Lower Decks: Checking Out the Starbase
Posted on Fri 26th Mar, 2021 @ 11:24am by Crewman Eslin Briga
Edited on on Fri 26th Mar, 2021 @ 11:28am
843 words; about a 4 minute read
Mission:
Business Not At All As Usual
Location: Deck 2250 and Elsewhere
Timeline: MD-6, 1300 hours
Eslin refolded the last of her uniform tunics and put it in a drawer, then she folded her duffel bag and put it into the recycler. Next time I travel, I'll replicate one that I like better, she thought.
"Okay, I'm all unpacked. Let's go explore this place," she said to Emmie. "You've been here a couple of days. What are the most useful and interesting places close to here?"
"Depends," Emmie said. "If you're hungry, there are a number of restaurants right around here, and there's also ethnic food in the Brown Sector close by. I haven't explored there too much yet, though. There's a gift shop, and a nice park a couple of decks down, too.
"Actually, it seems a little odd to me to send family a souvenir from my duty station. It isn't like this is a planet with unique crafts or arts!"
"What kind of souvenir would you like to send?"
"I don't know. The twins like exotic animals and music and art, but what would there be on a starbase that would be all that exotic? My youngest sister is only interested in excavating old things, and there's nothing old here, nor as I understand it, on the planet nearest us. In fact, it isn't even habitable by carbon based life. My older brother likes mysteries, enough that he makes a good living writing them. I just can't imagine too many mysteries here I could suggest to him."
She paused for a moment and laughed. "Though you never know. There could be some of those. Dark things in closets down in the bottom of the space station." She affected a little woo-woo voice and added, "Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of Starbase 109? Only the ghosts! And ghosts never tell."
"It might be interesting to have ghosts on the starbase. That would make it even more of a tourist attraction than it already is," Eslin said.
"All kidding aside, you can keep the ghosts," Emmie said. "And if my brother wants to investigate them, he can do it without my help. If you're ready, though, I could do some shopping and eating investigations!"
"My stomach just growled to me a minute ago that it would like to try some tasty Starbase food, so let's explore!" Eslin agreed. "Just so long as it isn't gagh."
"Oh, no, the one thing I figured out is that all the exotic foods are up on the Promenade, or maybe in Tivoli Gardens. I mean, there might be Klingon fast food down here tucked away in a corner, since I'm sure some of them work at the bottom of the starbase ... or maybe not," she said after a short reflection. "They tend to be warriors, and probably wouldn't be caught working like we do. In my brief forays around the shopping area here, though, I didn't see anything that exotic."
"Sounds good to me," Eslin said. "I like interesting, new, and different food, but nothing that's too way out there. I agree with you; probably no Klingons working this far down-station. Maybe we can check out this Tivoli Gardens place someday."
"That might be fun. I don't know much about it, but I guess there must be gardens, right? I heard there's a river, too. Whoever heard of a river on a starbase? I can't imagine who would even think of such a thing. I got the impression there are a lot of people who retire there, for some reason. And that it's expensive! But looking is always free, right?" Emmie said, walking toward the door. "For now, let's find out about our close environment and one of these days when we have a day off at the same time, we'll head up base and see what else, or who else, lives here."
"I saw a waterfall from the tram while on the way down," Eslin said. "It was surreal. First of all, you're seeing it from the wrong direction, so it looks like it's falling horizontally. Then, of course, you're in the tram, so the gravity plays tricks with your mind. I've never seen a starbase with a waterfall before."
"I think that's part of the river I heard about. One thing's for sure, this isn't your everyday starbase. It could take a long time to see everything here, I think. Right below us is something called the Zodiac, or Brown Sector, I'm a little confused about that. I don't know anything about it, though." As they walked through the corridor of their own deck, Emmie noticed the colored lines on the walls. She pointed them out as they came to an intersection with words in the same colors. "Look, I think this is supposed to help us," she laughed, pointing at the blue line with blue letters that said shopping center.
Eslin laughed. "Well, that's helpful. On the other hand, no way we can say we got lost, either!"
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