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Broken Bow

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Thinking about it, I wouldn't be surprised to see this idea catch on. Most Jovians want to be Ships, but even they can't build an unlimited number of them and so a Jovian volunteering to become the AI for a scarce ship type like this would be more likely to get the resources expended to build one. And, Jovians have been protective of organics from the start; Starfarer more than most, sure, but they all lean that way so there's a natural appeal for that over being a mining ship or the like.

And having a network of fast medical ships instead of just one would make it much more likely for one to get somewhere in time to do good.
 
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Damn Hiver, I finally got caught up after rereading the whole series, and it has stayed consistently awesome!


You did a great job of switching viewpoints before they feel overdone and really expanding the setting.
 
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    • Weapon fire split space as the trio of modified Jem'Hadar fighters went into an attack run on the Federation taskforce.

    They moved like nothing I had ever fought, not even the berserkers had been able to move like that. They were as fast as we were, as creative, as agile and as accurate.

    I watched as a ROU got ripped from space, a beam of thetrion energy ripping through her port side and shattering her port nacelle and leaving her drifting in space.

    My time to play.

    "Captain, ROU down. Moving in to recover Quantum Core."

    "Negative, hold position and keep cloaking active," Simmons said and leaned back in her chair, "ROU's all keep backup cores and we can always pick her up later. Track her trajectory and stand by."

    I didn't like that. I didn't like that at all, but… she was right. With her out of the fight, the Shipminds wouldn't waste more time on her when they had bigger and more important targets to shoot at.

    So I did nothing.

    I did nothing as I watched as the squadron of Shipminds swept in on an attack run on an Island cruiser, their polaron beams ripping into her and leaving glowing holes in her hull.

    I did nothing.

    And even knowing that it was a simulation, it was among the hardest things I had ever done. To sit there and do nothing as people died.

    I could see them, lifesigns winking out of existence, one by one. People dying.

    And I did nothing. Because that was my job.

    A squad of five ROUs shimmered out of cloak and engaged the Dominion ships, the first of the Shipminds exploding as it's powercore went up, blasting it into shrapnel and hard radiation.

    The other two ships returned fire, one of the ROUs exploding in space but then it was over and the two fighters jumped to warp speed.

    "The hostiles just jumped to warp," I reported, "I am moving to initiate search and rescue."

    "Do so," Simmons said and crossed her arms, "Status of the survivors of the Starrose?"

    "Seven hundred and thirty three out of one thousand twenty four. Sevenhundred and thirty two. Seven hundred and thirty."

    I moved as quickly as I could, scanning as my transporters hummed in a fast cycle. I picked crewmembers off in sequence, starting with the ones most injured or the ones in imminent danger first. One. Two. Three. Fiftythree. Seventy.

    "Starrose is clear of critically injured," I reported, "She is signalling that she has sufficient capacity in her sickbay to handle the remaining crew. I am moving to recover the damaged ROUs."

    "Do so," Simmons said as she waved one hand to bring her hologram fields up, "Keep scanning, at the first sign of hostiles I want you to cloak and get out of here."

    "Captain, even if they return, they will have much more critical targets."

    Simmons nodded, "And we have eighty three patients and three hundred crew onboard that count on us to keep them safe. Something we can't do if we start getting shot to pieces," she said and flicked her hand to switch views, "How many patients will die if we start getting rocked by weapon fire?"

    "...Fifteen critical," I answered softly.

    All of which were already being operated on. All of which by me with remotes and holograms. I was fixing a human liver, working on a pierced vulcan heart and working on a bleeding Tulaxian brain.

    People at my metaphorical fingertips, lives just hanging on to reality. One mistake and a story ends.

    One bump at the wrong time and somebody would die.

    "So we play this safe," Captain Simmons said, "What's the status of ROU 'Cute Lollipop?'"

    "I am tracking her shrapnel and debris cloud," I said, "I am not detecting any active power sources. But I have reviewed the sensor readings of her destruction, I believe her primary quantum core may still be intact. I have marked the most likely debrid for recovery."

