I had a sudden image of ammonia breathing sentient slugs...
Duality
- Thread starter Hiver
- Start date
- Location
- Software
21
"Come on, T'Ro..."
She shook her head, "Star, I need to go through this data tonight, you know I have a briefing tomorrow." she said, before she sighed and looked up from her pad, "I know you had something planned, I am sorry."
Sighing, I nodded, "It's fine. Want some help?"
T'Ro shook her head again, "I need to commit these readings to memory and go over the graphs and speaking points."
"...Fine."
She put her PADD down and got up, "I will be free tomorrow evening." she said softly and slipped her arms around my waist, pulling me close, "Promise."
I couldn't help but smile and give her a small kiss, "It is impossibly to stay annoyed at you, you know that?"
T'Ro's lips twitched in one of her tiny smiles and she kissed back before stepping back, "I will make it up to you."
"You don't need to." I said with a smile, running my fingers through her hair, "But I might complain to Harold that he is working you too hard." I tease playfully.
"You will do no such thing."
"...Fine, I won't." I grinned, "I'll leave you to your studying."
I suppressed my disappointment as I left our quarters with my avatar. I had had the entire night planned... picnic in the park and then to holodeck three for a visit to a Vulcan national park. One of the few areas of Vulcan that was wet enough for flourishing vegetation... and one we didn't have time to visit when we were on the actual Vulcan.
We would need to skip that part now though. While I had seven holodecks and twice as many smaller holosuits, they were all booked solid tomorrow.
Well, that sucked. Okay, so I have some holodeck time booked and nothing to do with it. I guess I could do some writing. But what is everyone else doing?
Half the crew were currently busy with one task or another.
Shran was teaching his self defense class, Rachel was in her quarters, but her privacy button was pressed. Ajan was also busy with Erislia, cuddling on their couch while watching a movie.
Salia on the other hand was on my port observation deck, looking out the windows. Hmm, that was odd. Usually they all spent their movie night together. I had not noticed any fights going on.
I made my way over there with my avatar, instead of using a holographic one. Not like I had something else to do with it right now.
The space I was moving through was more or less empty. Even emptier than normal, the hydrogen count was down which was actually somewhat annoying.
The closest ship was a Tellarite freighter over a lightyear away and moving away.
Middle of fucking nowhere... which made sense as to why we were dropping the ambassador off in a day or so.
And I was so glad we were because she was really, really... bitchy. How the fuck she managed to become a diplomat, I have no idea.
Exiting the turbolift, I made my way across the observation deck. It was not large, about the size of a set of quarters. Several benches and chairs faced the window wall. A real window, not screens like most of the ship.
It was set up to be comfortable, a place to relax and watch the stars, maybe with a cup of coffee.
Other than the Caitian it was empty and she was not relaxing as she sat by the window, legs crossed as she looked out into the night.
"Salia?" I asked as I approached the Caitian. There was a moment where I thought she hadn't heard me before her right ear flicked and she looked over.
"Oh. Hi, Star."
I frowned slightly and walked over, kneeling down next to where she was sitting. That didn't sound like that happy Caitian I had gotten to know the last weeks, "What's up?"
She shook her head, the tip of her tail flicking in slight annoyance, "Nothing. Which is kind of the problem... I have nothing to do. I thought space travel would be exciting... Ajan always made it sound like it was."
"Exciting is about the last thing you want space travel to be." I corrected her with a small smile, "At least if you need air." before I looked out the window as well, "But I admit, this particular stretch of space is a bit more dull than is usual. So little to eat."
That earned me a strange look, "Eat?"
"Well, gather hydrogen with my bussard collectors. But eat sounds better."
That made her grin, "I suppose it does."
I shrugged, "So... you are basically bored?"
Salia sighed and let herself fall back onto her back, her ears drooping, "Bored out of my skull. There is nothing for me to do here. ...I feel so useless."
I couldn't exactly blame her there. She used to be a private shuttle pilot, moving cargo and people around the Caitian system.
But all shuttle operations from me were limited to Starfleet pilots.
"I suppose joining Starfleet is out of the question?" I asked hesitantly, causing her to flick her ears, giving me a d'uh look.
"As good as Ajan looks in his uniform, I'm not exactly eager to wear it myself." she said before she grinned playfully, "Well... other than the jacket sometimes..."
I so did not need to know that.
Doing my best to ignore the implications, I ran through free positions on board for non-starfleet personnel. There were plenty of those.
"How are your botany skills?"
She tilted her head, "I keep the plants in our quarters alive ...mostly?"
"So not aeroponics then." I said before frowning in though, looking down at her, "Uhm... Cooking? Chef Caldwell always needs more people for the kitchen."
