Big Sky Country

Posted on Tue Apr 21st, 2020 @ 1:19pm by Civilian Selene Devore

2,919 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: The science of stars
Location: USS Wolff | Holodeck 1
Timeline: 25th march 2395

ON:

It was easy for Dr. El-Azar to get lost in time, not genuinely of course as he strongly believed in his ability to know if he had ever experienced a temporal displacement albeit there were definitely times in which his experimentation with the effects of certain substances natural or not had affected his perception, and thrown him into a tizzy. Now was not one of those times. His transplacement was not physical nor was it truly cognitive. It was a matter of technology, and one he was slowly but surely becoming more intimate with: the holodeck. With the right programming that with patience and technical prowess far beyond his own, could recreate worlds during arguably any era. Sure, some things were not historically accurate, but he could look past that. An avid historian would probably raise hell if a building appeared constructed of the wrong material or if a place was not geographically correct.

Deepak El-Azar was more invested in the general feel and experiencing the sights and sounds rather than how accurate the depiction was. He dressed for the part. It was not a role of a lifetime. In fact if if it were a stage production, the role may as well have supporting if not downright been background; however, he dressed for the part and impeccably so. Cropped fro styled hair and garishly in your color in his outfit which in any other era would have made Deepak stand out or look entirely alien, he fit right in with the rest of the holographic humans in their Earth attire circa 1970s as he walked down the streets with his banana yellow flared bottom trousers and yellow and white checkered top, tucked in, suspenders helping to hoist his trousers up to a high waistline.

The small town feel was evident with commercial buildings, a corner drug store, movie theater, and parked Cadillac, Plymouth, and Dodges. Beyond the buildings of the small town were the mountain with the azure sky separating the mountain tops from the heavens above. The occasional sound of cars honking as they drove by or cut one another off. Deepak walked on by several stores with signs that steered him away. He would need to travel a bit longer on foot to a friendlier neighbourhood. It did not take him too much longer to find the apothecary shop he was looking for. He turned the knob on the door and slowly swung it open, the bells jingled above his head and it was like coming home. The floors were hardwood and the store had the scent of burning sage and sandalwood.

A figure poked her head up from behind the counter as she heard the bells chime signalling a potential customer. "Well, good morning doctor." Selene said to Deepak.

Deepak was taken aback by the greeting. He nearly jumped out of his skin if that was possible. "You nearly gave me a heart attack" he said in his immediate response, but soon softened. "I'm sorry, I just wasn't aware anyone was in here but me. I saw the program running and thought I had left it on. Looks like you've taken to running the store in my absence?" he said teasingly to the woman.

"This program looked interesting and it wasn't marked as private so I thought I'd take a look." Selene told Deepak as she stepped around the counter. "Did people really dress like this on earth in this time period?"

The man pursed his lips and took in the woman's looks. She certainly dressed the part though the spots were a bit of a displacement. "You look marvellous" he commented. "Though if anyone asks about the..." he ran his fingers along his temple and neck. "Henna. Just say they are henna" he added.

He looked around the shop. It definitely felt almost perfect. "Yes they did. Sometimes the louder the colour the better." he said with a small chuckle. "These holograms won't likely be much of an issue, but I do not know how their personalities were programmed to reflect the times. Earth in this period is populated by humans...and they aren't nearly as friendly as the one's aboard the Wolff my dear."

"I don't know much about earth history," She told him "but I'm aware that humans just like most species including Trills went through a time where they were prejudiced towards others."

The Wollf's Ship's Counselor nodded. It was an accurate statement to say the least. "Humans were especially prejudice towards one another. There were nations on Earth and this period in particular was one in which several wars had been fought back to back. Even within a nation there was prejudice towards everything from spiritual beliefs to the skin tone one had. It was not too long ago the law of the land was the act of segregation based on skin colour" explained Deepak. "Some places like this town were located in areas it was slow to change. Lingering attitudes often made it difficult on some."

"I imagine it took a considerable time for humanity to see past those issues?" Selene slowly sat herself down onto a stool placed by the counter. "And I bet even now there are still some people that hold prejudice and racist attitudes despite the federations brand of multiculturalism."

