warpfairy: (travesty)
Author: warpfairy
The Prime Directive is the most staggering atrocity - in sheer scope - ever to have been perpetrated by an advanced civilization.

In its name, genocides and mass enslavements are committed, planets are wrenched out of orbit into their suns or torn apart by supervolcanoes with millions or billions of innocents aboard, and literally uncounted numbers of men, women, and children fall prey to all manner of poverty, scarcity, illness, violence, disaster, and opportunity cost with every second that ticks by. Meanwhile, prosperous neighbors, concealing themselves like shy gods, leaving the little cousins to their deadly growth and winnowing, cheat themselves out of all the culture and insight and genius that they insist on abandoning to their noninterference policy.

Isabella T'Mir may feel more personal woe at the destruction of Vulcan than she does at the destruction of any other lost planet. But it turns out that the technology to kill billions often - routinely - appears before warp, even if the sheer drama of Vulcan's demise took more... sophistication. If she found that there were some entity who could have halted Nero, saved her father, saved the billions of others on the planet, and who stood back, because someone had not invented the correct widget - she would wish them all the misfortune she could imagine. And she has a good imagination.

Isabella's ship is named Prometheus. Plenty of people name their ships after ancient deities; hers is one of eight Prometheuses registered within the Federation, one of which is even - ironically - a Starfleet science vessel.

She means it a bit more literally.

What she does is illegal. (Officially, she is a surveyor; submitting her reports about the topography of planets and moons and the density and composition of asteroid fields is how she justifies her presence any which where she may turn up.) What she does would put her in prison on a deserted moon for life if she were ever found.

What she does is put the equations that lead to warp breakthrough on the desks of pre-warp scientists whose histories - scraped from primitive data nets - suggest that they might not be above plagiarism, and she conservatively estimates that she's saved twenty-one billion individuals from premature deaths (based on typical technological progressions, population demographics, her personal definition of "premature" as adjusted for the mortality of all discovered species, and the results of ensuing First Contact with affected civilizations) and billions more from living lives of ordinary length that simply happened to be impoverished by ignorance of the contents of the sky. These individuals were of nine species from six planets.

Occasionally she re-runs her estimation program and just stares at the numbers. When she is in danger of thinking too much about that deserted moon that she could fall into at any time. When she wonders if she really has any reason to think she is that much better than the Federation policymakers.

(The answer is: Yes. Yes she does. This reason comes in the form of an extremely large number that her computer will recalculate for her on command.)

The kind of planet she can interfere with is only the kind that has the preliminaries for warp. Starfleet won't touch them until they actually make the first jump, so they need to have access to the right materials, the underlying math, an adequate launch site. Much to her personal distress, some civilizations would, on contacting the Federation, predictably launch wars with them. These she leaves alone. She has others to visit, to pick up bits of their language so she can translate the warp-insights, to figure out how to covertly shuttle down to and infiltrate and leave her little presents. And she has to go other places - actually uninhabited systems; systems she knows are too primitive to plausibly take and run with her help far enough that the Federation can catch them on the other end of the run; systems that she just surveys and reports on and moves on from. To cover her tracks. Because she's been at this for two years, and that number representing what she's accomplished in that time is very large, and she could easily live to be a hundred and seventy, and there is such a lot of galaxy.

It's lonely, a little, sometimes, but Isabella's suited for prolonged solo trips through space. She has her shipboard library, updated regularly. She meditates, she writes, she studies.

She intercepts a distress call, out in the boondocks closer to Betazed than anywhere else and quite a distance from Betazed. This is a track-covering segment of her mission. There is no one around but her and even she doesn't really want to be there.

Isabella opens a channel.

"Distressed vessel, this is Captain Isabella T'Mir of the Prometheus. Please identify yourself and the nature of the problem."
dream_me_up: (⑥ you know I know)
Author: dream_me_up
The distressed vessel answers.

"Hello, Captain," says a friendly masculine probably-human voice. "Sorry, visual transmission's on the fritz again. The problem is, this ship's practically a museum piece and her warp core likes to go into safety shutdown at the drop of a hat. I can usually coax it back into operating condition, but this time... not so lucky. So! If you'd be so kind as to let us, or at least me, hitch a ride back to Federation space, I'd be so incredibly grateful I might just cry."

The visual transmission flickers online to show a view of a small and primitive-looking bridge, centred on the unoccupied captain's chair. A beautiful human of indeterminate age, wearing an old blue shirt faded into translucency and a pair of grey trousers with an unparalleled density of pockets, pops into the frame from underneath as though he was just tinkering with something under the main command panel. He gives her a winning smile as he resumes his seat.

"Lalita Viteri," he adds. "Of the Harlequin. And extrrrremely pleased to meet you."
warpfairy: (engineering)
Author: warpfairy
"The Prometheus is a small vessel. I do not believe I will be able to tow the Harlequin, and there is no room in the cargo bay for anything larger than an escape pod," says Isabella. "However, I can accommodate you, particularly if you are the only crew member, and I can take you to within Federation space when I have finished my survey here - sooner if you are in a particular hurry. I will approach your position now." And she begins fiddling with the appropriate controls.

