The Winter Festival (Part 4)

Posted on 21 Mar 2014 @ 11:27pm by Petty Officer 1st Class Threxa Shroll & Ensign Matthew Plumeri & Lieutenant Olsam Mott

2,272 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 05 - Solstice
Location: Crecy-la-Chapelle Train Station
Timeline: MD 05 - 1330 hrs

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Oh my, what a sight! If Shroll could see said sight, she would have definitely had many things to say about it. But, she had found that there were not many in this area of France who were open to even the most minor of telepathic intrusions. Not that the locals were not friendly. Oh, far from it. She had plenty of conversation on the bullet train ride over from Paris, first with a retired Starfleet man of some sort, and then with a woman who had never heard a thing about either Aenar or Andorians, something that had also appeared to be very common. The elderly woman was very open to listening to Shroll educate her on both races. Shroll was ecstatic to inform someone on both Aenar and Andorian races, even though she was fairly certain the woman fell asleep somewhere in the middle of the conversation.

Oh, but now she was in Crecy-la-Chapelle! The Aenar had heard oodles about this specific French location, and she was more than happy to enjoy every sight and sound the town had to offer!

As she passed through the train station, she even found herself jovially greeted. Everyone was so polite here! "Why thank you! Your town is very pretty!" It smelled like all the good things about small, human towns. She had to admit that she was very pleased with the atmosphere already. Hopefully, she would be able to meet with the Bolian that she had contacted earlier, and she would be able to see the sight too!

"Oh, uhm, Mr. Plumeri, we should keep our eyes out for the Cardassian Mind Fly. They especially like roses and cheery townsfolk."

Ensign Plumeri, although nobody would know that he was a 'Fleeter' because he was in, as he liked to call them, 'play clothes', immensely enjoyed Threxa's company. She was lively and engaging and there was never a dull moment when she was around. Matthew was a good conversationalist. But he couldn't hold a candle to the lady. He smiled and laughed as he listened to her chat with the people she met. In that respect, Shroll would have fit in quite seamlessly back on his home, Fontalis, where everyone seemed to know everyone else in somae maner or fashion. Being the son of a well versed musician mother and father who was a university professor, he was rather used to this role of tagging along and being present.

He did insist that they stop for an espresso. For some reason, Raktajino's were hard to come by.

And Shroll was more than happy to appease the desire for any form of caffeinated beverage. She was very happy that Matthew decided to join in on the festivities. "Oh, hopefully we'll be able to find the doctor in question-..."

"Hey! Hey! Heeeeey! Over here!" Olsam loudly shouted from the sidewalk outside the train station, sounding none too intelligent.

The shouting was hardly necessary as he the only Bolian on the sidewalk. Really the only person on the sidewalk, at that. But he liked to give visitors a hearty welcome. In one hand he had a box of gourmandises constellation pastries (there should have been a half dozen but one was mysteriously "missing") and in the other he was waving around a bouquet of roses he'd snagged from the mayor's rose garden.

Shroll, in a tiny fit of excitement, turned toward the sound of the voice, nearly running into her traveling companion. "Oh, sorry!" She rose her voice to respond to the other, smiling and waving. "Hello! Are you Doctor Mott?"

"Yes!" Olsam shouted back, continuing to stand on the sidewalk. "Are you Threxa Sholl?"

"Yes I am!" Shroll didn't move from her spot. If anyone else were about at this point, there may have been stares.

"Okay!" he yelled, acknowledging the confirmation of her identity. He shuffled in place for a minute before yelling again. "Do you want to come over here!?"

"That sounds like a lovely idea!" She beamed, taking her bag in one hand and smiling back at where she assumed Matthew would have been. "Let's go!" And off she went, in the direction of Mott's voice. Hopefully nothing would run into her on the way over.

Olsam promptly shoved the flowers and pastries out at Threxa, forgetting entirely her condition in his excitement to actually welcome someone to the village. "Welcome to Crecy-la-Chapelle! We're so happy to have you here! I asked the mayor to come and greet you, but he's quite a busy fellow. So I took these roses from his greenhouse, as I feel certain he'd want you to have them as a token of our gratitude for visiting our quaint little village. Oh, there are also some pastries for us there from Madame Toussaint's little patisserie down the way. They've got cardamom-laced mascarpone and strawberries with a little orange marmalade between two little biscuits with sugar and toasted almonds on top." Olsam suddenly blurted, "I ate one of them! I'm so sorry, I couldn't help myself!"

Matthew, was all grins and holding now all three beverages in his hands. He offered them to his companions, "Shroll...I've met Dr. Mott before. Hello Olsam! Care some piping hot espresso? Shroll was too quick for me." He laughed as he offered them the small cups with coffee in them. He was beaming and happy to be with them. The cooler weather suited him just fine.

"Oh, I love espresso. Thank you, Matt," Olsam gushed, taking the cup and downing it in one go like a shot of alcohol. "It's true, Threxa, we know each other quite well. Matt and I once repulsed an entire division of Vulcan troops on Cimera III."

"Oh!" The Aenar groped about momentarily for the gifts, fumbling with them for a bit as she tried to get a better grasp of them. However, her smile never faltered. "That's quite alright, you have to test them to make sure they're just as good as you remembered them." She nodded at the verification, before gasping at them both. "Oh my! That's quite a feat! I didn't realize you two were old buddies. How pleasant!"

