To New Beginnings... - Part 1

Posted on Tue Dec 19th, 2017 @ 1:07am by Lieutenant Temperance Zachary
Edited on on Tue Dec 19th, 2017 @ 1:12am

Mission: https://wellington.pegasusfleet.site/index.php/sim/missions/id/4
Location: Temperance's Quarters/Station Promenade Restaurant
Timeline: Current - After A Little Chivalry Never Hurt Anyone

ON:

Roberto couldn't help but be excited about this date. He knew they had just met - bumped into each other, literally - but he was definitely intrigued by her. She was beautiful. Dark hair and the most captivating blue eyes he had ever seen. He had changed out of his uniform, showered, and dressed casual. A white western-cut shirt, dark pants, and even a string tie which was something he almost never wore. This wasn't one of the girls from the fighter group he was going out with, this was a WOMAN - and he wanted everything to be just right.

Then, on his way to her quarters, he had stopped in the ship's arboretum and persuaded the botanist on duty to let him have a single red rose which he held in one hand as he reached her door and rang the chime.

Temperance stood in front of the mirror, staring at her reflection. Dressing up was not her strong suit, she was definitely not one of those girls who would spend hours primping and preening in front of a mirror. Now she stood in front of the full length mirror in her bedroom staring at her reflection in the mirror. Her dark hair, freshly washed, had been left to dry naturally and now fell in soft curls down past her shoulders. Her white off the shoulder top offered just the slightest glimpse of cleavage, mostly because of the gold chain she wore which nestled just there, and her jeans definitely showed off her curves, but she didn't see any of it, instead she found herself momentarily wishing she were tall, skinny and gorgeous like every other woman in the universe seemed to be. Adding just the slightest hint of lipstick, she grimaced and turned away from the mirror, sitting on the side of her bed long enough to pull her favourite boots onto her feet.

She heard the door chime and drew a deep breath, walking quickly out of her bedroom and drew a deep breath. "Well, here goes nothing!" she said quietly to herself.

As the doors parted, she sight of him leaning against the door frame with the single red rose in his hands brought a smile to her face. "Well now," she said as she smiled. "You sure do scrub up alright!"

"Why thank you kindly," he said, then gave a low whistle as he looked at her. If there had been any question in his mind before as to her being female, what she wore now removed all doubt. "You look absolutely stunning," he said as he brought the rose up and held it out to her. "And this is for you."

A hint of colour flushed her cheeks at his compliment as she accepted the rose, holding it up and inhaling the scent deeply. "Oh, it's beautiful... Roses have always been my favourite," she said with a smile. "But the scent on this one is absolutely divine! I'll just put it in some water before we go, is that ok?"

"Sure. I'm in no rush," he said as she turned and walked toward the replicator. As she walked away, he recalled what one of his room-mates at the Academy used to say as he sometimes watched a female walk away from him - 'I hate to see you go, but I sure like watching you walk away'. His roomie had been slapped several times for saying it and Roberto thought it best not to say it to Temperance - at least not yet, anyway.

Replicating a small vase, Temperance filled it with water and placed the rose gently inside, setting it on her table before stepping back to look at it once more, unable to stop herself from smiling. Finally, she spun around to face him. "Ok, I'm all yours, where shall we go?" she asked lightly.

"Where would you like to go? To the ship's lounge? Or perhaps to the station Promenade? I hear they have several nice places there," he answered. "Also it's said that the view from the Promenade upper level is excellent."

"That sounds lovely," she replied. "I spent a few hours on the station before I came to the ship, I never made it to the promenade though, the lure of chocolate was just far too strong." she laughed at herself. As they stepped out of her quarters, Temperance looked up at him and smiled. "Lead on, oh gallant protector," she said lightly.

He made a mental note of her love for chocolate as they started for the station. That was information that could be beneficial in the future. But for now, he would concentrate on the present. "What would you like to eat?" he asked as they walked.

"Oooohhh..." Temp sighed. "I must admit, I do love Italian... a nice well made pasta is another weakness of mine... but I am also just as happy to have anything you like. I kinda like good food in general, just in case you couldn't already tell," she laughed again as she patted her hips.

"I hadn't noticed," he said, trying to be diplomatic. He HAD noticed and thought she filled out her jeans very pleasingly - as she did in other places as well. Not that he was complaining because he wasn't. Just the opposite in fact. He liked a woman with curves.

