(Untitled)

[stayastranger]

Sarah had had her doubts about the nature of their location at first. True, she couldn't think of any explanation for how they'd arrived on an island in the middle of nowhere with no apparent gap in time between the moment of departure and the moment in which she'd found herself there, but huge gaps between what she and what Chuck last remembered.

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[goldvogel]

Kathryn had spent the day following what was quickly becoming a daily routine: Get up early, have breakfast, then spend the day outside trying to find any clues that might help her find out where this place was and, more importantly, how to leave. Not that she had made much progress so far. In fact it was getting more frustrating with every passing day. Perhaps it was because of that, that she found it so difficult to really concentrate on her surroundings today, or perhaps the constant lack of sleep had just made her too tired by now. As it was, she was simply walking along the beach, occasionally looking out at the ocean and wondering how things might be back on the ship and whether her crew was alright.

Fortunately she looked up in time to notice the woman lying on the sand. She had been so lost in thought, that otherwise she might well have tripped over her, before she even noticed her presence. The sight made her stop for a moment and she wondered, as she did with just about everyone she met, how long this woman might have been in this place. Judging by her obviously relaxed attitude, it was probably some time since she had arrived. Kathryn hadn't spoken to anyone since Halloween except, for a few meaningless pleasantries here and there. She had been far too occupied for that. But now she suddenly missed human conversation, or maybe she just wanted something to distract her from thinking about Voyager. So she hesitated for a moment, hoping to catch the woman's attention but at the same time not wanting to disturb her sunbath.

(ooc: I thought since they are both "new" they might have something to talk about. :-))

[stayastranger]

Sarah glanced up and over at the woman, squinting just a little in the sunlight as she offered a polite smile. "You alright over there?" she asked. She doubted anyone would have missed the woman, but Sarah in particular couldn't help it, as actively aware of her surroundings as ever, however much in repose she appeared. In the absence of any direct instructions, she had made it her goal to become acquainted with as many islanders as possible without actually becoming overly close to any of them. It was too late in a couple cases, but that had been true even before she'd arrived.

[goldvogel]

"Yes. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you." Now that she thought about it, what had come over her, to bother a complete stranger like that?

The woman didn't seem to mind, however, and remembering what had brought her out to the beach in the first place, she thought she might as well ask for some direction: "I was looking for a starship. I was told there was one somewhere around here and I'd like to have a closer look at it. You wouldn't know where to find it, would you?"

[stayastranger]

"Oh, it's no disturbance at all," Sarah said, sitting up. She draped an arm over her legs, reaching up with the other to brush a strand of hair from her face. "The starship... It's called Serenity, I believe. It's up the beach in that direction if you head up that way a couple miles, right around past the little pier. It's interesting. Not what I was expecting." She had, of course, gone to check that out within a couple days of arriving, not fully believing the claims until she'd seen it for herself.

[goldvogel]

Kathryn made a mental note of the location, determined to go there later. For now talking to another human being felt like a pleasant change, so she didn't particularly feel like going right now. Or maybe she just didn't feel up to another unsolvable riddle yet. Such as, how a starship ended up on an island in the middle of nowhere with no way to leave.

"Thank you. I'm still somewhat new, I'm afraid. Though I suspect this place does seem rather small after a while." She smiled, an automatic reaction to the woman's friendliness, although the thought of being trapped in this place for years, like some of the people she'd talked to, made her stomach clench. "What were you expecting?" The question whether she had ever seen a starship, seemed rude, so she wouldn't ask it.

[stayastranger]

Sarah thought about that a moment. "Something a little sleeker, maybe," she said with a little laugh, more aimed at herself than at Serenity. "I guess I've just seen too many sci-fi movies." That, and she was accustomed to a certain slickness from aircraft. The spaceship here on the island was worn and dusty, dented and formed in a shape she wouldn't have imagined well-suited to flight. It was a shame it didn't fly. She would have liked to have seen it, and possibly the crew could then have helped to find them all some way out of here. "I'm pretty new here myself, but when I heard there was a spaceship, I couldn't resist."

