STF

We do have to eat, 1900 hours

Posted April 7, 2021, 3:09 p.m. by Ensign Jordar (Security Officer) (Brian Richards)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Karina Enger (Executive Officer) in We do have to eat, 1900 hours

Posted by Ensign Jordar (Security Officer) in We do have to eat, 1900 hours

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Karina Enger (Executive Officer) in We do have to eat, 1900 hours
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Karina grinned and looked at Jodar, “Dinner? Or is he more your type?”
Lt Cmdr Enger, XO

This made Jordar laugh loudly before saying “I don’t know Commander, he’s got a wit about him that I rather enjoy.” The comment was true but in a friendly sort of way, he nodded to Losov before heading to his own table, leading the XO. “Managed to get here without bumping into anyone else I take it?”

Jordar, Sec

Karina shook her head, with a grin, “Up staged by a Tellarite. But if it had to happen at least it was Losov.” She followed him to the table and sat down across from him. “Oh yes, announcing ‘make a hole’ as I jog down the corridor because I’ve been called to break up a fight tends to make the way clear.” Blarney walked over to take Karina’s drink order. He returned a moment later with Wrestling of Dragon and Tiger tea for her and a refill for Jodar.
Lt Cmdr Enger, XO

Nodding at the comment he smiled and said, “I suppose it was a pretty disappointing fight but it is rather nice to have a wonderfully honest conversation with someone. “Tell me about yourself Commander, besides the fact that you’re a Cairn and enjoy frank conversations that most would think of as belligerent”. Jordar sipped at his tea, having almost ordered what the XO had and was wondering if it was a favorite or something new for her.

Jordar, Sec

Karina sipped at the tea, savoring the heat of the tea and the liquor. “This tea, it was something I discovered at the Academy, at one of those local bars that the cadets were not supposed to go to. I felt most at home there. The idea of privacy is very foreign for my people, and behind the glitter and bright lights of the Academy there was always that sense of…” she paused it was a difficult to put the idea to words. “I am sorry. I do not know how to put to words. But the people there were honest and spoke what they thought. There was no…deception.” She sipped the tea again, “And I am…the humans call it ‘black sheep?’ Yes, black sheep of the family. My family wanted me to study exosociology so I could work for peace. They were unhappy that I went into security and intelligence. And the name’s Karina.”
LT Cmdr Enger, XO

“Good to know your name Karina. You followed what you saw as right for you and I like that.” He said with a smile as he set down his cup. “It wasn’t the Malted Cobbler Hideout was it?” Jordar said shooting in the dark. He had frequented that bar plenty in his youth at the academy and figured it was worth asking. “The black sheep often produces the finest wool.” He looked at the woman sitting across from him and admired her, something about the sparkle in her eyes before saying, “I’m the only child of my parents. I grew up on the Manzar Colony in Sector 441 and was the only Zaldan child who’s parents were strict about raising me in the traditional way of our people. You can guess that it didn’t make me many friends. I did have a following of outcasts and used those experiences when I joined Starfleet and moved into Security then Intel where I was posted to Orion where I infiltrated syndicate operations and such. I got promoted, transferred to the Farsight, then got demoted for ‘insubordination’ then transferred here.”

Jordar, Sec

Her eyes sparkled, “The Malted Cobbler Hideout…I miss it. Most of my favorite memories from Academy are from there. I take it you are familiar with Falun Kirr,” the lady Tellarite owner, “and her little piece of despair,” what she called the Hideout. Black Sheep often produce the finest wool. Karina had to think about it. Idioms always made her pause, this one however was fairly straight foreword and her responding smile was only delayed slightly. She sipped her drink while he talked and then shook her head, “Okay Jodar, if that’s all there is to you, I can read that in your file and I can have dinner elsewhere. Or tell me something real about yourself.” It was clear she wasn’t trying to flaunt her position, but that she felt there was no reason to waste either of their time if they were going to hide behind what either of them could read in the standard personnel reports that anyone would have access to.
Lt Cmdr Enger, XO

“Yes her little piece of despair that’s right. I had forgotten what she had always called it. Usually I was ignoring my classes and actively trying to chemically forget what I had learned that day. I don’t drink anymore by the way.” He said as he leaned back and took the last sip of his tea, motioning to the bartender for another. “Alright you want something that isn’t in my file? I’m divorced and have a daughter. Her name is Rondara and she is half Zaldan half Orion. I met a woman named Tirtass when I was stationd there as a spy and broke every rule about making personal contacts and we were married and soon she was with child. When I was discovered as a plant for Starfleet Intelligence back in 92 Tirtass told me without any uncertain terms that I was an absolute disgrace, was deserving of death, and threatened to report me by having the memo typed up and ready to send. I casually told her that if she were to send that then her and our daughter would be seen as accomplices and is that how she wanted Rondara to grow up? She told me know and I left that night. I was assigned to the Farsight shortly there after and I haven’t seen either sense. Rondara has to be 6 or 7 years old by now and I’m sure her mother has never told her I exist. Just another fling which isn’t seen as a problem on Orion so I doubt I’ll ever see her. I keep a picture of her when I was playing with her when she was 2 in my quarters. Is that real enough for you Commander?” Jordar didn’t show any sadness or guilt as he had come to terms with the fact long ago. Another life and another time but he kept that picture, maybe in the hopes that he will one day see her again? But at this point he didn’t hold that hope in high regard. “So tell me something about yourself Karina.”

