=/\= Deck 4, Crew Quarters =/\=
Indira hurried into her tiny sonic shower and filed through her mental
rolodex of civilian clothes. As she got out of the shower, she
decided on a burgundy sleeveless dress with a high neckline. Casual,
comfortable, and modest enough for a trip down to the planet.
Letting her hair fall loose around her shoulders, she grabbed a
shoulder bag and tossed in a tricorder and a spare PADD for "just in
case" right as Runo rang her door chime.
Runo had grabbed a quick shower before dressing in a pair of worn
jeans, a white t-shirt and a light blue button up with his sleeves rolled
up to his elbows before ensuring everything was in order and stepping
out into the hallway. His dark hair was still slightly damp from the old
fashioned shower system that used water instead of sound waves. He
had only just managed to get the engineers to allow him to have it installed.
He waited at Indira's door a moment longer.
"Ready to go?"
Indi paused and took a moment to take in the "tall dark and handsome"
standing at the door, and then blushed when she saw that he had
noticed. "Definitely."
=/\= Nysinrin City =/\=
After being greeted on the planet, they were allowed to wander the
marketplace alone. Sort of. Indi could tell that it wasn't just the
curious Lyrillian citizens who were watching them, but she could also
understand why the Grand Proctor might want to keep the white-garbed
monitors on the periphery at all times.
Many of the food stalls contained selections of hrisnek prepared in
various ways, so it was obviously one of the main staples of diet. At
one they found little pies that reminded Indi of pasties, and from
what the woman described of the meat, sounded a bit like a Terran
turkey. They also bought drinks which they likened to a very watery
Merlot, and found a quiet spot in a park on one end of the
marketplace.
Dlya rested against a low wall, the buttons on his shirt having been
undone earlier as the heat of the day rose. He had pointed out what
landmarks he was able to identify from his first visit planet side and
what cultural information his Lyrillian guide had saw fit to share with
him. "To be honest... I am not sure which felt better. The Maker's sun
or a natural one. One thing is for sure though, the Lyrillians are in for a
scorcher of a summer."
Indi laughed. "If you think this is bad, you've apparently never been
to India. I would compare it more to... I don't know, Italy maybe."
Sitting on the ground, she leaned back on her elbows. "Not that its
not warm, but certainly not so much that they'll have difficulty
adapting." She sat up and patted the shoulder bag she had brought
along. "If you'd like to take a layer off, we can put the shirt in
here until we get back to the ship?"
Runo gave a quick grin and removed the outer shirt, before balling it up
and lightly tossing it towards Indira. The bag she had handled was partially
filled with purchases the two had made while they were strolling through
the market earlier. A few trinkets, a small wood carving, a weaving to hang
up on the wall. A delicious breeze began shortly after wards as the two Charon
crew members relaxed in the shade. Nysinrin City was considered a port city
and the water front wasn't a great distance away. Casting a quick glance over
towards Indi relaxing, he gave another smile and looked back up. "I actually
have never been to Italy or India...or any other part of Earth for that matter.
Besides the time at the Academy in San Fransisco, I didn't travel much."
His companion was silent for a moment and she had gone to answer when
suddenly the two were approached by a small group of Lyrillian children, led
by none other than Gahridin, the child that had approached Runo when the
security officer had first accompanied Commodore t'Rehu to Lyrilla's surface.
The child had been in the middle of a sentence because he ended it as they
stepped up. "...and this is the hue-mon with the paser I was talking about."
The group gave a collective gasp of disbelief. Truly Gahridin was kidding?
One of the young girls stepped forward and tugged on his sleeve. "Din, your
parents will be worried about you being gone so long. We should head back
now." The rest of the group nodded their consent and although he resisted and
pouted slightly, Gahridin left with them.
Indi watched the children scamper off, her body still relaxed in the
grass, but inside she had tensed at the mention of Runo's phaser. Not
that she thought the boy meant any harm, but ignorance that it was not
a toy...well, it was a good thing no one had begged a demonstration.
She rolled over and looked at up Runo, who had been standing behind
her. "Maybe we should head back up to the ship? Or perhaps we should
wait for Lyrilia's first sunset? I think it will go down in about an
hour."
"I don't see why not. The lights are out in my quarters except in the bathroom
anyway so I had a friend get me a spot down on Lyrilla for the night." Runo
smiled and offered his hand towards Indira to help her up. As she reached up
to grab a hold of Dlya's hand, there was a sudden noise as a Federation shuttle
flew across the sky and landed in the city.
Runo pulled Indi to her feet and she looked towards the shuttle.
"Lets go somewhere else and watch the sunset." She grabbed the
shoulder bag and linked her arm though his. It was a little odd with
how comfortable their companionable silence was, but there didn't feel
like a need to fill the air with inane small talk. The sun was slowly
sinking towards the horizon, and the heat that Runo had complained
about was subsiding.
"You know, I've been a lot of places on Earth. In some ways I think
you'd like visiting some of them. But in other ways, theres no
comparison to the places you go in Starfleet. Take Lyrillia for
example. I've seen the sunset in Italy, but its taken so for granted.
Here, its not just the sun setting. Its hope and rebirth and...."
Indi smiled softly.
"A new beginning?" Runo finished as a smile tugged at the corners of
his mouth. There was a crowd already forming and it wasn't long at all
before Runo and Indira were swallowed and pushed along with the current.
It eventually emptied onto a beach that may have been a glacier a few weeks
ago. The waves gently lapped at the shore and the Lyrillians were spread
all over the strangely colored sand. It bore an almost metallic silver color,
mixed with veins of a dark red soil. The shore was almost as much a natural
masterpiece as the sunset that wrapped up yet another day on the changed
Lyrilla. As a local drink was distributed among the crowds, Runo caught a
rumor that this tradition had been started by their own Ambassador Lamont.
He picked up two and passed one to Indira. "To new beginnings..."
She smiled and "tinked" her glass against his, though the vessels
weren't actually glass. "New beginnings."
Lieutenant Runo Dlya
Assistant Security Officer
USS Charon
Liuetenant (JG) Indira Bai
Assistant Medical Officer
USS Charon