To humans, Isabella pretty much looks like a Vulcan, although any who've met enough Vulcans will be able to tell it's only half. The name, and the fact that she wears Earthly clothes unless she expects to be interacting with a lot of her father's people, usually helps.
dream_me_up: (④ from one minute to another)
Author: dream_me_up
"Thanks," sighs possibly-Captain Viteri. "You're a lifesaver."
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
Isabella inclines her head in acknowledgment. "The closest Federation settlement with a regular shuttleport is the Betazoid colony of Piran Four; will that suit? Betazed itself is also relatively accessible, particularly if you hope to hire a ship for a salvage mission."
dream_me_up: (⑩ more than a man)
Author: dream_me_up
"Either one," he shrugs. "I don't want to put you too far out of your way. Where are you going next?"
warpfairy: (neutrality)
Author: warpfairy
"I was planning to complete my survey of this system, then resupply, either at Betazed or farther along near Andoria, and then continue to PN-115." The star presumably has a dozen real names from the people who live under its light, but she hasn't learned any of them yet. "Dropping you off at Betazed would be no trouble, although Piran would get you on your way sooner if you did not plan to salvage the Harlequin."
dream_me_up: (⑧ it's a better day)
Author: dream_me_up
"Then I'll take Betazed," he decides. "It'd be a shame to leave the old girl drifting." He rubs his hand fondly over the arm of his chair.
warpfairy: (meditative)
Author: warpfairy
"Very well," says Isabella. "Approaching docking position. Please permit my ship's computer to interface with yours for fine maneuvering, and then pack your personal effects and you may board Prometheus."
dream_me_up: (⑨ listener)
Author: dream_me_up
"Fingers crossed," he mutters, and makes the relevant gesture before leaning forward to access some controls.
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"I do not believe that will prove relevant to the success of the maneuver. In the event that your computer is uncooperative, however, I have enough margin of fuel to transport you and also warp us both to Betazed."
dream_me_up: (② we're all mad here)
Author: dream_me_up
He laughs and shakes his head. "Nah, don't mind me. I'm sure Harley will pull through. See?"

And indeed, their computers are interfacing just fine, although the Prometheus would be within its rights to complain; the Harlequin's shipboard computer is as antique as the rest of it.
warpfairy: (engineering)
Author: warpfairy
The Prometheus is uncomplaining. It is accustomed to handling input collected from systems much less advanced than this one.

"Docking successful," reports the Prometheus's computer.

"You may come aboard at your leisure, Mr. Viteri."
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
"Thanks," he says. "I'll just be a minute packing up."

He ends his transmission.

It takes him somewhat more than a minute to pack. More like five.
warpfairy: (meditative)
Author: warpfairy
Isabella's not in a hurry. She was almost done with this system anyway.
dream_me_up: (⑤ you'd have to be half mad)
Author: dream_me_up
When he finally does come aboard the Prometheus, he has a beat-up old canvas bag slung over one shoulder and a slim, modern vacuum-sealed case tucked under his other arm.

"Oh, he's pretty," he comments, glancing around at the interior of her ship. "Civilian survey vessel, that new model from '55 with the splayed nacelles? Very nice. In good shape for a teenager, too."
warpfairy: (momentary)
Author: warpfairy
"Thank you," says Isabella. "Disengaging docking mechanism." She flicks the controls, and directs the autopilot to resume its course to the last planet in the system. "I'm going to make a scan of the outermost planet. It will be quick. No moons. Then we can proceed to Betazed, which shouldn't take more than four days. In the event that your sleeping shift is similar to mine at the moment, you are welcome to the living quarters during that time; I can readily do without sleep for long enough to adjust my cycle."
dream_me_up: (⑪ pretty please)
Author: dream_me_up
"Thanks," he says. "I don't keep a regular sleeping shift out here; I'll probably be down for the count sometime in the next six hours, and up again between five and ten after that. I can stabilize if it makes the scheduling more convenient. Where should I drop my stuff?"
warpfairy: (neutrality)
Author: warpfairy
"Anywhere that isn't in a walking path or in the way of an air circulation vent will be fine. Speaking of which, I can turn down the temperature if you would prefer."
dream_me_up: (④ from one minute to another)
Author: dream_me_up
"Huh? Oh, no, I'm comfy," he assures her, and he finds an out-of-the-way corner to tuck his bag into and set the case on top.
warpfairy: (engineering)
Author: warpfairy
"All right."

