Step Into The Alley

[Tevit Ramastan]

For just over a year, Tevit Ramastan had worked on Ossus. It was the longest he'd stayed in one place for quite some time, and it wasn't because there was a lack of work. On the contrary, there was too much work to be done. He'd started as a shift manager, but quickly overtook the old Foreman for his position, and from that point on his life had been work until the point of exhaustion. The Jedi Complex was a massive undertaking, and still far from complete, but at last it no longer resembled a shantytown of temporary structures. There were apartments, a few standalone homes, shops, warehouses, working facilities, and all manner of things that the Jedi needed specially built. Tevit had been there to do it, often going head to head with his Cizerack counterparts, but in the end, he often won out. Still, there was something the Nehantite knew was missing from the complex. Something vital, something desperately required by the growing populace.

Fun.

Yes, there was a cantina, and a seedy bar, and a few places that could feel like nearly reputable establishments, but it all felt disjointed and a stopgap to a real settlement. Families began to arrive, and other than maybe going on a picnic, there wasn't much to do. Even the Jedi had been growing visibly bored, and the padawans had been causing all manner of trouble on the construction sites, for lack of a better place to be. So, some weeks back, Tevit had written to the Alliance requesting funding, and submitted a blueprint. It wasn't a training facility, it wasn't a hospital, or a gym, no, it was simpler than that. It was a place everyone, regardless of age or station, could come, be with each other, and forget their troubles for an hour or two, or maybe more. To his surprise, he received his funding, and then some, and was allotted the manpower to build his vision.

And so he stood before it, now complete. Sitting off the main drag, the building has a fresh, exciting feel to its design, advertising something different to the populace than the utilitarian features of most of the other structures. Inside it housed a bar, a general lounge area, several small restautant counters in a sort of food court, as well as a couple pool tables, dartboards, and other general entertainments, with large holovisions lining the walls. But the pinnacle of his achievement, the coup de gras, so to speak, was what lay in the back. Six of the finest ten-pin bowling lanes that could be shipped from Nehantish, complete with automatic pin setters, scoring computers, and ball returns. It was almost too much for the yellow-furred mongoose to believe!

But it was true, and it was all in the name of one thing: Fun. Tevit had convinced the Deli Moff, and a few of the other pop-up restauranteurs to move inside to set up permanent locations, which would help improve foot traffic, but other than the food and drink, the setting was to be free of charge. All backed by Alliance credits. If it helped lower stress, the Alliance was willing to get behind it.

So, Tevit stood outside the front doors, staring up at the neon sign which read, "The Alley." He hadn't set out to become a manager of a hang-out, but now, surveying his finished product, the smell of drying paint still in the air, Tevit couldn't help but smile, then turn to those gathered before the building, and cut the red ribbon in the doorway with pair of tin snips.

"Ladies and gentlemen of Ossus, welcome to The Alley," he said, then pulled one of the glass doors open to lest the first among them in.

[Korlen Tarask]

I hang back as others walk into the building ahead of me, standing back and looking up at the big sign. "Looks good, boss," I say with a grin. "Hope you like dealing with stinky shoes."