A/N: I don't own Star Trek
Jim's aunt and uncle lived in one of the many standard colony houses. Blocky and built in the nyo-cement that could withstand the attack of nearly everything in the known universe, they lined the streets of Tarsus, uniform and distinctly boring. There was only one small city, named, of course, City of Tarsus, and in its boundaries it held all of the eight thousand colonists that lived on Tarsus IV. Just outside the boundaries were the fields for the agriculture that the colony was made for. Because the growing time was so short and the temperature so cold, only specific plants could be grown on Tarsus.
At first all of the crops would be gathered at the end of every growing season and taken to where they were most needed. This stopped after the fifth year of the colonies existence, instead all of the crops were used to feed the colonists that lived on the planet. The reasons for this were actually quite simple. The Tarsus solar system was a long way away from anything. The closest inhabited place was StarBase 34, and that was two months away at Warp 2, which was the standard speed. Also, the colonists would have to wait until the ships came to get more supplies for food. The change was a lot simpler, the colonists could feed themselves with the crops and livestock that lived on the planet and the ships could come and go from the planet only when it was absolutely necessary and the crops were found to be able to be grown on a planet a lot closer to Earth.
In the center of the city was the government building, surrounded by tall, black, metal gates. The area around the city was the shopping district, with clothes shops and small restaurants. Outside of that was the residential area, with the standard colony houses and parks. Then came the science and research buildings, the library, the small greenhouses for food that wouldn't normally grow on Tarsus, and two school districts. After that was the slightly larger houses for the government officials and higher ranked scientists that didn't live in the government building itself, not all standard, with large yards and high fences. Finally was the fields and the livestock buildings.
Arriving at his aunts house, Jim looked around him. The houses were all the same exact build, of course, but as most people do, the colonists had found small ways individualizing their homes. Planting flowers and trees in different spots in the yard, painting the exterior and door different colors, differently colored roofs, hanging flower pots out of the widows, or having a United Federation flag hanging next to the door. Jim was momentarily distracted by a house down the street that had a bright neon green exterior paint job, a neon orange roof, and a neon pink door. The moment he looked at it, however, a man stepped out onto the small porch in the front and looked directly at him. Jim avoided eye contact and looked back at his aunts house.
The house was painted a pleasant color of blue, not too startling, but blue enough to be noticeably blue. The roof was the usual gray and the door was white. There was a large tree on the right side (when facing the house) and a quaint flower garden next to the front wall of the house. Next to a door was the number 8 and in the doorway was a man. Oh. This was Jim's Uncle Valerio.
"Hello there, Jimmy. It's nice to officially meet you." Uncle Valerio stepped forward and offered Jim his hand.
"It's nice to meet you too." Jim smiled and shook his uncle's hand. His uncle smiled slightly and picked up Jims suitcase and started to walk into the house.
"I've started on dinner, but it won't be ready for about half an hour. That okay?" Uncle Valerio asked. Jim nodded silently.
Aunt Emily came up behind him and said," Go on, then Jimmy. We have four open bedrooms in the house why don't you pick your favorite and make it yours?"
"Um, Yeah sure, thanks." Jim replied.
"Anytime."
Through the front door of the house was a the main living room with a small T.V. and couch in front of it. There were also four bookshelves along the walls of the room, to Jim's a door to his right jim could hear the sounds of his uncle making dinner, Jim's suitcase had been placed at the base of the stairs that were on his left.
"The door at the end of the hall on your right will be our bedroom and the end of the hall on your left will be the laundry room. The bathroom is straight ahead once you get up the stairs, but two of the free bedrooms also have an en suite." Aunt Emily slowly walked over to the kitchen. "Feel free to explore as much as you like, I'll call when dinner is ready."
Jim walked to the stairs and picked up his suitcase and headed up the stairs. He put his suitcase down at the top of the stairs and opened the door straight in front of him. As his aunt had said, it was a bathroom. A bathtub shower mix, a plain sink, and a toilet. All various shades of blue. He sighed and closed the door. He leaned his head against the bathroom door for a moment and allowed himself a second to psych himself up for living here. He decided to go left first, going all the way to the end of the hall. The door was the laundry room. It was really more of a laundry closet, but whatever. Just a washer and a dryer. He closed the door and opened the door that was on his left. Linen closet. Closing the door he turned around and opened the door that had been on his right. Bedroom. He walked in and closed the door behind him.
The room was relatively large and had only one window. Granted, the window was big, but through it you could only see the boring off-white wall of the house next door. There was a bookcase that was filled, a standard computer unit on a desk, and a table that looked like it had been put there because there was no where else for it to go. A bed that was bigger than his back in Iowa with a bedside table were straight across from him. On the last wall there were two doors. Jim opened them, one led to a closet and the other led to a bathroom. He walked back out into the hallway and closed the door.
The hallway continued as follows: another, smaller bedroom, the first bathroom he entered, another small bedroom, and another linen closet. He paused at the end of the hall, decided it would be rude to go into his aunt and uncle's room and turned to the last door in the hallway.
The last bedroom was like the first one in size and the same basic furniture, again with only one window. But instead of more suburbia, there was a view of a forested park that was right behind the house. The sun was setting, causing the already violet sky to welcome vivid colors of pink and orange. The dark green of the forest looked brilliant with the background of the sky. Jim had a fleeting thought of what the neon house down the street looked like in this light. Probably even uglier than it looks normally. Jim shook the thought away and decided that he wanted that room, so he went back into the hall, picked up the suitcase and walked back into the room. He set his suitcase on the bed, deciding to unpack later. He looked around the room, nodded once, and went down to tell his aunt which room he had picked and explore the rest of the house.
A/N: A longer chapter. I hope you enjoyed.
