Paved With Good Intentions

Steve and I dashed this off really quickly over the evening. It didn't go as well as Vikki hoped but she didn't come away completely empty handed. Best part is: I nearly missed the breadcrumbs Steve tossed my way. How delightfully sneaky! Thanks, Steve!—Maer

Monday, 12 Feb 2525
Trans-U class, Delilah
En Route to Beaumonde
1830 hrs, ship's time

Vikki plated the dinner with extra care and tucked the origami flower she'd made securely into the folded napkin. Finally satisfied with the presentation, she made her way down the stairs to Katarina Selezneva's quarters. The woman had not shown up for her evening meal and Vikki was determined not to let their passenger starve. Making sure she looked presentable—hair still neat in a pony tail, zip line on her work shirt and trousers ruler straight—Vikki balanced the tray in one hand and knocked softly on Selezneva's door.

"Ma'am?" she called softly. "I've brought dinner."

Katarina was lying on her bunk holding the butt of a cigarette in her mouth. She heard the knock on the door. She waited for a minute. She got up, and straightened herself in the blurry mirror. “Come” she says at last.

Vikki entered at the summons and paused on the threshold, looking for a surface to put the tray on. She settled for the low dresser against the wall. It was a nice piece. It had all its hardware intact and at one time was polished to a glossy shine. Now it was dull and had picked up a patina of minute scratches and wear marks. Compared to the rest of the ship it was almost like finding a diamond in the middle of a dung heap. Vikki judged it would be good enough to put their guest's dinner on.

"Dobryy vecher. You didn't come up for dinner, so I thought I'd bring it down to you while it was still hot." Vikki turned and beamed a conspiratorial smile at Selezneva. She pulled the thermos of coffee from under her arm. "Coffee, too. The real stuff. Rachel knows a guy." Vikki pulled packets of sugar and creamer from her breast pocket and put them on the dresser with the thermos.

Vikki whipped the cover off the plate with a flourish, revealing the meal beneath. Steam wafted upward and Vikki gave Selezneva another smile. "Sovershennyy. Please let me know if you need anything else. I will be nearby if you do."

She stepped back to let Selezneva get her dinner ... and also to get out of arm's reach. Their passenger had that look of annoyance people got when they were inconveniently interrupted.

Selezneva looks at the plate, sniffs at it a bit suspiciously. She regards the young woman who brought it. She goes to her case, retrieves a bottle of vodka and two shot glasses. "It's 'Berkut' (Golden Eagle), the real thing, better than you are likely to get out here." She gestures to the desk chair.

Then she slips into full Russian [Translated]

"You are not from Nova Rodinya, and I don't think from the... gulags of Shinon. Where else do they speak the mother tongue?"

"Oh no," Vikki said, answering in Russian. "I'm from Ariel. I was raised there. My parents are Russian. They spoke it at home and I learned it from them as a baby. I've never been to Novaya Rodina, though. Perhaps ...," and here Vikki paused, thinking that she should keep her mission with the IRP out of the discussion. She smiled a hopeful little smile and gestured at the vastness of space outside the hull. "Perhaps the Captain will get a job that will take us there. I would love to see it. Imagine, a whole planet where they speak nothing but Russian."

There was no way she could suppress her delight at the thought and her smile widened.

"Have you been?"

"I've been. It is a dark and depressing place. Almost as bad as the CPE. Ariel is nicer. You are slumming it? Traveling the Verse trying to find excitement? Listen to me little mouse. Go back home, there is only ... disappointment out here."

She takes a slug and pours herself another. And looks at the wall for a moment. Then she turns to Vikki.

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-six." Vikki stood a little straighter. "And not slumming it, exactly. I hope to make the Verse a better place by helping people in it. Imagine what it's like on the Rim where there aren't amenities like we have in the Core to take for granted." She didn't want to unleash any of the frustration the rhetoric of the Core invariably engendered in her, but neither would she lie about her one true reason for leaving home. "Perhaps if I could mend the disappointments you alluded to, I can help everyone."

Selezneva laughs dismissively. "Well, you are young enough to have a good life if you don't waste it on some fool brained plan to fix the universe." She leans back. "Your parents did you no favors filling your head with such nonsense."

"Vashe zdorov'ye!" Vikki downed the shot Selezneva handed her in one go. The vodka burned on her next breath and Vikki swallowed hard, her eyes tearing. Still, it was a salutary burn. It also gave her a few seconds to think of her reply. Selezneva's swipe at her parents hurt more than the vodka but Vikki refused to show it. Her orders from the Captain were to put their guest at ease, to make the trip pleasant. Vikki could tell from the way Selezneva moved that the other woman disliked being aboard. If she could find a way to take her mind off the hardship Delilah imposed, perhaps they could gain an ally in Selezneva. At the very least, they could be sure that she wouldn't be walking off their ship as an enemy.

"They didn't have to," Vikki said lightly. "My head was already full. What about you? What do you want to do in the Verse? If there was something you could change, what would it be?"

It was as close to the forbidden cargo as she could venture, but she couldn't resist approaching that boundary. She leaned against the wall and kept her expression polite and interested.

Selezneva looks around a little unsteadily, her movements betray this may not have been her first drink. “Me? I am just getting by. The sad state of the Verse, you so wish to fix, is what keeps me in vodka and cigarettes. I have no wish to fix that. You try to fix things, then you will find that disappointment I spoke of. You look out for you. You may not blame your parents yet, but you will. Along with all the others.” She spits out the last words. It isn’t entirely clear whom she is talking about now.

"I'm sorry." Vikki's soft heart went out to the woman. She looks so alone ... Vikki spied a chair to the side. She hooked it with her foot and drew it close enough for Selezneva to sit if she wanted to. She put the vodka glass aside and dared touch the woman's elbow in sympathy. "What happened?"

Selezneva seems to soften for a moment. She straightens out her clothes, and turns to Vikki. She looks into her eyes and sees the pity in them. She pauses and her eyes grow cold. She straightens and rises to her feet, her glass falls to the floor and rolls under the bunk.

"I am not someone for you to fix. Go."

Standing defiantly in the humble stateroom, she points royally at the door.

Vikki blinked, taken aback at Selezneva's response. What did I do wrong? Never mind that now. Staying will only make it worse.

"Prosti menya," Vikki whispered, stepping back and bowing as shallow bow. At a respectful volume, she continued. "If you need anything, please do not hesitate to call me. I will be nearby."

And Vikki executed a parade about-face and got herself out of there. Once the door was safely closed at her back, she clapped a hand to her eyes and shook her head. That could have gone better but damned if I know how. Stifling a sigh, Vikki pulled a notebook from her pocket and settled on one of the chairs in the passenger lounge, there to wait when Selezneva called her to take the dinner dishes away. While she waited, she thought on what the woman had told her, about Novaya Rodina, the CPE and the 'gulags of Sihnon', of parents and disappointments. Vikki turned the little nuggets of information over in her head, trying to understand the picture they painted of the woman who uttered them. It gave her much to think on until the dishes were finally pushed out the door.

HOW TO SPEAK RUSSIAN

Dobryy vecher = Добрый вечер = doh- bree vyeh- chehr = Good evening Sound clip
Sovershennyy = Cовершенный = so-ver-shen- nee = (adj.)Perfect Sound clip
Berkut=Беркут= byehr - koot = (noun) golden eagle Sound clip
Vashe zdorov'ye! =Ваше здоровье!= vah-shah z-dor-roh-vee-yeh = (interj.) Prosit! Cheer! Here's how! Here's to you! Chin-Chin! Sound clip
Prosti menya =Прости меня= Prost-tee mehn-yah= Forgive me Sound clip

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