Isabella makes sure the autopilot is behaving normally, then picks up the PADD on which she has been reading a novel. She will make conversation if Mr. Viteri wishes, but she knows one or two things about the personality of someone who might be in a ship all by himself in deep space.
dream_me_up: (⑧ it's a better day)
Author: dream_me_up
"Whatcha reading?" he inquires cheerfully, making himself comfortable in the copilot's chair.
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
She rattles off the title in Vulcan, because she doesn't know what it's published under in English. "Saakek's Apotheosis."
dream_me_up: (⑨ listener)
Author: dream_me_up
"Interesting," says Mr. Viteri, also in Vulcan, with complete apparent fluency. "I don't think I've heard of it. What's it about?"
warpfairy: (shoulder)
Author: warpfairy
"It's historical fiction," replies Isabella in the same language, since he seems comfortable with it. "From the Time of Awakening, about the life of a young man struggling to come to terms with the management of his emotions in the face of unresolved grudges from the wars that had recently plagued his homeland."
dream_me_up: (⑥ you know I know)
Author: dream_me_up
"Well, that sounds... enlightening," says Mr. Viteri, with what might be a hint of irony.
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"Does it? I'm mostly reading it for the poetic style; the author was also a poet but I have read all of her poems."
dream_me_up: (⑨ listener)
Author: dream_me_up
"I haven't read much Vulcan poetry," he admits. "The language is beautiful, but the literature tends to dry me out."
warpfairy: (vulcan calm)
Author: warpfairy
"It was," she says, "a very dry place."
dream_me_up: (⑫ tell me a story)
Author: dream_me_up
"So I've heard. I regret not visiting when I had the chance."
warpfairy: (difficulty)
Author: warpfairy
Isabella nods. "It was beautiful."
dream_me_up: (⑩ more than a man)
Author: dream_me_up
"What was it like there?"
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"I didn't spend much time in the wilderness of the place - I was a child, not an explorer, then. But the cities were... It will sound stereotypical to call them 'calm'. But they were. There was an abundance of activity, carried out efficiently and neatly, without fuss or drama. I might have chosen to live there as an adult, if it had still been available then and if my father's people did not, as a group, demonstrate such insularity as regards hybrids."
dream_me_up: (⑧ it's a better day)
Author: dream_me_up
"There is that," he agrees.
warpfairy: (meditative)
Author: warpfairy
"But I am content living as I do."
dream_me_up: (⑨ listener)
Author: dream_me_up
"Deep space survey? It must get lonely," he says.
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
"There's always subspace communications. My mother requires a conversation on at least a biweekly basis. And I resupply regularly, as I have such a small cargo hold. I am not much given to loneliness over the intervening periods, not with all of the art of all Federation civilization and my own mind to entertain me."
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
He laughs and nods.
warpfairy: (highly illogical)
Author: warpfairy
"What are you doing hereabouts? I would not expect there to be much in this system to interest anyone but surveyors of one sort or another."
dream_me_up: (⑧ it's a better day)
Author: dream_me_up
"Oh... every so often it's nice to get away for a while," he says. "Far away. Just for a few weeks."
warpfairy: (shoulder)
Author: warpfairy
"Away from...?"
dream_me_up: (⑪ pretty please)
Author: dream_me_up
"Everyone and everything?"
warpfairy: (snark)
Author: warpfairy
"My apologies for intruding," Isabella says archly.
dream_me_up: (⑤ you'd have to be half mad)
Author: dream_me_up
"I did send a distress call," he reminds her.
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
"And I had the poor manners to be within range to hear it."

They are at the outermost planet; she sets up her scanner.
dream_me_up: (② we're all mad here)
Author: dream_me_up
Mr. Viteri giggles. He has a pleasing laugh.
warpfairy: (momentary)
Author: warpfairy
"When you are not away, where do you tend to be?"
dream_me_up: (④ from one minute to another)
Author: dream_me_up
"Earth, mostly. Sometimes other places."
warpfairy: (meditative)
Author: warpfairy
"Earth is a lovely planet."
dream_me_up: (⑥ you know I know)
Author: dream_me_up
"It is."
warpfairy: (shoulder)
Author: warpfairy
"How did you learn Vulcan?"
dream_me_up: (⑩ more than a man)
Author: dream_me_up
"Oh, I took a course in it once," he says vaguely. "I like languages."
warpfairy: (meditative)
Author: warpfairy
"Your accent is very good."
dream_me_up: (② we're all mad here)
Author: dream_me_up
He laughs. "Thank you. Did you grow up bilingual?"
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
"I did. Even after my mother moved to Earth, I still spent six months of every two years on Vulcan, speaking nothing else. She is reasonably competent at it herself - conversationally - but prefers English."
dream_me_up: (⑨ listener)
Author: dream_me_up
"Do you speak any others?" he wonders.
warpfairy: (meditative)
Author: warpfairy
"Bits and pieces. I can, approximately, describe most of the things that might go wrong with my ship, and claim peaceability and Federation citizenship, in quite an assortment; I can haggle for fuel and food in somewhat fewer."
dream_me_up: (⑤ you'd have to be half mad)
Author: dream_me_up
"I pick up interesting ones wherever I go. It's a hobby, like maintaining that old piece of junk - " he waves vaguely in the direction of where they left the Harlequin.
warpfairy: (neutrality)
Author: warpfairy
"Oh, what else do you speak, then?"
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
"This and that. Basque," he offers as an example. "I picked that because it's where my last name comes from, although there's too many intervening generations for me to claim it as an immediate cultural heritage."
warpfairy: (highly illogical)
Author: warpfairy
"Does Basque even have a speaking population anymore?"
dream_me_up: (⑥ you know I know)
Author: dream_me_up
"Not a very large one. But bigger than Scottish Gaelic, which I also know."
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
Isabella laughs softly. "So it really has nothing to do with practicality, does it?"
dream_me_up: (① nothing you can do about it)
Author: dream_me_up
"Absolutely nothing," he agrees, laughing.
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"If we are approached by hostile Klingons perhaps I will rely on my phrasebook and not my passenger, then."
dream_me_up: (④ from one minute to another)
Author: dream_me_up
"Oh, I speak Klingon, too," he assures her.
warpfairy: (momentary)
Author: warpfairy
Isabella is amused. "That is convenient. Although mercifully I don't expect to run into any opportunities for you to practice between here and Betazed."
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
"How disappointing," he teases.
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"But you can keep your Vulcan in good repair, at least."
dream_me_up: (⑥ you know I know)
Author: dream_me_up
"I appreciate the opportunity."
warpfairy: (travesty)
Author: warpfairy
"I don't think our speaking population is in such a sorry state as that of Scottish Gaelic, but the chance is moderately uncommon, I would imagine."
dream_me_up: (⑤ you'd have to be half mad)
Author: dream_me_up
"Yes. I used to know a Vulcan or two, but - " he shrugs; smiles ruefully; shakes his head.
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
Isabella shrugs, too. "Apart from picking up languages as though someone carelessly knocked a jar of them onto the floor, what do you do with yourself?" she inquires. The survey software beeps. She peers at the readout; it's good enough. She sets course for Betazed and starts the tedious process of compiling the system surveys into miscellaneous file formats and compressions.
dream_me_up: (① nothing you can do about it)
Author: dream_me_up
He laughs.

