So Far Away... And Glad of It
Posted on Fri Jun 19th, 2015 @ 11:45pm by Commander Adara Gunnar & Lieutenant Commander Gaelan Tor
Mission:
Further Challenges
Location: Varies
The Copernicus had landed and with it came the usual flurry of people grabbing bags, moving along the corridors, debarking. Gaelan was in no rush. She'd seen Adara off to go pick up Cody and now, she stepped from her quarters, her bag on her shoulder. She had already passed along her quarters assignment on 900 but she had nothing to be delivered yet. Starfleet had taken care of packing up her belongings on DS15 and it was en route, but it was a good week behind her. It wasn't an issue. Gaelan truly wouldn't have cared if all she had with her was a toothbrush. She could get whatever she needed here and was, in fact, looking forward to exploring.
Tonight, however, she just wanted to be off the ship. A grand total of three weeks of travel was enough. She intended to check out her quarters, take a shower, change clothes, then go for a walk - a long, leisurely one that would let her get the lay of the land. She also intended to have dinner somewhere interesting. Commander Antos had yet to arrive so she knew exactly one person here right now, Adara. Adara was meeting Dr. Sala for dinner, likely to discuss the colony design, so Tor was on her own. Adara had invited her but she'd begged off. She thought very highly of Niall, but he knew the events on DS15 and she wasn't ready to see the concern and pity in his eyes that was sure to be there. Tonight was hers alone.
Her quarters were quite large and she was impressed. Even the kitchen had the basics in it and for that she was glad. What really impressed her, however, was the shower. A real shower....and the hot water was a luxury after almost a month in space. The door was frosted glass, difficult to see through, and that gave her pause. She stood at the door, unmoving as the water sprayed inside.
Don't be silly, she admonished herself. She was on the other side of the universe and Marsh was dead. She had nothing to fear here. Squaring her shoulders, she opened the shower and stepped in, closing the door behind her. And promptly opened it, then enjoyed her shower. Not much water would get out and she would simply dry the tile floor once she was done. The hot water was fabulous and she lingered until her stomach began to growl, insisting on dinner.
Finally, she has straightened up, dried her hair and dressed in a casual skirt and a light, short-sleeved shirt. The computer was most helpful in listing all the restaurants and she chose Ha'Dar. Lev had helped her discover a love of Bajoran food. It was perfect. She left the bedroom and started towards the door. A sudden thought had her detouring by her terminal on the desk in the corner. She had resisted all through the trip out here but now she gave in. Entering a command, she stood and waited for the query results. It took a few minutes and then suddenly there it was. Lt. Ayo was on the USS Pasadena, current location the Beta Quadrant, no ultimate destination listed. She cleared the screen and departed for dinner.
Dinner had been fabulous and Tor was stuffed. Now she had the time to explore the Promenade, maybe make some mental notes on places to see tomorrow after a good night’s sleep. She passed by other restaurants and plenty of shops, then went down a level. A place called Cravings appeared on her right and despite a big dinner, the aromas coming from it smelled really good. It was added to her list and she strolled on by.
Suddenly, a dog was at her side, happily demanding her attention by gently taking her hand in his mouth.
Tor yelped, not expecting to be touched and not seeing him coming. In an instant, however, she recognized the feel of dog and the yelp turned to a squeal of happiness. She knelt down, taking his head in her hands.
“You are a sight for sore eyes, young man!”
He hopped and wagged his tail hard enough he was bending into a kidney bean shape with each wag. He whined in greeting.
"Well, at least we know you're one of his favorite people," Adara laughed as she caught up to them.
“I’ve missed you.” Tor rubbed his head, then hugged the wiggly dog, ignoring the curious glances of the people passing by. Finally, she stood. “How was dinner?”
"Good. Niall was informative about the colony's plans. What about you? Did you get dinner?"
“I did and at a place that will make Lev happy. It’s true Bajoran and it was delicious.” They began to walk, Cody strolling along between them. “Now, I’m just exploring to see what I want to come back to tomorrow. My stuff won’t be here for a week, so some shopping is in order. What about you?”
