Dinner with the Prosecution (Part 1)

Posted on 11/12/2020 @ 6:20pm by Captain Cian D'Anvers
Edited on on 11/20/2020 @ 5:18pm

Mission: S3E1: Time of Change
Location: The Earle
Timeline: Day 79 at 1745

Back from the funeral, Cian waited for the Starfleet logo to disappear and the Commander's visage to appear on screen. He'd been living on coffee for what felt like days and he couldn't honestly remember the last time, he'd eaten or even wanted to eat. Whatever came next, he found that he was happy there would be food involved.

Alex left a note for her on again off again boyfriend at her quarters. The note told him that Alex might be out late because she was working on a case and not to expect her in any time soon. Having completed that task, she rang Cian and asked, "How are you feeling? Are you ready for something to eat?"

"Yes, indeed," Cian said and as he said it, realized it was true. Biological necessity reasserting itself even in the midst of everything that was going on. "Where did you want to meet?"

Alex considered Cian's question. She needed to think of a place that Cian would feel comfortable but that would be private enough that they could discuss the case. Of course, there was the matter of the budget, as well.... Pulling a standard attorney trick, she answered a question with a question. "Do you have a preference for a type of meal?"

"Honestly, no, but I can tell you what I told our chef when she asked," Cian said. "Nothing that moves under its own power," he said. "Since then, we seem to be moving through Earth cuisines. French was good. So was Spanish, Jamaican, Chinese, Arabic and Japanese. Any of this helping?"

Alex laughed lightly. "Well, sounds like you're missing Italian and French." She made an audible sound of thought. "I know just the place. It is called the Earle. It is a fusion of the two. At least we shall have some very good wines. What do you think?"

"Perfect," he said. He had already changed out of his dress uniform and back into the standard, every day one. "I look forward to the experience. See you in a few minutes?"

"I look forward to it, Captain." Alex got off the line and quickly set up reservations at the Earle. The restaurant was not often busy and it was going to stretch her budget, but she felt that it was well worth it to put this dangerous criminal away forever. Before walking to a transporter, she checked herself in a mirror. Everything was in place. Her bronze hair hung in practiced casualness. Her smile was broad and toothy. Dark red lipstick graced her lips. She wore a black jacket over a white blouse and some black trousers.

She admired herself in her mirror. She might not be young anymore but she certainly did not look bad. Perhaps one day marriage and children might be in her future, but she either needed her boyfriend to shape up or she needed someone to miraculous come out of the blue. Either way, her mother would probably disapprove. At least with her prosecutorial work, she knew that there could be no way that her mother would be disappointed. The guilty were convicted and she was not about to lose this case.

Alex walked over to the transporter and found herself beamed in front of The Earle. The building was brick on the outside. A canopy and a plain black sign with gold lettering announced the restaurant in an unpretentious manner. She walked into the building, which was dark. The lighting was mostly small oil lamps that sat on each table and gave the restaurant a cozy and sometimes romantic feel. Would the Captain misread her intentions? She doubted so. After all, he had just come from a funeral.

Checking in with the hostess, a skinny woman in her twenties that had short dark brown hair, Alex asked, "Has Captain D'Anvers checked in yet, or have I beaten him here?"

The hostess responded, "He has not yet arrived. Would you like me to seat you and escort him in or would you like to wait here for him?"

"I will wait," Alex responded, wondering why she did not just take the table.

The best part of the crew being on shore leave in the Sol system was the fact that ship business slowed considerably which meant that Cian was able to arrive on time. Dressed in uniform, he beamed down from the Crazy Horse with a minute or two to spare and found Alex waiting for him. As the prosecutor assigned to Syndel's case, he was obligated to provide her with whatever he knew; as Syndel's former commanding officer, it had taken him most of the trip back to sort through the tangle of feelings that came with having a member of your senior staff execute someone in a fit of temper. Who did that? Serial killers possibly or third world dictators.

"Commander," he said as he walked up to her. He had about seven inches on her in height and made sure to stand back enough so that he didn't appear to be looming over her. Apparently, from Leonie's early instructions, that was a thing. Looming. His smile was genuine and lit his changeable eyes with pleasure. "Hope I didn't keep you waiting."

"Not at all, Captain," Alex told Cian with a smile. Why is he standing back? Do I intimidate him? Is he uncomfortable? Alex analyzed.

The hostess noting that Alex's guest had arrived said, "If you would both follow me, please?" Without waiting, and expecting to be followed, she led the two to a cozy semi circular booth in a slightly darker area of the restaurant. She placed menus on the table, both towards the center of the semicircle. From what both Cian and Alex could tell, the restaurant did not have many patrons at this hour. The hostess allowed them to sit down as they chose and stated before leaving, "A waitress will be with you shortly. I will bring some water to the table shortly." With that, she excused herself, leaving Alex and the Captain to their own devices.

Alex sat shortly after the hostess allowed them to do so. "Captain, would you mind dropping titles for the night? I don't wish this to be an overly formal meeting. We could do that anywhere and at any time. I thought you might wish to enjoy yourself after all you have endured."

"Sounds good. I'm the captain so much of the time that's it an honest relief to be just Cian now and again," he said as he pulled one of the menus closer.