"This and that," he says again. "Travel, mostly. I like big cities, but I don't like to stay in one place. I like to try new things. I've been a dancer, a fencer, a chef... have you got any hobbies I might not have tried?"
warpfairy: (meditative)
Author: warpfairy
"Oh, I don't think I'm relevantly interesting," demurs Isabella. "I survey; I read; I meditate. You sound very accomplished; how old are you?"
dream_me_up: (② we're all mad here)
Author: dream_me_up
"Thirty-seven. Everyone's interesting," he assures her. "What do you read, besides Vulcan poetry?"
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"Non-Vulcan poetry, occasionally," Isabella says dryly. "Old Earth novels. History, psychology -" She pokes at her computer; the reports are all wrapped up and ready to go. "Surveys." (Surveys from others are how she knows where to find planets to do her real work.) "The news. Political debates."
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
"Political debates. Any good ones lately?" he inquires cheerfully.
warpfairy: (neutrality)
Author: warpfairy
"Some disagreement over how to react to Cardassian treatment of their colonies. None of it's been particularly intelligent."
dream_me_up: (⑥ you know I know)
Author: dream_me_up
"I don't follow politics much," he admits. "Is it ever?"
warpfairy: (highly illogical)
Author: warpfairy
"Of course not," says Isabella. "I stay out of it."

(She doesn't, but she's careful; she doesn't want attention.)
dream_me_up: (⑤ you'd have to be half mad)
Author: dream_me_up
"Which seems to imply that if you didn't stay out of it, it'd be much smarter."
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
"You have cleverly divined the extent of my arrogance."

(No he hasn't. The extent of her arrogance is a very, very large number.)
dream_me_up: (① nothing you can do about it)
Author: dream_me_up
He laughs.
warpfairy: (momentary)
Author: warpfairy
"I do not believe I have ever been found so amusing before."
dream_me_up: (② we're all mad here)
Author: dream_me_up
"Haven't you? That's a shame," he says. "I think you're delightful."
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
"That is convenient, as escorting you to your destination will take several days and the Prometheus constitutes close quarters."
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
He grins.
warpfairy: (engineering)
Author: warpfairy
"Are you from Earth originally?"
dream_me_up: (⑧ it's a better day)
Author: dream_me_up
He nods. "How about you? Were you born on Vulcan?"
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
"I was, but lived there for only a year before my mother took me to Earth with her. Phoenix, Arizona," she specifies. "Renée thought it would be more comfortable for me in a desert. And she loves the city."
dream_me_up: (④ from one minute to another)
Author: dream_me_up
"It's good to spend time in places you love. What do you think of Phoenix?"
warpfairy: (momentary)
Author: warpfairy
"It was a fine place to grow up, and the weather is very nice. I have no yearning to live there, but I am happy to visit Renée regularly."
dream_me_up: (⑥ you know I know)
Author: dream_me_up
"Is there somewhere you do have a yearning to live?"
warpfairy: (meditative)
Author: warpfairy
Isabella pats the Prometheus's dashboard. "I think I'm well suited to what I do."
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
"Why survey, anyway? What's the draw?"
warpfairy: (meditative)
Author: warpfairy
Isabella has a speech about this! (She is so often asked why she's wasting her talents this way.)

