A Drink (Or Two?) Before We Go?

Posted on Wed Dec 20th, 2017 @ 5:35pm by Lieutenant Temperance Zachary

Mission: https://wellington.pegasusfleet.site/index.php/sim/missions/id/4
Location: New Earth Station
Timeline: Earlier - Before Now.

Leaving the Caltabiano had been easier than Temp had expected. There were no emotional farewells, no tear filled hugs from friends, just a crooked smile from the transport officer, a bland offer of well wishes and the advice that her belongings, what few personal items she had gathered, would be waiting for her in the cargo bay to be transported to the shuttle that would collect her.

Now, she found herself sitting in the lounge, staring blankly at the darkness beyond the view port as she waited for her transport. Her hands were wrapped firmly around a mug filled with hot chocolate and on the table in front of her sat the remains of what had been an incredibly decadent slice of chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream and hot chocolate fudge sauce.

With the transport due any moment, she was starting to feel the nerves kicking in. She turned her gaze to the hot chocolate in her hands, idly wondering if she should consider flagging down a waiter and asking for a shot of whiskey to add a little dutch courage to her mug.

"Temperance, what sort of parents would name their daughter Temperance..." An officer with Lieutenants pips and a red jacket said mostly as she passed the table of the woman with the contemplative look and crumbs of cake, then continued on her way to the bar. She looked over at the bartender, who was looking rather busy with a large group of women all the way down at the end.

She sighed rather loudly, the hope of a morning shot at least temporarily dashed and turned around to look back at the patrons. She'd been told that this was where Temperance Zachary would be waiting for her, so she scanned the room, hoping the officer wouldn't be here until the bartender had gotten himself busy with his gaggle of girls.

Looking up at her name, Temperance felt herself bristle. "Unless your name is Jane I seriously doubt your parents were much better," she shot back, unable to help herself. It wasn't that she actually liked her name, especially after growing up in a village full of girls named Jane, Alice, Mary and Kate... Temperance stood out... but as an adult the name had started to grow on her. Besides, they were HER parents and it was HER name!

"Calypso..." Cally replied, eyes now on the woman in front of her, knowing now that the shot she'd wanted definitely wouldn't happen, Calypso Calliope Skie, so I'm Cally in two ways. So yeah, kindof a bit better. Brother named Raiden and a sister Athena, parents were on a Greek kick." She shrugged, "So I guess you're the one I'm picking up for a ride to the Welly?"

Temp groaned audibly. Well, so much for the dutch courage. "Yeah, I guess that would be me..." she glanced across at the bartender, trying to quickly gauge how busy he was likely to be. "So... you're gonna need some time to like, load cargo and stuff, right?" she asked, looking back toward Calypso once more.

That glance over to the bartender... Hope again blossomed, "Just here for you, to be honest. I was bored, so I grabbed the chance. But, if you aren't ready to go yet..." She took a breath, hope hope, hope, "I'll buy you a drink?"

There was a brief moment of understanding. Temp smiled. "Make it an irish whiskey, straight up," she replied easily. "Lieutenant Temperance Blythe Zachary, nice to meet you, Callie two ways."

The little image of herself in her head danced as she judged the bartender again, then hiked up her boobs, nothing spectacular there, and started waving as she stepped back, laughing, Hey!, over here!" The bartender finally deigned to notice the small officer, "Irish whiskey, straight up, for the lady here, and a Jack Daniels, neat, for me." He turned to get the alcohol and Cally grinned at Temperance, "You know, I think I like you!"

As the drinks were placed on the table in front of them, Temp grabbed the shot glass of Irish whiskey and poured it into her hot chocolate, swirling it slightly to mix it through. "So, what's the Wellington like?" she asked quietly, watching as the other woman made herself comfortable. "Anything I should know before I get aboard... you know, friend to friend?"

Calypso resisted the urge to down this shot and order three more, couldn't let the new girl think she was a drunk, "We've got a lot of newly promoted senior officers since most of the old ones got cremated in a shuttle explosion." She shrugged, sipping delicately at the drink, but only for moderation, "The new skipper seems better than the Cardassian spy we had, oh yeah, and we're going to be the Commodore's flagship, so no stressing on our appearances, eh?'

Temp paled visibly at the brief recount. "I think I'm gonna need another drink," she said quietly. "Well, that explains the extended stay on New Earth... I imagine that StarFleet Command will want to be having something to say about the goings on... that is, if there is anyone left alive to talk to..." She shook her head slightly. "I guess that answers my next question, no such thing as a quiet day at work huh?"

