A Woman's Touch

Posted on Thu 4th Jul, 2019 @ 10:46pm by Lieutenant Commander Dallas Briggs

934 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: A Diplomatic Affair
Location: Deck 635, Scent of Love
Timeline: MD 4, 1100

Dal showered and put on comfortable clothing. Then, he and Victoria's ghost left his new home to find the Promenade.

"While you were busy, I did a quick search of the Promenade directory," Victoria said. "There's a place where we might find all kinds of exactly right things on Deck 635. It's called Scent of Love. Doesn't that just sound perfect?"

Dallas nodded, “It does sound great. Would you like to start there?” Dallas definitely wanted her input on their quarters. It was as much hers at it was his for as long as she was here in this universe. “If I let you lead the way, it will look as if I know where I'm going.”

Victoria laughed and said, "Figure out how to get us to Deck 635 in the Promenade. I'm confused by all the trams and turbolifts. That's one thing that is so much easier on a ship!"

Dallas picked up his PADD and tapped a few buttons. It showed instructions on how to get to the promenade from his quarters. “Looks like we need to take a turbolift, then a tram and then another turbolift, and then we’ll be there, ten minutes max.”

"Ten minutes?" the ghost marveled. "That's about 600 levels, and just imagine. The whole place is 24 or 25 hundred decks. It would take us probably 3/4 of an hour to go from top to bottom! Can you imagine that? This really is a city, isn't it? It's going to take forever to learn where everything is and how to get there. But today," she grinned, "we'll start with getting back and forth to Deck 635. I have a feeling this is going to be so much fun!"

As they left, Victoria thought it was a good thing she could go right through the walls because there was no way to get her thumbprint on the lock, or to press it, even if she did. She tried to recall being so excited about shopping when she'd been alive, a career woman, and executive officer of a Starfleet ship. "Dal, has my personality changed since I died?" Probably the oddest thing about that question was that it didn't seem at all odd to ask it.

Dallas stopped and looked around before he answered her, making sure there was no one to overhear. “They should have transporters to send Starfleet personnel to where they need to go on this station, cause that’s a long time.” he smiled. “No, your personality is exactly as I remember it, however your likes have changed. You never liked shopping, you were too much into your career. Maybe that’s why you made XO before me, and I was very happy with that, no regrets.”

"Ah, that explains why I don't remember shopping much. Well," she said, not at all sorry about it, "there won't be any career pursuits now, so I can devote myself to fun now that we might have missed then. Who knew a ghost could grow?"

Dallas smiled “With your spirit anything is possible, and that's one of the reasons I love you so much. You’re my soulmate and always will be. Now let’s get going, the quarters still needs that woman’s touch."

"Now, let's see, if I have this right, we take the local lift to deck 100, then we hop a tram that only stops every hundred decks until we get to deck 600, where we get off and use the local turbolift to get to deck 635. Whew! That's a lot of hopping in and out. This is a huge base! I suppose Luna was larger, but then we didn't stay long, and mostly in a small area." They stepped on the lift when it stopped, but the ghost kept right on talking. It amused her to talk when Dallas couldn't answer her, but in this case, no one else was in the turbolift anyway.

"I keep hearing about Tivoli Gardens, too. There's a zoo, and more shopping, and barges on a river, Dal. A river! Right on the base! It has fish in it, too, and it's part of the water reclamation plant for the whole base. I can't even imagine the minds that came up with that one, can you?" Victoria finally paused to give Dallas a chance to respond.

Dallas laughed, “I think you would make a terrific tour guide, but seriously, that’s pretty crazy. We’ll have to visit those places, they sound wonderful, very creative on their part.” Dallas was amazed at what she said and he was very interested in seeing all of it.

It really didn't take all that long for them to get through the transfers and emerge on Deck 635. "Now, pay attention here. No window shopping," Victoria teased. "We're going right for the shop ... Scent of Love. And I think it's down that way," she pointed to the left. "You know what I miss about having a body?"

“Scent Of Love, Scent Of Love.” Dallas repeated. “Ah, holding my hand?” Dallas said.

"Close," the ghost said. "It's that I can't put my arm through yours and lock on. My hand simply goes through you. Do you feel that, a tickle perhaps?"

Dallas chuckled, but not from a tickle, “I wish I did, but no, I don’t.” Dallas continued to look around for the store in question. “There’s the store....”

Victoria flowed over to look in the window and sighed happily. "Just look at those beautiful plants. I think that's an orchid, but it isn't like any I've ever seen. It looks like fire! Let's go in, Dal."

 

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