"I enjoy the long stretches of solitude. I've seen some beautiful planets, some lovely stars, before anyone else got up close. And the surveys get used - Starfleet and independent shiplanes need to know what's where, which class M planets they can send escape pods to, where to find ore and where they can live off the land with compatible biology, where black holes are hiding. It's simple, but it's useful."
dream_me_up: (④ from one minute to another)
Author: dream_me_up
"Sounds like it's perfect for you, then."
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"That is why I do it. It would be such a shame to have the perfect job available and then do something else."
dream_me_up: (② we're all mad here)
Author: dream_me_up
He laughs. "Now that's what I call wisdom," he says approvingly.
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
"Enlightened self-interest."
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
"Better than most of the other kinds."
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"Of enlightenment or of self-interest?"
dream_me_up: (⑥ you know I know)
Author: dream_me_up
"Self-interest. You can do less damage with enlightenment."
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
"Presuming it's genuine, I would imagine that to be the case, yes."
dream_me_up: (② we're all mad here)
Author: dream_me_up
"Why, what sorts of trouble does false enlightenment get you into?"
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"I would imagine it would depend on the sort of false enlightenment. Fatalism? Supremacist notions? Ivory-tower intellectualism?"
dream_me_up: (⑤ you'd have to be half mad)
Author: dream_me_up
"Supremacist notions are nobody's friend," he snorts.
warpfairy: (highly illogical)
Author: warpfairy
"They tend to do more harm than good, even if one takes their proponents' word for it on how much good they do."
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
"Accurate summary."
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
"Thank you."
dream_me_up: (② we're all mad here)
Author: dream_me_up
He grins.
warpfairy: (shoulder)
Author: warpfairy
"Where on Earth are you from?"
dream_me_up: (④ from one minute to another)
Author: dream_me_up
"New York City."
warpfairy: (momentary)
Author: warpfairy
"I've been there once or twice. Lovely theaters."
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
"That's very true."
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"How long have you been traveling in your antique?"
dream_me_up: (⑩ more than a man)
Author: dream_me_up
"Oh, ages. Family heirloom," he half-explains. "Legend has it she's the oldest bird in the sky. I've never bothered to check, but I wouldn't be surprised."
warpfairy: (highly illogical)
Author: warpfairy
"That would have to be a very old bird indeed. When was she built?"
dream_me_up: (⑤ you'd have to be half mad)
Author: dream_me_up
"The twenty-second century," he says. "Barely."
warpfairy: (vulcan calm)
Author: warpfairy
"...Was it built by humans?"
dream_me_up: (④ from one minute to another)
Author: dream_me_up
"Yes. At least, so I'm told."
warpfairy: (shoulder)
Author: warpfairy
"Wow."
dream_me_up: (② we're all mad here)
Author: dream_me_up
He giggles.

