Another Perspective

Posted on Wed Feb 9th, 2011 @ 7:11am by Vice Admiral Iluvar

Mission: Episode 1.4 - "Confusion in the Cluster"
Location: Orient Express Lounge, USS Pandora
Timeline: Mission Day 02, 1440

ON: [[Orient Express Lounge, USS Pandora, Mission Day 02, 1440]]

Duty had called once again, leaving the Orient Express rather empty at the moment, not that it really bothered Yuris (PNPC) all that much. He knew full well that his customers would be back when this was all over. Such was the way of things when living and working aboard a starship. Already, the harshness of the red alert klaxon had given way to the much more mellow tone of yellow alert, a sign that things might already be improving.

The El-Aurian finished polishing out another clean glass and set it gently underneath the countertop. He did not need to look over again to know that his young assistant, Greg (PNPC), was still staring out the large viewports. The boy was relatively new to an operation like this, which was part of the reason Yuris had hired him in the first place. Yet there was something deeper there that made Yuris hire Letsky, something much more important...potential.

"Penny for your thoughts," Yuris asked as he came up behind the young man.

Greg turned suddenly at the sound of Yuris' voice. He hadn't even realized that his supervisor had left the bar, clearly and indicator that he had not been paying very much attention. "I was just..." he began.

"...admiring the view," Yuris finished somewhat sardonically as he looked out at the scattered debris field against the backdrop of the Black Cluster. There had been a ship here not too long ago, that much was certain. The Black Cluster was a dangerous place, though, and the El-Aurian could think of nearly a dozen reasons right off the top of his head that might have resulted in the destruction of a vessel. "Not what you were expecting, was it," he asked quietly.

Shaking his head slowly from side to side, Greg could not help but turn his gaze back toward the viewport. He could not understand why something so horrible so easily captivated his attention. It was scary to think that something like that could happen to the Pandora. At least on Earth, you didn't have to worry about spatial anomalies or mysterious alien ships...you were pretty safe. So why had he chosen this?

"...because you would have been too comfortable," Yuris said, as if he had heard Greg's unspoken question, "Don't get me wrong, there's something to be said for the feeling of security and taking comfort in feeling safe, but after awhile it would start to seem rather vapid. We all need a little uncertainty in our lives...some a bit more than others. Would you have rather stayed on Earth?"

"No," Greg replied quickly, almost as if it was the obvious answer, but he did glance over his shoulder with some hesitation in Yuris' direction, wondering if maybe he had responded a bit too quickly, "I mean..."

The El-Aurian did not say a word, but simply titled his head as if waiting for the young man to finish his statement.

"...I uhh..." Greg continued, realizing that he had put himself in a rather awkward position. He thought about it for a moment, about what Yuris had said to him, and suddenly, it started to make a little more sense. "Yeah," he said with a little more confidence, "I mean no...I would rather be here, even if that is a little..."

"...creepy," Yuris offered with a wry smile.

"Not exactly the word I was looking for," Greg said with a frown, turning away from the viewports to look over in his supervisor's direction.

Yuris shrugged. He looked out at the floating debris field for a moment without saying a word. There was no way of knowing what had happened in this place, but he had a feeling that they wouldn't have to wait long to find out. "Sometimes, you just have to call it like it is," he said.

OFF

A JP by

Yuris Eldar (PNPC)
Owner/Host, Orient Express Lounge
USS Pandora
Played by: Capt Iluvar

and

Greg Letsky (PNPC)
Lounge Staff, Orient Express Lounge
USS Pandora
Played by: Capt Iluvar