A meeting over lunch

Posted on Friday 15 July 2022 @ 08:50 by Civilian Sansa Draxx-Jones

Mission: Revelations
Location: Ten Forward, USS Pegasus
Timeline: MD1
1964 words - 3.9 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

The Briar Patch could be seen out of the forward windows providing a rather spectacular backdrop as Sansa and Hamish entered. Sansa was feeling slightly better but was still not a hundred percent and felt that going out and seeing other people might help, not that she was getting bored of Hamish's compnay. She knew they would be arriving at Deep Space 21 soon and was also looking forward to some shore leave on the Ba'Ku planet with Hamish, Mom and dad, and the new twins.

She picked out a table near the windows for them so they could enjoy the view.

It seemed that everyone from the Merlin wanted to meet the new guy. Pete just wished it were more single ladies and fewer families. 'Get to know the people you are flying...' the famous words of Tom "Viper" Malone, Pete's Top Gun instructor rang in his head. So he accepted every offer graciously whether he actually wanted to go or not. It was no different when the Merlin's Chief Science Officer offered to come to lunch. Pete walked into Ten Forward and ordered a whiskey sour. He took a moment to survey the room looking for Hamish. Since he did not find him Pete kept his eyes peeled for ladies.

Hamish had wandered over to get a drink for both himself and Sansa, and noticed someone at the bar with a wandering eye. Delivering the drinks to Sansa, Hamish pulled out his PaDD to get an image of Lieutenant Mitchell. Well now, it was the man who was seated at the bar. Several women passed by one came to linger where he was at.

"Looks like our lunch partner has arrived." he remarked to Sansa.

Sansa looked over and saw Pete looking around and waved him over. She gave him sweet smile. "Hi there. You must be the new flight officer for the Merlin. I'm Sansa and this is Hamish."

"Afternoon Sansa. Lieutenant. What can I do ya for?" Pete said with a smile as he watched a redhead wearing a teal uniform walk out of Ten Forward. "There does not seem to be much for a pilot to do while the ship gets fixed up."

"We were just going to have some lunch. You're welcome to join us." Sansa said, noting his gaze as he watched one of the medical staff leaving. "You have an eye for the ladies or are you looking for one in particular?" She asked with a wry smile.

She is cute, if not young... Pete thought as he stood up from his barstool. "An eye for the ladies as you say. Goose says I should find someone and settle down. Getting a permanent posting to a ship is the perfect time to do that according to him. So I thought I would take a look and see what kind of fish are in this sea. But some lunch would be a welcome break. It seems that I joined the Merlin at just the right time." Pete said as he sat at the table with Sansa and Hamish.

His response caused Sansa to laugh. "The Merlin is a big ship you know, Who knows, you might even find someone you want to settle down with. I did."
She glanced at Hamish and slipped her hand into his.

"My Mom is a good pilot, I'm sure you'll get on just fine with her but she is married so I wouldn't get any ideas." she quipped.

Hamish smiled at Sansa as she took his hand, then he turned his gaze to Pete, there are a few ladies on the ship. You never know if you find any that will strike your interest. My interest ended up catching me off guard." a warm chuckle as he gave Sansa's hand a squeeze. "Anyhow, from what I am hearing from my cousin, you're the new Chief Helmsman?"

"Yes, and the Commander of the Air group more commonly known as the CAG..." Pete's voice trailed off as he pondered the casual drop of familial relations. "May I ask who you mother is? If she is a pilot then I suspect I will be working with her. Who is your cousin?" He asked his companions in turn. He smelled a set up and he did not like it. There was definitely a reason for the invite.

Sansa answered first. "My Mother is Melody Jones."

Pete almost did a spit take but he managed to gulp his drink down at the last minute. "You are the Captain's daughter... Why didn't you say something earlier? Not that I would have treated you any different, just would have liked to know is all." I bet she does this to all the new crew to make them squirm. Well just because her mother is in charge does not mean that she gets special treatment from me. Pete thought as he concealed his thoughts with a smile.

Now Hamish wasn't one to set someone up, so he had no idea of Pete's suspicions. "Yeah my cousin is Lt. Commander Mathias McPhee. Sometimes a pain in my side." giving a lazy smile, "Wait.. don't quote me on that." A look of consternation appeared. "Gosh can't believe he's the new XO. Which I wonder if I am going to have to salute him when I talk to him." he mused aloud.

