All Ashore Who're Curious

Posted on Fri 3rd Mar, 2023 @ 7:56am by

1,163 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Neither Yours Nor Mine
Location: Nomad/Secret Base
Timeline: MD 2, 2200

After settling into geosynchronous orbit at Isabella's coordinates, everyone looked at the landscape presented on the screen. There was no base.

"Where's the base?" asked Podkayne. "Shouldn't we see something down there?"

"Standby," Isabella said as she entered commands on the arm of her chair. A Sprawling estate backed by a mountainous seaside cliff emerged on the screen. The estate itself seemed to be a chateau with vineyards that lay in front of the house with bots tending the fields.

"I can't believe I am saying this, but I have missed this place," Verrana said as her eyes focused on a window that used to be her room.

Waypoint markers appeared on screen, guiding the Nomad around to the rear of the house and what looked like into the side of the mountain.

Riko took in the size of the grounds, and a shiver curled down her back. This place felt foreign, not like her home. She hoped that would change in time. "Does the bracelet give us directions to our quarters?" she asked.

"Do I have quarters?" Podkayne asked right on the heels of McCord's question. She bounced in her seat a couple of times. "I hope I do!"

"Of course you do my friend." Perry said as she did her best to stifle a loud laugh. She enjoyed Podkayne's excitement, and that brought her a sense of ....(I need to find a word) -satisfaction? amusement? lightheartedness? contentment? home-coming?

"And to answer your question, Riko, No. You get to go and choose your own room. Trust me, there are plenty of them. Feel free to fix it up as you'd like."

Turning her attention to the viewscreen, Isabella watched as Podkayne brought the ship around, following the waypoints. Again, Isabella reached for her bracelet and inputted a coded. Again, everyone on the bridge bracelets chirped with confirmation of receiving the code.

Isabella continued. "This code give you access to the hanger bay and turns off the hanger's security protocols. Trust me, you don't want to see what a mix of Orion and Klingon security systems can do."

Podkayne smiled delightedly at the thought of Orions and Klingons sharing security details. That might be fun to observe, especially if there were a little mix-up. Her sense of fun didn't tempt her to arrange such a thing, however. She seemed like little more than a child, at times, but she was much more responsible than a child.

"Podkayne," McCord instructed, catching the AIs attention, "please bring us into the hangar bay smoothly."

She watched the pilot do that, and noted the bots that were in the bay as their ship smoothly slid past the entrance and came to a quiet settling against the flooring.

Podkayne reached out to touch controls which shut down the ship's independent functions. "Ship is now down and parked," she intoned officially.

"Well ladies, if you follow me please," Isabella said as she left the captain's chair and proceeded her way to the exit, walking through the multiple levels of the ship. As she exited Nomad, Isabella was refreshed to see the sprawling hangar bay busy with action from the dozens of worker bees with their maintenance jobs. As she surveyed the bay, she looked over to the garage section and saw some of the bees working on some hover vehicles. On the other side of the bay, she saw a couple of shuttles covered with tarps. She smiled seeing that things have been well taken care of.

"Madame, you have returned!" An electronic voice called from behind her. As she turned around, she was welcomed by Gordy, her service bot. Gordy was acquired from a Ferengi animal trader during an operation she was running. With Gordy in her possession, she wiped its core programming and turned the bot into her own personal assistant. Gordy had the body of a work bee, but Isabella had the head replaced with a Starfleet Spacesuit helmet which held all of Gordy's higher functions.

"Gordy, nice to see the shop has been well maintained. How has the house fared in my absence?" Isabella asked.

Gordy's helmet lights flared and brightened and then he answered. "Everything has been kept in working order. All projects have been maintained and all deliveries have been made." Gordy hovered his way over to a workbench as he continued talking. "The villagers have asked for an increase in their monthly wine supply. I have advised them of the price increase and they are currently deliberating."

"Good! Give them the increase at no charge. Let us continue to be good neighbors." Isabella turned and saw her crew standing behind her and she raised her hand.

"Gordy, let me introduce you to our new family." Isabella said. "We have Riko McCord, my first officer!"

Riko waved from behind Podkayne. "Nice to meet you, Gordy. You sound very efficient, and I adore efficiency."

"We have Podkayne, our pilot," Isabella continued.

Podkayne wasn't quite sure what to make of this Starfleet-helmeted bot. On the one hand, he seemed intelligent enough, certainly the captain must have thought so, if she left him in charge of her entire home and hidden base. On the other ... he was odd looking. She'd seen many a worker bee. One had blown up right in front of her view screen on 109, in fact. Yet, she'd never seen one physically modified as this one was. What exactly was under that helmet? Did she dare think about finding out? Could she ... improve his chances any?

"Hi," she said after a moment. "Nice to meet you. Are you allowed to give me a tour of this hanger facility?"

"And of course, you remember Verrana." Isabella said as she tilted her head towards her.

"Gordy, are my things still in my room?" Verrana asked.

"Yes, Madame Nemis," Gordy said. "Everything has been tidied up and kept fresh as you like."

Verrana walked past Gordy and rubbed his helmet. "Gosh, I love this bot," she gushed. "OK. Ladies, I am going to my room now, and I am going to take a long bath."

"Shall I bring your traditional bath wine, Madame Nemis?" Gordy asked.

"Of course, Gordy," Verrana responded. "And make sure that it is chilled, please," she bellowed as she made her way to a turbo lift.

Isabella walked over to the remainder of her crew standing in the hangar. "I think it's time we all make our way to our rooms. Please, go upstairs and find a room that you like and make it yours. You will be able to tell which rooms are mine and Verrana's. Gordy will make sure you get whatever you need to be comfortable, and when you are ready, I can give you a tour."

Podkayne hung back, watching as the others went forward, tiredly thinking about what came next, perhaps. Gordy hadn't answered her question. Was there a reason for that? Was it choice or programming? There was just one way to find out.

 

RSS Feed