Deepak sighed briefly, but carried on through with a small smile. "It's not the best time period for Earth right now...well this simulation's period. It was worse though before this...way worse before that yet all of this the good and the bad bring me some sense of tranquillity" replied Deepak. "Even now yes. The Federation may have grown past days like this," he said gesturing around him "but there is also darkness and hatred in the corners of every civilisation no matter how advanced they may be. The Vulcans for example won't admit it but it's easy to see a superiority complex and their uneasiness towards Romulans goes without explanation."

Selene nodded slightly, she knew Romulans and Vulcans were similar but different enough for there to be a uneasiness between them. "How did you come by this holoprogram? it's an interesting setting."

"It's mine" he replied simply though he did not want to take credit for the engineering of it. "I mean it is one that I had made, but a programmer did all the work to it. I just supplied some historical information and things that I wanted included. All in all they did not too bad with it, and the store is cozy and charming as it should be."

"There is a little place like this part way up the yai'leh-hirh mountain range on Trill, the old lady there sells home made scented candles, medicinal herbs and things like that." Selene said, she'd noticed the similarities the moment she'd walked in. "When I was younger I'd make the trip up there every few weeks, she must be getting on for one hundred now."

Deepak blushed and smiled. "One hundred years young and I am sure her heart is still in it" he replied. "There's plenty of that in here or well there should be. The designer of the program did a fairly decent job at stocking the store. You'll find various scented candles around the place, oils, and over there." he said gesturing "is where the jams usually are especially in the spring and autumn seasons" he added.

"She makes a lovely icoberry jam too." Selene smiled slightly. "My husband loved it but both me and Taliserra are mildly allergic to it."

A memory flashed through his mind coming to surface and it caused him to chuckle. "I remember one gentlemen," he said with a smile, walking over towards the countertop where the cash register was. "He had a terrible reaction to lemongrass. He had purchased a topical ointment which had lemongrass in it and smeared it all over his body. Oh the poor soul was covered in hives for days" added Deepak shaking his head.

Selene's eyes followed Deepak as he made his way around the store. "I'm not familiar with 'hives' but it doesn't sound good."

"Typically, one develops hives to a mild allergic reaction to something. Small bumps that itch and often associated with a reddish or pinkish rash that is warm to the touch" explained Deepak. "Being as he got the topical lotion from me he came immediately once he developed the hives. Then I took him to the back where I had an elixir of sorts to help treat them...never knew that one moment would mean so much, but he kept coming back to the store week after week a few times he would purchase something, sometimes nothing."

"Sounds like you used to run a shop like this?" Selene asked, his retelling of the story made it seem like he had intimate knowledge of the story."

"I did" he replied. "You are standing a simulation of Waning Moon Apothecary, everything you want and more" added Deepak teasingly. "The more is through those beads over there" he gestured to a doorway threshold. "This is mostly what it looked like until they torched the place to the ground."

"They burnt the place to the ground? why?" She asked surprised at what Deepak had said.

Deepak vacated the cash register and gently took the woman's hand, guiding her through the store towards the back where the dangling beads broke the store off from the back room. He took her through the beads and there as accurate as the program designer could extrapolate was a small round table with two chairs, incense sticks, and candles. A deck of large cards sat on the top of the table. A wall with several shelves displayed dozens of carafes and vials with a plethora of colored liquids. Some even had what appeared to be parts of animals. "Pick your poison" he replied finally.

It hit him that the expression was probably not the best to use. "Oh fear not non of it was poison, not if you knew what you were doing at least" he added with a smirk. "There were many reasons why they torched this place. One did not become known as the local 'witchdoctor' without gaining a reputation, and that reputation included a lot of things. Another factor that may have contributed to them torching the place was the gentleman I mentioned earlier...the one with the hives."

Selene was a little confused, Deepak was unusual but she didn't take him for a mystic but what he was showing her threw that out the proverbial window. "What happened?"

Deepak shrugged "Wrong place wrong time" he replied. "I did not belong here and the shop was set on fire to show that to me, not because I wasn't human mind you. Had they known that, then there would have been a lot more trouble for me" he said in passing. "I looked different than most of the individuals that lived here. This town was small and part of a larger mass of land called a state, during this time period there were only a thousand and some that looked similar to me in a state that had several hundred thousand" added the counsellor.

"Times were changing but change was slower to hit small towns like this. There had been a time not too far prior to this in which those who looked like me could not eat in the same places as those with paler skin. People around here at the time were not too fond when they were made to serve all people" noted Deepak. "This shop was in a part of town that was a bit more friendlier to all, but it was not immune to hatred."

