Go Big or Go Home

Posted on Tue Dec 18, 2018 @ 8:51pm by Civilian 'Key Holder' Yolanthe Ibalin & Civilian 'Arrival' Avis Larant Ms

1,220 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Doors of Perception
Location: Central Services, Promenade Deck 1
Timeline: MD 03 1030

[ON]

The Promenade Decks, sitting at the widest part of the station wasn't terribly busy this early in the morning. Most of the people roaming the four levels were travelers, arriving, departing, killing time. The four rings circling the core showed Avis a brief snapshot of life here. Closed Bars and Restaurants. People drinking Raktajino and coffee in cafe's and the Replimat. Shops selling clothes and crafts and antiquities.

Avis herself was standing outside the turbolifts that ran down the core of the entire station, all 1250 decks of it. Opposite her, the window of the Civilian affairs office said it was open between station hours of 0830 to 1800. It didn't seem busy. Every so often someone would walk in, or out, clutching a padd in their hands.

Well, this place was as advertised, massive. Avis was definitely impressed, especially as she had been told by her boss that she was off to the wild frontier. Still, the bigger the place, the more likely there were lots of stories to cover. But that was getting ahead of herself, first she needed to tick off her to do list all the mundane necessaries of settling on in. There was the required physical exam and presentation of credentials to Civilian Affairs which would also see to it she found a place to stay. Since there she was right next to that office she might as well begin there. Fishing out her padd from the stylish black leather handbag she carried, the young lady confidently entered into the office and marched right up to the clerk manning the counter.

"Good day. I have just arrived here at the station and figured I should report here," she announced with a public relations smile, "Get done whatever it is is required, you'd know better than me."

" Hi there!" The perky young petty officer took Avis' ID and scanned it. "Okay Ms.... Larant. Welcome to DS5, I'm Mika. I've got a few questions.... You've listed your occupation as..." her eyes scanned the padd, looking for the information, "journalist! How long are you looking to stay? We have a hotel based on the Square Mile, or we can assign medium or long term quarters in the main civilian decks."

"Hello," Avis listened then quickly rattled off an answer, "Journalist yes...well the assignment is open ended but I would say it's fairly long term so definitely not a hotel."

Well assuming she didn't get fired but she was determined to remain positive.

Mika checked her terminal. "We've got space deck ten-ninety. A single person, class five. So its snug, but these are the ones that tend to turnover, so we have the availability." She swung her screen around to show Avis a map of the station highlighting a red spot three quarters of the way down the station, and a cross section indicating a tiny apartment at the end of an internal corridor from the tubo lifts, with no windows to the outside.

Avis couldn't help being just a little disappointed by the location but then honestly she had nothing to compare it with. Then the thought occurred to her, they probably tried to pawn off the less choice apartments first, hoping the newcomer contemplating a choice would simply take whatever was offered. Couldn't hurt to try and do a little swimming upstream and see if it worked.

"Oh, do you have something else...maybe a step up? And a view into space?" she realized she might be pushing it on that last part.

Mika touched the screen to scroll down. "I can do a bit of both. There's a level 6 on Eleven-two. Its barely more than a hotel room, but its on the outer ring, so you'd have a view of space."

Avis lowered her head to get a closer look then smiled.

"Oh I like that. It's not like I need much room, I'm only one person. But a view of space is great to wake up to, you know?" she gushed, "I'll take it, Mika, thank you!"

"Done." the Petty Officer smiled, and added Mika's details to her database. "Alright, I'm sending the details and the door code to your padd. Do you have a personal communicator we need to add to the station network?"

"Perfect," Avis nodded as she observed the other woman in action, "Yes, I do, of course. Here."

She then reached into her handbag and produced the necessary device.

"Could you answer me something? I need to get a physical of some kind, correct? How long do I have to get that done and where do I go for that fun little activity?" Avis tried not to sound too sarcastic at the end, she dreaded physicals. Not that she wasn't healthy and fit, she just didn't like them.

"Not so much a Physical as a quick screening, and to drop off your medical records. For this you have to go to main sick bay on Deck 55, but after that you're free to use the clinic here, or if you need it, Auxiliary sick bay seven is only a few floors below you."

"Alright, good to know, thanks," once more Avis nodded, realizing in the next few star dates she was bound to inundated in all sorts of information from locations to names. But that was all part of the job, a job she had desperately wanted and had jumped at the opportunity.

"So are we about finished here then? Anything else required of me or that you feel I should know?" so far she was pleased that everything had gone smoothly.

"Well," Mika said, thinking. "If you're a journalist, our FNN office is on the North Side of this level. Eighty FIve, I think. The station operates a four stage cycle, Sunrise is 5am to 7am, so full lighting starts then, dusk is 6pm to 9pm, thats partial lighting and then from 9 pm to 5am, thats the night cycles, and its minimal lighting in in public areas. When there's a festival, the Bajoran temple puts lights up, they always look pretty." Avis' padd pinged as the new information was copied across. "I've sent you the maps, please note the areas which are off limits to civilians. They'll also give you the standard opening times for this office, the various clinics etc. After that, you're on your own." Mika gave Avis a big grin. "Welcome aboard."

Avis was hardly surprised the young woman brought up the FNN, it was the largest news network in the Federation but it wasn't her employer. She quickly put the petty officer straight.

"Oh, I am a journalist but not for FNN, I work for IIN. We are small but we are edgier, not afraid to touch any story. So no office here but now we have a correspondent present at least," she explained.

More useful data was exchanged via the padd and that was it then. Easy enough, quite painless actually.

"Thank you, Mika. Glad to be aboard. You were a big help. Time to go explore," Avis declared, bubbling with youthful enthusiasm.

Mika gave the young woman a smile. "Go enjoy!" Let the young woman find out that all that glistered was not gold in her own time.

[OFF]

A JP By

Avis Larant
Special Correspondent
DS5


&

PO1 Mika Flynn
Operations officer
DS5
[NPC Maritza Soran]

 

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