Post by Irina Reese on Jun 11, 2014 8:29:22 GMT
U.S.S. Deimos - Present
Irina moved along corridors of the U.S.S. Deimos. Trying to remember the location of her quarters, she slips her hand into her bag—a small plastic-leathery pouch with a long enough drawstring to latch onto her left shoulder. Her fingers stumbled into a bright orange card with crisp edges with text written on the back. She began to wonder where it came from.
New York City, Earth - Four Days Ago
Irina pursed her lips. She loosened her grip upon a set of colorful slips of paper she held in her hand, and brushed it lightly against her cheek. Two men, identical in height, face and hair color were sitting at the table she sat at. Their expressions were not identical. One was stone faced, staring directly at Irina. The other had something of a playful scowl.
“This game is ridiculous,” said Aaron, the scowling one. “I have all the blue cards for the blue squares. Why can’t I get a house on it?”
“One, they’re called ‘properties’” Irina explained. “Second, you can’t afford them—unless you mortgage your other properties. You’ve got Park and Boardwalk, put a couple of homes there and you’ll bankrupt anyone unlucky enough to land on them this early in the game.”
“Mortgage?” Aaron shouted. “What’s that even mean? Why can’t I just grab all those small green houses and big red houses and put them all over my two blue squares?”
“The same reason I can’t simply knock over your king at chess as my first move,” Irina said, the annoyance in her voice quite evident.
“There are rules,” said David, the stone faced one. “It’s what makes games like these fun.”
“These rules are dumb. This whole board game is dumb,” blurted Aaron, his face growing redder. “At least in chess, I could beat you!”
Irina, becoming more visibly upset, “You’ve never beat me, Aaron.”
“Not true. Aaron beat you at least three times as I recall,” David corrected.
“Two against one, ‘Rina,” stated Aaron with a smirk.
“It’s always two against me with you two,” sighed Irina. She placed down her colored paper, somewhat dejected. “I’m guessing AJ was ‘busy’ again?”
David got up from his chair to fill up a small cup of water. “With you, he’s been ‘busy’ for about ten years.”
“He’s still probably pissed,” Aaron reckoned.
“Oh gee, you think?” Irina stated sarcastically. “I trust you at least told him I’ve been assigned to the Deimos?”
“Well, yeah, but he changed the subject. I told Mom and Dad too, in case you haven’t already,” said David.
“I told them!” Irina insisted. “I mean, you know. In a message.”
Aaron began nagging, “They miss you. You know that? You haven’t talked to them directly since you graduated. They might think you’ve relapsed or something.”
“Well you guys could tell, can’t you?” Irina questioned. “You’re twins, you guys got born with some super subspace communicator inside your heads so you know what each other is thinking. You can’t use it on me?”
“Oh sure, I know what David’s thinking,” Aaron joked. “Hey, Dave, remember that time ‘Rina put that cloth diaper on that Zefram Cochrane statue in Union Square? The one that was missing all the fingers on each hand except for the middle ones.”
Irina’s face began to pale. “Aaron!” she shouted angrily.
“Yeah I remember!” laughed David. “She used some kind of weird epoxy on it. They had to call in some engineering experts from San Francisco to remove it without damaging the statue. It took them like, two weeks to get it off, and when they finally did, all the missing fingers fell out of the diaper.”
“Please, enough guys!” Irina surrendered, almost in tears. “I don’t like being reminded.”
David leaned forward and put his hand on Irina’s shoulder. “Look, ‘Rina. We all understand what you did was pretty much outside of your control; even when it got dead serious. What’s important now is that what you’re doing is something you want to do.”
“I know Mom and Dad support you, now more than ever,” Aaron said assuredly. “You know the two of us will too. I can’t speak for AJ, but I think he’ll come around. Keep trying to get him to talk. You know how he likes to drown himself in work.”
“Just avoid asking about Quantum Slipstream and New Warp Theory,” David interrupted. “He will not shut up about it. You’ll wish he’d stop talking for another ten years.”
Aaron bent down to Irina’s eye level. “I know you’re going to be ship counselor for like 140 uptight Starfleet weirdoes; but you’re still our insane little sister. It’s your turn, but we’ll finish this game after your first tour. Keep us posted, alright?” Aaron slips an orange chance card into Irina’s bag.
“Thanks guys. I will,” Irina smiled weakly. “You guys should go on ahead, grab a shake. I’ll clean up here, and join you in a bit.”
“That’s fine, ‘Rina. We’ll see you later,” replied Aaron.
U.S.S. Deimos - Present
Irina approached her quarters and entered. All the tightly packed boxes containing her belongings were already inside, with a comfortable looking bed and a window. She sat upon the bed, pulled out the orange card and flipped it over. Irina smiled, whispering to herself what she had read of the card: “Take a walk on the Boardwalk.”
