Pop the Champagne (Part 3 of 6)

Posted on 06 Nov 2012 @ 4:41pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Lieutenant Commander Pola Ni Dhuinn M.D. & Lieutenant Commander Evelyn Coleman & Lieutenant Commander Dea Mialin & Lieutenant Theron Rhodes & Lieutenant Aria Rice & Lieutenant Kiri Cho & Commander Andreus Kohl & Commander Scarlet Blake & Lieutenant Commander Amynta Markos & Chief Warrant Officer 4 Cyrus Kiwosk & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn & Amril & Ensign Im'er Mor'an & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Arthur Willis & Petty Officer 1st Class Gabriel Stark & Crewman Athlen & Verity Thorne

2,658 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 02 - Resupply
Location: USS Galileo - Mess Hall
Timeline: MD 04 - 1100 hrs

Previously, on Pop the Champagne (Part 2)...

Silence hung in the air for several seconds until the young man came back with her water. Bowing her head and thanking him apologetically Kiri cupped it in both hands she she tried to focus her eyes on Rhodes, something that look longer than it should. Her voice wobbled a little more, "Do you think you will be changing your quarters now?" It was just about the only thing she could think of to ask.

'Ah, deflection' Theron realized. 'A tool of distraction'. "No. For now, I will continue to share quarters with Ens. Davis."

Quinn and Willis entered the Mess Hall, each with a bottle of Markum's private stash of home-brew beer and laughing, walking with an arm slung around the others neck. The two stopped next to a table and sat down, still continuing on about a mutual war story.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

Having picked up a second cup Cyrus was making his way through the increasingly crowded mess hall when he saw the most beautiful sight, a clear bottle, and two men laughing...it could only mean one thing...

Homemade happiness.

He made his way through the crowd until he was standing in front of the two gentlemen. "I couldn't help but notice your beer from across the room. I was hoping I could become acquainted with the fine gentlemen who procured said alcohol." He smirked. "Mind trading stories over a few?"

The two NCO's smiled and from a small bag attached to Willis' hip, produced a bottle and handed it over to Cyrus. "The old man here has this stuff stashed somewhere on the ship. He brought it from his Aunt's ranch in Idaho."

Quinn smiled and nodded. "Yup, that is the best damn home brew your lips will ever taste, Chief. Brewed from real fresh spring water and the best grown wheat in the Sol System. That recipe is over two-hundred years old."

Willis laughed, "He should know, he was there the day it was made for the first time."

Quinn looked at Willis and slapped him in the back of his head. "Damn kids these days. So, Chief, how's life going for you these days?"

Cyrus cracked open the bottle and put it to his lips, letting the liquid wash down his throat. "Damn, that is good stuff." He chuckled at the comraderie between the two NCO's and shrugged. "Same stuff I suppose, I'm the new guy on along with a few others. Call me Cyrus." He leaned back and smiled. " You two have to have stories...Always liked gathering around the old timer for story time. You sound like you've seen it all. " Cyrus took another sip.

Quinn took a long sip form his bottle then responded. "Yeah, after thirty-some years of Starfleet Service, I've seen more than most. I'm just lucky to of survived this long."

Cyrus nodded and held up his beer in a salute. "Here's to that. Thirty-some years eh? You really are the oldtimer here aren't ya.?" He chuckled. "What's the saying...with age comes wisdom?"

"And plenty of sore joints." added Quinn. "This reminds me of when I transferred into the SCE, back in Seventy. I was a Petty Officer Second-Class, waiting to get my first-class and I met an old engineer. Master Chief Ross. He was a grumpy bastard. Scared me to death. I asked him, 'how long have you been serving?' He turned to me and raised a a beer at me and said, 'Long enough to discover how much war hurts, but not long enough to ever get tired of sailing through the stars.'

"Words of wisdom to live by if I ever heard them." Cyrus said, chuckling. "My Marine CO was a bit like that. He was a Major when I went through. We had just finished a mission back he I asked him why he didn't get transferred to a base or something...He looked at me and he said that he wasn't ready to stop. " He leaned back and sighed. "It always made me wonder if anyone really knows when they had enough. It's hard to imagine getting bored of travelling the stars, you know?" He took a sip. "Damn this stuff is good. You said it's from Idaho? We never had beer this good in Victoria, not cheap anyways."

