A Home Away

Posted on Tue 23rd Jan, 2018 @ 9:37pm by Lieutenant Commander Alora Baro

1,298 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: A Phaser as Deadly as a Candlestick
Location: Decks 1554 and 1552

Having finally been able to schedule some time off Alora glanced at her wrist mounted PADD, noting she had an appointment to keep. In civilian clothes she left her quarters and made her way to meet the realtor. She cast her mind about Oto, yes Oto Ando. By most accounts fairly reputable according to Alora's additional research.

Oto's office was on the ground floor of one of the late-18th century styled brick buildings in the American Village, fronting the riverwalk. It was a few doors down from Pale Moon Books, and the alleyway where the body had been found, just that very morning. Oto was leaning back in his chair, looking out the window, thinking about that situation, when the street door opened. The jangling bell caught his attention, and he stood.

At least physically, Oto would have made a superb intelligence asset. There was nothing outstanding about him; nothing to catch in the mind and hang a memory on. He was Bajoran, with brown eyes and brown hair that was starting to thin on top. He didn't go to lengths to hide that thinning, but neither did he shave his head as a bow to the inevitable. "Hello," he said. "I'm Oto Ando. You're perhaps Lieutenant Alora?"

"Lt. Baro." She corrected politely, it was not surprising that the stations computer automatically listed her first and last name in the human order instead of the normal Bajora system of last names being first. "I keep meaning to fix that in the computer, never seem to have the time...nice to meet you Mr. Oto" She replied

Oto nodded pleasantly. "Won't you have a seat?" he invited, gesturing to the pair across his desk. "Tell me a little about what you're hoping for, Lieutenant." She was too young to remember the occupation, he thought. He wondered absently what her parents had done, if they'd been part of the resistance.

She nodded her thanks and sat down. "To be honest, the longer I am in space the more I want home. Not enough to leave Starfleet mind but there's more variety here then I've been able to consider previously so I've been thinking about. Oh not an exact duplicate I'll grant but some open space, perhaps a home in a Bajoran style would be nice." She said half feeling a bit silly but if she couldn't go all out on this planet like station than where could she? She wondered if he'd been born on Planet or in space, one never knew anymore but she kept such questions to herself for the moment.

"Home is a word with powerful allure," Oto agreed. "I have several properties for lease which might fit your requirements. When you close your eyes and think of home, what climate do you see? Red rocks under a hot sun? Snow on firs? Warm rain on poales?"

Alora smiled softly and feeling a bit silly did as he asked and closed her eyes and thought of home. "Home in my earliest memories were caves, cool stone, safe with fires in alcoves." She opened her eyes but they had a far off look as though remembering, "This was in the Dahkur Province, we lived there after the First Occupation as well but like normal people. It was dry but hilly with grasslands. It was hard to farm, the dirt was wrong somehow but after we got some equipment my parents made it work. A small farm it was but met our needs. She was lost in memory for a moment as she remembered sitting in the kitchen of the sturdy little house as the sun poured in, watching her Dad pretend chase her mom around the house with 'tickle hands'. She blinked away the memory, "Sorry, I apologize, was that the information you needed?" She asked trying to refocus.

"Very much so, thank you." Oto smiled. "That tells me which of our decks you're most likely to resonate with. Tell me... have you ever seen a chocobo?"

Alora blinked confused, "What's a Chocobo?" she asked unable to place it in her memory.

Oto chuckled. "A bird native to Matsunoshima," he answered. "Let's take a walk." He stood and took a hat from his desk drawer, pulling it on over his balding head. Leading the young Lieutenant out of the office, he turned right on the cobblestoned street. The two made small talk as he led the way over the river and up to the transit center, and then up three decks in a turbolift. They emerged on a gently rolling hillside with greenish grasses waving in the gentle breeze.

"Over that way," Oto said, pointing with his chin, "things get drier, and you get more of a desert climate. You can't see it from here, but there's a bit of a commercial district. A craft mall, a few restaurants, a tourist hostel. But we're going this way."

"Right..." Alora said trying not to gawk too much, just when she thought she was getting used to serving on this city in space it threw her something else again. It was hard to remember she was on a space station. The sights, sounds and smells were vaguely familiar as she followed Oto.

"Now, you may be asking yourself, 'how is this possible,'" Oto said, waving a hand at the landscape which seemed to roll on forever in every redirection. "You have to remember that our decks at this part of the station are five kilometers across, which creates an area of almost twenty square kilometers. Our decks are also quite a bit higher than others, all of which allowed the Disney Imagineers to create... wonder." Oto topped a rise, and waved like a game show host revealing a fabulous prize. In the rill before the next rise stood a red, wooden barn; a stone grain silo; and a meadow full of birds of extraordinary size.

"I think those imagineers and I should meet and compare notes." She said a little in awe. She had an idea of just what would have had to go into such a feat and was duly impressed. "Are those..." She tried to remember the word, "Chocobos?" She asked, pointing at the large birds. There was a curious and interested look on her face, years in space and new experiences had not completely dimmed the wonder of it all.

"Those," Oto agreed, "are chocobos." He was silent for a few minutes, watching the birds in the meadow. "Now, the folks who run the stable, Bill and Billie, have an apartment above part of the barn. They keep these little racing carts -- sulkies -- on the ground level, so you wouldn't be directly above the birds. But you could look out on this meadow any time of day or night. Would you be interested?"

Alora, who was trying to decide if it was rude to to try to pet one without the owner's permission, paused and looked back at Oto, "They ride those?" She tried to picture it and it was a funny thought, she wondered how that would work.

Then she answered his question, "Possibly..." She said consideringly. It wasn't quite like home, Bajor did not have birds like this, but it was nice. The sun, the slightly dry air, the atmosphere appealed. She looked over at the weird birds and the field that stretched, she could see herself fiddling with some device or another, yes it might be an option.

"Well, then," Oto said, "Let's go meet Bill and Billie, and you can look at the apartment."

"I'd like that." She said, focused on the 'feel' of the place. She liked it but wanted to keep her options open until she'd seen what there was to see, she eagerly followed the realtor.

 

RSS Feed

Comments (1)