Jordar, Sec

Karina nodded, it was more than good enough, very revealing and very honest. It was refreshing and she recognized the trust that he was offering her at the same time. She wasn’t sure he would care if she kept his confidence or not though. He was comfortable with the choices he’d made, or he appeared to be. “Good to know, if Orion’s come knocking give you a heads up, a personal security detail, and keep an eye out for a little girl with her daddy’s amazing eyes.” She sipped her Dragon and Tiger tea for a moment. She couldn’t imagine not ever seeing her child. Jodar might be matter of fact about it, but he still carried her picture. He missed her. “In 2392 I was assigned to the USS Santiago as a first contact security specialist. I was sent by star fleet intel to observe and determine if they were ready for first contact. They already had achieved warp five but hadn’t explored further than a neighboring system. But they weren’t explorers, they were slavers and tyrants. They used warp to move people to outlying planets for slave labor, to move them and the product of their ‘work’ faster. I reported and they told me to leave. That they weren’t ready for first contact, they didn’t have planetary peace. I didn’t leave. Instead I helped arrange a coup. I helped them steal a couple ships, steal the water, food, and medical supplies they needed. I joined Star Fleet to help people, to protect them, not to leave them at the hands of tyrants that starve them, beat them, and leave children to cry by the bodies of their dead parents. It was the first time I ever killed anyone. I wondered for a time if my parents were right, that I had crossed to far a line. And then I decided that I was okay being the black sheep. That if I didn’t wonder what I had done was wrong I’d be just as bad as the tyrants that enslaved them. I can live with my decision knowing I helped all those people. As far as Intel knows I left when they told me to.”

Blarney arrived with his tea, “Can I bring you anything to eat?” Karina thought about it a moment. “Blarney did the recipes ever get fixed from that glitch?” He nodded. “Then I would like a bowl of Falun Kirr tavern chili.”

He turned to Jodar, “And for you?”

LtCmdr Enger, XO

Before she responded she held up a finger indicating she’d be a moment. She tapped her combadge =^=Enger to Engineering. That shuttle, the Independence, I want another once over on it. Check it for purposeful sabotage.=^=

=^=Yes Ma’am.=^= She tapped her combadge again and turned back to him. “Ship’s safety. If you’ve wronged the wrong Orion we can not be too careful.”

Jordar thought it was a pragmatic move and he understood the logic, he simply nodded.

“So you fought for what you thought of as right as opposed to ‘following orders’. You decided that your morals were superior to that of your officers and the oaths you took at the academy right?” He said while tilting his head and looking at her intently. “So you took those high minded ideas and put them into practice, which cost the lives of those who were up for entry into the Federation and with first contact absolutely breaking every rule out there?” He said as he sly smile started to form on the side of his mouth. “I like you. You made the right choice and like you said all Starfleet know is that you left, a revolution broke out but they always seem to in those situations right?” He wondered if she thought he was going to be judgmental or balk at what she had done. It was a very, very deep piece of information he had just received but he wasn’t about to violate that trust especially given that he couldn’t’ care less for the ‘rules’ when they were clearly wrong.

He gazed at her intently and Karina never batted an eye, holding his gaze. Yes she broke a lot of rules, but she could live with that. Karina shrugged slightly. It was a deep revelation she’d given him and he could do with it as he saw fit. It was a relief though to be able to speak, relatively, freely with someone who understood. “It is often the case that the right decisions a matter of.......ah, perspective. There is much grey area in such situations. Of course if there were not there would be no need for people such as us or the intelligence department, no? But right or wrong in the view of history it was the only decision I could live with.”

He looked up at Blarney and said, “Fish fingers, custard, bacon, baked beans, bread and butter.” He knew it was rather an unusual order, something a Doctor once had and he had been inspired t o try himself.

Jordar, Sec

Karina tilted her head to the side as he requested his order…something tugged at a vague memory. Her junior year room mate…and all those weekend long binges of late 20 early 21st century television shows. “Sherlock Holmes?”

“I think so? I never watched many earth shows when I was in the academy. I had a friend dare me to try it once, saying it was from some ancient show, and I really enjoyed it!” Jordar remarked as he looked at the commander, a subtle grace that seemed to flow from her was radiating outwards. Everything about her was purposeful, and Jordar really appreciated that. Not a thing out of place, not a moment wasted on what didn’t need to be done or said.

Karina leaned back in her chair, obviously relaxed, enjoying his company and the conversation. It was fresh air (was that the saying? She wasn’t sure) and she enjoyed his candor and brutal honesty. He wasn’t bad to look at either. “Other than having arguments with mouthy Tellarites, what does a man like you do for fun, Jodar?” she asked, a small smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth.
Lt Cmdr Enger, XO

He too leaned back, mirroring Karina’s motions as he looked up at the ceiling for a few moments. “Believe it or not I’m a fan of Klingon Opera, I’m trying to learn the cello in my off time, and I always love a good swim.” He said with a chuckle as he showed his hands, “Although that being said it’s not too surprising I’m sure.”

Jordar, Sec


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