[goldvogel]

"There seem to be all sorts of unusual things in this place.", she replied, remembering the weekend of Halloween. "But this starship is definitely something I don't want to miss, either." She sat down on the sand because the woman didn't seem to mind her company and also because this way it was easier to hold out her hand. "My name is Kathryn Janeway. I arrived about ten days ago and I'm still trying to find my way around this place. Do you know if they managed to repair it yet? That would offer a convenient way of leaving perhaps."

[stayastranger]

Sarah shook the offered hand, her own grip firm and quick as she smiled. There was something familiar about both that name and the woman herself, but Sarah couldn't entirely place it. It would come to her in time, she was sure, but in time wasn't always soon enough in her line of work. "Uh, no," she said slowly, "I... don't think they have. I'd been wondering myself, but it looks as if the ship is still ground. I'm Sarah Walker, by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you, Kathryn."

[goldvogel]

Kathryn sighed inwardly. Well, that would have been too easy probably. She shook her head slightly and some of her frustration became apparent in her voice, despite her best efforts to hide it: "It really seems as if this place is determined to keep us trapped here. If it didn't seem absurd, I'd be inclined to suspect that there's some sentient being behind all of this, who for some reason wants us to stay."
Which wasn't entirely outside her experience, of course. On the other hand, maybe she was just becoming a little too paranoid lately.

[stayastranger]

Sarah considered that, nodding. "That does seem to be the general mode of thought around here," she allowed, "absurd as it is. I don't understand how any of it works yet." If there were sentient beings behind this set up, though, and there had to be for some of the island's aspects to work as they did, she was certain they were people, agents for who knew what. To think that some god or whatnot might be running things was impossible to the point of being painfully ridiculous.

[goldvogel]

Kathryn was as little inclined to believe that a supernatural power was behind the islands workings as Sarah was. In her opinion it was far more likely that it was a natural intelligence. On the other hand she was well aware that there were much more possible sources of natural intelligence out there than just humans, so her concept of "people" was perhaps a little broader than Sarah's was. Even the possibility that a place itself displayed a kind of intelligence was not unheard of. She hadn't been aware that it was the common opinion, though.

"Has anyone found proof for this theory? Or did they come to this conclusion by the exclusion of every other possibility." If there was some definite sign of a foreign intelligence, it might at least be a starting point for furhter investigations.

[stayastranger]

Sarah shrugged. "If they have, I haven't heard anything about it," she said. "I think it's mostly because of things like the jukebox and the bookshelf. People seem to think they're sentient somehow. Psychic, even." She'd noticed it herself. It was uncanny, even unnerving. It made things difficult, too, or a little moreso at least. The bookshelf had an unfortunate tendency to give her spy novels and that paired with various songs from the jukebox could, ridiculous as it seemed, give her away if she wasn't careful.

[goldvogel]

Kathryn hadn't encountered either of those items so far. Of course, she was aware of the rec room and had even looked into it once, but she hadn't gone near the bookshelf, since relaxing and doing something enjoyable wasn't that high up on her agenda right now. Therefore she was more than a little puzzled.

"What are they doing? Hand out books by themselves?" It was meant to be a joking comment, but part of her wouldn't even be surprised if it was true.

[stayastranger]

"Something like that," Sarah said with a laugh. "The bookshelf's contents change when you're not looking. It's a little unnerving." That the titles available seemed to become reflective of the observer was a troubling fact she didn't want to dwell on, just in case Kathryn decided to ask what kind of books she found. She'd have to come up with something about that for the future. "But at least it means the selection is vast, if unpredictable."

[goldvogel]

She raised her eyebrows. "Really? And I thought I had already encountered all the surprises this place has to offer." It sounded interesting, though. She might have a look at it, if only for the novelty of a sentient piece of furniture.

[stayastranger]

"Really." Sarah smiled, shaking her head. "It sounds ridiculous. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't checked it out. I've never seen anything like this place." She'd been to a lot of weird places and in some bizarre situations, but this was entirely beyond anything she'd done before.