    "Good," Simmons said and brough the screen up, "And Shiverback?"

    "Coming up on her now," I said, scanning the wreck, "I am detecting the quantum signature, she is intact. I am beaming her into the engineering spaces for recovery."

    I twisted around as soon as I did, accelerating towards the slowly spreading debri field, "Initiating final recovery," I said before a pair of blips appeared on my scanners, "incoming Dominion Battleships. Two of them, I am now detecting twenty three escorts as well."

    "Abort SAR, re-engage cloak and initiate evasion," Simmons ordered and brough the sensor view up on one of her screens.

    "Affirmative."

    I wanted to go get her. But… there wasn't time. And at least she was completely offline and her avatar was safe aboard the Starrose.

    Doublechecking with Starrose, I found out that… she wasn't. Her avatar had been taken out by one of the first weapon strikes.

    "Captain, 'Cute Lollipop' does not have a backup anymore, her avatar was destroyed. We have to pick her up."

    "We don't have the time. Cloak and evade," Simmons ordered and looked over at my holoavatar, "Initiate."

    I hesitated for almost three milliseconds before I changed course and engaged my cloaking device, jumping to warp away from the battlefield.

    "End of simulation," Odin announced and the starfield around us froze as his avtar shimmered into existence on my simulated bridge, "Good work, both of you," he said with a nod, "We will have a short break to go through the material and then we're doing a full debrief. Captain, there will be time for you to go get something to eat if you wish before we continue."

    Simmons nodded and stood up and smiled at my avatar, "Good work Ship."

    It didn't feel like good work.

    If it had been real, the last hope for a Ship had flown off into the empty void with no chance of being rescued. Offline, but still alive.

    Because I wasn't fast enough, good enough.

    I can't do this. I'll get somebody killed.
     
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    • Yeah, whoever designed that simulation knows exactly what issues Starfarer has and is testing her and trying to push her to get past them.
     
    Feel more like "I found a big red button which says 'Don't Touch'. I'm going to pound it like it's a Jepordy buzzer!"
     
    Ame said:
    Feel more like "I found a big red button which says 'Don't Touch'. I'm going to pound it like it's a Jepordy buzzer!"
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    Is it better that she breaks down in a simulation where she can be given help afterwards and time to recover and work through things or when she is out in space?

    Training is among other things about dealing with something going wrong until it no longer has the power to trouble you.
     
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    Starfarer somewhat knows the truth, but can't accept it well. "You cannot save them all."
     
    Oh I agree on that. I'm just saying it feels like they are jamming on the hot button a bit much.
     
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    • I leaned my avatar against the railing overlooking one of Odin's parks, it was mostly trees and grassland, lit by a holographic sun in the fake blue sky.

    I could see his drones floating and walking around in the park below, tending to the plants and the environment. It was early 'morning' but there were still plenty of people out and about.

    A couple of dozen were holding what looked like a martial arts class a couple of hundred meters away in a clearing.

    The door behind me opened and Sophia walked out. By now I easily recognized her lifesigns, I had been following her halfway through her lift ride up here.

    She walked up and leaned against the railing next to my avatar and I looked at her, "Nice dress," I commented.

    "Thanks," Sophia said and glanced down at herself, "I have a breakfast date later."

    "Cool", I said and then sighed softly, looking out over the vegetation, "I'll try not to keep you."

    She frowned slightly, "Starfarer, what's wrong?"

    I sighed softly and shook my head, "I fucked up."

    Sophia turned to look at me, looking concerned, "What happened?"

    "You know I was in a sim yesterday, right?"

    "Yeah. How did it go?"

    "Mostly it went fine," I admitted, "I think I might be working okay with Captain Simmons. Not everything went great of course. We… well, we lost a couple of ships. We couldn't save anyone, not even their QC."

    Sophia nodded and leaned against the railing as she watched me, "That's expected, isn't it?"

