Voyage of discovery

Posted on Tue Nov 1, 2016 @ 12:19am by Civilian 'Key Holder' Yolanthe Ibalin

1,373 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Rumours
Location: Promenade Deck
Timeline: MD3 1400

ON:

Alarra was roaming around the station. After her dad had left to meet the commanding officer of the station and to report for duty, she had the time to have a look around. Although the Promenade deck was exactly the thing she liked with lots of people to watch and loads of shops, she was still looking as miserable as sin. This day at the breakfast table she had not spoken a single word with her father. He should feel that she was still angry with him moving to this station, just because he had been offered the position of Assistant Chief Engineer here.

Thinking of breakfast, she was thinking of getting something to eat, so she stopped and looked around in order to find a place where she could eat something. Of course, Alarra could have gone back to their quarters and use the replicator, but she was here to get to know the station. Looking around, she saw something that looked promising.

"Box of delights? Well, we'll see.", she said to herself and went towards the place. For a short moment she remained standing at the wide entrance and looked into the place. On the other end, she saw the bar and lots of tables and wondered if that was really a place for her. After all she was only 14 and if her father found out she had gone into some establishment, she would not get off lightly.

As she stood there and thought about it, she didn't notice that she had gotten company.

A woman towered over the young girl, statuesque with smooth violet skin and rich purple hair. "Welcome to the Box of Delights," The girl's age didn't faze Yolanthe. On her home world, a girl was an adult from her first menarche. "What can I get you?"

" Oh, hello. Thanks." The teenager gave the lady next to her a short friendly smile. That question settled the issue whether to enter or not so she thought a second about what to eat. "I'd like to have Grakizh." That traditional yellow-leafed Trill salad was indeed one of her favourite dishes. On DS 224 there was a Trill restaurant that served the best Grakizh she could think of, so she only expected a poor imitation of it here.

"Come on over to the bar and I'll show you a menu. I don't replicate food here, so you;re limited to whats on our menu." She guided the young girl over to the wave shaped bar, and handed her the slim black volume that held the very extensive drink menu, and the three pages of food options. "I'm mostly a bar, not a restaurant, so its light bites and bar snacks mostly. If you want gourment cuisine, I recommend Anatole's."

Alarra nodded and had a quick look at the food offered here. Of course she had realized that this was a bar, so she was not really surprised that they had no Trill specialty. The girl looked around. "It's a nice place you have here." Alarra was surprised that they didn't just replicate it like so many other bars or even restaurants. She scratched her head then closed the menu. "Anything you would recommend?"

"If you like spicy, the hesperat is pretty good. If not, the targ burger with some earth cheese. We've got a nice one at the moment called gorgonzola."

"Okay, the targ burger, please." , she answered and put away the menu. It didn't take long for the meal to be served. It looked great and it tastes delicious. Looking around she saw some other people sitting at the tables or near her at the bar. Most of them were not alone but had some company and talked while eating or enjoying their drinks.

Alarra thought of her friends who were now lightyears away and the only one she knew here was her father with whom she didn't speak at the moment. As delicious the burger was, she just gazed into space while unconsciously playing around with her fingers.

Yolanthe saw the melancholic look, and took pity on the girl, putting a root beer in front of her." "New here aren't you? Left people behind?"

Drawn out of her thoughts, she looked at the lady. Was it really that obvious? "Yes, we only arrived here at the station yesterday and I just thought of my friends back..." Alarra stopped right in the middle of the sentence as the word that she had intended to say was home. But it seemed that was not the case anymore, was it? "... on DS224.", she added eventually.

"I don't know that one," Yolanthe admitted. "You've come a long way?"

"Yeah," Alarra answered sadly. "I had to."

Yolanthe raised an eyebrow "You look a little young to have commitments that drag you around the galaxy. What brought you out here?"

The teenager wrinkled her forehead then shook her head. "No, not my commitments. My dad took on a new position here. He's a Starfleet engineer. And I had to come with him," she explained.

"harsh," Yolanthe observed. "So what are you're going to do now. Study? Party. There's quite a trill population here. Maybe its time I did start stocking Grakizh."

Alarra couldn't help but smile a little. That woman was trying to cheer her up and that was indeed nice. "Party? Really? Well, I'm not sure if I am good company at the moment. But Grakizh would be a great idea." Just as she had said it, she realized that it might sound rude especially since she had only taken one bite of the burger. "Not that there is anything wrong with the burger," she added hastily.

Yolanthe smiled. "We have live comedy most nights, open mic nights, live bands and other music systems, bound to be something you like at least once a month. Burlesque and Boylesque if that floats your boat. Stay long enough, you're bound to find a party you like."

Alarra grinned, wondering if there might indeed be some girls her age she might meet here - or maybe even boys. "D'you also have holodecks around here?" she asked. Back on DS 224 she had loved to play some holoadventures and she had brought some of her favourite programmes with her.

"Oh yes, eight state of the art holosuites available for hire, and if you don't have your own library, ours has fifty thousands titles, and as a private premesis, we don't have to meet the content standards for the public holodecks." Which was really coded speak for 'you can be as violent and tasteless as you like and we don't care'. Yolanthe found a padd under the bar and handed over. "take a look."

Alarra took the padd and opened the programme file list. She didn't have to read long to find some of those programmes that Yolanthe had been speaking of. Alarra tried to keep up her relaxed look, but that was quite hard. The young girl knew that her dad would absolutely ban her to her quarters until she was 18 if she'd run one of those. Trying not to look too embarrassed she handed back the padd. " Thanks, but I think I stick to my library first."

"Not a problem." the bokkai tucked the menu away, "But should you change your mind, what happens in The Box, stays in The Box."

Although Alarra did not really intend to accept that offer, she nodded. At least she knew a place now to play her holonovels, although she still needed to get to know some people of her age on the station. Even holonovels were dull if played on your own. "Thanks again, but I'm afraid I have to head home now. There are still several things to unpack. It was nice talking to you." The teenager gave her a friendly smile. After all her mood was much better now. And since she was still hungry, she took a few big bites of the or or less cold burger.

"Well, keep an eye on our listings. You might see something you like, get to meet some like minded people."

Alarra nodded. "Sure will. Thanks a lot."

[OFF]

Yolanthe Ibalin
Owner, The box of delights
DS5

and

Alarra Toral
Civilian
DS5

 

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