Right so I am sitting at the table with relatives of the number one and number two people on the new ship I am assigned to. I am sure this will go well. Pete thought. "I don't think you will have to salute, Starfleet hasn't saluted in time immemorial. You will just have to show them a tad more respect I wager...." Pete sipped his drink in an effort to segue and change the subject. "It seems that they will have the Merlin up and running in no time. We will have an entirely new set of fighters as well." The last part of his statement was filled with a small amount of excitement.

Quite happy to go away from the subject of his cousin, Hamish responded, "With us being at DS21, what do you plan on doing with your shore leave besides checking out the fighters and such. Are you going to be taking some time to explore that station?"

"I think I may take a stroll or two around the station. But, these repairs will allow me to supervise the installation of a custom helm interface on the bridge. Just a unique way that I like to fly. It will allow me to convert the normal helm control to a flight stick akin to what was used in fighter jets in the 21st century. I feel it gives me more control of the ship and allows myself and the ship to function as one. It is the same interface I use in my fighters. That is something that I am looking forward to working on. But other than that I do not have any exciting plans. How about yourselves? I would imagine the Captain has some fun family time planned." Pete addressed the last part to Sansa. He sipped his drink, there was a tone of cockiness to his voice as he spoke. However, it was tempered with a good amount of excitement. The feeling that this was the start of something new for him was on full display.

"Mom has invited us to spend some time with her, Draxx and the new twins on Ba'Ku. I've always wanted to visit there." Sansa replied, then added "And to answer your earlier question, you hadn't asked about my mom until then, so I hadn't brought it up. While I have to admit, being the Captain's daughter does have its advantages, It's not what defines me." She paused and chuckled to herself "You should have seen Hamish's face when he found out. When he first came on board, we didn't exactly get off on the right foot and he.... well let's say Mom had to have a quiet word with him." She glanced at Hamish and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. "It's all in the past now, right my love?"

"Yes, it is all in the past and I was such an arse to you." giving a sheepish grin. "Found out I was all too horribly wrong in my thinking. And having that discussion with your mom and well Mathias, wasn't my sort of party." giving a slight shudder.

Sansa smiled lovingly at him before turning back to Mitchell. "I take it you've met my Mom then? I'm surprised you didn't see a resemblance." She added with a grin.

"Of course I met the Captain, it was she that invited me aboard the ship. I had been serving aboard the Iwo Jima and she asked for my transfer. You should be careful on Ba'Ku that planet can affect you. I have read that people can regress in age. I don't think it would be good for Hamish here if you got any younger." Pete said with a smirk. He didn't really care who she was, it was always said that Pete Mitchell had no filter.

Sansa chuckled. "Come now Lieutenant, surly you read the report made by the crew of the Enterprise? The metaphasic radiation regenerates a person's cells, it doesn't cause them to grow younger past maturity back into infants, In fact, it only starts to affect someone once they have reached maturity and the initial effects are Increased metabolism, high energy, and improved muscle tone."

She glanced at Hamish "What? The moment Mom told me where we were going, I looked up all the information I could find in the ship's computer on the Ba'Ku and the Briar Patch. oud should see the cabins mom has managed to get. They're right next to a lake. It looks so.... peaceful."

Pete smiled and nodded. "I was kidding Ms..." Pete began and realized that his joke was most likely lost on the young woman. "Never been to Ba'Ku but all the reports talk of the planet's beauty. Camping by the lake should be a nice getaway from the humdrum of ship life. Should be a great diversion while the ship gets fixed up." He sipped his drink again, and he hoped that there would be someone to help him take the foot that he just put in his mouth out.

Sansa thought for a moment. “You know what you really have to keep an eye out for are the fire breathing squirrels. Apparently, they can fly too.”

Hamish shook his head, "It will be a fantastic area to also take at look at things in a scientific way. On that note though, we probably should get things ready to go on our trip." he held his hand out to Pete, "It was nice meeting you. And don't get into too much trouble." giving a wink towards Pete. He took note of two ladies giving Pete the eye." Looks like you may get some company once we leave." gesturing with his head towards the ladies he mentioned.

Maverick smiled and the smile lit up his boyish face. "Perhaps Lieutenant. One can only hope. Well, I hope the two of you enjoy your vacation and avoid those fire breathing squirrels."


Sansa chuckled. "It was nice meeting you. No doubt we'll run into each other again." She said as she stood and took Hamish's hand.


OFF:

Sansa Draxx-Jones
Marine Biologist
USS Merlin

●● Lieutenant Pete "Maverick" Mitchell
Chief Flight Control Officer/Commander Air Group
USS Merlin


●● Lieutenant Hamish Teague
Chief Science Officer
USS Merlin