Test Drive #7 - Ten Forward and Captain's Yacht

[ten_fwd_mods]

Option 01. Ten Forward: The first thing you see is a bar. A large, lively bar filled with many different faces and many different smells, sights and sounds. This is Ten Forward, the Enterprise's off-duty lounge; feel free to get acquainted with your fellow travelers and try to find somebody who's in charge: this is your new home now, after all...





Option 02. The Captain's Yacht: Oooh, you sneaky stowaway! You've found yourself in a very exclusive part of the ship: Captain Picard's personal craft, used for short jaunts when a shuttle just won't do. (One must retain some decorum, after all.) It may not be as large as the Enterprise itself, but there are sure to be some surprises aboard once people start snooping.


[OOC: The Captain's Yacht is located at the very base of the Enterprise's saucer portion, so if you put someone in there you can also play them trying to get back to somewhere they know!]

Comments

[treadswater]

The smile flashes back, although no less small than before.

"Strange thing for, uh, a sailor to say. End of the day, you know. We all kinda like doing it ourselves."

Her fingers tap nervously on the glass and she ducks her head, studying the reflections shining off.

"Pilot? You don't sail in space?"

[1st_starfighter]

Alex nodded, listening. "I was never a sailor. I was... a starfighter. Sadly my people didn't go to space, but I was chosen to fight against an enemy. And I did. I never looked back."

he smiled sadly, a little. "Sometimes I miss Earth, but I love the stars."

[treadswater]

Annie stares at him, tilting her head a fraction. Her eyes are intent, her brow slightly furrowed, but her expression is almost blank in concentration.

Starfighter.

But from Earth.

But chosen.

But his people didn't go into space.

Stars, starfighting, pilot sailor, nebulous enemy and Annie has grown to dislike nebulous phrasing.

Finally, slowly, she opens her mouth and says, "Um."

Then she says, "I'm...I don't understand anything you just said," and turns a dull red with embarrassment.

[1st_starfighter]

"Don't worry. Most people don't.' he sighed and started over. He had a bad tendency to skip things.

"Once upon a time, I was a kid in a trailer park, where I was the fixit guy, with no future. I beat a video game, and was recruited by an alien race to defend the galaxy against other aliens." Alex chuckled, but his eyes were dark. "Turned out I was really good at killing people, and at leading them. Eventually, it turned out I was even good at putting together ships. So I retired from killing and from leading people to kill, and just built better ships."

He rubbed his face. "I built a really good ship, and took her out, and some bad guys came along, and while stopping them, there was an accident. I was put into suspended animation, and lost..." He looked up at her. "For almost 300 years."

[treadswater]

Her cheeks, which had so quickly turned red, turn white even faster. She knows the beat of stories, that she should accept 'killing people' and gasp at lost time. But this isn't the Capitol, this man is not a Victor playing a part. Maybe he is. Maybe he is playing a part.

But she doesn't know. She can't be sure.

"I," she says, getting to her feet quickly, "if, if you miss ships, I've overheard some, some of the engineering crew like to talk. Boast. Sailors, you know, and their ships. But I, I need to...it was nice talking to you," she finishes, her giggle high and nervous.

It isn't smooth, she's never been smooth in conversations. But if there is one thing she's learnt how to do, it's vanish into a crowd, which is exactly what she does.

[1st_starfighter]

Alex gaped up at her, then winced, and sighed. "Ah, sure, okay. Sorry. ma'am." His shoulders slumped and he looked away, and didn't try to bother her or pursue her. He's had enough brush offs to know one when he saw one. And remembering everything... well, now he really felt the need to have a drink.

And so he just reached for his PADD and ordered one from the bar, and tried not to stare after her when she inevitably moved away. And his mind's eye was full of explosions, and of imaginary screams, and his face, eventually, full of tears.