Vaca... what?

[Atragon9 0]

::sitting on the shuttle back to Mars Utopia Planitia from Jupiter Station::

 

Suit Recorder On:

 

[whirr, click]

 

Vacation, what a strange and wonderous word. When the Consul General told me that the crew had a month of leave and then demanded that every member of the crew take it, I almost felt like it was a punishment. It had been years since I had been away from work for more than 4-5 days at a time and I didn't know what I was going to do with it all. The first week Jami and I went to Northern California and visited some friends and family that were involved with Starfleet Command. It was so... cleansing to have the time off with no impending return built in to our schedule. It was so nice spending days enjoying the scenery and the good company and forgetting even what the date was.

 

But somehow, it was just an extended weekend, in a way. Somehow Jami could sense it, or maybe she just wanted to visit some of her relatives farther East and didn't want to go as a couple. Either way, I ended up getting a message from my aunt and uncle back on Titan and found myself shuttling to Jupiter Station.

 

I... I can't put into words the sensations I felt returning to Titan. To walk through the parks and canyons, to explore my homeworld, to do it all without the damned exoskeletal suit!! It defines freedom for me to get out of that cage for more than just floating around in my quarters. I reveled in the feeling of just wearing some simple clothing over my body and nothing else!! I even went to the temperate quadrant of the dome, did some swimming and sailing and got myself a sunburn. My skin is so unused to direct contact with the elements, I'm a little embarrassed that I didn't use the proper protection, but oh what a lovely burn. I think the other people in the TempQuad probably thought I was an idiot going between "Ow" and "Wow."

 

Well, the burn has subsided and peeled away (I never could keep a tan) and I'm headed back to Manticore. Now, I see the one downside to a long vacation - it's end. I can't recall ever feeling so unhappy about returning to space, yet here are my thoughts slipping back to Calico Canyon and Jenkin's Cove back home... home, it's been a long time since I've thought of Titan as home.

 

::The shuttle pulls around the side of Mars and Manticore comes into view parked just outside a docking bay::

 

Oh, Ohhhhh, now I remember!! ::big smile:: Yes, there she is, now I remember. I *AM* coming home.

 

Suit Recorder Off

 

[whirr, click]