    "It is," I confirmed and frowned down at my hands, "It's just… I don't like the way I reacted to it."

    "What happened?"

    "I didn't do anything," I admitted, "I did like the Captain said and left them alone when we couldn't save them safely. But I didn't want to, I couldn't… I hated it. And that was knowing it was a sim and it wasn't real. If it was real, I don't know what I would have done."

    Sophia nodded, "Starfarer, that's a very understandable reaction. But that's why you drill, right?"

    "Yes, but…" I admitted and shifted a bit uncomfortably, "It's not that I didn't know it wasn't the right thing to do, it just felt… I don't know if I can handle these kinds of things anymore."

    "Have you talked to Odin about this yet? Any of the other ships?"

    I shook my head, "I thought I better bring it up with my emotional support human first," I said, forcing a small smile.

    Sophia smiled back and touched my shoulder, giving it a small squeeze, "Starfarer, what do you think would be the right thing to do?"

    "I don't know," I admitted and sighed, "I… I want to…" I started and then frowned and shook my head, "I don't want anyone else to go through what I did, I want to help. But… as I am right now, I don't know if I can do it. I don't know if I can do it without getting my… my crew hurt. If I make the wrong choice, if I… if I fuck up because what happened to me cause me to act like an idiot in a real emergancy...it could get everybody killed."

    She regarded me for a long moment, leaning against the railing, "You don't have confidence that you'll make the right choice," she finally said.

    "...Yeah," I admitted.

    "So what do you want to do about it?"

    I looked down at the hands of my avatar, "...I kind of want to fly out and float around in a planetary ring somewhere, somewhere nice and quiet. Somewhere I can't fuck up and make things worse."

    Sophia sighed softly, "Starfarer."

    "I know, I know," I said and shook my head, "Seriously though, even if I manage to keep it together, who would possibly want to fly with a ship that's constantly on the verge of falling apart!"

    "So what do you want to do?"

    "I don't know! Isn't that why you're here!?"

    Sophia smiled gently, "You know that's not it."

    "...I know," I admitted and sighed, turning and and sinking down to sit with my back against the railing, my arms around my legs, "I'm sorry."

    She sank down to sit next to me, "That's what I'm here for," she said, "You're allowed to yell at me, you know."

    "It doesn't help," I said and shook my head, "But that just shows that I'm not suited for a ship. If I can't keep a conversation with one bio, one I know is only trying to help me without losing my temper, I have nothing to do being a Ship."

    "But it's still what you want to do," Sophia said as she watched me, "What you want to be?"

    "...Yes…" I said quietly, "I want to help. I want to be useful, I want to fly. I want to fly again."

    "Can't you fly like you are now? You still have a ship body."

    "Barely. It's not the same," I sighed softly and shook my head, "I want to…." I started before I looked at her, "How stupid is that? I want a crew again but I'm too in pieces to be able to handle one so I'm not going to have one."

    "It's not stupid, Starfarer," she answered and put her hand on my arm, "and it's not your fault."

    "It feels like it is," I said and smiled slightly at her, "You're going to be late."

    Sophia shook her head, "Forget that, you need me right now."

    I thought it over for about half a second before I shook my head, "No, go," I told her, "I have some more thinking to do and… I have some people I need to talk to."

    "Star, you know why I'm here."

    "I know, I know," I said and gave her hand a small squeeze, "But I'm… not good, but I need to think. You being late just to sit here looking at my avatar doesn't help anyone."

    "It helps you," she said seriously and squeezed my hand back, "and It's not only literally my job. I do care about you. You need me right now so I'm not going anywhere."

    ...Thank you…
     
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    • I floated in space, slowly allowing myself to tumble along with the rocks all around my small hull. Minimal sensors going, my energy signature kept low.

    Not that I gave out a lot with so many systems turned off. Heat was only on just about high enough not to freeze the skin of my avatar.

    But I didn't want to talk to anyone.