"I'm Alex. Parents did not even have the sense to name me Alexandra," she replied with a short laugh. "Just Alex. And, I know what you mean. Sometimes, it is hard not to become the job."

"Yes, it is," he said, punctuating the statement with a brief nod of his head. He looked the menu over and came up with a couple of interesting choices, finally settling on the blistered tomato, asparagus, fennel, spinach, champagne lobster nage with gemelli pasta. He was pleased that owing to the Chef's adventurous meal choices, he actually understood what all of it was. Well, except for the Gemelli part. While he looked, someone filled their water glasses and departed with the smooth, unobtrusive manner that was the hallmark of a good restaurant. When he realized he'd prioritized food over conversation, he picked up the thread he'd dropped. "Its my nature to get involved and I've always had a hard time putting the work aside. Only gotten worse as I've moved up in rank. Interesting though, actually getting to choose what I eat for a change."

"I get that pleasure a bit more often," Alex confessed. "It is difficult to be limited when one is on the go, meeting with people and interviewing witnesses." Alex scolded herself lightly. "It is too early to get into business. I am sorry, Cian. Please forgive me." Alex looked intently at the menu and decided that she would get the salmon in a puffed pastry. According to the menu, the salmon was rubbed with a dijon mustard in a puff pastry with a mushroom duxelle and served with a tarragon cream sauce. "So, tell me about Cian, the person."

"Always found that a difficult question to answer," Cian said. He sat with one hand looped around the base of the water glass, a habit he'd picked up as a boy and never shaken, and cocked his head to one side. "I'm a disaster in the kitchen though I appreciate a good meal. People tend to shove coffee at me when I first wake up, good idea if they want, you know, a verbal response that's more than a grunt. And I once spent the night in a haunted house on a dare."

"I have a similar mentality regarding morning routine. I need at least a strong cup of coffee in the morning to get the cognitive functions moving. As to the house, was it haunted?" Alex asked interested. "Or were you disappointed and walked out the next day with no other worldly experiences?"

"Great atmosphere and all," Cian said as he lifted his water glass. "They left me with a pack of matches and a sleeping bag." He took a sip, smiling around the water glass, as the memories of that night returned. "Found some wood and started a fire in the fireplace. Lots of noises and some truly impressive spiders but sadly, no ghosts. Fun though. I'd do it again."

"Seems like so much of life.... All the anticipation and then when you get there, things are not as great as you would hope them to be." She shrugged lightly. "The only things that seem truly magnificent are those that are larger than us: nature, the ocean, forests, space.... And yet, despite these things enduring, we believe ourselves to be superior and able to control it all. Yet, we do not. It survives us, regardless of what we do. It is a marvel, really."

"Well, a haunted house is an experience. Just being there, investigating it, that was fun. I didn't go into it with any expectations so, I wasn't disappointed though I think the guys who dared me were ... disappointed, I mean," Cian said with a glint in his eye. He'd enjoyed their disappointment too. "But I think I understand what you're saying. I'm an explorer at heart. Its almost a cliché, I know, but I love being out there. The universe impresses the hell out of me."

"Exploration was not in my cards," Alex admitted. "Being an only child, I don't think that my mother would have approved. It could potentially end the line and all that. Of course, still not married and still no kids but I probably have a few more years left to sort that out. I'm only 42." She shrugged. "It has not been a priority. Though, why I'm telling you that, I have no idea."

"My parents died when I was still a child so, that's never been an issue," Cian said. "But if they were alive, I would tell them the same thing I'm going to tell you. It's your life and your decisions. It's not up to your parents to make those choices for you because at the end of the day, you're the one that has to live with them."

"Easier said than done," Alex replied, her head lowering slightly. Quickly, she changed the subject. "So what is it like out there? What have you seen? Found anything new?"

"Investigative work recently," Cian said. He paused when the waitress returned to take their orders and pointed out his choice on the menu wishing there was some abbreviated way of ordering the blasted thing. "Blistered tomato, asparagus, fennel, spinach, champagne lobster nage with gemelli pasta."

"I'll have the salmon in a puffed pastry," Alex told the waitress, wishing she would go away more quickly.

"Do either of you want some wine? A white would go extremely well with both of your meals," the waitress told them.

Hurriedly, Alex responded, "A pinot noir or whatever you suggest."

"A Gruner Veltliner, then?"

Slightly annoyed, Alex said, "That would be fine for me. Cian?"

"I'll have the same," Cian answered.

"Would you care for an appetizer, ma'am," the waitress asked. She was slender with a mop of curly red hair pulled up into the semblance of a neat bun, artfully arranged so that tendrils escaped confinement and framed her heart-shaped face. At the age of nineteen, she'd been working long enough to know that you did what you could to increase the amount of the check.

Alex knew that the waitress was doing her job but she wanted to hear Cian's story. She retained her calm and said, "How about the risotto croquettes?"

The waitress made a note on her pad and turned toward Cian. "And you, Sir?"

"That will be fine," he said as he took another sip of water and set the glass down in almost exactly the same place.

She turned back toward Alex and asked, "would you like the wine now or with dinner?"

To be Continued

A Post by:

Captain Cian D'Anvers
Commanding Officer
USS Crazy Horse

and

Lt. Commander Alex Rahmer
JAG, Attorney for the Prosecution