(Untitled)

[goldvogel]

Three weeks.

There were days when the mere thought made her want to scream. At other times it simply drew her attention back to the feeling of guilt that kept eating away at her heart. For three weeks she had been trapped in this place, confronted by its madness and unable to find a way back. And at the same time her ship, her people were in

Comments

[simpletailor]

Garak was most commonly in the compound at odd hours. He didn't generally wish to converse while going about his day, so he had to do things such as get food, check his mail and other such small tasks when others were not there. At the moment, he was in search of another source of ancient fashion. The dresses were due tomorrow and he needed just a bit more detail on what kind of seaming was required at the hem. He knew many focused on the larger elements, but really, the small elements could make or ruin a garment.

He stepped into the recreation room, only to see Captain Janeway sitting in a chair. He was fully aware of her arrival, and not just because the doctor had told him. He kept an eye on all those who might be a threat, and Federation officers were certainly in that category, even without a phaser (which Captain Janeway seemed to be). She had something of a history with his species, as well, if he recalled her file correctly, and he was sure he did, although he hadn't seen it in years.

He cleared his throat discreetly, and then continued towards the bookshelf.

[goldvogel]

The sound startled her momentarily, as she hadn't expected to see someone else in the rec room at this hour. It was nothing compared to the surprise she felt when she looked up, though. Somehow, Dr. Bashir had neglected to tell her about the fact that there were other species from the Alpha Quadrant in this place. And Cardassians at that.

At the sight of him she actually felt glad for the first time since arriving, that her officers from the Marquis, especially Chakotay, were still on the Voyager. To have them meet with a Cardassian would have been... interesting and not in a pleasant way.

On the other hand, this man hadn't done anything to her and he seemed friendly enough. And while her own experiences with his people hadn't always been pleasant, she saw no reason to judge this man by that or be less than polite herself. Attempting to cover her less than calm state of mind and banish the confusion from her tone, she offered his back a slightly apologetic greeting. "Good morning. I didn't know that there were other people sharing my unusual hours."

[simpletailor]

By the way she startled at both the sound and his species, he concluded that she hadn't known he was here. Interesting. Apparently Dr. Bashir had not extended the same courtesy to her that he had extended to Garak. Dr. Crusher had clearly not done so as well. What did it say that they did not warn their fellow Federation officers about the presence of what their organization (if erroneously) viewed as a potentially hostile species? He would have to think about that. For now, though, he turned, with the usual friendly smile on his face.

"Ah, good morning," he greeted her, and didn't add her rank. Even with her visit to Terok Nor for the launching of the Voyager, he perhaps should not know it.

"I do apologize for disturbing your solitude. I have noticed that there are almost always other individuals present, however, no matter what the hour. The habitable section is small and the population relatively large," he informed her amiably.

[goldvogel]

"No need to apologize. As you say, there are almost always people around wherever one goes in this place." She smiled and wondered whether he found that to be a good or a bad thing. She herself was more inclined towards the latter at the moment. She wasn't going to complain about it openly, however.

"I guess we should be grateful that there is a bit of civilization here at all.", she said instead.

[simpletailor]

She wasn't quite as cheerful and optimistic as he'd come to expect Starfleet officers to be, but perhaps it was the hour. He wasn't going to object, no matter what the reason happened to be.

"I have certainly found the compound to be a beneficial aspect, crowded as it occasionally is," Garak replied with a slight smile, which was mostly true. He didn't like the air handling settings or the stares that still followed him some days, but the mail room was useful for his fledgling trade, as was the bulletin board, not to mention the box. One too many attempts at that and people came nearly literally running to other sources of clothing.

[goldvogel]

The hour may have something to do with it, Kathryn would have admitted. But more likely it was being forced to remain inactive while her ship was in danger, that somewhat reduced her cheerfulness and optimism.

"It's amazing what they've build up beside that, though. From what I've seen at least. Most of them seem almost...content here." It was something that still puzzled her, how most people simply seemed to accept the situation instead of doing all they could to return to their old lives.

Or maybe they had. Maybe they were just better at accepting hopelessness when they encountered it than she was. It wasn't something she wanted to contemplate, though.

[simpletailor]

He appeared to consider her statement about contentment and eventually flipped a hand in what seemed like a shrug.

"There does seem to be a content element of the population for whatever reason. I could theorize as to why that contentment might exist, but I have never found there to be much worth in attempting to determine motivations. I can't read minds, so I'm generally doomed to failure," he finally said wittily, which was a blatant untruth. He greatly enjoyed determining motivations and was really rather good at it overall, though honestly the motivations of many of those he'd encountered before the island didn't actually require much effort. Neither did many he'd encountered on the island, for that matter