"I told you she was a museum piece, didn't I?"
warpfairy: (meditative)
Author: warpfairy
"I am stunned she still flies. Well, insofar as she does. Is she retrofitted to the point of bearing only cosmetic resemblance to her original, or do you have to custom-order parts for her?"
dream_me_up: (⑥ you know I know)
Author: dream_me_up
"A little of both. Her systems are varyingly old, but most of her is older than I am."
warpfairy: (engineering)
Author: warpfairy
"I wouldn't want to be this far from civilization in something like that. It's pure luck I was here to pick you up."
dream_me_up: (④ from one minute to another)
Author: dream_me_up
"I probably could've got her going again before life support failed," he shrugs.
warpfairy: (highly illogical)
Author: warpfairy
"How probably?"
dream_me_up: (⑤ you'd have to be half mad)
Author: dream_me_up
"Seventy-five, maybe eighty percent?"
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"Prolonged and potentially irrecoverable stranding that can cut out your life support is a serious risk, as critical as the system in question is to the support of life."
dream_me_up: (⑦ love and war)
Author: dream_me_up
"I've lived this long, haven't I?" he says, shrugging again.
warpfairy: (engineering)
Author: warpfairy
"I wonder how many people have uttered those words in ironic proximity to their deaths."
dream_me_up: (④ from one minute to another)
Author: dream_me_up
"Lots, I'm sure."
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
"Well, the Prometheus is in excellent repair and will almost certainly not fail us before we can arrive at Betazed."
dream_me_up: (① nothing you can do about it)
Author: dream_me_up
"And now if we die on the way it'll be even more ironic."
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"How fortunate that the universe is not naturally drawn to irony."
dream_me_up: (⑤ you'd have to be half mad)
Author: dream_me_up
"Are you sure?"
warpfairy: (meditative)
Author: warpfairy
"Surety is a spectrum. I am sure enough not to superstitiously avoid remarks that, were I mistaken, would prompt undesirable outcomes."
dream_me_up: (⑥ you know I know)
Author: dream_me_up
"I think they call that 'tempting Fate'."
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"They do. An evocative but not literally accurate term."
dream_me_up: (① nothing you can do about it)
Author: dream_me_up
He laughs.
warpfairy: (momentary)
Author: warpfairy
"If only there were a planet full of you, I would clearly have missed my calling as a comedian."
dream_me_up: (② we're all mad here)
Author: dream_me_up
"Land on a small uninhabited planet," he suggests whimsically. "Then you'll have a planet full of me to entertain however you want."
warpfairy: (highly illogical)
Author: warpfairy
"It would have to be very small indeed to be truly full," says Isabella, "with only one of you."
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
"You'd be surprised how easily I can fill up a planet."
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"What is your secret?"
dream_me_up: (⑤ you'd have to be half mad)
Author: dream_me_up
He switches languages. "Il est très simple: on ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux."
warpfairy: (neutrality)
Author: warpfairy
"I recognize the French," says Isabella, "but cannot translate it."
dream_me_up: (⑨ listener)
Author: dream_me_up
"It's a quote," he says. "Antoine de Saint Exupéry. Early twentieth century literature. Parts of the book took place on a cozy little planet with a population of one, and at one point one of the characters says, 'Here's my secret', and then that. The translation's not especially relevant."
warpfairy: (shoulder)
Author: warpfairy
"I'd like to know what it meant anyway."
dream_me_up: (⑩ more than a man)
Author: dream_me_up
"I've never translated it into Vulcan before," he says thoughtfully. "Literally it's, 'It is very simple: One cannot see well except with the heart. The essential is invisible to the eyes.' But of course the metaphor doesn't carry. And neither does the - poetry."
warpfairy: (momentary)
Author: warpfairy
"I will take your word for it that poetry was present in the original."
dream_me_up: (② we're all mad here)
Author: dream_me_up
He giggles.
warpfairy: (meditative)
Author: warpfairy
"I don't think planets small enough to be cozy for a single inhabitant are technically called so. Asteroids, perhaps."
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
"Yes. But in a fictional universe where asteroids are fully habitable, 'asteroid' and 'planet' are somewhat interchangeable terms."
warpfairy: (highly illogical)
Author: warpfairy
"How was that meant to work? Is this a fantasy story?"
dream_me_up: (④ from one minute to another)
Author: dream_me_up
"A children's story. More or less. The titular character tidies his asteroid with a rake every morning."
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"Ah, is that how one does it. No wonder all of my asteroids are so unkempt."
dream_me_up: (① nothing you can do about it)
Author: dream_me_up
"And a broom, I think," he adds, and giggles.
warpfairy: (engineering)
Author: warpfairy
"What sort of debris accumulates on an inhabited little asteroid?"
dream_me_up: (⑪ pretty please)
Author: dream_me_up
"Baobab seedlings borne on the interstellar wind, apparently. Which is terrible, because baobabs can grow large enough to split the asteroid with their roots."
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"A dreadful fate. It would then be necessary to live in a space tree instead of on an asteroid."
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
"And just think of trying to rake all those leaves."
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
"Perhaps they, like the seedlings, would be borne away by interstellar wind of their own accord."
dream_me_up: (② we're all mad here)
Author: dream_me_up
He giggles.

"And then they'd settle on somebody else's asteroid and they'd have to rake them up instead."
warpfairy: (meditative)
Author: warpfairy
"Oh, were there a lot of these, then? An entire little community of asteroids?"
dream_me_up: (④ from one minute to another)
Author: dream_me_up
"More or less."
warpfairy: (momentary)
Author: warpfairy
"It sounds like a charming book. It is a pity I cannot read French."
dream_me_up: (⑤ you'd have to be half mad)
Author: dream_me_up
"There are English translations."
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
"Perhaps I'll obtain one."
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
"The title is Le Petit Prince - 'The Little Prince', in English."
warpfairy: (meditative)
Author: warpfairy
Isabella switches applications on her PADD to write this down.
dream_me_up: (② we're all mad here)
Author: dream_me_up
He grins.
warpfairy: (engineering)
Author: warpfairy
"By the sound of it you have led a dramatically more colorful life than I, and I don't know how amenable you are to being questioned about it extensively."
dream_me_up: (⑤ you'd have to be half mad)
Author: dream_me_up
"Why, do you have burning questions?"
warpfairy: (meditative)
Author: warpfairy
"I will not require my first aid kit if they go unanswered, but I'd like to hear more about dancing and fencing and cheffery and whatever else goes on that list. What kind of dancing?"
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
"Many kinds," he says with a wink.
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"What kinds, then?"
dream_me_up: (② we're all mad here)
Author: dream_me_up
"When I was about your age, I worked in a strip club for a while," he says cheerfully. "A few years later I learned some ballroom dances and did that competitively for about six months."
warpfairy: (highly illogical)
Author: warpfairy
"A bit of a stylistic jump," observes Isabella.
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
"All else being equal, I preferred stripping," he says. "More fun and more lucrative. But I'm glad I did both. The other kind was fun too."
warpfairy: (meditative)
Author: warpfairy
"I have never tried dancing. I am not particularly graceful - merely below average for a human, but for a Vulcan I'm disgraceful."
dream_me_up: (⑥ you know I know)
Author: dream_me_up
"Sorry to hear it. I love to dance," he says.
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
"You are fortunate to have the talent, then."
dream_me_up: (② we're all mad here)
Author: dream_me_up
"Do you want to learn to dance?" he offers whimsically.
warpfairy: (highly illogical)
Author: warpfairy
"...Right now?"
dream_me_up: (④ from one minute to another)
Author: dream_me_up
"Is there a better time?"
warpfairy: (neutrality)
Author: warpfairy
"I'll fall and bruise my skull on a bulkhead."
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
"I won't let you."
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
She looks at him skeptically, then she makes sure that the autopilot is calm and operating normally and gets up from her chair. "All right."
dream_me_up: (⑦ love and war)
Author: dream_me_up
"There isn't enough room to get really fancy, but I bet I could teach you to waltz," he says, leading her into the middle of the clearest available space.
warpfairy: (engineering)
Author: warpfairy
"I have a relatively complete music library, if you want to ask the computer for something."
dream_me_up: (⑥ you know I know)
Author: dream_me_up
He names a song, something classic and orchestral.
warpfairy: (shoulder)
Author: warpfairy
The computer obliges.

