair, appearing casual, though the look may be a little deceptive; she may have begun to grow used to this place, over the past several days, but she knows better than to let her guard drop too far.

[emotional_security]

Questions about the 'past' are no easier to answer than being asked about the future, but Spock accepts this reversal of roles as his due. The Commander seems slightly more relaxed now, at any rate, though he knows that the warrior is never far beneath the mask of the emissary.

"My role on board the Enterprise is chiefly scientific, and therefore exploring the galaxy is both a challenge and a privilege," he answers blandly. "As the only Vulcan serving with four hundred and twenty nine humans, I am also faced daily with a similar personal incongruity, but I have learned to adapt."