Most people ate from the replicators in their quarters or cooked themselves, each family sized living quarter is equipped with a small kitchen, but we did keep the mess hall and live kitchen. It was great for morale to be able to eat real food if you wanted to. It operated more as a restaurant now than as an actual mess hall though, despite the name.
"My mother didn't believe in replicators and made sure I knew how." She answered, sitting up with a thoughtful look on her face, her tail swaying behind her, "Think I could do that? I just want SOMETHING to do. At this point I'll do almost anything to be useful."
"I'll discuss it with him and Commander Flynn, see what they think about the idea." I said with a grin, "Meanwhile... if you are bored, I do have a holodeck time in a hour or so. Wanna come? We can battle the alien hordes or run a mystery program or something."
"Sure!"
AN// A massive thanks to Firethorn for betaing this section.
She shook her head, "Star, I need to go through this data tonight, you know I have a briefing tomorrow." she said, before she sighed and looked up from her pad, "I know you had something planned, I am sorry."
Sighing, I nodded, "It's fine. Want some help?"
T'Ro shook her head again, "I need to commit these readings to memory and go over the graphs and speaking points."
"...Fine."
She put her PADD down and got up, "I will be free tomorrow evening." she said softly and slipped her arms around my waist, pulling me close, "Promise."
I couldn't help but smile and give her a small kiss, "It is impossibly to stay annoyed at you, you know that?"
T'Ro's lips twitched in one of her tiny smiles and she kissed back before stepping back, "I will make it up to you."
"You don't need to." I said with a smile, running my fingers through her hair, "But I might complain to Harold that he is working you too hard." I tease playfully.
"You will do no such thing."
"...Fine, I won't." I grinned, "I'll leave you to your studying."
I suppressed my disappointment as I left our quarters with my avatar. I had had the entire night planned... picnic in the park and then to holodeck three for a visit to a Vulcan national park. One of the few areas of Vulcan that was wet enough for flourishing vegetation... and one we didn't have time to visit when we were on the actual Vulcan.
We would need to skip that part now though. While I had seven holodecks and twice as many smaller holosuits, they were all booked solid tomorrow.
Well, that sucked. Okay, so I have some holodeck time booked and nothing to do with it. I guess I could do some writing. But what is everyone else doing?
Half the crew were currently busy with one task or another.
Shran was teaching his self defense class, Rachel was in her quarters, but her privacy button was pressed. Ajan was also busy with Erislia, cuddling on their couch while watching a movie.
Salia on the other hand was on my port observation deck, looking out the windows. Hmm, that was odd. Usually they all spent their movie night together. I had not noticed any fights going on.
I made my way over there with my avatar, instead of using a holographic one. Not like I had something else to do with it right now.
The space I was moving through was more or less empty. Even emptier than normal, the hydrogen count was down which was actually somewhat annoying.
The closest ship was a Tellarite freighter over a lightyear away and moving away.
Middle of fucking nowhere... which made sense as to why we were dropping the ambassador off in a day or so.
And I was so glad we were because she was really, really... bitchy. How the fuck she managed to become a diplomat, I have no idea.
Exiting the turbolift, I made my way across the observation deck. It was not large, about the size of a set of quarters. Several benches and chairs faced the window wall. A real window, not screens like most of the ship.
It was set up to be comfortable, a place to relax and watch the stars, maybe with a cup of coffee.
Other than the Caitian it was empty and she was not relaxing as she sat by the window, legs crossed as she looked out into the night.
"Salia?" I asked as I approached the Caitian. There was a moment where I thought she hadn't heard me before her right ear flicked and she looked over.
"Oh. Hi, Star."
I frowned slightly and walked over, kneeling down next to where she was sitting. That didn't sound like that happy Caitian I had gotten to know the last weeks, "What's up?"
She shook her head, the tip of her tail flicking in slight annoyance, "Nothing. Which is kind of the problem... I have nothing to do. I thought space travel would be exciting... Ajan always made it sound like it was."
"Exciting is about the last thing you want space travel to be." I corrected her with a small smile, "At least if you need air." before I looked out the window as well, "But I admit, this particular stretch of space is a bit more dull than is usual. So little to eat."
That earned me a strange look, "Eat?"
"Well, gather hydrogen with my bussard collectors. But eat sounds better."
That made her grin, "I suppose it does."
I shrugged, "So... you are basically bored?"
Salia sighed and let herself fall back onto her back, her ears drooping, "Bored out of my skull. There is nothing for me to do here. ...I feel so useless."
I couldn't exactly blame her there. She used to be a private shuttle pilot, moving cargo and people around the Caitian system.
