Night at Quevrik's (Part 2)

Posted on 05/23/2020 @ 6:27pm by Lieutenant JG S'Lace & Lieutenant JG Jasmine Langtree & Ensign Romal Seshel & Ensign Noah LeBlanc
Edited on on 06/22/2020 @ 7:42pm

Mission: S1E3: Visit to Starbase 375
Location: Starbase 375 - Quevrik's
Timeline: Day 1 at 2000

Heading over to the bar, hoping the Betazoid would follow, Tahlin smiled at the group there. "Jasmine, Doctor S'Lace, and... Forgive me, I'm afraid we've not been introduced... But, I'm Lieutenant Lae'Or, Chief of Security. This is Ensign Lau, one of our new Ops people." Tahlin turned to the Vulcan. "You're looking well--I am gratified, and a little surprised, to see you here, Doctor."

S'Lace gave the slightest of shrugs, "I thought it prudent to interact with my peers in a non professional setting. To prepare for the event I have recalled several anecdotes non-Vulcans may find amusing."

"Pleasure to meet you all," Emryi said as she cocked her head to one side such that the longer side of her asymmetrical haircut angled away from her head, "Anecdotes? I would love to hear one, Ma'am."

"Very well," S'Lace composed herself and began, "It was near the end of my first year as a crewman and I was assigned to the freighter Termite. I was bunked with three older crewmen: Zelig, Femke and Sebastio. Decades before, it was a custom on Starfleet vessels to create what was known as 'engine room hooch', an illicit alcoholic beverage. The three conspired to renew this "tradition". Being young and not yet fully comfortable in my interactions with humans, I strove to 'fit in' and allowed them to hide the still in the bulkhead behind my bunk.

"Wouldn't that get hot back there," Emryi interjected. "Its a distilling process, isn't it? Needs heat and a way to ventilate that heat?"

S'Lace nodded, "Indeed. Crewman Femke possessed what one may call a 'low cunning'. There was a plasma conduit on the other side of the bulkhead, it's residual heat masked the still's thermal signature. As for the residual pollutants the still produced, crewman Zelig was assigned to environmental; he simply continued to report an 'intermittent problem' that he was 'running down'. Crewman Sabastio was the one who persuaded me to go along. Between the three of them they made quite an intelligent human being."

Emryi nodded as she listened. "Makes sense but sooner or later that intermittent problem is going to come to the attention of someone ... engineering or operations?"

"I do not believe my bunk mates thought that far ahead," S'Lace replied, "They were quite possibly the most illogical people I have ever known," she paused, cocked her head, "Correction: they were the most illogical people I have ever known."

"Clever, but I'm thinking that's not the end of the story, no?" asked Tahlin, intrigued. Bajorans didn't manufacture much by way of strong alcohol, though a distant cousin on her mother's side had gotten into the business.

"Indeed it was not, lieutenant," S'Lace replied with a nod, "Despite their discretion Chief of the boat Eoghan possessed a...preternatural sense of determining when the crew was up to no good. At first she dismissed my involvement; why would a Vulcan involve herself in the brewing of liquor, she doubtless assumed. Ultimately through a process of elimination she determined where the still was. I disposed of it, but there was one problem; there was two point three liters of 'hooch' on hand.

"Oh no," Emryi whispered, her hands rising, pressed against her mouth, one on top of the other and angled slightly. "Oh my."

"So I consumed it. It was my first exposure to alcohol," she glanced down at her half consumed glass of scotch, "I can say with some certainty it was slightly more palatable than what they serve here. Chief Eoghan found me, she could have had my stomach pumped to retrieve the 'evidence'. Instead she had me stand before the Zelig, Femke and Sebastio for five minutes. The inevitable occurred and I vomited all over them. The chief determined the matter closed and if Captain Gerheld knew anything of it she kept it to herself. And that was when I decided I no longer wished to be an engineer and transferred to medical."

Tahlin burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, but that's hilarious! You became a doctor, all because of an illegal liquor operation... You must have some other good stories, Doc!" The Bajoran raised her glass in a toast to the Vulcan.

S'Lace raised her own glass and sipped the scotch, which all things considered was not entirely unpleasant. She said, "We are a product of our life experiences. As it happened I discovered medicine to be a far more fulfilling vocation, especially since I was my first patient."

