Hands Full with a Handfull (Part 1 of 6)

Posted on 17 Oct 2023 @ 2:16pm by Commander Morgan Tarin & Ensign Tora Zalos & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius & Ensign Mimi & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Oliver Sylver & Chief Petty Officer Afthinam Naime & Petty Officer 1st Class Gabriel Stark & Petty Officer 1st Class Ember Locksley & Petty Officer 2nd Class Donald Andrews & Petty Officer 3rd Class John Hollenday & Petty Officer 3rd Class Constantin Vansen & Nesh Saalm & Laeon Wylde & Verity Thorne

2,829 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: Regula I - Level 16, Mess Hall 1
Timeline: MD 18, 1655 hrs

[ON]

The evening hours aboard Starbase Regula I were often mundane and monotonous. Not because its small compliment of Starfleet personnel and civilian scientists preferred it to be that way, but rather because...well, life aboard a small research station just wasn't extremely exciting. Daily routines varied little from day to day and the nature of the static starbase's existence demanded long and productive days from each researcher and crew member. Occasionally, however, Regula I temporarily became home to visitors from various Federation starships or merchant vessels. And sometimes, like now, even Klingon warriors.

Only two starships were currently soft-docked with the station: the Nova-class USS Galileo, and the Klingon D8-class battlecruiser IKS Praxis. Crews from both vessels had utilized Regula I for a combination of rest, recreation, repair and resupply over the past few days which had the unfortunate effect of inundating the small station with many more personnel than it was truly capable of handling. The result had been organized chaos; a ballet of sorts where the starbase's compliment jockeyed for mess hall access, corridor space, cargo bay priority, lab time and transporter access alongside their distinguished 'guests'.

Many of Regula I's personnel were feeling worn out yet a respite was on the near horizon. This was the final evening before the Klingons departed and resumed whatever journey to Sto'vo'kor they were pursuing, and it was also Galileo's final evening before her systems test the following morning. What better way to celebrate both of their forthcoming departures than dual crew feasts hosted in Mess Hall One and Mess Hall Two, respectively. Commander Tarin hadn't been aware of Commander Kuran's similar plans when she'd organized the function for Galileo's crew, and most likely neither had the Klingon captain. Yet here they were at 1700 hours in separate dining facilities across the hall from each other with their respective fresh cuisines and alcoholic beverages being prepared for serving.

Inside Mess Hall One, a robust row of silver dining chafers was neatly arranged across several serving tables while a small tower of exotic alcoholic beverages and non-alcoholic drinks were present at the end of the row. The wafting scent of fresh cuisine permeated the room while the large wall-mounted LCARS display showed recent news reels from the Federation News Network.

Though their relationship wasn't entirely secret to everyone on the ship Mimi still decided it was better to enter the mess hall by herself, she was dressed casually and had decided it was time to wear the engagement ring he had given her. "Something smells very nice." She said when she saw Nesh scurrying around the tables.

A large dark-skinned conn officer passed by the shorter Nekomi when he entered the mess hall with his science friend in tow. "Almost like my mom's cooking. Are there cheesesteaks?" remarked Lamar Darius to the Operations ensign. He wore a civilian short-sleeved grey and white T-collared shirt with black pants, and had recently shaved off his goatee which now made him appear much more youthful.

Tora hadn't expected to find two parties going on at the same time - but now that there was an opportunity to get to know more people she was more than happy to mingle. She'd come in a curve-hugging white dress and heels, suitable for a semi-casual party, and put on just a little bit of makeup. The Klingon party certainly seemed interesting, but for now she had her own crew to mingle with. She filled a plate and melted into the crowd, chatting away effortlessly.

"Hi..." Verity had waited for a lull in her easy talk before interjecting, smiling warmly as he offered a hand across. "I don't think we've met yet? I'm Verity Thorne, the ship's Chaplain."

Tora smiled and shook the human's hand. "Tora Zalos, science officer. I actually didn't know ships needed chaplains. I've always thought religious matters and so on were just handled by the ship's crew." She admitted sheepishly.

"Not all ships have them, every crew compliment differs slightly across the fleet," Verity explained with a good natured smile. "And of course, every crew member is different. Some talk to me about religious or spiritual matters, some just like to chat to a friend," he assured, shaking his head lightly. "No pressure either way."

"Like a de facto counsellor." She deduced with a smile. "I know how you feel, sir. Let's just say I used to have to do that for people too, before coming to Starfleet. It was fun... kind of."

"Verity..." Oliver smiled as he spotted him, his eyes shining with warmth. He had been a bit late to this, his own fault for wanting to check some reports on traffic in the area. He moved closer to him, gently taking his hand. "You look beautiful." He looked at the Cardassian, with some surprise...it was not a face he really expected to see, a female Cardassian. It was an instinct to tense up, but he fought it. "I'm Oliver..."