Smilling broadly, Quinn answered. "Yeah, it's homebrew. I won't sell it, I just share it with my friends. Drink-up, son. I have three crates full of this stuff still in storage."

Willis tapped Quinn on the shoulder, "Not three, two, old man. One crate was smashed to bits when we used the Device, thing.."

Quinn shook his head and raised his beer to his lips. "Well...shit. I told you to be sure to strap that down."

Willis laughed at Quinn. "You told me to get someone to strap it down, so I did." Willis looked to Cyrus. "The old man forgets things sometimes. Think it's time to retire him to the Smithsonian."

Kiwosk's eyes drifted over to where the Doctor had been standing talking to his vulcan friend from the other morning, before laughing loudly. He held up his hands. "Whoah now Willis, if we do that we don't get the beer. Let's not get hasty here!" He sighed and adjusted himself in the chair. "I have to say for a ship of many departments you all are very open to each other. I've only ever worked on a Galaxy class, and they have hundreds and hundreds of people, you don't even get to see half of them during your duty shift." He swirled the beer around before finishing the last of it, letting the amber liquid run into his throat. "It's a nice change, I suddenly understand the appeal of working small craft, you ever work off on larger ships? " He asked the two friends.

Quinn looked at Willis. "Well, Arthur, here is like the son I never wanted. We served together for the past seven years, and I knew him as a snot nosed brat before that. His parents and I were friends."

Willis shrugged his shoulders. "I can't get rid of him."

Quinn slapped him in he back of his head then returned his attention to Cyrus. "My first posting was on the USS Constellation, back in Fifty-Seven. Then in Sixty-One, I was transferred to the old USS Galaxy. I was on there for almost nine years. To be honest, I prefer the smaller ships."

Cyrus nodded, unable to help laughing with the two veterans. "I see what you mean. I thought it was something special to be on a large ship, but this seems a little more to my liking." He finished his drink with a satisfying smack. " Mister Quinn, you make a damn fine beer. Next time, the beer is on me." He made to stand up and extended his hand to both men. "I'll be seeing the two of you around I'd imagine." He finished.

Both men stood and accepted the hand in turn. "You bet." replied Quinn.

Amril approached Evelyn as the warrant officer left. "Good evening, Lieutenant," he offered with his ever-present smile.

Evelyn turned around and smiled as she saw Amril, "Good evening to you too, Lieutenant. Congratulations... or should it be more like welcome to the team?"

"However you prefer to say it, Lieutenant," Amril assured her. "In the Dominion, we do not have parties... but I recall the Cardassians enjoyed them on occasion."

Evelyn looked at Amril, "Well what about you? You enjoying yourself?" she asks.

"Oh, very much," the vorta replied, "I enjoy observing the social interactions of other species. They are truly fascinating."

Evelyn smiled, and understood what he meant. "You picked a perfect species to observe. Humanity has a very unique quality, something you'll pick up on eventually."

"They certainly are fascinating. Oh," he gestured to the refreshment table, "I believe I am supposed to offer you a drink if you do not have way. Isn't that right? Why don't we see what there is?"

She smirked, "Yes that is right." Evelyn replied following Amril to the refreshment table.

Fashionably late, James "Striker" Watt arrived. He hadn't bothered with a dress uniform, but he looked sharp enough in his black and gold all the same. Blue eyes scanning the room, he smiled to himself and turned, making his way towards the refreshments to pour himself something. He leaned over the table, grabbed a cup, and started sifting through the various drinks.

Lirha stepped into the mess hall with a casual stride, then stopped as she glanced around to briefly survey the situation. To her delight, many of the crew had decided to attend the formal function, and she already saw quite a few of them mingling together. She smiled to herself as she saw her crew enjoying their time together; Being an Orion, the captain enjoyed such types of social events, and saw this one as a great opportunity for the crew to blow off some steam after a stressful mission as well as get to know each other. Letting out a deep breath, she clasped her hands behind her back and slowly made her way through the crowd as she exchanged pleasantries with various enlisted personnel along the way.

The newly promoted Commander Holliday had been in no rush to make his way to the reception in the mess hall. Afterall, with the amount of repair work still to be completed on Galileo, his desk was once again swarming with work, and he knew full well that his time would probably be better served making up lost ground. Nevertheless, his Captain would have more than likely expected his presence, so John was less than surprised when he moved into the mess and found himself almost walking slap bang into the green Orion's back.

