Post by Lt. Commander Liz Sur'Shess on Mar 26, 2016 20:08:21 GMT -8
Liz had spent a good six years of her life, give or take a few months, in space. Modern space travel, of course, had made it possible to almost forget one was traveling in space. Deep Space Nine barely let you remember at all, unless you were near a window. Even so, six years was an awfully long time, and Liz had long ago gotten used to it. She loved it, after all, had longed for the freedom of open space since she was old enough to know what freedom meant.
There was still something about solid dirt and bedrock under her feet that made her feel more...connected. More substantial, somehow, as if everything around her had snapped more fully into focus. Even if the effect was only temporary--she knew precisely how long the urge to be gone, to be free once more would hold off--it was still pleasant, in its own way.
And Risa had its own unique spectrum of pleasantries to offer. Food, drink, entertainment, sex. The last one, especially, had been the stuff of legends in the academy, and those who were particularly excited about those things aboard the transports from the Talon had spent the last two days rehashing every old story. Liz, in contrast, had spent them trying to keep in contact with the computer specialists on DS10 to make sure they were taking care of the ship properly. Not that she didn't trust them. She just didn't want them to do something in a way she wouldn't. Eventually, they'd stopped answering her calls, and that had left her with nothing to do besides planning her (rather unwilling) vacation.
And here she was, staring up at it. A good thousand meters of rock, deceptively calm from down here. She'd heard stories of this place, too--fewer than those of other, more exotic places, granted, but stories all the same. Of its changing cliff face, the pitch and handholds switching before your very eyes. She'd read their brochure, too, in the arrival lobby. They made it sound deliciously dangerous.
And of course, that was all one could ask of a vacation.
She looked away from the cliff, down toward her waist as she adjusted, one last time, the belt harness she wore. It was more a concession to the anxious attentions of the attendant that had brought her here in a small, open hovercar than any desire to wear the damn thing for safety or some such nonsense. He'd left her a coil of rope, too, mounded by her feet. She probably ought to use it...after all, by all accounts the medical department aboard the Talon was having a bad go of it already. They didn't need a fatally wounded Chief of Operations to add to their stress level.
Finishing her fiddling with the sundry buckles and madness she'd attached over her shorts, Liz turned back toward the path she'd taken to get here. The whole place was quiet--the arrival lobby was a good fifteen kilometers away, and the place her ride had dropped her was several meters back further into the forest, a winding path the only connection between the clearing and the cliff. Quiet. Solitary. The peace of it, the quiet wind and the perfect weather, almost made Liz wish she'd not asked Bran along. Maybe he wouldn't come, and she would be left alone.
Alone, to fall and break her neck and only be found hours later. No, it was a good thing she'd asked Bran. He usually kept her from doing spectacularly stupid things.
Of course, he wasn't here yet. Turning back, Liz stepped past the pile of rope, found a starting spot, and began to climb.
Tag: @branon, Any
There was still something about solid dirt and bedrock under her feet that made her feel more...connected. More substantial, somehow, as if everything around her had snapped more fully into focus. Even if the effect was only temporary--she knew precisely how long the urge to be gone, to be free once more would hold off--it was still pleasant, in its own way.
And Risa had its own unique spectrum of pleasantries to offer. Food, drink, entertainment, sex. The last one, especially, had been the stuff of legends in the academy, and those who were particularly excited about those things aboard the transports from the Talon had spent the last two days rehashing every old story. Liz, in contrast, had spent them trying to keep in contact with the computer specialists on DS10 to make sure they were taking care of the ship properly. Not that she didn't trust them. She just didn't want them to do something in a way she wouldn't. Eventually, they'd stopped answering her calls, and that had left her with nothing to do besides planning her (rather unwilling) vacation.
And here she was, staring up at it. A good thousand meters of rock, deceptively calm from down here. She'd heard stories of this place, too--fewer than those of other, more exotic places, granted, but stories all the same. Of its changing cliff face, the pitch and handholds switching before your very eyes. She'd read their brochure, too, in the arrival lobby. They made it sound deliciously dangerous.
And of course, that was all one could ask of a vacation.
She looked away from the cliff, down toward her waist as she adjusted, one last time, the belt harness she wore. It was more a concession to the anxious attentions of the attendant that had brought her here in a small, open hovercar than any desire to wear the damn thing for safety or some such nonsense. He'd left her a coil of rope, too, mounded by her feet. She probably ought to use it...after all, by all accounts the medical department aboard the Talon was having a bad go of it already. They didn't need a fatally wounded Chief of Operations to add to their stress level.
Finishing her fiddling with the sundry buckles and madness she'd attached over her shorts, Liz turned back toward the path she'd taken to get here. The whole place was quiet--the arrival lobby was a good fifteen kilometers away, and the place her ride had dropped her was several meters back further into the forest, a winding path the only connection between the clearing and the cliff. Quiet. Solitary. The peace of it, the quiet wind and the perfect weather, almost made Liz wish she'd not asked Bran along. Maybe he wouldn't come, and she would be left alone.
Alone, to fall and break her neck and only be found hours later. No, it was a good thing she'd asked Bran. He usually kept her from doing spectacularly stupid things.
Of course, he wasn't here yet. Turning back, Liz stepped past the pile of rope, found a starting spot, and began to climb.
Tag: @branon, Any