It's alive! Here's another piece of the story, and there's more to come. Stay tuned, and Happy Valentine's Day! :D
Part Three
Snow on Trappist C wasn't exactly like snow on Earth. The icy flecks were small and sharp, more like tiny glass shards than snowflakes. The air pressure and oxygen levels were far lower than on Earth as well, even at the lower elevations. Once the ski lift had carried Geordi and Aubree up the gleaming mountain slope, they had to don protective full-body pressure suits and oxygen masks before venturing out of the cozy Ice Castle Resort into the sub-zero wind.
"Oh god, it's just like I remember out there," Aubree commented, sealing her transparent crash helmet over her mask and goggles with a strange, sucking click. "Are you sure you'll be OK, Geordi? I mean, your VISOR…?"
"It's not a problem," Geordi said, and held up his customized goggles before fitting them over his VISOR and snapping his own helmet into place. The compressed oxygen he'd chosen for their excursion had a slightly sweet, uplifting scent, like vanilla and fresh jasmine. "I told you, the holodeck can provide anything you want. Just give the command, and I will make it so."
He couldn't tell if she smiled with all that gear obscuring her features, but subtle shifts in her heat signature made him think she probably did.
"I didn't take you for a skier, Geordi," she said, their helmets' comm system making her voice sound right in his ear. "Most of the off-world tourists we got back home were pretty hard-core."
"Don't worry," he said. "I've been practicing all week for this! Come on, we can still keep to the schedule if we head out now."
"There's a schedule?"
"I've got the whole evening planned!" Geordi reminded her. "Everything's gonna be perfect, as long as we keep moving."
"Well, if you're this excited, this program has to be good." Aubree snapped on her skis, then stepped onto the test platform to make sure the skis' propulsion and breaks responded properly to her shifts in movement. "Come up here and test your skis. There's room for both of us."
If they'd really been on Trappist C, making sure their skis were in working order could mean the difference between life and death. On the holodeck, the safety program made such tests redundant and, to Geordi's mind, an unnecessary waste of time. Still, Aubree insisted over his protests, refusing to leave the lodge until she felt satisfied his gear was safe and functional.
"No schedule is more important than your safety, even if this is just a holodeck simulation," she said, helping him down off the test platform. This time, there was no question she was smiling. She gave his hand a squeeze, her form glowing with warmth. "See, that didn't take too long, did it?"
"Well…not too long," he admitted, and squeezed her hand back, pulling her after him as he headed toward the sliding doors. "Let's get moving!"
To Be Continued...
Sorry this is so short. I've been sick, but I'm getting better and I've been itching to get back to my stories! Stay tuned for the rest of this story, as well as new chapters for Skin Deep: Part III, coming soon! :D