Isabella stands ready for instruction.
dream_me_up: (⑧ it's a better day)
Author: dream_me_up
Mr. Viteri instructs! He's very good at it - calm, patient, straightforward, effortlessly graceful. And as promised, he keeps her on her feet.
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
She needs the help, once or twice, but she manages to follow the explanation and enjoy herself once she has the basic step down.
dream_me_up: (⑤ you'd have to be half mad)
Author: dream_me_up
And will she eventually be feeling adventurous enough to try a modest twirl?
warpfairy: (momentary)
Author: warpfairy
Eventually, yes! Twirl, twirl. She's not wearing a twirly outfit - she's a slacks-and-long-embroidered-shirt person, Earth fashion for people who can't be bothered - but it's fun anyway.
dream_me_up: (② we're all mad here)
Author: dream_me_up
Twiiiiiiiiiirl.

"This is fun," he giggles, finally slipping back into English. "You're a good student."
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
"You're a good teacher," Isabella returns, switching languages with him obligingly.
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
"Maybe I should try being a dance instructor next," he muses.
warpfairy: (meditative)
Author: warpfairy
"Have you not taught it before? I wouldn't have guessed."
dream_me_up: (④ from one minute to another)
Author: dream_me_up
"Nope. Clearly I should," he laughs.
warpfairy: (engineering)
Author: warpfairy
"Have you taught other things, then, or is your skill all innate?"
dream_me_up: (⑤ you'd have to be half mad)
Author: dream_me_up
"I've taught languages once or twice."
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"Which of the myriad you've learned?"
dream_me_up: (⑪ pretty please)
Author: dream_me_up
"English. Arabic."
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
"Arabic too - just how much of a polyglot are you?"
dream_me_up: (② we're all mad here)
Author: dream_me_up
"Plenty."
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"More or fewer than - thirty?"
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
"You're assuming I keep count."
warpfairy: (momentary)
Author: warpfairy
"If you've lost count, I'm going to take that as a 'more'."
dream_me_up: (① nothing you can do about it)
Author: dream_me_up
He laughs.
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"You seem to find me endlessly hilarious."
dream_me_up: (② we're all mad here)
Author: dream_me_up
"I do! I like you," he says brightly.

