mingle a little Mor tonight

[catamite]

Who: Everyone!
Broadcast: Sure!
Action: The wonderful world of Mor, nearby way-stations, and ships!
When: The first week or so of arrival

[this is it-- Atroma's surprise vacation stay for you all! it's time to explore, speculate, relax, and totally behave yourselves. right?

how are you all dealing with the ever-so-educational volcano? have you played around with the visual toggle on those collars yet? aren't they cool? aren't these peasant clothes rad? if you haven't had a decent meal since Abeo, maybe you could afford some of that authentic farm-raised meat they have here. historical!

I bet you're all excited and completely thrilled to be here! who wouldn't be? ...so, make some discoveries, make some friends, and have fun!]

Comments

[dancingmd]

I don't either.

[Still she hesitates, hands unconsciously clenching the edge of the bench seat. The man across the street finishes sweeping and gives the two women a little cheerful wave before going back inside. She closes her eyes.]

Do it.

[ino]

[ She shifts in her seat, watching the man through the window ]

Just to warn you, it's going to look like I fell asleep or passed out. But I'm fine and I'll be back soon.

[ She lifts her hands to form a square over her heart, and then after a moment, she goes limp and falls against Beverly's shoulder ]

[dancingmd]

[Instinctively, Beverly takes Ino's limp hand in hers and checks the young woman's pulse. It's still strong, if slow. Satisfied with that, she shifts her arm around behind Ino's body and lowers Ino's head gently onto her lap. A few people walking by give the pair of them strange looks.]

My daughter. She felt faint with the heat.

[She fans herself with her own hand for emphasis.]

She'll be fine in a few minutes.

[They don't seem entirely convinced but no one says anything. Good enough. She tries in vain to see what's happening in the shop through the window. She sighs.]

I hope we did the right thing.

[ino]

[ Thanks Beverly, you're a real space mom bro.

It's a worrying few minutes before she stirs and sits back up, taking in a deep breath and running her fingers through her bangs. ]

They're real. All of it is.

[dancingmd]

[She lets out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.]

I have to say, I'm disappointed. It be easier if we were right.

[ino]

You're telling me ...

[ She rubs her forehead unconsciously ]

This thing has been going for generations, though. I don't ...

[ How can they possibly hope to stir up something that's so firmly in place ... ? ]

[dancingmd]

[Beverly watches Ino carefully for any signs of stress but she seems okay so far. Beverly will want to scan her when they get back, to be sure.]

I don't know that we can do anything. My people have a directive of noninterference when it comes to interacting with alien cultures. Sometimes... it's difficult in situations like this. Really difficult. It's natural to want to step in. But we're just passing through. In a month we'll be off to the next planet, whether we want to be or not. So what becomes of the people here when we're gone? It's not enough simply to start a rebellion. They need long term support.

[ino]

[ She has a point, but it still makes her feel sick.

If only they had like ... outer space allies, or something like that. Then even if they couldn't stay, they could just call them over to help ... ]

... Yeah. I guess you're right. It just feels wrong letting it continue, but ... letting them get potentially killed for nothing would be worse.

[dancingmd]

[There's more Beverly could say on the matter but it won't help anything. Instead, she simply reaches out and rests a comforting hand on Ino's.]

Trust me, I know how you're feeling right now. Once almost lost my job because of it.

[ino]

[ She glances up at Beverly, confused ]

Your job as a doctor?

[ She hasn't quite grasped that being on a spaceship is a real job that real people have ]

[dancingmd]

Not exactly. I could have found another job elsewhere as a doctor. I meant more my career as an officer in Starfleet.

[ino]

You were in another fleet before this one?

[dancingmd]

Yes, except I chose to be in that one. Starfleet is an interplanetary, interspecies organization dedicated to exploration and if needed, the defense of the United Federation of Planets, an interplanetary republic, of which Earth is a part.

[She laughs.]

I'm sorry, I must sound like a recruitment ad. Or a textbook.

[ino]

It's okay, it sounds kind of cool!

[ Sort of like the shinobi alliance they'd formed recently ]

You must think we all look like a bunch of idiots, though. I think you and Garak are probably the only people who know anything about being in space.

[dancingmd]

[She stiffens at the mention of Garak. The smile she offers Ino is clearly strained.]

No, I don't think you're an idiot.

[She abruptly stands.]

It's about time we got back to the ships.

[ino]

[ .... Raising her eyebrows now. That ... was not very subtle ]

Uh, sure ...

Are you alright, though?

[dancingmd]

[A sigh. She turns to face Ino, an apologetic look on her face.]

I'm sorry, that was rude of me. Let's just say I am .... wary of Garak's presence here.

[ino]

Garak?

[ She seems surprised, but not defensive. She doesn't really know the guy, after all ]

Do you two know each other?

[dancingmd]

I don't know him personally, but he is Cardassian, and I don't trust Cardassians.

[Realizing how prejudiced this sounds, she decides to explain further.]

His people are highly militaristic and imperialistic, using the planets and peoples they conquer however they see fit: slavery, torture, murder, there is no limit.

[She goes quiet for a minute, thinking of Jean-Luc, how broken he was, afterwards.]

They tortured my captain, my friend, and I was the one....

[She drifts off, unable to continue. She was the one they used to keep him there, she was the one who tended to his wounds, she was the one who could have saved him.]

[ino]

[ ... Well. That's pretty awful. She thinks back to her conversations with Garak -- he had mentioned his people were conquerors, didn't he?

... She stands up ]

He said they'd messed up on that. Something about having to retreat ...

I didn't think much of it at the time, but -- [ With that context, maybe that information would actually be a relief for her to know ]

[dancingmd]

He did say something, that made me wonder.... He claimed to have lived on Bajor - one of the planets under Cardassian control - for years, but on a Federation ship. Of course, he easily could be lying about that but... Your friend, whose brother came here. Did they come from the same point in time?

[ino]

Oh, yeah -- no, they didn't. People here can come from any point in time. So you could meet people who have been dead for a long time in your world, or people from hundreds of years in the future -- either way.

[dancingmd]

[She nods thoughtfully.]

That would explain some things. Still, doesn't mean that I trust him.

[ino]

Oh, I'm not saying you're wrong about the guy. He made me a dress, that's all, I barely know him.

[ Not enough to make a judgement either way. Though the fact that what Beverly said about him without her revealing any details first makes her think Beverly is ... probably in the right here ... ]

[dancingmd]

Well at least he isn't lying about being a tailor then.

[She's torn: mostly she wants to give him a wide berth, yet... she wants to talk to him too, to get more information, no matter how he might distort it. Like it or not, he is her only connection to home.]

Do you know which ship he is on?