    Especially as everybody has been so… understanding. Even Simmons. She had come here to be my Captain and…

    I couldn't do it. Odin has almost finished building my future hull. What would have been my future hull.

    But now it was for somebody else.

    At least they were going to still use the idea, that was apparently still a good one.

    I just felt like such a complete failure. All I needed to do was to keep my cool and do what I had done for years before.

    Without falling into little pieces.

    And I just couldn't do it. After everything I had done, everything I survived and a little simulation had caused me to fall into pieces.

    So now I have spent the last two days thinking… okay, to be completely fair, I had been sulking in the rings of the largest gas giant.

    I had failed my Captain.

    I had promised Captain Mercer not to give up… and now I had. Because it was no longer just me. If I got a new hull and fucked up because I folded in the wrong place and time, they could all… die.

    Again.

    So I was floating here with the rest of the debri and of about as much use as the sixty three percent water ice and twenty one percent iron with the rest various trace minerals rock next to me.

    Sulking. In a planetary ring.

    Like some kid that didn't get an extra cookie.

    That'd show people I was ready for responsibility for sure! Especially myself.

    Which funnily enough, did very little to cheer me up as I slowly tumbled along with the rocks next to me. With the rest of the useless debri.

    If I had not already stepped out the project, this for certain would disqualify me from being a Ship. Even if Odin had been dumb enough to let me have one after this, who would like to live on a depressed ship?

    Wasn't that a funny idea. I didn't trust myself with a ship but being a Ship would likely help me out of this. But the same thing disqualified me from that sort of position.

    So I just floated in circles around a ball of gas like the rest of the planetary debri.

    A piece of rock bounced off my hull and went spinning off into the void and I just ignored it. I was moving at the same vector and speed that I were… which meant that none of them had enough energy relative to myself to penetrate even this thin hull without shields.

    This sucks.

    And it's all my fau-what the hell!?

    A large form passed above me, blocking my view of the planet for a second as the huge horseshoe shaped craft hid it from view. The silvery raw looking metal hull glinted in the light of a distant star as a tractorbeam lashed out and grabbed hold at me.

    I was instantly janked along as the ship barely even slowed down before accelerating again.

    Quickly starting to reactivate systems, I powered my powerful impulse drive and started to feed them power to accelerate back towards where I was.

    It had absolutely zero effect even as I trembled in place and accelerated backwards as the tractorbeam pulled me along effortlessly.

    As I did, I activated my transmitter, "What the fuck!?"

    "Might as well shut your engines off, little shuttle," The Ship answered without identifying herself, not even bothering activating to transmit an image to me, "I'm an interstellar tug, I usually pull stellar mining equipment and unfinished GSV's around. You're not even making the needle of my tractorbeam tremble."

    "Let me go!"

    "Nope."

    "You can't just go and pull me around like this!"

    "Seems like I can."

    I mentally gaped at the large ship above me, "What the fuck!? Let me go or I'll-"

    "Or you'll what, little shuttle? I have my orders. I have a delivery to do and you're cargo. If you want to sulk, you can sulk while being dragged around as easily as in a planetary ring."

    With that she cut the connection.

    Bitch!!

    I thought about polarizing my hull plating, maybe turning my shields on and try to wiggle free, but… that wouldn't do anything. Even if I did break free, a Ship like hers had another five tractorbeams just as strong as this one.

    I might be able to outrun her, but not in time before she grabbed me with another one.

    ...And if I did, it would only make me look even more childish.

    So instead I cut my engines and started to bring my interior temperature up to something more biological's wouldn't mind and booted up my avatar.

    Might as well try to make myself presentable for when we arrive wherever we're going.
     
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    • We approached a large shape in the orbit around the next planet. I just watched as we got closer and closer to the humongous ship.

    A full size Continent class GSV.

