Travel. (Spock, T'Vau, Open.)

[science_blues]

The city was beautiful, and her time on this planet, albeit somewhat inconsistently spent, had been both educational and pleasant, overall. Spock considered it as she sat back in the spartan chair she'd been allocated. The shuttle was small, compact, and logically organized. The other passengers were filing in for the trip to the singularity

Comments

[t_vau]

T'Vau had also enjoyed her time on the planet. She had participated in the unicorn shark watching tours many times, and had even seen werewhales on one memorable trip.

The cruises had come to an abrupt end when Grace's credit chip had mysteriously stopped working one day.

She had filled the remaining time with less expensive pursuits. She had planned to leave Sha'Kwai much sooner, but an unfortunate misunderstanding of the departure time had significantly delayed her leaving.

Given that rendezvousing with the Enterprise would be challenging, at best, T'Vau began exploring other options. The shuttle to Starbase 69 seemed a promising one. It was, if nothing else, the next ship leaving the planet. And the travel agent whose services T'Vau had sought out seemed very eager to find her a way to leave the planet - and his services - as soon as possible

[science_blues]

While theories regarding intelligent design were not discredited on Vulcan, they were unproven. The distinction was mild, but present. As Spock turned and regarded her neighbor, she was uncertain whether she had angered the agent of intelligent design, or whether that agent was purely fictitious.

She suspected the latter.

"T'Vau," she greeted evenly and blinked. Evasion had not been one of her regular activities on the planet, but she had neither actively nor inactively sought contact with the woman. It was...unfortunate that she was here. Now. And for the remainder of the week, it appeared.

[t_vau]

Fascinating.

The probability that both T'Vau and her former roommate would select the same shuttle leaving the planet was only .00000532512%. This was...surprising.

However, T'Vau had more important things to concern herself with than pondering such unexpected coincidences.

"Yes," she agreed. "Greetings, Grace." And she bent down to reach into her bag, retrieving a large white helmet and immediately applying herself to putting it on. Liftoff from the planet and the subsequent achivement of escape velocity was, statistically, the most risky part of any interstellar voyage. It was only sensible to be prepared for a disaster.

[science_blues]

There were many adjectives that could describe the headgear her seat-mate was wearing. None of them seemed sufficient at the moment, however. Spock blinked. Once. Twice. She turned her attention back to the PADD in hand and it took several seconds before she was able to properly digest the words.

She could see the reflection of T'Vau in the surface.

"Your headgear is...overlarge," Spock commented as she looked back up. It was far too close to Spock's own head, given the minute space they had been allotted. "I am certain it is unnecessary."

[dctr_mccoy]

[ooc: Bones heartily approves of T'Vau's strong survival instinct and understanding that space is dangerous. *fistbumps*]

[t_vau]

[[OOC: T'Vau does not return the fistbump because that is obscene! But :D :D :D]]

An obscene amount of time later...

[science_blues]

The shuttle was docking shortly and Spock could not have been more thankful that her time, confined in the tight space, would be ended. She had accomplished very little work, had very little rest, and very little peace in the duration of the ride. She did not look at T'Vau as she considered this.

The Captain of the shuttle announced their docking trajectory and Spock watched out the window, patiently awaiting their arrival at the station.

Re: An obscene amount of time later...

[t_vau]

T'Vau leaned over her seatmate in order to look out the window.

It had been a most satisfactory flight. She had completed her entire book of crosswords (with assistance), introduced her favorite music to her fellow passengers (most of whom seemed to share regrettably poor taste in music), and played many games of Hydroponics vs. Klingons on her PADD (Grace had been oddly resistant to attempting the two-player version with her).

It still seemed unfair, though, that her former roommate had claimed a window seat on both the initial departure and the final arrival. It was only logical that she allow T'Vau to invade her personal space - briefly - in order to share the view.

[science_blues]

Spock took a slow, meditative breath and leaned back, away from T'Vau, as the woman leaned across her to peer out the window. The station was at an angle that proved troublesome and T'Vau pushed up the arm-rest in order to lean, more aptly, across Spock.

Spock closed her eyes and waited for the sight to become uninteresting for her former roommate. This proved to be a futile effort, as T'Vau remained until they docked and the shuttle's engines powered down.

[t_vau]

T'Vau watched, rapt, as the shuttle slowly approached the starbase and, finally, docked. She let out a relieved breath as the shuttle powered down, and flopped back heavily in her seat.

"We made it," she announced, unnecessarily, as the interior lights came on and their fellow passengers began collecting their belongings for departure and filing through the doors (if the passengers nearest T'Vau moved a little more hurriedly then the rest of the population of the shuttle, that was surely a coincidence). "Congratulations on surviving."