"I must say, I wish my own story selecting operations was that interesting," Noah responded before taking another sip of his beer, "An Andorian Captain would patron the restaurant I worked in while I was a cadet. He enjoyed French cuisine and commented my presence added to the ambience. He asked me to teach him French, word by word. Turns out, Captain Zon was the chief operations instructor at the academy. Go figure."

"I guess it's lucky for us you found a mentor at such an early stage in your training". Jasmine said.

"Quite... I mostly went with Security because it was a lot more useful than Religion... Not much call for a ship's chaplain these days..." The Bajoran sipped at her wine contemplatively. "Besides, it made my father mad, which was a bonus in my case."

S'Lace was understandably curious to learn more but was reluctant to pry into the ensign's personal life. Rather than voice an open query she simply arched in inquisitive eyebrow.

"What?" Jasmine asked.

"Trust me, I'm not kidding... My father is a Bajoran radical, though that didn't really come out until I was a teenager. After my mother divorced him, my brother and I did pretty much all we could to distance ourselves from him... I send him a subspace message once a year, and that's the extent of our communication. I don't think my mother or brother talk to him at all, which is probably for the best."

S'Lace had been prepared to listen with patience and had not expected much in the way of an interesting story. But Noah's father had her...intrigued.

"I am not familiar with Bajoran politics," she confessed, "What constitutes a 'radical' in Bajoran culture?"

"That would depend on your point of view," responded Tahlin, dryly. "There have been, at various points, several types, from Bajoran nationalists such as The Circle, to terrorist groups and religious figures of unstable temperaments on both sides. In my father's case, he was the latter. Very conservative, opposed to Bajor's joining the Federation, and the tipping point for my brother and I, opposition to rights for same-sex couples."

"Just because someone has a different perspective or viewpoint doesn't mean they hate you or don't love you. You can disagree and still be loved Family is family after all." Jasmine said.

"Or your parents can disown you for making life choices completely at odds with their expectations," S'Lace noted. Belatedly she realized lieutenant Langtree was attempting to be 'positive' and 'supportive'. S'Lace added, "But yes, I suppose lieutenant Langtree's statement is not untrue."

Romal walked into Quevrik's, thankful that he had left his daughter Mizi with her friends at school, they were having a slumber party with some responsible crew members chaperoning the event. At last, Romal could leave the ship and socialize, even though, his little Mizi was always on his mind.

Making his way into the main room, past the spread of tables, and finally arriving at the bar. The Ferengi barkeep was wiping a beer mug clean with his cloth. "What would you like this evening, friend?"

"Well, its been a while, so give me a light ale. . .assuming, of course, you serve them." Romal replied, not sure if he should even indulge.

"We certainly do." and the Ferengi barkeep opened a tap, filled a mug with foaming ale and deftly slid it in front of the engineer.

"Thanks." Romal said, paying him.

Turning around, he saw one of the few people he actually knew on Crazy Horse and walked over to her. "Hello Jasmine, nice to see you when we aren't desperately racing to restore atmosphere." he said, half smiling.

"Hi Romal why don't you join us. Let me introduce you to our new operations officer, Noah LeBlanc, Noah this is one of the best Engineers Ive had the pleasure to work with, Romal Seshel, I believe you know Lt. Lae'or , this is Lt. S'lace as well." Jasmine said.

S'Lace favored the newcomer with a polite nod. She debated whether or not to get up and order another scotch to mask her earlier 'faux pas'.

Noticing the polite nod, Romal walked over to the Vulcan, "Hello S'lace, we've never met before, but I make it a practice to know the ship's head doctor." he said with a serious face, then added, "Have you studied human pediatrics?"

The question caught S'Lace entirely off guard. Unbidden she recalled the village on Volan III, her makeshift office, Srin's daughter Stola as she squirmed while S'Lace took tricorder readings of her lungs...

"Sorry to bring this up at a social gathering, but I have a daughter, Mizi, who is only seven." Romal explained, not touching his mug of light ale. "If you're familiar with the medical needs of children, then you know the care they need."

The burned village, Srin's corpse wrapped around a tiny frame, unmoving, burned almost beyond recognition as part of a pyre constructed in the razed village's square...

S'Lace almost did not hear the man's query, it took all her discipline to push the atrocity out of her mind. She deliberately took a sip from her drink to compose herself. After a moment she replied, "Yes, I have cared for children. I was unaware the Crazy Horse would be hosting families."

