Rabbits (no ducks)

Posted on Mon May 6th, 2019 @ 5:34am by

Mission: Episode 1: Hell is a four letter word
Location: Bajor
2151 words - 4.3 OF Standard Post Measure

With their argument skillfully avoided, and suitably recovered from the strenuous activities of the morning, the two women were now making good use of their waterproof hiking boots by following down a stream which Estelle figured would eventually end up in the lake. It was much easier going through the water, as they didn’t need to contend with thickets and brambles, or whatever it was the Bajorans called the obstructing undergrowth in their temperate primal forests. The only downside was that the space was too narrow for them to walk side by side, so Estelle was following Liorga’s lead.

A part of Liorga wished Estelle would’ve taken the lead, though the fact that neither of them really knew the terrain kind of negated that. She walked through the water, happily splashing through en route to… wherever they were going. Liorga didn’t really care, long as she was with Estelle. She wondered if she’d been this in love before Cortic, deciding that she had been, but Cortic had just brought it into focus for her, “So, yeah, I could really get into having some sort of cabin or something, out in an area like this, a nice little escape.”

“You’re already thinking about retirement?” Estelle wondered. “Or if we should be returning to this area for shore leave more often?” The latter idea, Estelle had to admit, held some merit - provided the Bajorans would allow them to build in a remote area, for holiday use.

“First one, then the other.” Liorga replied, though in truth all they really needed was the land and her shuttle, they could live out of it, even if it wouldn’t be spacious, “I just realized I don’t want to spend the rest of my life walking on steel decks.”

“No, me neither”, Estelle agreed. “This is what the soul needs, so the mind does not forget where we come from, and that we’re a living, breathing part of the universe.”

“Right.” Liorga agreed, “I’ve missed way too much of this, staring out of windows into the void or stuck in some Jefferies Tube.” She hated Jefferies Tubes, couldn’t understand how Fray spent so much time in them on purpose.

“Only times I’ve spent in Jefferies tubes, I’ve been too busy to look out the windows”, Estelle smirked. She knew that wasn’t what Liorga meant, but then again, what other reason did a surgeon have for getting into a Jefferies tube, if not to get away from prying eyes for a while?

“Suddenly going tubing doesn’t sound that bad.” Liorga joked, adding a naughty wink.

“I haven’t done it ever since I ranked high enough to get my own private room, though”, Estelle admitted. “I’m so out of practice, I’d probably bump my head so often Starfleet is going to investigate poor Sthilg for abusing his underlings.”

“Poor baby.” Liorga consoled her lover, fighting laughter at the idea of Sthilg going out of sickbay in handcuffs, protesting his innocence the entire way to the brig. Then a scurrying sound caught her attention; her eyes falling on two small, rabbit like creatures playing along the bank, “Baby, look.”

Estelle stopped right behind Liorga, putting her arms around her lover and her head on Liorga’s shoulder, her gaze following the direction Liorga was pointing. “Oh, aren’t they cute?” she whispered, not sure if that was a good idea or not. The animals hadn’t taken notice of their approach. Would a sudden change in their behaviour scare them off? Estelle hoped not.

The animals had long fur, it was white though their diet of berries gave it a slightly pinkish hue, and both had crystal blue eyes. They turned to face the larger creatures, they didn’t seem to be a threat, and turned back to foraging amongst the low hanging branches.

“They’re beautiful.” Liorga whispered, not wanting to spook the Bajoran bunnies, “Baby, if you can do it without spooking them, scan them, please? I’d like to replicate one for Tayalas.”

Estelle carefully retrieved her tricorder from her rucksack, trying to make as little noise as possible. The clicking as she opened it up seemed louder than normal, and the beeping as the sensors ran their scan sounded positively deafening amidst all the tranquillity of the forest.

The ‘rabbits’ paid no mind to the silly creatures or their device, whatever it was, they saw these ridiculous things all the time; though they did wonder how they survived with such little fur.

“I don’t think they consider anything a threat that comes from the water”, Estelle concluded. “I mean, they’ve clearly noticed us by now, especially with those ears. Look at that, they’d give a Ferengi a run for their latinum.” The tricorder showed how well those ears worked, and of course Estelle had gone straight into anatomy mode, looking at the brains and where auditory information was being processed.

Liorga smiled and shook her head, Estelle couldn’t turn off doctor mode if she had to, “Great protection against predators like our other friend from earlier, they hear him before he’s close enough to notice them, then they haul ass for somewhere safe.”

Estelle nodded. “Makes perfect sense. If I were a big bear, I’d prefer an ass over a rabbit any day. Much more meat on an ass.”

“Well, that wasn’t what I meant.” Liorga chuckled quietly, “Though you would be an expert on meaty asses.”

“Mostly in the shape of salami”, Estelle agreed, though she knew what Liorga really meant was arse, which was a distinct word in Estelle’s language. “Damn it, now I’m hungry again.”

“Well, it just so happens that I got your little friend to send a care package with us.” Liorga smiled, pulling out a haggis wrapped in wax paper, “It’s replicated, but she says it’s her Great Aunt Mary’s recipe, passed down through her clan for over twelve hundred years.”

“Ooh, very nice!” Estelle cheered. It was one of her favourite foods. She was wondering how to prepare it, though. “I guess we could have the shuttle beam over a pot, make a small fire, heat it up with some potatoes and leek… We’ve got enough water here, and fuel for the fire, too. Are you up for a full camp fire experience, my love?”