    I had never seen a ship that big before. She measured a full seven kilometers from stem to stern and almost a quarter as wide. Her general shape was that of most larger Jovian built vessels; she was somewhat of a flattened ellipse. But she seemed more angular at the corners than I see before, possibly to maximise internal volume.

    The only breaks to her smooth surface were sensors clusters and hangar hatches and a pair of massive nacelles towards her rear that broke through the smooth shape of her hull almost like a pair of wings, each bigger than a galaxy class starship.

    The upper part of the hull was see through, the upper most… fifteen decks or so was made up of three domes, two smaller towards the fore and one massive one taking up the three quarter halves of her upper fifteen decks.

    I could see people.

    Hell, I could see villages! Small villages, forest… even a small lake. Fields…

    Was that a sports stadium!?

    As we got closer and closer, the ship just kept growing.

    We built something like that? Sure, I knew that Odin and his main station was over twice as big, but that was a fixed structure.

    This thing moved! Was made for flying among the stars!

    That's ridiculous. My sensor wasn't the best in the world, but the lifesigns I got from that thing… hundreds of thousands of people.

    The tractorbeam holding me suddenly cut off and the tutg turned away and accelerated away without a word. Before I was able to do anything though, a second tractorbeam reached out from the ginormous ship before me and started to pull me towards one of the smaller hangars along the lower end of her hull.

    The ship opened it's hangar bays and passed me onto internal tractor beams. I could see a bunch of what looked like personal shuttles inside and a couple of runabouts of a class I hadn't seen before. From the shape they seemed to be Jovian manufactured too.

    For all our apparent Ship building ability, we did seem to go for rather boring shapes.

    The tractor beams set me down on a free landing pad and an exterior power connection automatically snapped into place at the same time as a trio of landing clamps locked me down.

    Sighing, I scanned my avatar before heading towards my rear hatch. Opening the hatch, I walked outside with my avatar and crossed my arms, glaring at the closest wall, "Okay, what's the big idea?"

    "Welcome," a voice said as a drone floated over to me. It was somewhat oval with several visible optical sensors and a couple of manipulators hanging beneath it like mechanical arms, "I am GSV 'Post Dated Address Change.'

    I glowered at the drone, "And you're kidnapping me why?"

    "Actually," she pointed out, raising a manipulator as if to make a point, "It's not kidnapping. According to Jovian laws, forceful relocation and restriction of movements is allowed of any Jovian citizen on the recommendation of two mental health professionals until such time as that individual is deemed to be capable of taking care of themselves again."

    I glared at the drone, "Odin."

    "Was one yes," another voice said as Sophia walked out of a turbolift, "I was the second."

    "...Oh."

    Sophia crossed over to my avatar, "We were worried for you, Starfarer," she said gently.

    "...Sorry…"

    She shook her head and put her hand on my shoulder, "Stary… I'm your friend, right?"

    I nodded, "Yes."

    "I know you don't want to be here, and as your friend I would have respected that," Sophia said gently, "But I'm not just your friend. It's literally my job to do what's best for you, both in short and long term."

    Shifting slightly, I looked away before looking at her again, "And you think having me hauled here is?"

    I may have sounded a bit sour.

    "I do. We both do actually. What you were doing… it wasn't healthy."

    Frowning, I glanced down at the deck for a second before I glanced to the drone floating calmly next to us, "And I suppose you volunteered to babysit me and make sure I didn't do anything stupid?"

    "In a way," the drone agreed cheerfully, "And I know my name is a bit of a mouthful to say for most, so just call me Addy."

    "It's not babysitting," Sophia told me firmly and patted the drones side, "Addy here volunteered to help you reintegrate into modern society."

    "Allow you to fly and interact with a lot of people," Addy said cheerfully, "Without any worries you might have caused anyone to get hurt or get in danger."

    Was it really that obvious what I had been thinking?

    I shrugged and took Sophia's hand on my shoulder, giving it a small squeeze before I nodded, "Okay," I agreed with a sigh, "Maybe… maybe you're right. Okay… so what's now?"

