Ensign Rachel Flores - On a Boat, on a Lake, in a Starbase, in Outer Space

[Anath G'Renn]

((The Space - Entertainment Section, Starbase 104, Several Days After Arrival))

 

After a brief detour to pick up a picnic basket she followed after the path Spears had taken down towards the water. She climbed aboard one of the sailboats and set the basket down on one of the benches. Then she prepared for rigging the sails and made sure the rudder controls were ready. While she was at it she also deactivated the auto-pilot for the boat so she could handle it herself. Next to her was Spears, preparing his own boat.

 

Rachel turned around and saw others approaching the boats. She waved them over and gestured to the other seats of the boat, inviting them to join her for the journey out onto the lake. They were Lieutenant Davis and his wife Queen, apparently done collecting food and ready to journey out on the lake. 

 

Flores: Welcome aboard!

 

Queen: How do I get on this thing?

 

She tried holding the boat steady, not yet fully rigging the sails. Only when it was time to sail out onto the open water would she let the sails fully catch the wind. Still, the boat would provide for unsteady footing. Especially for the unfamiliar.

 

Davis: Uhhh... You step up and in, then I'll follow, I guess? You can use my hand to stabilize.

 

Before she could speak up to help, Spears beat her to it.

 

Spears: If you grab hold of the backstay, that's this sturdy cable running from the mast to the back of the boat here, it makes a good handhold to help you hop aboard. 

 

Any: Response(s)

 

Flores: Grab a seat and help yourself to anything you’d like from the picnic basket.

 

With people on the boat she stood up and started rigging the sails up. Then she looked up to the flag on the back of the sailboat to judge the breeze. She turned the rudder and started to adjust the angle of the sails to start pushing them away from the shore.

 

Davis: Nicely done. Ok... 

 

Spears: Looks like you guys are settled. I'm going to get my own boat going here. Flores, the computer controls are where the tiller is, in case you want it to run any parts of the boat for you.

 

Rachel glanced back at the computer panel built into the back of the boat below the tiller. She wasn’t too concerned with using the boat autopilot. It wasn’t her first rodeo with sailboats. While steering into the wind she used her other hand to adjust the jib and the mainsail to better catch the wind. They were starting to get underway.

 

Queen: This is about as unstable as the gas diver, just without a safety line. ::Realising that sounded oddly negative when seen from a mind not her own she looked up to Davis.:: That is a positive thing.

 

She didn’t know the specifics of a gas diver, but she would much prefer the boat to anything meant to dive into a gas giant’s atmosphere. Perhaps Queen was a bit of a thrill-seeker? That would seem to be the case given her clarification that the jerky and unstable motion was a good thing.

 

Davis: :: Laughing :: I'll take your word for it. I think this will be a lot of fun.

 

Both sailboats were well underway. They cut through the water away from the shore. Rachel kept a close hold of the tiller and stood ready to adjust the sails. She kept the boat close to Spears’s boat to help them keep together and communicate. When Spears spoke he had to raise his voice a bit to be heard, but clear enough.

 

Spears: This is living, isn't it?!

 

As they moved through the water she closed her eyes and felt the wind blowing past her. The atmosphere was a bit different from the sailing she had done before. Her parents and brother enjoyed sailing out of Galveston and around the Gulf of Mexico. The rougher waves and salty sea air of the gulf made for a much different environment than the still, artificial lake. At least the general feeling was familiar.

 

Flores: Oh, this really takes me back. Sailing out in the gulf for the day and getting lost in the wind and the waves.

 

Davis/Queen/Any: Responses

 

Spears: I suggest we make for the centre of the lake, then we can heave to, raft our boats together, and enjoy some refreshments!

 

Rachel nodded in agreement and plotted the course in her mind out into the lake’s center.

 

Flores: Sounds like a plan!

 

She turned her attention back to the sails and the tiller.

 

Davis/Queen/Any: Responses

 

Spears: I'd say it's one of the great joys of sailing. Nothing but the wind, the water, and the people you're with. 

 

Davis/Queen/Any: Responses

 

The lake was surrounded by a beach, multiple gardens, and a large range of artificial mountains. Rachel looked up at one of the mountains where she and T’Seva had tested her antique hoverboard earlier. Further beyond were bits of the superstructure of the starbase and the walkways surrounding and approaching the Space. A bit of a reminder that the beautiful environment was, in fact, artificial.

 

Flores: This feels so weird, though. Actually sailing, in space. Not on the holodeck.All the little subtle touches that say it isn’t a simulation. But looking out there, there’s the rest of the station…

 

If she closed her eyes or focused only on the surrounding areas of the Space, she could almost forget where they were. The sounds, sights, and feel of the lake were almost perfect.

 

Spears/Davis/Queen/Any: Responses

 

Flores: What do you think? Alright with sailing?

 

The question was mainly directed at Queen, but Lieutenant Davis hadn’t seemed that familiar with old-school boats either. She didn’t know if it was his first time out on the water as well.

 

Spears/Davis/Queen/Any: Responses

 

Flores: Here looks like a good spot. ::To Spears.:: Watch yourself Spears, I’m going to let the computer take over the sails for this maneuver. I’m a bit out of practice and I’d hate to brush against your boat.

 

Rachel tapped the computer panel and turned over control of the mast and sails to the boat’s autopilot. She ordered the boat to heave to. She turned the rudder as if to direct the boat into the wind while the jib moved in the opposite direction. The forces would soon even out and bring the boat to a stop out in the middle of the lake. Then she could tie down the tiller and reunite with Spears’s sailboat.

 

Spears/Davis/Queen/Any: Responses

Ensign Rachel Flores

Engineering Officer

USS Constitution-B

A239402AG0