Tales from beyond Accobar - Part 1

[Martin Thompson]

Introduction:

So I had a few ideas after last weeks episode of Asteroid Field. We only get to know bits and pieces from the Asteroid Field universe by means of cut scenes or character messages Grizz provides us, next to the things we make up ourselves. I thought it would be nice to have a look at what is happening in parallel to the SRP story in other places in the universe and to share that with the rest of the Asteroid Field players.

So today I'm posting the first of what might be a series of short stories revolving around things happening in the universe not directly about our in RP characters but at places or about persons (in)directly related to them. I hope you will enjoy reading these as they are meant to be an addition to the wonderful stories Grizz brings us every week. I'd also appreciate your feedback and if you are interested in reading more of these stories in the future!



A Romulan Walks into a Bar

Triiing, ding ding. A cold breeze swept through the room, under the tables, briefly bringing a chill to anyone not yet properly dressed for the starting winter on Alpha Centauri. Contrasted by the snowflakes falling behind her, she stood in the doorframe. Tall in a propper black coat with small leather gloves, matching the coat with their charcoal and rugged look and to finish it all off a thick dark grey scarf tied neatly around her neck in two loops, tucked into her coat. A pink wool hat was covering her ears and forehead, seemingly out of place with the rest of her outfit. A gift perhaps, or borrowed from a friend? She stomped her feet on the doorstep to remove excess snow from her tall, hard coal boots. She looked up, her eyes quickly moving from left to right and back again. Scanning the room, as they had done so many times before, looking for a place to sit. Triiing, ding ding. The small doorbell, reflecting the chandelier's light with a faint brass glow, made no distinction between the opening and closing motion of the door. It had not done so for quite a while, as attested by the the door's small dent and peeled paint at the top corner. As the door closed behind her, her eyes were drawn to the back of the room. The lower part of the establishment's side was adorned with cushions and seating, stretching horizontally across the entire wall. A small table for two was still free, with a wooden chair across from the large bench intended for the second of the 'for two' to perch. She moved towards the table, while swiftly sliding the soft pink hat off her head and into one of many of her coat pockets, revealing two short but pointy ears and a mildly ridged forehead. She placed herself on the more comfortable end of the 'for two' and let her eyes scan the room once more before taking off her gloves, coat and scarf, putting all three of them in that order on the bench, in the small space left between where the bench touched one of the cafe's walls and herself.

"Can I get you something to drink ma'am?" asked a young Caitian girl. Grabbing a small PADD from her green and blue attire. "Oh... uhm... yes.... do you have fresh liquorice tea?"
"Oh, I'd have to check for that, I could bring you the box if you want."
"Yes, that'll be fine." The young Caitian girl walked off to take care of her customer's wishes. The snowfall was getting worse, as could be seen through the two large windows, one on each side of the door, spanning the room from floor to ceiling. The mirrored letters of the cafe's logo partially covered the unfriendly weather outside. 'Alectrona Corner', they read, painted in large, golden edged, cursive lettering, slightly out of place, as the cafe was the middle of five establishments along one side of the small marketplace square in the Highfields district of New Mississippi. Another person walked past one of the large windows. Triiing ding ding.

"Here you go ma'am. It looks like you're in luck today." The Caitian girl put down a glass of hot water on a small dish accompanied by a small wrapper, presumably filled with an appropriate snack to go with whatever the hot water was about to be turned into. She held out the tea box in front of her. "Thank you. I will take this one." She grabbed one of the satchels out of the box and placed it on the dish. "Anything else I can get you?"
"No, that will be all, thank you." She nodded slightly, smiled and sniggered towards the girl who closed the tea box and walked off. "Enjoy your drink!"
The Caitain girl reminded her of her own daughter at that age. Young, cheerful and full of spunk. She picked up the satchel to open it and prepare her tea. On the other side of the cafe the Caitian walked up to the gentleman who just walked in. "Good afternoon sir. Can I get you something to drink?"

With the hot water getting marbled by the tea infusing process, she pulled out a PADD and started reading letters rendered in LCARS font while taking hand-written notes with a digital pen she pulled out of the side of the PADD. She did not look away from her PADD, not even to remove the tea satchel from the water, which had now turned into a deliciously fragrant brew of which she intermittently took a sip She did not even look outside, where the weather became even worse, the buildings on the opposite of the square now barely visible from where she was sitting. Stoically, she finished her tea, put the pen back into the PADD which in turn went back into her coat, and gestured the Caitian. "Was everything to your liking?" The Caitian pointed to the now empty tea cup. "Yes, thank you miss."
"Anything else I can get you?" she said, while taking the dish with the empty teacup and the unopened wrapper from the table. "No, thank you. I should be going again."
"Alright then. Enjoy your day ma'am, and I hope to see you again." Again, she nodded, smiled and sniggered at the Caitian, who walked away towards the bar behind which the dirty teacup disappeared.

Standing up, she put on her scarf and coat back on and picked up her gloves from the bench, which she slid onto her hands while moving towards the door. Triiing ding ding. The inclement weather greeted her with a cold gust blowing snowflakes towards her face. Triiing ding ding. She stepped into the snow and turned towards her left, traversing the square's snow-covered cobblestones with care, passing the other large window of 'Alectrona Corner'. Moments later, the man who had walked in just behind her finished his drink aswell, gestured the young Caitian waitress, stood up and also moved towards the door. Triiing ding ding... Triiing ding ding. Having walked past the two neighbouring establishments, she pulled her pink wool hat out of her coat jacket. While putting it on her head, she pushed the button on a small commbadge concealed in the palm of the hand she just used to grab into her pocket. "It seems our suspicions have been confirmed Val. Pass on the message. They need her." She put her hands back in her pocket, seemingly to keep them warm, but actually to conceal the communications device, and walked off into the now raging snowstorm, leaving nothing but her silhouette for a brief moment before disappearing completely into the distance...

[Grizz]

Happy to see more from you here, MT  I would love to get back in to writing additional tales if I still had the time and patience for it.

After all, it's from this format that Asteroid Field was born.