“Absolutely.” Liorga said, though she’d expected it to be more or less a heat it and eat it thing; But Estelle’s never one to half step, she reminded herself. “Anything else we need? I mean, aside from this….” Liorga stopped, pulling a small carafe of wine out of her rucksack, “Thought a nice red with haggis.”

“Nice surprise”, Estelle rubbed her hands. “Let’s go find a clearing, and some dry wood.” They had to have at least a bit of space, or they’d only get caught in the smoke unable to escape the canopy.

“I saw something that would meet our needs about a hundred meters that way.” Liorga said, pointing to the southeast, “I’d say good odds we’ll find some dry wood there, too.”

Estelle walked in the direction indicated, pushing her way past the low-hanging branches, careful not to fling any of them back into Liorga’s face, as inexperienced people often did to each other in the undergrowth. Estelle felt it was refreshing to deal with a whole set of different issues for a change, such as where to have a meal and how to prepare it, which didn’t usually enter into her thought processes.

Finding the clearing she’d mentioned before, Liorga turned to her lover, “Here it is, our oasis.” She grinned, “I can find some wood around here somewhere, I’m sure.”

“Excellent.” Estelle took out a small PADD and started drawing together what items she wanted the shuttle computer to replicate and beam over their way. It wasn’t just food stuffs like potatoes, leek and herbs, but also a frying pan and a cooking pot, the latter set up so it could easily be placed over an open fire. But at the same time, she kept it deliberately simple, so while there was some cutlery in the order, she figured they didn’t need extra plates and all the trappings of modern table culture. They were out in the woods, and could keep it simple. Oh, and it had to be mentioned, Estelle liked things simple.

Liorga found a few abandoned pieces of dry wood nearby, it seemed someone had been camping here recently, “Looks like the last people who used our campsite left a care package of their own.” She began setting out the wood for the fire, along with some dry leaves among it for kindling, “I can start the fire with my phaser, unless you’ve got another method you prefer.”

Estelle frowned. Nobody who went camping should leave traces around, except for the occasional bit of charcoal in the ashes of the fire. But she wasn’t going to dwell on that little detail. “No, no, the phaser is fine. I’m not set on a full primaeval experience.”

“Okay, good.” Liorga said happily as she lit the fire with a super low setting on her phaser, so low it barely made a sound, “Because I am way too hungry to be rubbing sticks together.”

“Oh, absolutely. And I’ve ordered these pre-cut and pre-cooked from the replicator”, Estelle admitted. “Otherwise, we’d be sitting here for an hour watching the fire. And I’d rather watch something else.” She was still the same lazy person who liked the easy way out, the fun of cooking was in the throwing ingredients together and experimenting with the flavours, not in the cutting up of vegetables.

“You think of everything.” Liorga chuckled, this day was even better than expected, she also planned on making more than just one of those rabbits; Tayalas would get one, so would Feyth’s kid, and so would Estelle, it just seemed a good way to spend some time with the replicator.

[Half an Hour Later]


Liorga had been happily chowing down with Estelle, laughing at her goofy jokes, when the comm rang. She recognized the frequency as Gallia's, "Your little friend better have a damn good reason to be interrupting dinner and delaying dessert." She groaned, winking naughtily to Estelle in case there were any doubts about what dessert was. She handed Estelle the comm, "It's for you."

"Hey Gallia", Estelle greeted, then realised she should have swallowed before speaking. "Sorry, I'm in the middle of lunch. Someone enabled Liorga to surprise me with some choice haggis."

“Glad ya like it.” Gallia said honestly, “I need ya to come back right away, Estelle. They’ve recalled everybody to Elysium. All Anje would say was it’s bad.”

“Hey, we’ve earned some downtime after what happened on Cortic”, Estelle said. “Can’t you pick us up on your way out?”

“Would if I could.” Gallia replied, “But apparently we’re about to be pulling out now and this Commodore wants all hands on deck.”

“You do realise I hate having to bend over that far?” Estelle asked.

“Ah, geez, here we go.” Gallia sighed, then laughed, “I’ll see ya when ya get here.”

Liorga sighed as she forked another piece of the haggis into her mouth, “Vacation just went south, huh?”

“Yeah”, Estelle grumbled. She picked up the pot they had used to make their food in, dumped what was still edible on their respective plates, and fetched more water in it from the stream, to put out their camp fire. They had to leave their campsite in a pristine condition, except for some ashes which plants could just cover again by next season. “At least we’ve still got the return trip. Several hours at full impulse, not too bad.”

“Right.” Liorga smirked, “Autopilot engaged.”

“You don’t think you can find us a temporal anomaly so we can stay longer?” Estelle wondered. She started picking up all their items before beaming back to the shuttle. “I do want to come back here next chance we get, though.”

“Can’t wait.” Liorga smiled, turning to look the left where she saw they’d been rejoined by their rabbit friends, “Look, they came to see us off.”

Estelle smiled and waved at the ‘natives’. “See you soon - I hope.”

“See you, little friends.” Liorga waved, then blew a kiss and, something the bunnies would enjoy more, left behind a few of the uncooked vegetables Gallia had sent with the haggis to thank them for their hospitality.

Estelle stood next to Liorga, sighed and said, “Computer, two to beam aboard.” And just like that, their holiday was over.