Welcome to the Heimdall! This week we will kick things off easy.
The Heimdall is in dock in the civilian side of Earth Space Dock it's annual licensing inspections. The crew have been given 48 hours of R&R during the inspection process. Please use this opportunity to not only show what your character is doing with the time, but to introduce the other players to him or her. Don't get too far however, the annual company wide business meeting is in two days and sober attendance is mandatory!
Catrina was enjoying herself. It wasn't often, especially being in medical, that she was allowed to be off the ship. But when the chance came around, she was going to take advantage of it. There were many things she wanted to get, beyond restocking their infirmary. She had some personal items that she wanted to get taken care of.
The sun felt great after being stuck on board the ship for so long. It wasn't often that she got to enjoy it, and she had her hair pulled back. The shops that she was in, however, had many people that would stare at her with the light Trill spots running along her skin. Although she was used to it, Cat didn't like the fact that even on Earth, with Starfleet not all that far away, people still looked at her strange.
Could it be because the spots were much lighter and looked like they were artificial? That was one problem about being only ¼ Trill instead of anything more. The spots were so light that they looked like tattoos. Many of the space ports they stopped at along the way knew who she was. But on Earth...they really didn't.
Nothing she could do but shrug it off. Cat stopped at another vendor that had a lot of jewelry at it and realized that she really needed to update what she had already. After picking out a few things that she wanted, she paid the vendor and went on her way. She had a very picky taste, as her jewelry had to go with her hair and her outfits, most of which were a teal or turquoise color. She tended to keep everything in her favorite colors, unless it was for some random mission. One color she always tried to avoid was red, as she saw enough of it in her line of work.
Checking one of the PADDs she had with her, she saw that her medical supply shipment had been delivered and needed verified at some point that everything was there. She'd end up doing it later. For now, she wanted to see if any of the others from the ship were down here like she was.
Marcus groaned internally. No wonder Dad had laughed at him when told about the upcoming inspections. Walking around with the Federation Trade Commission inspectors was the biggest exercise in futility since he had gone through the no win scenario in the Academy. Hours had already been wasted walking around the Heimdall, inspecting the Holodeck here, looking at cargo bay six here, inspecting engineering deck there.... It was torture. The worst thing about it, the inspector was all too aware of the power he had over Erickson Enterprises for the two days the Heimdall would be in dock. It was cruel and unusual punishment for both the annual compliance inspection and the quinquennial ship space worthiness inspection. Since Marcus had only been aboard again about a year and a half, he had not seen the last of these inspections and only vaguely remembered his dad complaining about the last.
"Captain Erickson, I have seen enough for today. Please be prepared to see me tomorrow for the final inspections and declaration of worthiness." Oh yes, the inspector was a Vulcan. Green blooded hobgoblin that he was, he had insisted on doing his job much more thoroughly than was necessary. About the only good thing that the inspector had done was somehow found the hiding place of the grain still that one of the engineers had set up months ago. Marcus had never been able to catch the slippery crewman with the still, although, as long as he kept getting bottles of the product in tribute, he had been content to let the transgression slide.
Through sheer will, Marcus kept calm and pleasant. "Thank you Inspector Sonak. I look forward to your final report." As soon as the inspector was gone, Marcus scowled and turned back into the the ship corridors. The things he did for Bureaucracy's sake, they disgusted him. He made his way back to the Captain's suite only to have his scowl deepen as the doors slid open. The living room was a mess. Looks like Elliot had been enjoying the time alone. Food and food containers littered the couch and coffee table while pillows and a blanket were strewn on th floor. On top of all of that, Kenai, Elliot's dog, was lounging on the couch. "Damn it Elliot! Can't you ever clean up after yourself?" Marcus took a deep breath. "Computer, locate Elliot Erickson." A moment passed before the computer responded, "Elliot Erickson is disembarking through the aft docking ring." Marcus cursed again and began making his way through the ship to get to the docking ring. Earth Space dock was no place for an unattended Preteen. Heaven only knows what kind of trouble he would cause, after all, the kid himself was a result of the last time a young, unattached and unattended Erickson male had been set loose on such a station. And what a disaster THAT turned out to be!