Twirl?
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
Twirl.
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
Hooray!
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
"Where did you learn this?"
dream_me_up: (⑦ love and war)
Author: dream_me_up
"Somewhere on Earth. I forget," he says vaguely.
warpfairy: (momentary)
Author: warpfairy
"Ah, yes, Earth, known the whole quadrant over for its uniformity of climate and culture."
dream_me_up: (⑥ you know I know)
Author: dream_me_up
"It's possible I just have a terrible memory."
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"Not for languages you don't."
dream_me_up: (② we're all mad here)
Author: dream_me_up
"True."
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
"What were the first few you picked up?"
dream_me_up: (⑧ it's a better day)
Author: dream_me_up
"Arabic, Mandarin, English, French, Russian, and Spanish."
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"How anthropocentric of you."
dream_me_up: (④ from one minute to another)
Author: dream_me_up
"I was young. I hadn't left the planet yet."
warpfairy: (meditative)
Author: warpfairy
"That's fair. I'm not conversational in any languages belonging to species I'm not, and I have left my original planets."
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
"Maybe I should teach you Klingon next."
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"It won't take us that long to get to Betazed. Not everyone is naturally polyglottaly inclined."
dream_me_up: (⑥ you know I know)
Author: dream_me_up
"Well, it'd be a start."
warpfairy: (engineering)
Author: warpfairy
"And then in addition to -" She coughs and switches to serviceable Klingon - "This is the peaceful surveyor vessel Prometheus! I am unarmed, and my location is regularly transmitted to Federation supervisory authorities!" - she switches back - "I could also talk about the threat of baobob seedlings?"
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
"Or opera," he says. "Your pronunciation's not bad."
warpfairy: (highly illogical)
Author: warpfairy
"I learned that by rote. I only know what a handful of the individual words mean," confesses Isabella.
dream_me_up: (⑤ you'd have to be half mad)
Author: dream_me_up
"I can tell."
warpfairy: (shoulder)
Author: warpfairy
"Is Klingon a difficult language?"
dream_me_up: (⑨ listener)
Author: dream_me_up
"It trips up human speakers worse than, say, Vulcan, but it's manageable."
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"How do Vulcans do with it?"
dream_me_up: (⑩ more than a man)
Author: dream_me_up
"I don't know any Vulcans who speak it."
warpfairy: (meditative)
Author: warpfairy
"I guess we can find out, then. I do know about half the alphabet from an educational game I had when I was six, but I've forgotten the other letters."
dream_me_up: (② we're all mad here)
Author: dream_me_up
"Half an alphabet is better than no alphabet," he laughs.
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
"This is certainly true."
dream_me_up: (⑨ listener)
Author: dream_me_up
"Do you want to learn the rest, then?"
warpfairy: (momentary)
Author: warpfairy
"Yes, I believe I would like that."
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
"It turns out your little speech contains every letter of the alphabet," he says. "So we can start there. I just need something to write on."
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
Isabella laughs, pauses their ongoing waltz, and presents him with her PADD.
dream_me_up: (⑥ you know I know)
Author: dream_me_up
He writes out the message in Klingon, then asks her to name all the letters she remembers.
warpfairy: (neutrality)
Author: warpfairy
She points out those letters, and the sounds corresponding to them.
dream_me_up: (④ from one minute to another)
Author: dream_me_up
So, starting from the first word, he fills in the gaps in her knowledge of each symbol and then sounds out the word slowly so she can hear how they fit together.
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
Isabella produces another PADD so she can take notes without having to disrupt the display he's teaching her from, and is very attentive.
dream_me_up: (⑥ you know I know)
Author: dream_me_up
He takes her word by word through the whole message, then asks her to write it on her PADD without consulting the original.
warpfairy: (meditative)
Author: warpfairy
She misses an article and misspells "unarmed" but is otherwise successful at this task.
dream_me_up: (⑤ you'd have to be half mad)
Author: dream_me_up
He shows her the original so she can correct her mistakes.
warpfairy: (highly illogical)
Author: warpfairy
"Did my result mean anything amusingly off?" inquires Isabella, editing her reproduction of the sentence.
dream_me_up: (② we're all mad here)
Author: dream_me_up
"About as amusing as if you'd called yourself 'unarfed' in English."
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"Perhaps I will be lucky in meeting particularly juvenile Klingons while I am still struggling to master their language."
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
He giggles.

"Is this a good enough mnemonic for the alphabet, or should I move on to opera?"
warpfairy: (meditative)
Author: warpfairy
"I believe the alphabet will now stay put in my head well enough for us to proceed without recourse to opera."
dream_me_up: (④ from one minute to another)
Author: dream_me_up
"On the other hand, I love Klingon opera. Maybe I'll just teach you some anyway."
warpfairy: (engineering)
Author: warpfairy
"I am your humble student, Mr. Viteri."
dream_me_up: (⑤ you'd have to be half mad)
Author: dream_me_up
"Please, call me Lalita. Mr. Viteri makes me feel old."
warpfairy: (meditative)
Author: warpfairy
"If you prefer. Lalita."
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
"Thank you. You probably don't have the text of any Klingon operas on your system, do you? Should I go rustle up my PADD?"
warpfairy: (neutrality)
Author: warpfairy
"I would not be astonished if one of my general media packets included at least one Klingon libretto, but I would not expect it to be in the original. It is probably more efficient to use yours. What is in that case, by the way?"
dream_me_up: (⑥ you know I know)
Author: dream_me_up
"A book."
warpfairy: (shoulder)
Author: warpfairy
"...A paper one?"
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
"Yep."
warpfairy: (engineering)
Author: warpfairy
"Why do you have one of those with you?"
dream_me_up: (⑤ you'd have to be half mad)
Author: dream_me_up
"Sentimental value. I've had it since I was a kid."
warpfairy: (Default)
Author: warpfairy
"Another heirloom?"
dream_me_up: (② we're all mad here)
Author: dream_me_up
He laughs. "Yeah."
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
"You seem to have had an interesting family."
dream_me_up: (④ from one minute to another)
Author: dream_me_up
"I couldn't begin to tell you how true that is."
warpfairy: (momentary)
Author: warpfairy
"I doubt that you would find it impossible if you were to try, which you are welcome to."
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
He laughs and shakes his head. "I think I'll have more fun teaching you Klingon," he says, and goes to get his PADD.
warpfairy: (meditative)
Author: warpfairy
"All right."

Isabella is attentive to her lesson on an ongoing basis.
dream_me_up: (② we're all mad here)
Author: dream_me_up
Lalita doesn't actually go as far as singing any of the Klingon opera he has stored, but he does recite the lines in pleasing rhythms.
warpfairy: (momentary)
Author: warpfairy
Isabella is amused! And catches a pun when he reproduces it, too, albeit a rather simple one.
dream_me_up: (① nothing you can do about it)
Author: dream_me_up
He giggles approvingly.

"Very observant."
warpfairy: (satisfactory)
Author: warpfairy
"I make every effort to be so."
dream_me_up: (③ or else it doesn't)
Author: dream_me_up
And on with the lesson.