Lt. Cmdr. Alora DeVeau - "Which Way?"

[Amanda Nordstrom]

(( Eastern Most Edge of the Rakantha Province, Bajor ))


Bajor was certainly a beautiful planet.  Earth was too, but Bajor was
exotic in comparison - at least to Alora.  It was ,after all, a ‘new’
and exciting place, foreign, and yet with enough similarities that was
possessed by most planets that sported flora and fauna to have some
familiarity.  She recognised trees and other plants that she could place
in the family or order, if not know the specific species.

That was all a side benefit of the trip - she wasn’t really there for
scientific study, she was there for exploration.  An abandoned village
that had turned to an archeological dig which had, since that time, been
abandoned and never returned to offered great fodder for such a thing. 
Alora doubted they would find anything significant, but much like on
Earth, she suspected they might find bits of pottery, or tiny fossils
that might hail from a different era.  While there were plenty of places
to visit on Bajor, this wasn’t exactly bustling with activity, which
might have dissuaded some people - but not Alora.

DeVeau: I just thought it might be nice to visit some place off the
beaten path.

And this certainly qualified as that.

McLaren: Well, I appreciate the invite. Been a while since I could sit
back and relax for a bit.

Blackwell: Agreed - it is nice to get out and just enjoy and explore

Renot: ?

Rue took position on a rock, which made her taller than anyone else. 
Alora glanced over at her, then let her gaze swing across the area once
more before she chose to continue down the main street that cut right
through the village.

McLaren: One good thing about coming to such an out of the way place...
we don't have to deal with other tourists who want to see things.

Blackwell: Not one for enjoying tourists traps?

DeVeau: There’s a time and a place, but this is more my speed at the
moment.

Cities with large amounts of people and many things to do had their own
kind of excitement, but she took those in moderation. Besides, that was
Ops, and she could have that any time she wanted.  This was a nice
change of pace.

Renot: ?

McLaren: Its just a hassle to look around an explore when you might be
bumnping into a bunch of other people... its nice to have the time to
really look around and see things.

Blackwell: That is true - sometimes you really do have to take the path
less traveled to really see the world.

Or…the universe as the case may be.  Alora grinned over at Rue and nodded.

DeVeau: And while this has undergone scrutiny, there’s still a lot to see.

Renot: ?

McLaren: Who knows what we'll find here... :: She paused. :: Probably
nothing given even the archaeologists didnt find all that much... but
still, just think of the possibilities.

Alora’s grin slid over to Solaris and she nodded again.  Yep, anything
important or significant would have already been taken, but it was fun
to imagine the ‘what ifs’.

Blackwell: There’s a reason why certain discoveries took decades to find
even with multiple experts working on them. Sometimes it just takes the
right set of eyes or hands at the time…coupled with a bit of luck.

DeVeau: I’m not sure anyone should count on *my* luck, but it’s
interesting to look nonetheless.  It sounds like you enjoy this sort of
thing, Rue.

Renot: ?

Blackwell: Oh, when I was a child, I always wanted to go to places like
Pompei, or explore old settlements from the Vikings. ::a soft smile,
nostalgic and whimsical:: However, my father was more interested in a
different sort of archaeology.

Alora paused and glanced back over at Rue, an eyebrow arched upward.

DeVeau: What sort do you mean?

Renot/Mclaren: ?

Blackwell: He was what…one might call Niched - he liked to find oddities
of prior societies popculture - looking at the old technology, and
things people used to find entertainment from…and the weirder and more
strange, the better. ::pushing a bit of stray hair from her eyes, she
shrugged::

Another grin appeared and it was accompanied with a soft giggle. Ah,
that sort.  Alora loved old movies as well as new ones - she had pretty
eclectic taste.  In fact, she and Rue both shared a particular fondness
for a movie about a Unicorn that had been created ages ago.  Despite the
simplicity of the animation, the story had captured both their hearts. 
Alora had only discovered it after she had gone on a binge reading of
various stories that featured Unicorns - and the book was quite
fantastic too. Evidently the author had also written the screenplay for
the film, which explained why it had been so great.

DeVeau: Can’t say it’s not interesting at least!

Renot/Mclaren: ?

Blackwell: It was a fun, if eclectic upbringing. He had to have
warehouses for all of the “artifacts” he had.

DeVeau: Wait, entire warehouses?

Blackwell/McLaren/Renot: ?

Alora shook her head.  For a Starfleet officer, she had a lot of
‘stuff’, but even that was leaps and bounds beyond her own possessions.

DeVeau: And people say I have too many plants.  I’m going to have to
tell them that story.

Alora motioned for the others to follow and continued on through the
street. Eventually ,they found themselves surrounded by buildings,
though all of them were still dressed in the flora that had elected to
take back that which had been left.

Blackwell/McLaren/Renot: ?

DeVeau: I suppose there’s something to being a minimalist, but I always
felt better with my companions.

Blackwell/McLaren/Renot: ?

The path opened up and broadened, revealing a square which had some sort
of statue in the middle, a woman dressed in robes, her hands arched
upward to the sky, palms open.  All around her, ivy twisted and turned,
as if holding her down, preventing her from flying off.  From there, the
street split in several directions into smaller pathways and alleys.

DeVeau: So, which way?

Blackwell/McLaren/Renot: ?



--
Lt. Cmdr. Alora DeVeau
First Officer
Starbase 118 Ops
al...@blar.net
M239008AD0