Freedom of Choice

Posted on Thu Sep 9th, 2021 @ 2:27am by

Mission: The Mentarin Effect
Location: Lostaline III
Timeline: Prior to mission start.

When Pierre had come to tell her that a Starship was requesting an anthropologist to come aboard for a lengthy mission, and that they specifically wanted Her the response from the scientist had been to squeal with delight like an ecstatic child. Pierre had favored her with a disgusted look at her exuberance. She had not asked where the starship was headed, nor which one had requested the presence of a specialist in the area. She didn't care one lick, anything was better than the perpetual chill and damp of Lostaline III. While the artifacts they were pulling from the swamp were fascinating...there was no need for her to be here when her talents lay in other places.

Truly, while Paige had studied archeology, her skills were more along the lines of an anthropologist than a pure archeologist. Her job here was to try to figure out what the culture of this settlement had done with the artifacts that they were unearthing from the red mud. It was maddening honestly, to be set to a task that any second year archeology student could do as a thesis project. The students were eager to help, and when she allowed them to participate they had some interesting insights into the world. Teaching the students, especially the enthusiastic bright 2nd years was a delight that she hadn't truly realized before this trip. It was one of the few positives that she would take away from the expedition, that she enjoyed teaching them the practical side of the vocation. She didn't enjoy lecturing- droning on and on about subjects that made their eyes glaze over- much as it had hers back in her University days- was not her cup of tea.

The transport shuttle was equipped with a number of amenities that the young anthropologist had longed for from home. The most important of those was a real water bathtub- with hot water. The scientist had been transformed from a mudball, on a backwater planet with a Theokar ruin...to an elegant lady who after a very long bath had come out with hair that was nearly white, not the muddy shade she'd been sporting. The bathtub bore remnants of the mud she'd acquired on Lostaline III, and the hint of rust red that even the rain had when it fell upon them. Sonic showers just didn't get one clean when one was facing being hip deep in the red swamp, and monsoon level rains that sent everyone scurrying for cover from the first tentative drops. Oh she was warm. It had been so long since she'd been truly warm that Paige had forgotten the feeling of it in her bones. Her hands didn't ache, nor did her feet or other joints from being soaked in chilly at best and icy at worst, water every day. She thought absently that she was lucky she didn't end up with chillblains or any of the other unpleasant effects associated with prolonged contact with cold weather. The Andorians in her party, all 2 of them had been delighted by the conditions and were quite happy to exclaim about the lovliness of the weather to anyone who would listen. Paige supposed that they were fortunate to not have any Vulcans or the like in their party. It was difficult to maintain comfort and health for a Vulcan in such conditions.

Now, though Paige sat in a seat unlike she'd ever had before. The cushion cradled her butt like a lover might, and she settled back into its embrace eagerly. Paige had no idea how her circumstances had changed so drastically in less than 24 hours but she was by no means looking a gift horse in the mouth. As the terrain changed from swamp to field, field to forest, and forest to planet and then to the blackness of space, Paige heaved a sigh of utter pleasure. This wasn't going to be a dust brush and mudpit assignment, oh no...It was going to be a full on adventure.

It was JUST what she needed.