Falling into step beside him, Temperance opted for small talk as they traveled. "So you have only been on the ship a short time, I know that much," she said. I think you said you were on the Pathfinder previously? What was that like?" she asked curiously.

"It was...different..." he said after a moment. The Pathfinder was a massive ship. Over 1,400 meters long with a crew of more than 5,000. She was the flagship of the 8th Fleet which meant that, besides the command staff, we also had an admiral and his staff aboard. All department heads were full commanders instead of lieutenant commanders as they are here on the Wellington. Pathfinder had amenities aboard her that you won't find on most Starfleet ships, such as a promenade area with shops and restaurants, an aquatics department with water tanks, and because of her sheer size, intra-ship beaming capabilities and a tram system for transportation. Hell, she even had a fully-staffed vet department for the pets of crew members and their families." He hoped he wasn't boring her with his description but the Pathfinder WAS an amazing ship. "Some of the people in the Wellington's fighter wing were also aboard the Pathfinder when I was there so being assigned here was rather like a reunion for me. So what was your life like aboard your previous posting? I believe you said it was the Caltabiano?"

"Sounds impressive," Temp replied, and meaning it. "Caltabiano? Well... it was nothing like that, that's for sure. It was a diplomatic ship and for privacy and security we ran a limited crew, so we had a total crew complement of around 60 people. Primarily we taxied diplomats and important people around, hosted talks and negotiations, it was pretty mundane really, we never saw anything resembling action or excitement, there was a Ferengi raiding party once when we were in the middle of a mission, but the other ships took care of it and we basically ran away to a pre designated safe location." She shrugged slightly. "It was mundane, that would be the best way I can think to describe it. But, to be honest, I kind of liked the peace and safety of it at the time. I went straight to the Caltabiano from the Academy."

She suddenly laughed, somewhat nervously. "I'm sorry, I'm probably boring you, I'll be quiet!" she said quickly.

"You're not boring me at all," he said. "I'm enjoying it actually. All I ever hear around the squad bay, from the guys anyway, is either what their latest scores in the sims are or who they're planning to..." he broke off as he realized she probably wasn't interested in fighter jock ready room talk. "Well, let's just say they like to brag - a LOT," he finished rather lamely.

Temp grimaced slightly. "I know what they like to brag about..." she let her voice trail off, leaving many comments unspoken.

"If you like Italian food, I've heard about one place on the promenade called 'A Taste of Tuscany' that's supposed to be really good. Are you game to try it?"

"That sounds wonderful! I've heard of that one as well, it is supposed to have true, hand made pasta and authentic recipes... not many places left like that now," she walked quietly for a moment before looking up at him. "I know you like flying old planes, but what made you decide to become a fighter pilot? Why not a starship flight officer or something else?"

"When I was a boy, my parents were in Starfleet. My dad was in security, my mom in OPS. And due to the whims of starfleet, we got moved around a lot," he began as he thought back. "I guess we were lucky in that they always kept my parents together on various ships and starbases, but sometimes that meant we were on some pretty small ships, and many times there weren't any other children for me to play with other than my siblings. If you have siblings, then you know that can become boring pretty quick. So I would read a lot, and one day when I was about nine years old, I read about this man in Earth's history named Yeager. Seems he had been a fighter pilot in some now-obscure war, then after that, he was a test pilot and later became the first human to ever fly faster than the speed of sound. After reading about some of his adventures I decided that being a fighter pilot was something I wanted to do." He looked at her for a moment as they walked, then continued. "I suppose I could have become a Flight Control Officer, but I thought why should I tie myself to a console on the bridge of a starship when I could be in the cockpit of some of Starfleet's hottest fighters and get out where the REAL action was. Now let me ask you - why did you go into Strat-OPS?"

"Honestly, there is no real reason... it just kind of happened. My uncle was a medical officer in Star Fleet, it was because of him I decided to go to the Academy with no idea what I wanted to do, near the end of my first year I kind of fell into Strat-OPS and realised I was actually good at it... and, well, here I am! No epic tales of childhood dreams being played out or anything else." She laughed. "My life really isn't all that interesting at all."

To be continued...

OFF:

Lieutenant Roberto "Stallion" del Palo
Flight Leader/Fighter Pilot
USS Wellington

Lieutenant Temperance Zachary
Chief Strategic Operations Officer
USS Wellington