Olsam found the Aenar's enthusiasm to be infectious, as if he needed the least bit of encouragement. "Okay, come on! I want to show you where the Winter Festival stage will be! I invited the Bolian National Symphony to play for us. I don't know if they'll come or not, but maybe so. You never know where a Bolian will show up! Oh, and then there's the cathedral. And the mayor's house. The river, the patisserie, the botanical gardens at the university! So much to see and do and show you, and yet still so much for me to plan..." He sighed, a sound of long-suffering. "Such is the life of the Chairperson of the Crecy-la-Chapelle Winter Festival Planning Committee."

Shroll bounced along happily as the Bolian rambled about the town. This was all so very exciting, and it was rare that she managed to pull herself out of the lab to adventure around in any locale. France was quite an adventure all on it's own, and having a tour-guide that she could understand was a wonderful bonus. "Oh, that all sounds lovely!" She paused, before giving an enthusiastic gasp. "You're chairperson? That's such a dignified title!"

"With dignified responsibilities," he added. "I have to arrange the food, the music, the dancing, the food, the entertainment, the fireworks, the food, the stage, the speakers, the food... Hmmm, and... Something I must be forgetting somewhere in there. Anyway! The festival takes place at our grandest building, the Collegiate, which is in the south part of town. Except it's not really south at all. It's east. It's so far east, in fact, it's just this side of the forest between our lovely little village and...Mongrolle."

Olsam's nose turned up in typical French fashion as he looked to the east.

"You see them skulking around here sometimes - the people from Mongrolle. Shopping at our stores, breathing our air, playing in our parks. And I'm sure they'll show up at the festival, too. They just can't help themselves."

Shroll was fairly silent during the Bolian's rambles, nodding at very certain instances as needed. "You may have forgotten food." She was more than happy to add her own peanut-gallery like commentary as well, following along with his bits and pieces. "... Mongrolle? Are they dirty? Do they moo?" All absolutely innocently curious questions, but she thought she'd ask.

"They are dirty and they moo," Olsam said emphatically. "I think the College is the best place to start our tour, even if it is close to those Mongrolles. It was built in 1250! Can you believe it? Something so old surviving on Earth? They were just so fond of shooting at one another it's a wonder anything survived. No offense," he said, glancing at Matthew then back to Threxa. "Ooo, maybe you can help me with some planning decisions. I've been trying to consult with the rest of the committee, but they're all such bores! 'Let's do what we've always done, Olsam' and 'No, we don't need a floating stage' and 'What are Pultarkian fire dancers?' Honestly!"

"That's quite a long time ago." Shroll nodded adamantly. "But fascinating all the same. I would very much like to go there." Her eyes shifted back and forth. "... For science, you know." Then she paused, letting the rest of the thought sink in. "Oh! That would be wonderful! Maybe we could educate the committee on what everything is, and they'd be more open to the idea?"

Olsam looked a little shifty-eyed. "Actually, I've just sort of decided to make some executive decisions..."

=-=-=-=-=

The greenspace next to the College was expansive and seemed as if it would form the central location for much of the Winter Festival. Of course Olsam came to realize slowly that Threxa probably couldn't see that at all.

"Um, so," he began, not sure how to delicately approach the subject, "you're blind and can't see any of this."

Shroll merely shrugged it off, as if many others had made the same mistake. She rarely mentioned it, unless using her sight was imperative for the moment. "It's quite alright, Olsam! I've been enjoying the sights quite well without it! Although..." She paused, suddenly looking very shy. "I can see what you're seeing, if you're alright with me linking with you telepathically? I'll only get sight, nothing else, honest!"

She probably wouldn't get much else, anyway, as there was only so much traveling through Olsam's mind at any one given time. "Oh, okay, that's fine. I have perfect 20/20 vision, too! It runs my family. I wonder if you only see what my visual cortex sees, or you see what I see after I'm done processing what I've seen? Because I don't know if I see things the way people see them. I mean, I know I see them the way they see them, but you know...really see them...."

Olsam was definitely someone who she wouldn't have minded talking to on a normal basis. Very energetic, quite invigorating actually. "That's quite good to hear. It won't hurt or anything, promise. Maybe a little tingle." The connection was nearly second-nature for her to make; many of the scientists she spoke with on the Galileo tended to at least allow her in for viewing test results. As she promised, all she really did see was what the Bolian saw, as he saw it. "It's all visual processing. What I do is connect to the part of the brain that processes what the eyes are picking up, and then I process what you're processing as well. So, I suppose I don't see see them the same way you do, but I do still see them?"

"Oh, okay. Sure, that makes sense," Olsam said, nodding. "So, can you read my thoughts, too? A Betazoid once told me it was very difficult because there's a lot going on in there. But I think my eyes should be okay..."

"... Ah..." At this, Shroll laughed. It took her a moment to calm herself, before she shook her head. "No no. I can only pick up what you're seeing. You have to be a very very experienced Aenar to reach any further into the mind." She nodded. "My grandmother can pick up the scents others can sense too."

"If I could pick up scents, I would just read the mind of the lady who runs the patisserie down the street all day long," Olsam said, almost dreamily. He cleared his throat and stood up straight. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply before opening them again; the tranquility of the grounds almost sent him into a zen like state before he remembered "Zen" was the name of a really nice restaurant in Kyoto where he'd had better sushi than even on Bolarus IX. What were their hours? Did they deliver? Would they deliver all the way to Paris? Hmm, maybe if he used his own transporter credits...

A loud bird in a nearby tree jolted him back to life, and he turned to Threxa. "Okay, I'm ready! Prepare to be amazed by the perfect vision of Dr. Olsam Mott!"

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Lieutenant Olsam Mott, M.D.
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

&

Ensign Matthew Plumeri
Science Officer/Historian
USS Nimitz

&

PO1 Threxa Shroll
Zoologist
USS Galileo

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