Irina moved along corridors of the U.S.S. Deimos. Trying to remember the location of her quarters, she slips her hand into her bag—a small plastic-leathery pouch with a long enough drawstring to latch onto her left shoulder. Her fingers stumbled into a bright orange card with crisp edges with text written on the back. She began to wonder where it came from.
New York City, Earth - Four Days Ago
Irina pursed her lips. She loosened her grip upon a set of colorful slips of paper she held in her hand, and brushed it lightly against her cheek. Two men, identical in height, face and hair color were sitting at the table she sat at. Their expressions were not identical. One was stone faced, staring directly at Irina. The other had something of a playful scowl.
“This game is ridiculous,” said Aaron, the scowling one. “I have all the blue cards for the blue squares. Why can’t I get a house on it?”
“One, they’re called ‘properties’” Irina explained. “Second, you can’t afford them—unless you mortgage your other properties. You’ve got Park and Boardwalk, put a couple of homes there and you’ll bankrupt anyone unlucky enough to land on them this early in the game.”
“Mortgage?” Aaron shouted. “What’s that even mean? Why can’t I just grab all those small green houses and big red houses and put them all over my two blue squares?”
“The same reason I can’t simply knock over your king at chess as my first move,” Irina said, the annoyance in her voice quite evident.
“There are rules,” said David, the stone faced one. “It’s what makes games like these fun.”
“These rules are dumb. This whole board game is dumb,” blurted Aaron, his face growing redder. “At least in chess, I could beat you!”
Irina, becoming more visibly upset, “You’ve never beat me, Aaron.”
“Not true. Aaron beat you at least three times as I recall,” David corrected.
“Two against one, ‘Rina,” stated Aaron with a smirk.
“It’s always two against me with you two,” sighed Irina. She placed down her colored paper, somewhat dejected. “I’m guessing AJ was ‘busy’ again?”
David got up from his chair to fill up a small cup of water. “With you, he’s been ‘busy’ for about ten years.”
“He’s still probably pissed,” Aaron reckoned.
“Oh gee, you think?” Irina stated sarcastically. “I trust you at least told him I’ve been assigned to the Deimos?”
“Well, yeah, but he changed the subject. I told Mom and Dad too, in case you haven’t already,” said David.
“I told them!” Irina insisted. “I mean, you know. In a message.”
Aaron began nagging, “They miss you. You know that? You haven’t talked to them directly since you graduated. They might think you’ve relapsed or something.”
“Well you guys could tell, can’t you?” Irina questioned. “You’re twins, you guys got born with some super subspace communicator inside your heads so you know what each other is thinking. You can’t use it on me?”
“Oh sure, I know what David’s thinking,” Aaron joked. “Hey, Dave, remember that time ‘Rina put that cloth diaper on that Zefram Cochrane statue in Union Square? The one that was missing all the fingers on each hand except for the middle ones.”
Irina’s face began to pale. “Aaron!” she shouted angrily.
“Yeah I remember!” laughed David. “She used some kind of weird epoxy on it. They had to call in some engineering experts from San Francisco to remove it without damaging the statue. It took them like, two weeks to get it off, and when they finally did, all the missing fingers fell out of the diaper.”
“Please, enough guys!” Irina surrendered, almost in tears. “I don’t like being reminded.”
David leaned forward and put his hand on Irina’s shoulder. “Look, ‘Rina. We all understand what you did was pretty much outside of your control; even when it got dead serious. What’s important now is that what you’re doing is something you want to do.”
“I know Mom and Dad support you, now more than ever,” Aaron said assuredly. “You know the two of us will too. I can’t speak for AJ, but I think he’ll come around. Keep trying to get him to talk. You know how he likes to drown himself in work.”
“Just avoid asking about Quantum Slipstream and New Warp Theory,” David interrupted. “He will not shut up about it. You’ll wish he’d stop talking for another ten years.”
Aaron bent down to Irina’s eye level. “I know you’re going to be ship counselor for like 140 uptight Starfleet weirdoes; but you’re still our insane little sister. It’s your turn, but we’ll finish this game after your first tour. Keep us posted, alright?” Aaron slips an orange chance card into Irina’s bag.
“Thanks guys. I will,” Irina smiled weakly. “You guys should go on ahead, grab a shake. I’ll clean up here, and join you in a bit.”
“That’s fine, ‘Rina. We’ll see you later,” replied Aaron.
U.S.S. Deimos - Present
Irina approached her quarters and entered. All the tightly packed boxes containing her belongings were already inside, with a comfortable looking bed and a window. She sat upon the bed, pulled out the orange card and flipped it over. Irina smiled, whispering to herself what she had read of the card: “Take a walk on the Boardwalk.”