Ari had taken advantage of the two days shore leave to go visit family. Her mother lived on Earth with her step-father and two younger siblings. Though Ari's real father was still alive, him and her mom had decided not to wed and have any more children. Thus, Ari was the only half Catian in the family. The family home was nothing special, just a midlevel apartment in Seattle, but for them, it was home Lana Patterson, Ari's mother, opened the door when the chime rang.
A look of surprise crossed the older woman's face when Ari was revealed on the other side of the door. That surprise was quickly replaced by a bit of frustration. "Arianna Flynn! How dare you come down unannounced like this! I would have fixed some big dinner or something!" Ari's ears and tail twitched in annoyance before Lana's face split into a wide grin. "It's good to see you Arianna. Come in, I'm sure your brothers will be happy to see you. Sean is in the back room working on an article for tomorrows news." The two walked into the house proper where Brian and Tommy were engrossed in a program on the viewer. The boys looked up and saw her before smirking. One opened his mouth. "Hey Ari!" The other then continued, "Come home to get your old scratching post?" As twins, they were rather good at working together, but as brothers, they fought a over nearly everything. The only thing they really cooperated on was school projects, games and messing with their older half sister. Ari returned the smirk and looked at one hand as her claws extended. "Oh no, I thought I would see how these worked on more... humanoid targets." The boys immediately stood down because they knew how much those claws could hurt. Ari chuckled and hugged the two boys. "Good to see you too." She continued her walk to the back office where Sean, her step father was working. "Hi Sean. Not working too hard are you?" The older man looked up at his step-daughter and smiled tiredly. "Always am at that. Perhaps I should ask the same question? How is that ship of yours?" Ari rolled her eyes before replying. "It's having some big inspections right now, but it is still in one piece. Though I got you a souvenir." She handed over a small but long box. Sean opened it to reveal a quill made with a large, colorful feather. "That quill was made on Risa with a feather from a Risian tropical bird. It is all handmade and cured in a small area of the planet. I figured you would like it." Sean smiled and set up the accompanying inkwell with the quill on his desk. "Beautiful, Ari. I love it. Maybe at some point, I'll replicate some parchment and do some proper writing." Sean may have only been her step-father, but he was a wonderfully kind man. Ari had come to look up to him as a secondary father figure in many ways. Both did a lot of travelling, her because of the Heimdall, and his because of his career in Journalism, and everywhere they went, they picked up souvenirs for each other and the family. A few hors of conversation, catching up and laughter later, Lana came back into the living room and told everyone to wash up for dinner. True to her word, Lana had cooked up a veritable feast for the family. Salad, pasta and most deliciously, fish, was spread across the table. Everyone had their fill and then some before the meal was over. An alarm on Ari's wrist mounted mini PADD sounded, saying that it was time to return to the station. Ari was giving a hug to her mother when she felt a slight squeeze towards the end of her tail. She twisted her head around and caught sight of a pink bow tied around the tip. A feline growl emanated from her throat as she turned to two suddenly sheepish boys. "Who wants to die this time?" Brian grinned cheekily and pointed at Tommy. Tommy began running as Ari gave chase. Her prey screamed in fear as Ari closed in. "Oh good! I always love it when my prey struggles!" She pounced and pulled the helpless boy to the ground. "Mroow!!"
Elliot sat up on his bed leaning up against the wall with a large PADD in his lap. He was not happy about having to stay in while everyone else got time to get off the ship. He made a sour, mocking face at the PADD as he finished another derivative problem. Math was not his favorite subject, it was full of rules about what could and couldn't be done.
He had tried to get help from Tem'mel one time when he got stuck. He had gotten all the way to her family's quarters, despite his nerves, but her father had answered the door.
