Posted March 13, 2021, 1:17 a.m. by Fleet Captain Kelly Bordeaux (Commanding Officer) (Kate O'Neill)
Posted by Lieutenant Commander Ethan Nash (Chief Tactical Officer) in CTO office A story about a boy, a girl, and what lurks unseen
Posted by Lieutenant Lauren Shan (Doctor) in CTO office A story about a boy, a girl, and what lurks unseen
The day had been long and tough. Lauren needed to drink. Normally she would have curled up at the end of Mike’s bar and ordered her usual. Today however she needed isolation. What she was about to talk about definitely violated doctor-patient privilege. She had debated in her office where she would go. The logical place was the counseling department but Lauren had had enough counseling in her life to choke a horse. The years of someone trying to tell her how to think after she left Orion, only led her to push things down deeper.Rand was on duty and while he probably wouldn’t have minded the company, Lauren needed to push down the day with copious amounts of booze, real booze which only one spot on the ship had an open door policy to drink until you passed out. Over the past few years, Lauren and Nash had settled into a co-dependence type relationship.
Both of them had more baggage than they could bear, yet both of them kept it locked down so tight only command knew all the details. Lauren’s due to the fact she was a minor and Nash due to the fact it was classified. Reaching his office, Lauren raised a fist and pounded it twice before palming the control on his door and walking in without permission. “Nash,” she announced her presence by calling his name, “I need the hard stuff. Don’t make me hypo you to get it. Rand is…was in your department. Anesthizine and I are best friends and I am not afraid of making this a ménage à trois instead of a duo if you try to Bogart the booze.”“Adolf, come in why don’t you,” Nash said in his usual low tone around the cigar clenched between his teeth. It didn’t hold the common undercurrent of scorn that he often used in groups however. Nash knew Lauren, and in his old position of Chief of Intelligence had come to know more of her history. Not all of it, but the position of CIO did open up files that others didn’t get to see. If one person other than her boyfriend Rand on the ship understood her, it was Nash. He understood her deeply and what it was like to lose people you loved when it could have been in your power to do something about it instead of being helpless. Plus, if she was willing to gas a room full of children to get a solution to an issue, who was he to refuse her a drink?
Lauren raised an eyebrow and shook her head. “It’s the gassy doctor. Get it right.” The tone was snappish but her eyes for one second held a bit of mirth. There was no way she could not find the reference to her past escapades funny. She also did not trust anyone who did thought her idea of using anesthizine administered through environmental systems was not brilliant to take out the terrorist that had held a classroom of children hostage was not the ideal way to go. No one got hurt and the situation was resolved without anyone hurt. It got her a promotion and a formal award. Security could just get so uptight at times wanting to use weapons while counseling could talk you to death. Her plan saved the day outthinking either department. It was probably where the name came from the Nash references.
Dropping into one of the leather, high-back chairs in his office, Lauren let the familiar scents surround her. There was the hint of tobacco lying in the air. The man was rarely without a stogie protruding from his lips. She often wondered if the man smoked them or used them as an accessory much like the CO did her coffee mug. No one could smoke on the ship except in designated areas, but Nash did not seem the type to travel to the smoking area for a fifteen-minute break. He was more the type to light it up and damn the consequences when they happened. This is what attracted Lauren to the man in the first place. Ethan Nash was superiorly and unequivocally confident yet somehow balanced this without being arrogant or haughty. When he entered a room he commanded it either by directly taking charge or silently from the background. He often had the graveyard shift on the bridge citing he liked the stillness and peace that came from the wee hours of the dark. Lauren however thought otherwise. Too many young officers talked about how Lt. Commander Nash one on one was one of the best senior officers on the ship. They spoke of how he let those under him learn and strive for the best. The calm, patient, introspective teacher was not something one immediately saw when looking at the gruff, hardened exterior but looking under the exterior always showed ones true character. Individuals just needed to take the time to peel back what they assumed and concentrate on what they knew. Lauren and Nash were very similar in this regard.
Curling up in his chair, she tucked her legs under her body and locked eyes with the man before her. “I need a drink,” she said emphatically. “Do you wanna have a drink?” Lauren added in a softer tone. Right now she needed someone. Nash of all the people in the galaxy would soo understand.
