astridv: (Default)
astridv ([personal profile] astridv) wrote2012-04-06 04:27 pm

Rec of the day

Alright, a story over ten years old that hasn't fallen through the internet cracks!

Babylon by Ariana (DS9)
48,000 words; PG; Characters: ensemble fic with an emphasis on the non-humans: (Ziyal, Kira, Garak, Dukat, Quark, Odo)
Pairings listed are K/Du, G/B, G/Z but I'd say if you read it for any of those you'd be probably disappointed. For all the interpersonal relationship upheavals in this story it reads still like a genfic to me.
Summary: All hell breaks loose on the station as, gradually, communications systems and universal translators fall victim to some mysterious epidemic.
Snippet:
<Is this my tricorder? -- No, it is not your tricorder, it is my
tricorder.>
"Iss sis mai taikoda," she repeated. "No itsis no you taikoda, itsis
mai taikoda."
<Please repeat once more. 'Is this my tricorder? -- No, it is not
your tricorder, it is my tricorder'.>
"Oh, this is *stupid*," she swore at the computer. It paid no
attention to her, and just waited patiently for her to repeat the
sentence.
She felt profoundly silly, sitting there parroting inane remarks
about household objects and the rain habits of the plains in Spain. She
didn't even know where the Spain was, or even if it was a geographical
region at all.