"Days and weeks of boredom, with minutes and hours of outright terror." Cally contradicted, "But the shuttle ride in will be fun. You like roller coasters?"

"Roller Coasters?" A look of confusion crossed Temperance's face. "What is a... oh... big round thing where you sit in the cage and it takes you round and round in circles? Yes?"

"No, not really, that's a boring old Ferris wheel.... or a carousel, or something like that... You sit in an um... basically an air car, and it goes really really fast, twists, turns, goes up, down, but typically really really fast." Cally grinned widely, "They are really fun!"

"Haven't ever been on one," Temp replied with a shrug. "My family weren't really big on that kind of stuff..." She looked around the room. A change of shift must have happened, most of the people who had been here when she came in, and many of those who had come since, had been replaced by new faces, some looking weary from a long shift, though there were a few faces who had remained, secreted in a corner, speaking in hushed tones between glancing around. Temperance shook her head slightly. If only these people realised how obvious they were being with there attempts to be covert.

"How about one more drink?" she asked, "My shout."

"Sure!" Hailey tossed down the last bit of her shot, "And trust me, I won't be flying impaired. Been there, done that, have two or three reprimands for it."

Temperance shrugged slightly as she flagged down the bar tender, ordering another round. "So, is there a roller coaster on the ship?" Temperance asked, referencing Callie's earlier question. "Or do you mean in the holodeck?"

As their drinks were delivered to the table, Temp pushed the near empty mug of hot chocolate away and cradled the glass of irish whiskey in her hands, sipping at it tentatively.

"Nope, not on the ship, on the way TO the ship. After God only knows how many combat drops I've flown in an assault shuttle, these little dinky shuttles are like sports cars. No need for the armor, the redundant systems, so why not have fun with it? And while no, I'm not a fighter pilot, got kicked out of fighter training after crashing my second ship, I do love to fly and am rather good at it." Cally downed half the shot, still conserving the alcohol.

"I will have to take your word for it," Temp said with a laugh. "Flight control skills are far from my strong point. Actually, lots of things aren't my strong point..." She looked at the whiskey in her hand, holding it up to the light, watching the way the colour moved through the golden liquid. "What do you think the chances are of this being real alcohol?" she queried quietly. "Oh well, Salut!" She held the glass toward Callie then downed it quickly.

"Oh, it's probably real, just not what it's claiming to be." Cally tossed off the last of hers, "The closest this is to real Jack Daniels is that the bottle says it. But it has the actual alcohol to it and to a degree, that's what really matters." She glanced at the bartender, "But if you REALLY want something that'll put hair on your chest, I can hook you up."

Temperance raised one eyebrow slightly. "This would seem to be a good time to say that I'm really not much of a drinker, hot chocolate is my standard fare. I just figured a shot of good old dutch courage would go down a treat, you know, given what I'm about to walk in on and all... but we probably should get this show on the road, I imagine that you will be needed back on the Wellington with all that has happened."

"Meh, all we're doing is floating along and working on repairs and getting the new senior officers acclimated." Calypso waved it off, then leaned in conspiratorially, "I'm the new Chief of Flight Ops, by the way, I get to fly the ship."

"You?" Temperance asked with mock surprise. "You will be the one flying the actual ship? Is it too late to ask for reassignment?" she grinned, the sparkle in her eyes and the tone of her voice left it clear she was just teasing.

"No refunds on this limousine ride, it's already been paid up in full." Cally's eyes gleamed back, "But I'll tell you what, I'll be nice this one time and if you really, really want me to, I'll behave on the flight back to the ship."

"Give my your worst, Cally two ways, I'm sure you can't do any harm," Temp replied easily. "Shall we get this show on the road? There's just a few things I need to collect from the Cargo bay, then my life is in your hands!"

Cally considered another drink, glancing at the bartender, "I'll meet you at landing bay fourteen, then? About ten minutes, right?"

"Sure, I'll see you then." Setting her glass down, Temperance stood up, cast one last glance at Cally and then turned on her heel and headed for the door. Something told her that this was going to be one very interesting experience indeed.

OFF:

Lieutenant Calypso Skyie
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Wellington

Lieutenant Temperance Zachary
Chief Strategic Operations Officer
USS Wellington