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Lounge - Dinner with Kree and Marshall

Posted Aug. 29, 2018, 12:33 p.m. by Commander Talyn Kree (Executive Officer) (D Grisham)

1900 hours rolled around and Drake appeared in the lounge. Instead of his uniform, he had donned a pair of black jeans and a white button down shirt, the sleeves rolled up to the elbow. He looked around and found a table next to a window. He sat down and waited for Talyn to arrive.

-Dr Drake Marshall

She entered the lounge wondering if he would be there first. He seemed like the type to always be prepared, on time, by the book, etc. That was her first impression, but spending a few hours with Drake tonight might change her mind.’

Dressed in black, cigarette pants ( they hug the leg), and a silver, beaded vest, she stopped just inside to scan the patrons. It was actually a pleasant surprise to find that he had, indeed, arrived before her and had already picked out a table.

Talyn walked over and smiled. “Hello. May I say you look much better tonight than you did 16 hours ago?”

—Kree, XO

Drake chuckled. “Thank you. And you look very nice yourself.” And indeed he had noticed that she looked very attractive. He pulled out the chair across the table from him and gestured for her to have a seat. “Did you get some rest?”

-Drake Marshall

She sat in the offered chair and waited until he was once again seated across from her. “As a matter of fact, I did. I don’t even remember dreaming. I got into bed, took the pill and in a few minutes there was just…nothing. Then I woke up this morning.” Although her words sounded rather ominous, Kree was smiling. “Thanks to a doctor friend of mine, I expect to sleep like a baby tonight too.”

A waiter came to their table to see if they wanted drinks or dinner. “Can the bartender make a Klingon martini?” Talyn looked at the young server, her brows raised in question.

“Yes, Ma’am. He’s very well versed in spirits.”

“Wonderful, then that’s what I’ll have for now.” She leveled golden brown eyes at her companion across the table. “And you?”

—Kree, XO

Drake thought for a second and then looked at the waiter. “A Talaxian brandy, please.”

“Very good sir. I’ll get those orders in right away.” The waiter rushed over to the bar.

“I think you’ve been recognised. The service should be phenomenal.” He laughed a little. “Haven’t even ordered yet, but this dinner is already better than last night’s Starfleet ration pack eaten on the edge of a biobed.”

Talyn gave him a lopsided smile. “On a ship this size its kind of difficult to be anonymous.”

The waiter returned with their drinks. “One Klingon martini and one Talaxian brandy. Let me know if I can get you anything else.” And off went the waiter into the sea of tables.

“I hope you didn’t want anything else right now.” He said with a sly smile.

-Drake Marshall

Taking a sip of the red concoction, Kree nodded her approval of its flavor. “No, this will do for the moment.”

She relaxed back into her chair and looked at the doctor as he tasted Talaxian brandy. “Good?”

He took a sip. “Very.”

“So, Drake…is it alright if I call you that? What keeps you awake on the long, sleepless nights?”

—Kree, XO

“Perfectly alright to call me Drake. But what should I call you? Commander seems a bit formal. But I’ve never known an XO well enough to call her by her first name. So, Talyn? Cmdr?”

“Actually, Talyn is fine. I like hearing a name instead of rank when I’m off duty. It reminds me that I’m I’m still a woman and not just an officer.”

“It depends on the night.” His eyes went blank. “Sometimes it’s memories of times I’d rather forget. Sometimes I’m just keenly aware of how small the crew is, and yet I know no one.” He pulled his combadge from his pocket. “I spend those sleepless nights hoping, waiting to be paged for surgery. The one time I have purpose.” He went silent and pocketed his combadge. After a contemplative moment he asked “And what separates you from sleep?”

-Drake Marshall

She looked down gathering the words to explain. “I want to be a successful First Officer because Star Fleet is my career, but I don’t want the crew to think I’m unapproachable. I’m realizing what a fine line it is to walk.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “If the ship were larger, with several hundred crew, being a bit distant wouldn’t be a problem, but the Ogawa is so small…its almost intimate for a working environment. We’re all going to know each other before long, right?”