But all shuttle operations from me were limited to Starfleet pilots.
"I suppose joining Starfleet is out of the question?" I asked hesitantly, causing her to flick her ears, giving me a d'uh look.
"As good as Ajan looks in his uniform, I'm not exactly eager to wear it myself." she said before she grinned playfully, "Well... other than the jacket sometimes..."
I so did not need to know that.
Doing my best to ignore the implications, I ran through free positions on board for non-starfleet personnel. There were plenty of those.
"How are your botany skills?"
She tilted her head, "I keep the plants in our quarters alive ...mostly?"
"So not aeroponics then." I said before frowning in though, looking down at her, "Uhm... Cooking? Chef Caldwell always needs more people for the kitchen."
Most people ate from the replicators in their quarters or cooked themselves, each family sized living quarter is equipped with a small kitchen, but we did keep the mess hall and live kitchen. It was great for morale to be able to eat real food if you wanted to. It operated more as a restaurant now than as an actual mess hall though, despite the name.
"My mother didn't believe in replicators and made sure I knew how." She answered, sitting up with a thoughtful look on her face, her tail swaying behind her, "Think I could do that? I just want SOMETHING to do. At this point I'll do almost anything to be useful."
"I'll discuss it with him and Commander Flynn, see what they think about the idea." I said with a grin, "Meanwhile... if you are bored, I do have a holodeck time in a hour or so. Wanna come? We can battle the alien hordes or run a mystery program or something."
"Sure!"
AN// A massive thanks to Firethorn for betaing this section.
Hey Hiver, do you have or does anyone else have the Star stories collated into Epub or similar? I ask as I was recommending them as a fun read to someone but she does not like wading through a BB format like here.
I don't... well, I have the original files, but they are unbetaed, you don't want those. I wouldn't object if someone put something together though.
hmm.
I would not mind tackling that. But I cant really see myself as having the patience to manually copy and paste every post, are there any automated methods of doing that?
I would not mind tackling that. But I cant really see myself as having the patience to manually copy and paste every post, are there any automated methods of doing that?
esotericist
A Weary Hand
- Location
- Lacey, WA
Not that I know. Which is why I don't want to do it either.
I keep threatening myself that I'll make an automated method of collecting story posts from xenforo sites for archival and the like.
It's 'threatening' not 'promise' because there's no way that project could end well for me.
If you have Calibre, you can use the FanFicFare plugin to download stories from SV and SB as long as those stories have threadmarks.
Apparently it also works from index posts, but Ive only ever used it on stories that have threadmarks.
Edit: Yeah, both this thread and Starseeker have threadmarks so you can download those 2 easily enough, but the earlier ones have neither an index or threadmarks.
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I can go back and threadmark them. That's no problem, I'll go do that.
That would be awesome
That would be awesome
And done.
Thanks
And the first 4 parts of the story are now epubs on my computer. Took about 2.5 minutes all told for calibre to download, convert and save them.
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- Location
- Over the hill and far away
wow. CLEARLY I need to get that plugin rather than just using my copy of the old fanfic downloader program
.....*eye twitch*.....If I'd just waited one day.....just one day then I wouldn't have needed to spend nearly as much time as I did trawling through all those early story threats to copy and paste everything into an epub to read later on my Kindle.....*eye twitch*....I think I'll just go over to the corner over here and bash my head against the wall......
22
Ding dong! The witch is dead!
...Well, not dead, but off my ship at least, which in my opinion works just as well! I couldn't wait 'till I could leave the system. She is your problem now, suckers!
Ambassador Helena Royston was a pain in the arse. Well, the Likians didn't seem to mind her. They were a semi-quadruped species that was completely literal minded.
Apparently they liked her obnoxious behavior. Sometimes it's a wonder that the Federation holds together, but I guess that's why we need people like her.
"Ship, status report on the installation of the new embassy." Commander Marcus Flynn asked, sitting by the desk in his office.
I formed the holographic avatar before answering. "It is proceeding according to schedule, sir. All essential equipment should be fully installed in approximately four days. We are clear to leave then, allowing local personnel to finish furnishing the building."
His office was the same size as Captain Mason's, not like I didn't have the room to spare. It was, however, furnished completely different.
Captain Mason had furnished his with lots of wood and seemed rather comfortable.
Commander Flynn, on the other hand, had his very... stock. Other than some pictures on the walls and having his window set to 'African savanna' instead of the view of the outside, it looked pretty much like it did when it was first installed. Standard Starfleet furniture and everything.
He was a rather 'by the book' officer. But he was also really good at his job as far as I could tell. I missed Kathryn, however.