Lauren Shan
“Does a camel have a hump on its back?” Nash replied with a grin, and pushed his chair back slightly. Behind and above him was a sign that said No Smoking in bold letters, a ‘gift’ from the Captain that she knew he would ignore, and he knew she knew he would ignore it. Nash displayed it prominently.
Lauren did not break into a smile or even laugh at the joke although she appreciated Nash’s sense of humor. He had a way of expressing things that did not emit emotion but could settle you instantly. She momentarily wondered what it would be like however to have that sense of humor turned on her knowing the secret ways to smile. Lauren knew Nash had been married. She knew why the wife was not on the ship. What she didn’t know what what kind of woman would make Nash fall in love, the kind of love that made men do stupid things. Maybe tonight she would get a glimpse of that.
“As long as it it not water pour me a double.”
Moments later and two chilled tumblers appeared on the desk between them and Nash paused, looking at her with narrowed eyes but said nothing. making his choice, his hand appeared from the drawer at the bottom of his desk with a bottle of Vodka. “You look like you need a drink, I have something that will do.”
Removing the cap with a flick of his thumb and letting it spin away over his desk and onto the floor, Nash poured the full measure of the small tumblers. No mixer, this was pure A grade vodka that went down smooth but burned when it arrived at its destination. Nash never drank, unless he drank properly.
Letting his eyes move from the glass to Lauren, he slid it over the desk towards her curled up on his seat. Lauren was a woman who demanded attention any time she entered a room by her very presence, she was beautiful, sure, alluringly so in a way that made other women jealous of her. But it was more than that, Lauren had a confidence and surety of purpose that people found both attractive and intimidating. She knew what she wanted and she worked to get it. With Lauren, that was usually behind the scenes where she rivaled any spymaster with her list of people that ‘worked’ for her on whatever task she gave them. That task Nash had been drawn into once or twice, and while it was decidedly against the rules, he could never fault the solid morality of what she did, and why she did it. To Nash, Lauren was a kindred spirit who would do what she needed to, to do what was right and be damned the consequences.
People spoke about how she was abrupt and direct to the point, some said blunt, some said infuriatingly righteous. Nash knew better. Lauren Shan didn’t suffer fools, she had been in some of the darkest places and seen some of the darkest things that people who professed to have higher morals would shrink away from. Lauren had been there, experienced things, solved those things. She knew how to use her looks to get what she wanted, knew how to use delicate words to make someone agree. But she did it all for the right reasons despite her baggage. Nash respected that, respected her a hell of a lot. If Rand hadn’t of been in the picture, who knew, Nash might have even made a pass at her. Now, however she was his friend, and she needed a drink. Nash knew that was something he could provide.
“Drink it all, there is more where that came from,” Nash said, picking up his own tumbler of Vodka. “Then tell me, what’s got you in a mood tonight.”
Lt Cmdr Nash, CTO
Lauren downed the drink like she had spent more than her fair share on the other side of a bar. The truth was, she had spent more time than she cared to to admit drunk. She let the liquor sit in her mouth for a second before swallowing it. Closing her eyes she felt the clear liquid start its magic. The cool, almost slippery sensation in her mouth slowly filled her body with a warmth starting at the back of her throat and traveling down to her stomach. Lauren did not do the characteristic girl move of shaking her head or twitching her body with a laugh commenting about how strong the drink was. She was a woman that could hold her liquor and appreciated it. Looking at Nash slid the glass back to him. I need another and I need another glass. She would not need to explain why or ask for another glass. Nash was the type that understood and would produce two new cups following her lead.
Picking up the empty glass she flipped it over with a soft clink on the surface as she picked up her second shot. Lauren watched Nash follow suit. She could guess who he was honoring with the empty cup. The reason she was here was to talk about the person that could not drink with her.
“You know if anyone knew the glass was for Harper, they would add bad mother to the list of nicknames they call me. Part of me would sell my soul for one person to see me with Harper and call me that but wishing in one hand and crapping in the other just gives you a hand of crap.” Her tone was solemn but not morbid. She would never stop looking for Harper. This was just a set back. Tonight was for Lauren to find her feet, wait for what constituted dawn on a starship, and start again in the morning.
Lauren Shan.
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