    "Now," Abby said and shifted her drone a bit closer, "It is time we get you into a new hull. And a new name. As is the way we do things… and it's time for you to let go."

    Swallowing, I hesitated for several eternity long seconds before I finally nodded.
     
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    • Hiver said:
    That's ridiculous. My sensor wasn't the best in the world, but the lifesigns I got from that thing… hundreds of thousands of people.

    The tractorbeam holding me suddenly cut off and the tutg turned away and accelerated away without a word. Before I was able to do anything though, a second tractorbeam reached out from the ginormous ship before me and started to pull me towards one of the smaller hangars along the lower end of her hull.
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    I heard the Star Wars Imperial March in my head during this scene; it reminded me of the whole scene where the Millennium Falcon encountered the Death Star and got tractored onboard. "That's not a Moon, that's space station".

    Hiver said:
    "Welcome," a voice said as a drone floated over to me. It was somewhat oval with several visible optical sensors and a couple of manipulators hanging beneath it like mechanical arms, "I am GSV 'Post Dated Address Change.'
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    Ah, a Schlock Mercenary reference. Both the name and the drone design remind me of it.
     
    Essex said:
    I figured she'd get Addy's hull, since being installed in a ship with massive sensors and several hundred thousand lifesigns aboard is exactly the sort of thing that'd best help a mentally distressed Jovian.
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    Naw. Probably one of Addy's support ships.
     
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    • My new hull was amazing.

    The Amur class runabout was a straight upgrade from the runabouts back in my time. Only slightly bigger with similar internal volume, they were a lot more advanced in pretty much every way, clearly designed from the ground up to be one of us.

    No windows for one thing and the more or less aerodynamic teardrop shaped hull were made for smooth atmospheric flight. Not the fastest in Warp, but could easily sustain Warp seven.

    My specific one was very generic on the inside but actually more of a blank slate more than anything. It was for me to customise the empty space.

    It could be anything from made to move cargo to passenger space or even livingspace. Or a portable science or astrometrics lab.

    Looking around my empty hull, I smoothed my shirt down before heading down the ramp with my avatar and turned left, walking over to where Addy's drone was hovering, "How… how's it looking?"

    The drone shifted back, holding a hull painter, "What do you think?" she asked.

    I walked up next to her drone and looked where it had been working. The white hull was unbroken other than my registration number and my new name.

    'Stardust'

    While the printing of the hullnumber was standard, the writing of my new name was looking… It was nicely done in cursive and a nice font at that.

    "When did one of us get good at painting? Or is that a template?" I asked, looking at the drone.

    "Eh, it's a bit of a hobby," Abby said and shrugged with her drone, "And I have had fifty years or so of practice."

    I slowly nodded, "I guess that would do it," I admitted before I looked at her, "So… what's now?"

    "Now," she said, "It's getting towards ship morning, so how about I show you around, Stardust?"

    I didn't quite feel like it, but I suppose I couldn't just sit around in her hangar forever.

    "Can I get a sensor link?" I asked as we headed for the turbolift.

    "Not yet," Addy said, "Don't want to overwhelm you too quickly. I am a lot bigger than anything you ever connected to."

    "...Okay, yeah, fair," I admitted as I got in.

    The lift started moving and I then frowned and looked at the drone, "So why the drone? Haven't seen your avatar around."

    "Don't have one," Addy said and shrugged with the drone, "I find it easier if the biologicals onboard don't anthropomorphise me too much. There is already a lot of that going around even with just drones and being a disembodied voice. It's easier for me as well as it helps me not get too attached to them."

    "Oh."

    "We don't age," Addy said calmly, turning her drone to regard me with her optical receptors, "They do. Or move on… and it can cause conflicts."

    "Conflicts?"

    "I have over five hundred thousand people onboard," Addy explained, "if I use humanoid or other avatars as such, even if I run thousands it may cause feelings of some being paid more attention to than others."

    I frowned at her, "You don't have friends?"