As much as she deserved a ship of her own, I would have liked it if she had stayed on.
Commander Flynn nodded, answered; "Good." and put his PADD down before he sighed. "Ship, we should go through the efficiency reports and consider possible reassignment of some personnel to different duties. I have noticed that some resources would be better used elsewhere."
Oh, yay.
"Such as, sir?"
"Ensign Danielle Yuzral for one. She is over-qualified for engineering duties while her astrophysics scores are topping the charts. She is not the only one, either."
I nodded. "I am aware. She did, however, request engineering duties. She likes working with equipment, not just analyzing data, sir."
He raised an eyebrow. "You know her personally?"
I smiled at that, moving my holo-avatar to sit down in the chair across the desk from him. "I know everyone on board on a personal level, Commander. You are one of the few I don't spend much time with during your free time."
Flynn frowned slightly but nodded. "I prefer keeping the relationship with my crewmates, synthetic or otherwise, on a professional level. I find it easier in the long run."
"I understand, sir."
I really did. It was much harder to lose a friend than just somebody you worked with. It just didn't work for me. The way I existed I couldn't not get to know everyone onboard.
"Even so, sir..." I continued; "It would be easier for both of us to perform our duties if we knew each other better. At the very least, we should be able to trust each other's tactical and crisis management skills in an emergency as we are likely to work together during away missions with my avatar."
He looked thoughtful for a moment before he slowly nodded. "Very well. You might be correct about that. We should schedule some holodeck exercises."
"Perhaps we should also consider some games, such as chess? I have found those quite enlightening in the past."
"I never played chess."
Now it was my turn to be surprised. Have never played chess!? Seriously? I didn't think there was any human that had never played chess. Oh, there were lots of people who didn't like it or found it boring, but to find somebody who have never learned it...
"It is quite an easy game to learn. If somewhat difficult to master."
He nodded again. "We could try it. But I'm afraid you would need to teach me the rules at a later date. I believe it is time for dinner."
"Hope you like spicy food, sir. The chef is cooking Caitian cuisine today."
Flynn actually smiled at that. "As a matter of fact, ship, I love Caitian food."
Well, at least somebody is happy then. T'Ro was not overjoyed by the news and would be eating in our quarters today after her shift.
I'll just have to replicate her a nice dinner, my avatar was already setting everything up.
"Yes, Commander."
As he left his office, I shut down that hologram, watching a local craft drift past me in a higher orbit. A tiny little thing but one of their largest ships.
Just over a hundred meters tall, shaped a bit like a vertical banana, a warp nacelle sticking out the top and bottom.
An unusual design, really. Very few species made 'vertical' designed ship and what few species that did were usually those with natural abilities to fly. With wings and such. They were also pretty slow, barely able to push warp five at maximum power.
The Likian were the first species of non-flyers to prefer a vertical deckplan as far as I knew. They were a minor species that were looking to join the Federation.
As far behind us they were in technology, they were actually a good candidate. While predatory, they were a peaceful species and had been that way for over a hundred years.
I couldn't help but wonder what the crew of that little ship were thinking as they floated past a couple of thousand kilometers higher. I must look like a real behemoth from their perspective.
My shortest axis was several times their longest. Even so, their ship was quite pretty, I'd give them that. The hull was all shiny silver with gold engraving.
I knew it was all handmade too. They didn't build their ships like the Federation did, they crafted them the way old master bladesmiths made swords. A grand master ship wright leading a team of experts, they made each ship carefully and with extreme skill.
Each one a work of art.
It was slow and impractical, each ship ending up different from the next with almost no standardized parts.
But nobody could argue that the end result was not extremely beautiful. I did hope that was a tradition that wouldn't get lost when they joined.
AN// All the thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
...Well, not dead, but off my ship at least, which in my opinion works just as well! I couldn't wait 'till I could leave the system. She is your problem now, suckers!
Ambassador Helena Royston was a pain in the arse. Well, the Likians didn't seem to mind her. They were a semi-quadruped species that was completely literal minded.
Apparently they liked her obnoxious behavior. Sometimes it's a wonder that the Federation holds together, but I guess that's why we need people like her.
"Ship, status report on the installation of the new embassy." Commander Marcus Flynn asked, sitting by the desk in his office.
I formed the holographic avatar before answering. "It is proceeding according to schedule, sir. All essential equipment should be fully installed in approximately four days. We are clear to leave then, allowing local personnel to finish furnishing the building."
His office was the same size as Captain Mason's, not like I didn't have the room to spare. It was, however, furnished completely different.
Captain Mason had furnished his with lots of wood and seemed rather comfortable.