Selene took a walk around the back area he showed her as she thought about what he'd said, something didn't add up. "This might sound odd but the way you speak of this place it almost sounds like you experienced this for real.. But that can't be right."

"Oh it is right" replied Deepak. "I did actually live and work here, not the holodeck simulation of it" explained the counselor. "I spent sometime on Earth for a bit, experienced the culture and society as it developed. The 1970s were not too bad for the twentieth century of the planet."

"But that would make you over 400 years old." Selene remarked. If she was slightly confused earlier she was very confused now, even a Vulcan would be showing signs of age after 400 years, Deepak looked only in his late 20's.

"And Vulcans have a rather modest average life span compared to some other beings" replied Deepak. He said it nonchalantly. "400...500...let's just leave it at I've been around enough to lecture rather extensively about Earth's history. Well, the 20th century at least."

Selene looked Deepak up and down, his outward appearance was human but there had to be something else. "What are you? to have lived that long."

Deepak sighed "I'm me" he replied with the simple answer. Though he knew that she would want more of an explanation than that. "My ancestry is complex. That kind of goes with out saying if I'm several hundred earth years old...my parents, their parents, their parents' parents..." he did not go on any further.

He looked around at the shop. He really did not know what to say, but did what he could to settle her curiosity. "Everything that I am? I do not know, but I know that I am Halanan. That does not explain my age though. For that, we'd have to turn to my father's side of the family and I do not know very much about my father nor his side of the family. I do know that they have abnormally long lives compared to various species. I do not know how long I will live, but I've looked pretty much as I look now for almost as long as I can remember."

"How have you..... endured living this long?" Selene asked. "I couldn't imagine living for so long."

Deepak smiled "I focus on my life in the present, and try my best not to dwell on the past, but sometimes I like to visit with the past. A holodeck program like this allows me to do so. I've lived on Earth for a good while, but I have been elsewhere. I permit myself time to root; however, never become too attached to one place or person for too long. For instance, I know that I'll outlive any lover that I take and I have. I have also experienced some fascinating historical events. Like I said, what I try to do is just keeping living in the present. Continue my research and make myself useful when and where I can like with the Wolff."

"Your research, cultural psychology or something like that isn't it?" Selene asked, she vaguely remembered hearing that was the reason behind his placement on board.

He nodded "In general, yes" he replied with a smile. "I like studying culture and the psychology of the individuals who live within a culture, and the impact that changes have on them. Though my research has extended beyond that scope at times. The mind has always been fascinating to me." he added.

"And if you've been alive since the 20th century I guess you have met a great number of different cultures over the years?"

Deepak smiled, but shook his head. "Computer, save program and end" he instructed. Soon everything was gone and the two were clearly in the holodeck without a program running. "I feel as though you have more questions that would be best answered with tea" he added. "Though to answer that one, I have met a lot, but not nearly as many as I'd like to have. It's safer to settle on a world and live for decades or even centuries than it is to traverse the stars continuously."

"It is always good to set your roots somewhere." Selene made her way towards the exit. "I hear the replicator in the mess hall has a very good blend of Tarkelian tea on file."

"Goodbye big sky country, hello tea for two" replied the man. He nodded at Selene. "Tarkelian tea sounds lovely. Do you prefer it hot or iced?"

Selene shook her head slightly. "Haven't found a blend that of it that tastes right iced, so always hot for me."

"Ah I like a lady who knows proper tea" he replied teasingly. "Most of the crew look at me like I'm barely old enough to hold my degrees. I suspect some even question their validity with my youthful glow" he added.

"Joined Trills can have a similar problem." The door opened and Selene stepped out into the corridor. "I know a Trill that has intimate knowledge of a dozen different scientific fields but doesn't hold any actual degrees in that field, it's all from the symbiont's past hosts. People don't always trust his judgment on science matters."

Deepak smiled as he walked with Selene. "Fascinating. I would be delighted to make their acquaintance someday" he replied. In fact, he truly would. He enjoyed meeting scientists from various backgrounds.

"If Taliserra ever gets to take the ship near Trill I'll see if I can set up a meeting with him." The pair turned a corner to a turbolift. "But for now, tea."


OFF

Dr. Deepak El-Azar
Chief Counselor

Selene Devore [npc Taliserra]
Captains Mother

 

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