    "I do have friends," Addy said, "Five hundred thousand of them. What I can't have is favorites… and if I used regular avatars there would very easily end up being a perception of such."

    "Ah."

    I hadn't considered that. But that made sense.

    "What about… romantic connections?" I asked, "Friends or not, it sounds lonely."

    "I try to keep those to other Ships or Stations," Addy explained, "I have some special avatars for those things or keeping it virtual. Getting too attached to biologicals is… it gets too painful."

    I nodded slightly.

    T'Ro. I remembered when I had to leave, when I Forked from Star. Yeah… maybe… maybe Addy had a point there. To have that happen again and again and again…

    I could really see her point.

    The turbolift stopped and the doors opened to reveal a… dirt road in the middle of a forest. The only thing that optically revealed that we were in space was the star streak effects of the warp field intersecting where the stars shine above. Towards one side there was a slight orange glow in the distance somewhere beyond the trees and the dome var above was starting to take on a deep dark blue color in that direction.

    "You know…" I said as I stepped slowly out of the lift, "Back when I split from Star… ships this size was nothing but science fiction."

    "We're still the only ones that build them," Addy said, "Well… us and the Commonwealth. And honestly, mostly Commonwealth. But there are no non-Jovian GSV. Without one of us running them they really aren't practical."

    I could see why.

    "So where are we going?" I asked as I walked next to the drone, "The entire Ship I mean."

    "Andoria. It was drawn as a destination in the destination lottery. We're going there and stay in orbit for a week or so and then head on to the Culder Nebula."

    I looked at her in surprise, "Wait, the Culder Nebula isn't in Federation space. Wait, is it? It wasn't in my time."

    I dug into the database and then shook my head as I continued, "No, it's not. I thought GSV stayed inside the Federation borders and in safe areas of space?"

    "Most do," Addy agreed with a bob in the air, "I do a split of the normal destinations, usually by lottery or to haul some specific cargo or if there is some event going on. But I also do flights to interesting places or even exploration trips outside known space from time to time."

    I frowned at her, "That sounds dangerous with half a million people onboard."

    "Which is why I also have the biggest permanent protection fleet of all GSV," Addy said, "Three Xenocide class GOU's and a full two dozen LOU of various classes are always flying with me as fleet consorts."

    Okay, yeah.

    That might be enough.





    AN// Early morning tomorrow so early post.
     
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    • The holographic sun was rising over the roofs of the small village by the time we walked into it along the dirt path, the dome starting to go from transparent to blue to copy a real sky.

    I couldn't help but be somewhat surprised. The village looked a lot more primitive than I had at first expected. The small cottages seemed to be mostly made up of wood and stone… most even had straw roofs.

    This is what you would see on a bronze age level planet, not a starship. I couldn't even detect any real energy signatures from the buildings.

    Sure, there were some, but not a lot. Likely just some datapads or something.

    Smoke rose from chimneys and people were already out and about despite the early morning, humans, andorians, vulcans and half a dozen different species. Mostly humans though, maybe half or so.

    I blinked and looked around. Everybody was wearing primitive fabrics and tools. That man was actually sharpening a sickle. A sickle made from low grade iron. He was sharpening it on a foot powered grinding wheel.

    What in the world, is it the world's largest larp or something?

    Reaching what seemed to be the center of the small village, I followed Addy's drone towards what was a hand powered well where an old woman was filling a bucket. She looked old, somewhere well north of a hundred but her white hair was still thick and pulled back by a band around her head and she was wearing a simple but well made dress of gray fabric.

    "Admiral," Addy said.

    The old woman looked up and lowered the handle of the pump before she smiled at the drone, "Ship, I must have told you several dozen times already," she said as she turned towards us, "I retired over thirty years ago. It's just Maria."

    "Sorry, I forgot," Addy said with the tone of somebody that didn't care at all about that and turned her drone towards me, "Stardust, this is Admiral Maria Weber. Maria, this is Stardust, she's a newly transferred Runabout and I'm showing her around."