"Captain...I...didn't expect you'd be here so soon....I would have thought Command would have you tied to your desk completing paperwork for our recent promotions?"

Lirha turned at the sound of the familiar voice and looked up at her tall XO who was surprisingly close to her. "The paperwork can wait...right now, I want a drink and some food." she answered with a grin, then tucked her arm in between his. "Come." she added, and gently led him to the food and beverage table before releasing his arm. She quickly picked up a plate and shuffled several pieces of cheese and crackers onto it, then began to munch away happily. "Congratulations again on your promotion." she said to him with a full mouth and a muffled voice.

John was equally as quick to help himself to the various nibbles laid out in front of him. He hadn't eaten in several hours, and he was more than willing to follow the example of his crew and dive straight in.

"Thank you ma'am....I appreciate the faith you've shown in me....in fact...I have a favour to ask...if I may?"

The captain finished chewing and swallowed a large chunk of food. "A favor?" she asked curiously with a raised eyebrow. "...what can I do for you?"

John wasn't used to asking people to do things for him; usually if there was a problem, he would just deal with it, but this time there was protocol to obey.

"I'd like to take the Type 9 back to Sol for a few days...I have some...personal matters to attend to."

Lirha listened to his request as she filled up her plate again. She was starving and strangely, the more she ate, the hungrier she became. Taking another large bite of food, she turned back to him and nodded, then finished swallowing before she replied. "I think I can arrange that. When were you thinking of departing?" she asked.

"First thing tomorrow ma'am....I shouldn't be more than a couple of days, I'll be back long before Galileo is ready to depart Vega."

John was grateful that she had accepted his request without too many questions. Underneath the uniform, he was a private man who didn't enjoy having his personal concerns broadcast throughout Starfleet, even less so when it was a family matter.

"Of course if I'm needed here I can always reschedule?"

Setting down her plate and wiping her fingers on a nearby beverage napkin, the captain thought about the timing of John's request. She had no problem with him leaving the system especially since shore leave was about to begin, but preferred that he hold off until all final resupply arrangements had been made. "Our task group is scheduled to depart from orbit at around 0600 tomorrow...I'd like for you to stay with me on Galileo until that happens, just in case something unforeseen occurs." she answered. "After they have left and everything is in order, then you are free to depart at your leisure."

"Yes ma'am....understood. I'll make sure I file a flight plan before I leave. Wouldn't want to be clogging up Vega orbit if there's a starship waiting to get out."

Gabriel Stark smiled as he lowered the glass, looking into it with a content sigh. It was his what? Fourth? Fifth? Sixth? He'd lost count already, and he loved that. Especially with real alcohol. Real cocktails. He moved easily to catch up another one, this time an ominous green colour. He all but avoided the food. That would just dampen the flow of drink. Shame there wasn't a dance floor, but he wasn't sure if the crew were ready for his club moves yet anyway. Probably just as well. Still, they'd got through a difficult mission alive, it was worth a celebration.

Scarlet Blake watched the young man going through the drinks like it was going out of fashion. She smiled weakly. She could understand it. Still, she'd try and catch up with him at some point, for work. He needed a psych check up. She shook her head lightly to get work out of it as she looked around the room, smiling gently, but hanging back a little, happy to just sip her drink. It had been a long day. She was still smiling inwardly at the promotion. She was getting there, slowly, back to where she had been in the marines. Working hard to get back up the ladder. It was a tricky climb at times, but she'd keep going. One foot after the other.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

Cmdr Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Pola Ni Dhuinn
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Andreus Kohl
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Maenad Panne
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Theron Rhodes
Assistant Chief of Security
USS Galileo

Cadet Senior Grade Im'er Mor'an
Red Squad Intern
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Liyar
Diplomatic Officer, SDD/VDF
USS Galileo

Crewman Athlen
Sociologist, SCC
USS Galileo

LTJG Dea Mialin
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Kiri Cho
Asst. Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

LT Amril
Chief Operations Officer
USS Galileo

LT Evelyn Coleman
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Aria Rice
Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Scarlet Blake
Counselor
USS Galileo

LTJG Amynta Markos
Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo

CWO Cyrus Kiwosk
Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

MCPO Markum Quinn
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo

SCPO Arthur Willis
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo
NPC'd by Markum Quinn

PO2 Gabriel Stark
Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo
NPC'd by Scarlet Blake

PO2 Verity Thorne
Chaplain
USS Galileo
NPC'd by Scarlet Blake

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