—Kree, XO

“We’re going to have to. Eventually, on a ship this small you’re going to at least recognise everyone. Unless I’m speaking to a completely different Talyn than the one who works on the bridge, it’s probably the three little rank pips you wear every day. For the crew of a tiny little boat like this, life is more homey than most. So a new officer shows up, following procedures and orders, not knowing the oddities of the ship, you’re a uniform. And a high ranking one. Everybody just has to settle down. Realise you’re a person too. I’m not a uniform. I’m a set of surgical scrubs.” He laughed. “We’ll be part of the Ogawa family in time. The waiting really bites though. I think this is the first dinner I’ve had with anyone else since I left my last assignment.”

-Drake Marshall

“I hadn’t really thought of it that way, as in being new members of a family or a commune.” She was nodding as she warmed to the idea. “It makes perfect sense though. So they just need time to warm up to us… I hope that’s all it is.” Talyn looked at the man across the table from her and tilted her head to the right as more of his words begged for clarification. “Really? You haven’t had anyone else to eat with?” How long since he’d left his last assignment? Did people think he was that unapproachable or was it just taking them a long time to accept him into their midst?

“Are you normally a loner? I mean, do you make yourself available to others for an invitation?” To be honest, Talyn didn’t have much experience with surgeons as a group. She was familiar with doctors, but knew enough about the medical field to put surgeon in a category of their own. Very few people wanted their hands inside the opened bodies of others.

—Kree, XO

“I’m usually just something of an acquired taste. Especially when I’m working. I have an… unconventional way of doing things. It makes me better than most surgeons, but a lot of people don’t approve. It takes a while for people to warm up to me. That and I work 16 hour days. Not unusual for someone in my field, but we don’t have a surgical department. We have me. People don’t understand that I work in the normal hospital on call hours. Just because there’s no night shift surgeon to relieve me. So it’s just misunderstandings. Little things that make me bizarre. Habits from environments far worse than this. Anyway. Yeah. I’m usually alone. Not my choice. Just how things worked out. What about you? Do you get to socialise much?” His face turned from seriousness to a smirk. “Or am I a rare exception?”

-Drake Marshall

Talyn actually laughed. “Tonight, you’re a rare exception.” Her smile did not fade after the comment. “Let’s order dinner and I’ll explain further.” She raised her arm and waived over their server. He was quick to arrive.

“Yes, Cmdr, what can I get for you and the doctor?”

She looked at Drake and raised her eyebrows. Even though she didn’t know the server, he was aware of who she was and also that Marshall was a doctor. “I’ll have a small steak, medium well, with baked potato and green salad. Oh…and another one of these.” She nodded to the drink in her hand.

“Very good, Sir.” He turned to Drake. “And you, Lt.?”

—Kree, XO

“Fettuccine Alfredo, with a little grilled chicken on top. Thanks… Oh and a top off.” He lifted his glass.

“Right away.” The waiter said and moved off, seemingly in something of a hurry to serve the XO.

“So what’s the story?” Drake asked. He looked curiously at the woman across the table.

-Drake Marshall

Talyn settled herself to tell him her most upsetting memory, but it had shaped who she was now, so…”About six years ago I was assigned to the USS Black. She was a science ship, but there were several medical personnel too.” As the memory took over, her light brown eyes got a far away look in them. “It was a normal day–around 1700 hrs and I was on duty in sickbay. Without warning, all hell broke loose. There was a Red Alert saying a biological pathogen had breached quarantine in one of the science labs.” She sat quietly, lost in the terror of that day. Eventually, her awareness snapped back to the lounge and her Marshall.

“Sorry…it’s just really difficult to to go back there in my head. It was awful…Something happened with one of the experiments, I’m still not sure what it was. Star Fleet never released the real details about the incident. They delivered a cover up story that most people accepted because they didn’t know any better. But I was there—I saw what happened.”

Feeling her heart race and pulse quicken, Talyn emptied the martini and looked around for their server.

—Kree, XO


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