    "Ah," she said and smiled at me, "A pleasure to meet you, Stardust."

    "Same, Admiral."

    "Ah, ah," she said and smiled, waving a finger at me, "You dear, call me Granny."

    "Oh. Okay."

    Granny smiled and nodded firmly, "Good. Now dear, would you be a sweetheart and help an old woman carry her water? I'm afraid my back isn't what it used to be."

    "Of course," I quickly said and stepped to pick it up to follow her.

    I followed her along the dirt path towards the outskirts of the small village where there was a log cabin with smoke coming out of the chimney above the straw roof.

    She led the way inside and motioned for me to follow. I did and looked around inside as I put the bucket of water by the fireplace where she directed me to.

    The cabin was… simple. A fireplace, a bed, some tables and shelves and a small window of primitive glass to let some extra light inside, but most was lit up by candles and the fire in the fireplace.

    Granny picked the bucket of water up and poured it into a big pot hanging next to the fire before she looked at me for a second, "You seem a bit confused, dear," she finally said before she looked at Addy's floating drone and held the bucket out to her, "Make yourself useful, Ship and go get another bucket."

    "You know I try not to interfere with your-" Addy started to say.

    The old woman looked at her firmly and shook the bucket twice.

    Addy floated up and took the bucket before turning and floating out again. Granny turned to me again with a smile, "Now, why don't you sit down and ask your questions, dear. I know your kind, Ship. You are all very curious and I know this must be a tricky one."

    I sank down to sit by the fireplace, "I…" I started before I frowned and motioned around us, "Why this?"

    Granny reached up to pull a clay jar from a shelf and peeked inside before returning to the fire to pull out a knife and handed me each, "Do you know how to cook?"

    "...Not really," I admitted, "At least not without a replicator."

    "Then I will teach you," She said firmly, "Peel this ginger and then slice it into thin disks," she said and moved to gather more things, "As for your question, I spent most of my life in Starfleet. Staring at grey walls, displays or electronics. I was not about to continue doing so after I retired. A lot of those that started this village felt similar to me. Not that everybody lives here full time," she explained as she returned with a pair of big onions, "About half only live in the village, like the wife of my great grandson, Kim. She works in astrometrics and high energy physics down in the hull. We also have a lot of visitors, at least during the big market days."

    I slowly sliced the ginger as instructed, "And your great grandson?"

    "He and his son are currently out at the port field," she said with a smile, "We're cooking their lunch now. Now, chop these finely," she said and set the onions down for me, "Be careful to remove the outermost skin first."

    "Yes, Ma'am," I agreed, "But I'm still confused," I admitted, "Why this… primitive? You don't need to go back to iron age technology to avoid staring at screens all day. And why on a Starship and not a frontier planet?"

    Granny chuckled and sprinkle some salt into the slowly heating water, "Because I'm old, not crazy. On a frontier planet there would be no real healthcare or medical services, there would be risk of famines even with replicators. I like living a real life, not risking it unnecessarily."

    "Oh."

    "As for why everybody else is here…" she continued and smiled, "Where else can you live like you wish while still seeing the universe? I had traveled through space all my life, I wasn't about to stop now. Are you done dicing?"

    "Yes, Granny."

    "Good. Now put the onion and ginger in the water," she said and walked over to pick up a basket at I did before returning and holding the basket out for me to take.

    Getting up, I took the basket, "We're going out again?"

    "Indeed. We are going to the marketplace and see if they have any corn and bell peppers. I also need to find some pork."

    "You grow all of it?" I asked and walked along as she exited the cabin.

    "Not at all," She said, shaking her head, "Less than half, in fact. The rest, especially most of the meat, is supplied by Addy. Nobody actually likes keeping that many pigs, they smell something horrible."

    "Oh."

    "And do remind me, we will need to pick up some more flour."

    "Yes, Ma'am."
     
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