"Glad to bring this to your attention, then." Romal said, surprised that she was unaware of the children. "Yes, the Crazy Horse has families on board. There are five girls, including my Mizi, three boys, and one nonbinary Vissian. In fact, the girls were having a slumber party when I left tonight. Would you like to meet them, tomorrow?" he offered, completely serious.

Not really, S'Lace thought. She avoided children as she would Rigellian fever or any other unpleasant or lethal ailment. Children were chaos, full of illogical impulses. But she had learned long ago most sentients did not truly appreciate honesty. Instead she said, "If you feel she is due for a physical then you may bring the child."

Alvar walked into the bar. Looking around, he found the area to be quite...well, he wasn't quite sure how to describe it. Certainly more direct that the usual sights, sounds, and smells that you found elsewhere on Starfleet facilities.

He headed over to the bar, and ordered a glass of ti'las, a popular beverage from Altimar that was made from the juices of no less than 17 fruits. While non-alcoholic, it had been known to produce quite the kick, especially for first-timers.

"Evening, everyone," he said to those closest by.

"Commander--good to see you!" Tahlin was practically exuberant.

Grateful for the distraction, S'Lace gave the executive officer a polite nod in greeting.

"Good evening, Lieutenant," Alvar replied. "It is, as an old friend of mine would say, good to be seen, and, as I would say, it is good to see you as well. You seem in a particularly good mood."

"I'm among friends, which is always a good thing... Would you like to join us? I don't think you know our new operations staff--Ensigns... I'm sorry, I've forgotten both your names." Tahlin looked abashedly at the two new people.

"I believe this is Ensign Noah LeBlanc," Alvar said, nodding to one, "and this is Ensign Emryi Lau," nodding at the other. "It is good to meet you both."

"It's good to meet you as well, Commander," Emryi said as she placed her emptied glass on the bar. "Lieutenant S'Lace was just telling us about her adventure with a hidden ... still, I believe it was?"

"Yes," S'Lace replied, "Which is a device for producing alcoholic beverages."

"Yes, I am familiar with the devices," Alvar said, "which often are not as hidden as their operators would wish us to believe."

Tahlin raised an eyebrow. "Something you want to tell us, Commander?"

"Oh, as the old human saying goes," Alvar said, "the walls have ears. It's amazing what one can sometimes pick up in the lower decks when one knows the art of listening. And it's a concept that more than just the humans have understood. The Ferengi, for example," and Alvar gestured towards the bar's proprietor, "have even immortalized it in the 7th Rule of Acquisition. And of course, you do have to keep in mind my background and training. Fermentation is, after all, a biological chemical reaction, and what better way to learn about that when you don't want to leave any sort of search record in the ship's computer than to hit up the ship's resident exobiologist?"

Emyri found herself laughing as she considered the possibilities of first, constructing one and then second, being the one that had to find it. Luckily illegal stills were not part of Operations purview.

Jasmine got up to make a toast.

"Attention Ladies and Gentlemen, Id like to make a toast to all the Noobs. Welcome aboard the Crazy Horse, may your presence help bear us to strange new worlds and help us to seek out new life and new civilizations, and help us to boldly go where no one has gone before..Cheers!!" Jasmine said.

Emyri gestured for a quick refill and beamed at the bartender for his quick response. He flashed a grin that was just a bit unsettling at her and she smiled back. She listened to the toast, more or less a direct steal from the one that Zefram Cochrane had made all those years ago but a good one.

She thought of other groups, other moments, where glasses were raised on high and smiled. Sometimes it was water out of shared cup or small glasses of home made wine or, like now, sometimes it was just whatever everyone was drinking at the time. But the feeling was always the same; it swelled and grew within the hearts of those assembled. Community. Welcome.

"To the Crazy Horse," Emryi said. "To all who live and work within the shelter of her hull and most of all, to the journey."

"Here, here," ALvar said, raising his own glass.

A Post by:

Ensign Emryi Lau
Operations Officer
USS Crazy Horse

and

Lt. j.g. S'Lace
Chief Medical Officer
USS Crazy Horse

and

Lt j.g. Jasmine L. Langtree
Chief Science Officer
USS Crazy Horse

and

Ensign Romal Seshel
Assistant Chief Engineering Officer
USS Crazy Horse

and

Lieutenant (J.G.) Lae'Or Tahlin
Chief of Security/Tactical
USS Crazy Horse

and

Lt. Cmdr. Alvar Othran
Executive Officer
USS Crazy Horse

and

Ensign Noah LeBlanc
Chief Operations Officer
USS Crazy Horse