Commander Flynn, on the other hand, had his very... stock. Other than some pictures on the walls and having his window set to 'African savanna' instead of the view of the outside, it looked pretty much like it did when it was first installed. Standard Starfleet furniture and everything.
He was a rather 'by the book' officer. But he was also really good at his job as far as I could tell. I missed Kathryn, however.
As much as she deserved a ship of her own, I would have liked it if she had stayed on.
Commander Flynn nodded, answered; "Good." and put his PADD down before he sighed. "Ship, we should go through the efficiency reports and consider possible reassignment of some personnel to different duties. I have noticed that some resources would be better used elsewhere."
Oh, yay.
"Such as, sir?"
"Ensign Danielle Yuzral for one. She is over-qualified for engineering duties while her astrophysics scores are topping the charts. She is not the only one, either."
I nodded. "I am aware. She did, however, request engineering duties. She likes working with equipment, not just analyzing data, sir."
He raised an eyebrow. "You know her personally?"
I smiled at that, moving my holo-avatar to sit down in the chair across the desk from him. "I know everyone on board on a personal level, Commander. You are one of the few I don't spend much time with during your free time."
Flynn frowned slightly but nodded. "I prefer keeping the relationship with my crewmates, synthetic or otherwise, on a professional level. I find it easier in the long run."
"I understand, sir."
I really did. It was much harder to lose a friend than just somebody you worked with. It just didn't work for me. The way I existed I couldn't not get to know everyone onboard.
"Even so, sir..." I continued; "It would be easier for both of us to perform our duties if we knew each other better. At the very least, we should be able to trust each other's tactical and crisis management skills in an emergency as we are likely to work together during away missions with my avatar."
He looked thoughtful for a moment before he slowly nodded. "Very well. You might be correct about that. We should schedule some holodeck exercises."
"Perhaps we should also consider some games, such as chess? I have found those quite enlightening in the past."
"I never played chess."
Now it was my turn to be surprised. Have never played chess!? Seriously? I didn't think there was any human that had never played chess. Oh, there were lots of people who didn't like it or found it boring, but to find somebody who have never learned it...
"It is quite an easy game to learn. If somewhat difficult to master."
He nodded again. "We could try it. But I'm afraid you would need to teach me the rules at a later date. I believe it is time for dinner."
"Hope you like spicy food, sir. The chef is cooking Caitian cuisine today."
Flynn actually smiled at that. "As a matter of fact, ship, I love Caitian food."
Well, at least somebody is happy then. T'Ro was not overjoyed by the news and would be eating in our quarters today after her shift.
I'll just have to replicate her a nice dinner, my avatar was already setting everything up.
"Yes, Commander."
As he left his office, I shut down that hologram, watching a local craft drift past me in a higher orbit. A tiny little thing but one of their largest ships.
Just over a hundred meters tall, shaped a bit like a vertical banana, a warp nacelle sticking out the top and bottom.
An unusual design, really. Very few species made 'vertical' designed ship and what few species that did were usually those with natural abilities to fly. With wings and such. They were also pretty slow, barely able to push warp five at maximum power.
The Likian were the first species of non-flyers to prefer a vertical deckplan as far as I knew. They were a minor species that were looking to join the Federation.
As far behind us they were in technology, they were actually a good candidate. While predatory, they were a peaceful species and had been that way for over a hundred years.
I couldn't help but wonder what the crew of that little ship were thinking as they floated past a couple of thousand kilometers higher. I must look like a real behemoth from their perspective.
My shortest axis was several times their longest. Even so, their ship was quite pretty, I'd give them that. The hull was all shiny silver with gold engraving.
I knew it was all handmade too. They didn't build their ships like the Federation did, they crafted them the way old master bladesmiths made swords. A grand master ship wright leading a team of experts, they made each ship carefully and with extreme skill.
Each one a work of art.
It was slow and impractical, each ship ending up different from the next with almost no standardized parts.
But nobody could argue that the end result was not extremely beautiful. I did hope that was a tradition that wouldn't get lost when they joined.
AN// All the thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
Thanks
And the first 4 parts of the story are now epubs on my computer. Took about 2.5 minutes all told for calibre to download, convert and save them.
Any chance you could post those here? or a link to them? If that is OK with Hiver of course.
I have no problem with it.
Hiver, a Suggestion. You have a LOT of stories. Now that an efficient way of collating them is available, have you thought of tossing up a site with archived copies of your previous work?
really? so its not you that has taken the hiver.com domain name?
So if someone were to toss something together for you, you would be ok with that?That sound a lot like work...
I guess? But wouldn't it be easier to make a thread with all the links in?