TEST DRIVE #1 - Ten Forward

[tenforward_m]

You know how you were standing there, back in your home world, just minding your own business?

Time to forget all about that.

Instead of doing whatever the heck you were just doing, you're standing in the middle of this very stylish, sedate barroom. Happily, you're not alone there - in fact you're surrounded by people who seem to be as confused as you are...and some of them look a little, well unusual

Now would be a great time to do....well, something. Ask some questions of the person nearest you, throw a fit, stage a coup....maybe do a little exploring? No matter what you do, you're going to be here for a very long time.

For others might call it the USS Enterprise, but for the foreseeable future, you'll be calling it home.

[OOC: this test drive's open until the next app period.]

Comments

[stark_spangled]

To his credit, Steve doesn't look startled. He's sitting at a table with a pad and pencil, drawing some of the patrons as they enter and exit the room. He's still frowning in concentration when he looks up.

"USS Enterprise," he says with full authority. "Ten Forward, the galley."

[not_annika]

"And what is your purpose?" she asks, looking at his pad for a second. It's all she needs to understand what he's doing, if not why. He's recording the faces that come in but he holds no technology himself and it would seem unlikely he's simply transported her on a ship that no longer exists to have her be his subject.

[stark_spangled]

"My purpose?" he repeats, eyebrows brushing his hairline. He weighs his options, but the pause is minuscule. "Patron."

Steve's dressed down in khakis and a checkered oxford, his brown leather jacket draped over the back of his chair. He doesn't have to be Captain America here -- not that he wouldn't like some responsibility, but for now he's just along for the ride like everyone else. "Like you."

[not_annika]

She shook her head, not following. Patron? It's a little difficult to go from 'must find a way out of this' to 'being in a bar'. "Elaborate?"

[stark_spangled]

All right. He puts his pencil in the crease of his notebook, and closes it. Standing up, he politely invites her to take the empty chair.

"You're on the starship Enterprise. It's a -- Galaxy-class ship?" he says, hoping that will mean something to her. "Not a warship. There are civilians, women and children. I come from a place called Brooklyn, New York. Have you heard of Earth?"

He's learning not to assume. "One day I ended up here by mistake. I'm just along for the ride, ma'am."

[not_annika]

"I'm familiar with this vessel's designation," she replies shortly in her frustration, though she pauses and takes the offered seat. "I'm familiar with Earth." She says that more thoughtfully as she starts to empathise and she looks at him, now more concerned with his story than hers. "You came here by mistake?"

[stark_spangled]

She's one fascinating dame. He'd just as soon think she was from around the block, except the way she talks is stilted and -- odd. Still, he smiles, trying to be reassuring.

"That's right. Well, mostly right. I was going someplace else and ended up here instead. I was told I'm not the only one that's happened to. It's some trouble with a powerful being of some sort, I think," he says. "Did something like that happen to you, ma'am?"

[not_annika]

"A powerful being?" she asks, with a considering frown. So not a technological event then. Unfortunate. It's far less solvable. She nods, it certainly seems that way.

"My name is Seven of Nine," she tells him, so he doesn't have to keep call her ma'am. She braces herself for the inevitable questioning about that.

[OOC: My apologies for the delay between tags.]

[stark_spangled]

"Seven of Nine," he repeats with a nod. He wonders, seven of nine what? Special Forces, maybe? Military? He doesn't ask right off the bat, though. That wouldn't exactly be polite. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Steve Rogers. Captain Steve Rogers."

He's not sure the title will make any difference to her, but he offers it just in case. "The way I understand it, someone has been cherry-picking people from different worlds to end up on this ship, but no one knows why yet. They're working on a way to get people home, but in the meantime ... " He spreads his hands. "We're to make ourselves at home here."

No worries!

[not_annika]

"Captain," she acknowledges the title, so she at least recognises it and (vaguely) what it means.

She's quiet and frustrated as she thinks through this. "Do you have any theories?"

[stark_spangled]

He considers the best way to answer that. The short version is yes. He's been here long enough to get the lay of the land, a fix on the people that run the place, and work out the best defense strategy if people turn from friendly to hostile. He doesn't know this woman or her motives, but she seems ... nice.

"Well, Miss ... of Nine," he begins, probably not on his best foot. "I'm still getting used to the idea of alien life, but I've come across some pretty powerful people in the past two years. I believe there may be someone out there powerful enough to deposit us where they want, but I also believe if they do exist, they've gotta have a weakness. Everyone does. It's just a matter of figuring out what it is, and exploiting it."

He taps his journal absently, mulling things over a little more. "In the meantime, it's better making allies than enemies. I'm stuck here, there's no denying that. Best to make the most of it and keep your eyes open."

[not_annika]

"You... do not have to call me 'Miss'," she informs him. He's not the first one to make the mistake. At least it's not as grievous as 'Miss Hansen' which happens even when she insists that that is not an acceptable form of address. Her family were lost to the Borg when she was six, 'Hansen' isn't something that she identifies with.

Of course, Captain Rogers doesn't know about 'Hansen' but still, she's not as irked with the 'of Nine' as she might have been.

"'Seven' will suffice."

She supposes his point about weaknesses have merit, but it isn't something she doesn't already know, so she merely nods in response. As it is with his point about allies.

"Agreed."

[stark_spangled]

"Oh," he says, turning a little pink. He rubs the back of his neck, and offers an apologetic smile. "Of course, Seven."

Natasha has given him the crash course on 'modern' manners, so he knows that terms such as 'ma'am' and 'sweetheart' have fallen into disrepute -- not that he would ever use the latter himself. Not with someone who wasn't, uh, his sweetheart. He clears his throat. "You can call me Steve. Where are you from?"

[not_annika]

She nods at the permission. "Originally I am from Tendara Colony. However I have not been there since I was six years of age. I do not have a fixed address."