Elliot never had made it to the teacher's office. She may not have been in any way. And he wanted to be with Tem'mel, not some adult. Adults always seemed to ruin fun. Dad was case in point. What a boring way to spend two days off. But he was behind on his work so he decided that it was for the better. Better to get it done now then get yelled at come more later.
A few hours later, he completed the assignment. Elliot turned it in to the school data base for grading and decided that he deserved a treat, a short reprieve for all of his hard work. He ruffled Kenai's ears and made his way to the living room.
The short ice cream break turned into a short break to play a game. That devolved into time to watch a program on his favorite fictional secret agent. And of course the video turned into a short nap.
Two hours after his "short break" had begun, Elliot woke up to his husky licking his face. He looked at the clock and saw how much time had passed and then grunted. He went back to his room and picked up his school PADD again. Science was the subject this time, the lesson was human physiology. He wanted to complain about it but he knew there was a history lesson coming too, and it would be worse.
After all of his homework was finally finished, he called his dad on his wrist communicator to ask about going to explore the space dock a little.
Elliot fell back on his bed and sighed. Adults always killed the fun. He swore to himself that he would never be like that when he grew up.
Paul sat at his desk. The crew had R & R time but sitting in his office reading up on the latest, biggest and baddest advances in propulsion was his idea of relaxation. His duties didn't allow him much of an opportunity to spend time in his office anyway. The ship was quiet with most of its permanent residents somewhere else, so it was an ideal time to sit around. It was going to be two whole days of bliss for him.
Time was going swimmingly for Paul. He was so wrapped up in what he was doing, that he didn't know he had missed his normal lunch time until his stomach started growling and he realized that it was well into the afternoon. He decided to go and get something to eat from his room instead of fighting the crowds inside the station. Replicator rations were tight on the Heimdall, but he didn't use them much so he had lots of them saved up. He ordered a sandwich and some soup and waited.
As the replicator processed his order, Paul gazed around his sparse quarters. He had never been one to put effort into making his quarters look any particular way. They were just a place to sleep, why worry about aesthetics? For the first time in a while, his eyes landed on a picture hanging on the wall. It was of himself at some bar on Mars with his two greatest friends in the galaxy on either side of him; John Erikson, now retired, and Jones, dead for years now.
A twinge of pain ran through Paul's heart. It had been so many years now. The three of them had been as close as brothers. He still spoke to John every once in a while, and of course, working for Marcus was like being around a young John all over again.
Paul grabbed his lunch and sat down to eat it where he could look back at the picture. Seeing the three of them together again, and so young brought back a lot of memories. They had gotten in trouble together and pulled off miracles together while making Erikson Enterprise what it was. Paul began to feel his age, but he felt his loss even more.
He thought about returning to his office as he finished the last couple of bites. As he stood up though, he caught the picture again out of the corner of his eye. Jones' smile drew him in. He had more he wanted to study, but he couldn't tell Jones no this time. Instead of heading back to his office, he signed out of the ship and caught a shuttle down to the surface.
The shuttle put Paul down by a small town in Greenland. This had been the town that Abram Erikson had started the company in. This is where his family had lived while he paid his dues as a small timer in the shuttle service world before he bought the first Erikson Shipping ship. This is where the Three Amigos (Paul, John, and Jones) had terrorized when they wanted to sow their wild oats.
Paul walked to the edge of town, to a wide patch of grass filled with small monuments. It didn't take him long to find the one he wanted, he had been here before. He cleared some dirt and weeds from around the white stone trying to keep his mind clear of his feelings.
There was a beep from the comm unit in Su'resh's quarters. He stood up from where he had been seated, having his morning meal, and walked over to the appropriate panel. Before opening the channel, he checked to see where the signal was coming from. When he found his answer, his breath caught in his throat. The alert chimed again and he pulled himself together and answered the hail.