Verity gave Oliver's hand a gentle and reassuring squeeze, smiling softly to him. "This is Tora Zalos, she's joining us as a Science Officer. And has arrived just at the right time to enjoy the leaving party," he added with a slight chuckle.

It wasn't hard to deduce the relationship between the two men. Tora smiled sweetly at the other. "It's nice to meet you too, Oliver. What do you do on board?"

"I'm a pilot," he said, giving a small nod to Tora. "Sometimes I fly the ship, other times the shuttles. You'll be reassured I have a very low ratio of controlled crashes..." he said the last with a quick smile, relaxing at feeling Verity close. He held his hand, keeping a gentle grip on it.

Verity chuckled softly at the modest joking from Oliver, patting his chest softly. "Ignore him, he's kept the ship in one piece through more than one adventure," he assured with a playful roll of his eyes. "It's great to meet you, Tora, be sure to drop by my office sometime," he nodded warmly to her before leading Oliver away to the drinks. "How are you doing?" he asked him with a warm smile, his arm wrapped around his back to walk close to him.

"Missed you. You look amazing," Oliver said with a smile, leaning closer to him. He had missed him getting ready as he was doing some checks for the Galileo's shuttles. "Sorry I am late. Clearly I am lost when I don't have you around to remind me of the time."

"I've learnt not to bother trying to interfere when you're with your birds," Verity teased, but watched him fondly all the same as he reached for one of the glasses that held something more like a purple liquid. "It's okay, I know what your priorities are..." he gave a mock sigh, shaking his head with a grin.

"Stop it," Oliver laughed and leant to steal a kiss, quickly, his eyes shining. He took a drink, watching him with love. "You know you're my soul, Verity Thorne, don't pretend you haven't realised..."

"That's a pretty hefty responsibility," Verity teased, shaking his head with a soft smile, tapping his glass to his. "But I think I'm up to the challenge..."

"I am going to drink this place to the ground!" Gabriel Stark declared to no one in particular as he moved in with his arms held wide open. He wore leather trousers with a silk dark red shirt, his eyes lined with black kohl and his fingernails painted silver. He looked ready for a live music show rather than a small station get together...and he was clearly ready to burn the house down. He stopped when he glanced around, his hands lifting higher in a 'what the...?' motion. "Nesh!" he pointed at the news reels playing. "Less news, more music!"

Nesh, carrying a large tray of Hasperat, smiled as she looked at him. "Well, Stark, you don't like what's being shown, you change it. Put on some music! I got my hands full!" she put the food down on the large table, surveying the food she had put out so far. There were small bowls kept heated with Fettran risotto, a large covered trat of Uttaberry crepes, plates of Pok tar, a large spekkoek with pandan, plokkfiskur, Scotch eggs, dressed eggs and various snacks from the universe. She had also secured a bottle of Yamok sauce, for those who might be a bit more adventurous. Everything messy was in a bowl being kept warm for people to take, but the main theme was that this was buffet style so people could help themselves.

"If you want a job done properly..." Gabriel muttered to himself, but only with mock grumpiness. He kept the news reels going on silent with subtitles, but got some music going over the speakers. He judged the group to be about four drinks away from serious beats, so kept it easier and lighter. For the moment at least. With that sorted out, he went in search of alcohol. Rum. Cold.

In the months following Latari Chief Naime hadn't exactly put much thought into clothes. She'd lost all her personal belongings in the battle, including anything resembling partywear, and for some reason or other she had avoided replicating anything new. She deliberately hadn't been thinking about it and had managed that quite well until right now standing at the entrance to a room filled with people who were noticeably not still wearing their work overalls. There was a kernel of anxiety forming in her normally unflappable soul. Her eyes darted across the room looking for Ember or maybe Hel, someone she could just be around.

There! Next to some remarkable looking food that Naime had no idea of the name of. The engineer half bounded off as soon as she identified a friendly face. "Ember!" The two of them shared quarters, a wonderful bunch of memories of Trial but right now the only thing Naime wanted to share was some company and a drink, it wouldn't have been the first time. "What are you having? Let me grab you a drink."

"Naime...!" Ember smiled warmly as she reached her hand out on Naime's approach, her fingers motioning in a 'come hither' motion. When she was close enough, she wrapped an arm around her shoulders to give her a warm squeeze. "About time...I was trying to work out what the blue stuff is. I still have no idea, but I think I'll try it anyway..."

Laeon blinked from behind the drinks table, giving an awkward half shrug and even lifting a hand with it. "Don't look at me...I'm just pouring the drinks," he was already pouring them two martini glasses worth of a blue concoction. He'd taken Nesh's advice; if in doubt, mix stuff until it turned blue.