"I'm going to wait till we're on the Colony and Isi is here, then he and I can decide on things together." Adara patted her stomach and commented, "Niall and I ate at that Cravings back there. Tasty stuff and I'm stuffed. They accommodated Cody, too."
“That’s good, and refreshing to hear that animals aren’t an issue. How is Niall? Still as busy as always?” They passed the flower shop and Tor stopped to examine the buckets of flowers that lined the walkway.
"He's okay, Gae. But, speaking of animals on the Station - this place has a resident spider that talks and has its own commbadge. And, no, the commbadge is not bigger than the spider. So Cody wandering around is nothing."
“A talking spider….with a comm badge. How big is it exactly?” She chose a bouquet of bright yellow flowers and paid the seller. “Better question….where is it?”
"It's huge, easily this big," she held her hands out to show Tor. "Right now, it's on an away mission."
“Thank the gods for small favors, huh?” They began to walk along again. “If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll be gone before it gets back. Please tell me it didn’t come from Charu?”
"Oh... I don't know where it came from. It is a new Federation species, though. Sentient arachnids..., cripes, if that's what's on Charu, I just might ask to go back to DS-15!"
“I don’t recall any mention of that in the reports, but I’ll cross my fingers,” The jumja stand came into view and Tor stopped once more. “Want some dessert?”
"Jumja? I don't think I've ever had that before. I'll try some," she nodded, even though she had said she was stuffed just a moment ago. "What is it?"
“Familiarly known as glop on a stick.” She ordered two and passed one to Adara. “Very sweet and oh, so addictive. Sort of like the popsicles they had at New Cairo when we were there.”
"Oh, I recall those," Adara tried hers. "Wanna take a shuttle ride to Valhalla in the next day or so?"
“I’d love to see it, though there’s not much there yet I hear.” She pulled off a bite of the jumja and offered it to Cody. “I have a confession to make, Adara.”
Watching Cody greedily take the sweet treat from Gae, Adara asked, "About what?"
“Before I came out to get dinner, I checked the database. I wanted to see where Tobin is.” She held up her hand to stop Adara so she could finish. “All it said was the Pasadena, somewhere in the Beta Quadrant, no destination listed. I know...I know….let’s hear it. Remind me that it was me who vanished without a word.”
"It was you who disappeared without a word," Adara parroted. "Are you going to contact him? Ease his mind? He has left you how many messages, four, at least? And... Gae, what would you do if he were heading here?"
“I will eventually, yes. In time.” She licked the jumja pop and frowned. “Don’t even joke about that, Adara. I have no idea what I would do. He doesn’t know and I don’t want him to. Is that crazy? If he sees me, he will know.”
Adara touched her friend's arm and brought her to a stop. "Hey, no one can say that's crazy, Gae. This is your trauma, no one else's, and none of us can tell you what's right or wrong. But," she hesitated, "...in light of what you said, um... Tobin is on his way here. I requested him as our Chief Engineer."
Tor blinked and her eyelids were the only part of her that moved. The jumja pop fell from her fingers, landing at Cody’s feet. “Here?” Cody set to cleaning up the dropped treat.
Adara winced, hoping the jumja wouldn't give the dog gas later, and also worrying that she'd done the wrong thing. "Ah, yeah, here. I'm not sure when he arrives, though."
“If they are in the Beta Quadrant, that means they are coming to the wormhole. So...roughly a day and a half since it’s four hours through, then a day on to the station after that. And then he’ll be here and…” She stopped, realizing she was doing what she often did when stressed - rattling on without stopping for breath. She took a deep breath and thought about the situation. “That gives us a day and a half to make me seem normal.”
"Well, you could always hide somewhere. This is a big Station, you know," Adara took Gae's arm in hers and started walking again, glancing back to see that Cody was still licking the deck plating clean. "Or you could go off to Valhalla. Three days there, three back...?"
Tor laughed in spite of her stress. “I’ve been on a ship for three weeks. You’d have to shoot me and put me in a bag to get me back on one tomorrow. We’ll just deal with it and yes, I said we.”
Adara hugged Gae. "Yes, we," she agreed.
******************
Lt. Commander Gaelan Tor
Surprised
Commander Adara Gunnar
Apologetic
Ensign Cody
Cleaning Up!