At the appointed time Su'resh made his way to the designated location. Instead of heading straight there, he had went into the dock and caught a shuttle down to San Francisco. It had given him time and space to think and rethink his decision. Occasionally, he was able to convince himself that it was a bad idea for some reason of another but it never lasted long. Regardless of the past, this was the correct course of action and he would accept the consequences of that decision however they came.
When he arrived Mareen was there to greet him.
"Mr. Su'resh, I see you took the long way. I trust your trip was without problems." She had a gentle voice and wore an inviting smile. It was not at all what he had been expecting.
Su'resh followed the woman to a small room that was comfortable and well appointed. There was a single man in the room. He wore an almost solid black uniform with Commanders pips. When Su'resh walked into the room the man stood up and offered his hand.
Over the next hour, Su'resh gave the Commander a condensed version of his story. He made his best attempt to be patient and answer all questions as they came. He reminded himself that he needed to be patient with this man, he was key to his plans. Zhou took notes the whole time but always seemed to be interested and engaged in the story, all the way to the end.
Su'resh nodded. "Actually, I already have. It was a most intriguing experience. I was surprised that anyone would be so interested in my personal travels and even more surprised that they were willing to accept me, considering the, then, current relationship between our governments.
Su'resh shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He had been expecting this line of questioning. Commander Zhou had been congenial up until now, but this is where that would end, Su'resh was sure of it. "I have thought on that in preparation for this meeting Commander. I have decided not to share any of my knowledge at this time." He cringed, waiting for the torture to begin.
Su'resh was amazed, where was the anger, the torture?
Apparently, his fears about denying the Federation intelligence about the Romulans was not as dangerous as he had anticipated.
"Thank you Commander," He couldn't think of anything else to say.
Zhou only smiled, nodded and left the room.
Parim gazed in wide eyed wonder at the memorial. He couldn't quite figure out exactly how he felt about it. He had decided to use his time off to visit Earth for the first time and explore the home planet of his patron. He wanted to see the home of the Federation to thank them for saving his people, a gesture that surely had not been extended enough.
He spent the entire first day at the Grand Canyon. It was such a marvel. It was unlike anything Parim had ever seen before at home. They had canyons and mountains but nothing so large or so beautiful. He had taken the elevator down to the bottom and walked around the river, from that vantage point, it was an entirely different experience. He had intended to see the pyramids in what the Terrans called Egypt as well that day but he couldn't bring himself to leave such a wonder.
As he looked at the memorial from his bench he couldn't help but marvel at the human race. They were such a contradiction. They had a volatile history and yet they had a great capacity to appreciate and create beauty. Suddenly, he became aware of someone else on the bench beside him. Parim looked to his left to see a balding man with a gentle face staring into the monument. Parim wasn't sure, but if he remembered right, the man was wearing a Starfleet uniform that showed him as a Captain.
"It's a beautiful memorial, don't you think?" The man said, still looking at it.
Parim sat stunned for the rest of the conversation. His respect and appreciation for humankind kept growing. It was finally decided in his mind. He had made the right decision.
K'Roth did his usual job moving the cargo around so it was more organized as he checked the PADD to make sure everything was still on board. He checked his watch to make sure he had time to get some practice in again. "I've been slacking again; I keep this i won't be able to protect boss when we're on the ground..."
After finishing up that he head down to the granary he had found set up a few weeks back while exploring the ship. He grabbed few bottles of the "weak alcohol" and head to the loading area and sat down on the ramp bored as he drank one of the bottles like it was water. "Hmmm.. Seems to have more bite then usual..." He sat the quite bored as I looked at all the people bustling about as if they were actually in a rush when they new full well they had time if they managed it correctly.
Finishing his drinks he went to an area he had set up in the cargo hold so he could practice the old techniques he was taught sense he was kid. K'Roth stopped and looked up the ceiling thinking back to how he lost his fight that day. The way he was so over confident he didn't even see the captain move when he swiped his feet out from under him and put K'Roths own blade to his neck. "I was foolish then. I won't make that mistake twice!"