"You know that is exactly why I am looking at you." The anxieties Naime had had started to melt away. Maybe she wasn't a party animal but a strange blue drinks of unknown origin shared with friends was much more her speed. "You know my dad always said, 'Naime, you never drink anything blue, that's not a natural colour.' But I feel I could do with an unnatural colour right now." She took the glass and with a grin to Ember raised it in possibly the one Earth tradition she actually liked "Here's to unnatural colours."

Ember laughed softly, tapping her glass carefully to hers before sipping it. She blinked and smacked her lips together before chuckling. "Wow..." she said hoarsely. "Yep, that'll just about do it..."

Taking some of her own drink Naime's eyes widened, this was not quite what she had expected, and definitely not in an unpleasant way but rather in a way that had her going back straight away. "And so the night begins."

Dressed somewhat garishly Donald entered the mess hall along with John, there was only one thing on his mind; a well deserved pint after all the hard work he and the other engineers had done. "Looks like a good selection of alcohol." He told John as they made their way through the room. "What do you think, start at one end and work our way to the other?"

"Go ahead, a beer is enough for me. Shit, think to stay just long enough and then get some shut-eye. That captain will probably want us doing calisthenics in the morning just to get her jollies."

"Suit yourself, hey maybe while everyone is here you and Mimi can go and get it on somewhere on the ship.... Captains chair maybe?" Donald said with a hearty laugh.

"Nah. While interesting, I think best now that she's official that toe the line a little. It's not lookin' promising that we'll get a base one, so going to have to talk her about officiating on the ship and miss all strict and mighty probably get her panties in a twist over enlisted and officer."

"I already warned you about that, you'll probably wind up in the brig or shipped off to the next Starfleet ship we find." Donald said as he picked up a pair of beers and handed one to John. "Here's to some good luck for both of you."

"Yeah, thanks. Well done is done, and I'll quit if I have to. Maybe Frost got something here for an engineer."

Vansen looked around as he entered, his eyes wide at the people already there. He had opted for off-duty clothes, in this case a sleeveless tunic and dark trousers, with boots. The tunic was a light green, with small embroideries along the collar. His longish hair hang free and he took a moment just to take in the atmosphere before he walked in properly.

"Connie!" Gabriel spotted him half a room away, grinning as he made his way to him. He caught up two fresh glasses on his way over, executing an elegant heel turn to avoid colliding with a crewmember. "Hey..." he leant in to kiss his cheek as he neatly pressed the glass into his hand.

Constantin smiled as he took the glass, taking a quick sip. "You look amazing," he whispered, leaning to kiss his cheek in return. "And this tastes...wow. Floral? Tropical? Nice."

"Strong. It tastes strong, the way it should be," Gabriel teased with a grin, slipping his arm around the back of his waist to guide him further in towards the food. "I don't know about you, but I'm going to make the most of every mouthful..."

Constantin looked at him, studying him for a long moment. "And every second of being able to let go," he whispered and wrapped an arm around him as well, to keep him close.

"Did you manage to get the Gally all ship shape and Bristol fashion on time?" Gabriel asked with a soft chuckle, but with only a hint of humour. He didn't want him think he was making fun...he'd felt for those who'd been forced to stay on and fix the ship.

"Oh she's steady now," Constantin said with a quick smile, nodding. "But I am seriously ready to relax a bit. And maybe even have naps. Many naps." He took another sip of his drink, his eyes on him. "You got to be feeling the same way, seeing as you were a one-man department for ages."

"You're right there," Gabriel admitted easily, his arm draped comfortably around Constantin as they strolled through the throng of revellers. "But I haven't been running around fixing a ship up since arriving here. What say we stick around here for maybe half an hour then slip off earlier for a very long night?"

Constantin smiled, his eyes shining at the prospect. He nodded, leaning into it. "That, to me, sounds like a most excellent plan," he admitted before he kissed his cheek and laughed.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

ENS Mimi
Deputy Operations Manager
USS Galileo-A

CWO3 Lamar Darius
Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Tarin]

CWO2 Oliver Sylver
Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Rice]

Verity Thorne
Chaplain
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Blake]

Nesh Saalm
Sous Chef
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Rice]

PO1 Gabriel Stark
Security Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Blake]

CPO Afthinam Naime
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Ullswater]

PO1 Ember Locksley
Medical Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Blake]

Laeon Wylde
Crew Family
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Blake]

PO2 Donald Andrews
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Mimi]

PO3 John Hollenday
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Warraquim]

PO3 Constantin Vansen
Operations Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Rice]

ENS Tora Zalos
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

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