Let the good times roll part 1

Posted on Saturday 31 October 2020 @ 10:37 by Commander Caroline Miller & Captain Melody Jones & Civilian Sansa Draxx-Jones

Mission: Race against the machine - Joint Mission with USS Andromeda
Location: USS Merlin, The Round Table
Timeline: R&R day 4
4169 words - 8.3 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

"Can I have everyone's attention please?" Melody raised her voice and a quiet fell over the room as everyone turned to face her. "On behalf of myself, Captain Reynolds and Captain Keading I'd like to say well done for a successful mission. There were some moments where it was touch and go but all crews pulled together and in true Starfleet tradition.... We pulled it off by the skin of our teeth. Here's to you! Some of the finest people I've ever met and I who I am honoured to say I serve with. Now enjoys yourselves, that's an order."

There was a collective laugh followed by a round of applause.

"Thank you for putting this together Captain," Jon said walking over to Melody once she had finished her speech.

"Don't mention it, Captain." Melody replied.

Michael smiled appreciatively at the Merlin's ten forward, The Round Table. He never thought he'd be coming over to this ship, as a matter of fact, the thought hadn't crossed his mind because of all the to do with the Planet Killer. There was also the regret that he hadn't even gone over to the USS Europa to even see what it was like. A mental sigh, he shook off the morose thought and instead looked at those attending the get together. He got a drink, and raised it towards his fellow crewmembers in greeting. Then turned to Melody,

"Captain Jones, thank you for inviting us here. I feel that this was definitely a joint effort. I agree with you. Hear, hear, a toast to us all. May we not have to deal with something as dire as the Planet Killer again."

Melody raised her own glass in a toat. "I'll drink to that." She said. "Does anyone remember when we use to be explorers?"

Natasha, stood at the back of the Round Table, almost against the wall, raised her own glass to Michael's words. She hoped as well that they wouldn't be dealing with anything else like that.

Ron stood at the other end of the room nearest the door clutching his glass nervously. He hated these occasions but his new bunk mate had insisted he come. He was close to the door in case he needed to make a quick exit.

On the plus side Natasha was here. He gazed over at her unable to summon any courage to go speak to her. He forced his eyes to stop staring, hoping his face didn't resemble a teenager reaching puberty looking around to see if he recognised anyone else.

"Can ..."

Ron jumped and found he knocked over a tray a waiter was carrying.

"opeeeee oh ..."

"I'm so sorry," Ron went beet red. He placed his glass down on the nearest surface and knelt down to help the poor chap pick everything up again. This sort of thing ONLY happened to him.

Michael turned to see the mishap, moving over to see if both his bunkmate and the waiter was all right. He remembered a mishap he had with another waiter, it was embarrassing for both he and the waiter and a bowl of stew.

"Are you both okay?" Michael quietly asked, "I am glad that wasn't a bowl of stew. " he commented with a bit of a smile. "Ron, no worries, I've done the same thing myself. "

Natasha heard the small commotion, turning her attention to where the accident had happened. Oh dear, Ron had a small mishap. She started to move in his direction, when she caught sight of Michael all ready moving there. She faded back, she didn't want Michael to see her.

Natasha still hadn't told Michael whom she was or had been. He may have already found out, he was a resourceful man and probably didn't want to mention to her that he knew in order to not embarrass her. Such a kind, considerate man. Her eyes darted between Ron and Michael, feeling her face heat up. She found both attractive, and both had been there in her hour of need at separate times. Though with Ron, there was more of a connection.

Standing off to one side, Rose was busy reading some reports from other intelligence sources when heard the commotion. Quickly turning towards it, she saw Michael helping another crewman clean up a mess. Giving a slight smile, she found this cute of Michael to do such a thing.

Ron stood up awkwardly. "Yes I'm okay," he said quietly.

"I'll just go get some fresh canapes," the waiter said with a hint of amusement.

"Canapes sound great." he said to the waiter. "Ron" Michael lifting up his head, " Looks like they have a good buffet set out. Let's go get something to eat, and...maybe you could see if your crewmate would like to join us." His head nodding towards Natasha, who was in civilian clothing. "She looks a bit lost."

Michael waved towards Natasha, to get her attention. Natasha noticed, gave a slight nod, and started towards Michael and Ron were.

"Hello Ron, and Ensign....Hawkins? Nice party, right?"

Michael nodded.

Ron went even more beet red if it was possible. "Evening," he stammered.

Seeing the situation resolve itself quiet well, Rose figured she might as well join in on a conversation. Taking a deep breath, she made her way over to where Ron, Michael and Natasha stood, “you boys aren’t causing trouble now are you?”

Natasha gave Rose a nod, not knowing whom the woman was. She gave Michael a questioning look as if to ask for an introduction. Michael picked up on that and made the introductions.

"Natasha, Ron, this is Lieutenant Rose Belikov. She is Andromeda's chief of intelligence. "

He turned to Rose. "Rose, this is Lieutenant Ron Bumble, and Natasha Blackthorne. She and Ron used to serve on the USS Europa. Ron is in science and Natasha... I have not a clue what position she served on the Europa. I haven't had the time to look it up as of yet."

Rose nodded to each person as they were introduced, “Lieutenant, Ms Blackthorn, I hope you are enjoying your time onboard”

"I'm going to be joining your crew Lieutenant Belikov," Ron found some words and held his hand out to shake hers. "A pleasure. Michael - Natasha is the Europa's XO. A incredibly fine example of an XO," he said quickly.

Rose nodded, “than welcome aboard Lieutenant, and I apologize ma’am, no disrespect was intended”

"No offence taken." Natasha said with a smile. "Pleasure to meet you."

Michael's eyes widened, when he heard what capacity Natasha had served on the USS Europa. He gulped. "The XO?" he was at a loss for words at that point.

Natasha giggled at Michael's reaction. It was funny to see him go slightly pale at the revelation. Though she then blushed slightly due to him finding out this way. "Yes, the XO" she stated

Natasha then turned towards Ron, "I am glad you will be joining this crew. From what I can tell it is a fine crew indeed. They certainly helped us out in our hour of need. I am hoping to find out what mine and Captain Keading's fate will be in the near future." worrying at her lower lip with her teeth.

She stopped, and made herself go back to a calmness. "I'll just stop worrying about it and just enjoy the moment." Natasha simply stated. "Have any of you met the Captain of the Merlin, Melody Jones?"

"I can't ..." Ron said clearing his throat. Somehow looking at this woman made him feel like there was a frog in it sometimes. "I can't say I have."

Rose shook her head, “neither can I, though I have heard about her. Why do you ask? Do you know her?”

"Not too well, but she is quite the captain. From what I have noticed when I met her, she is a force of nature. Come on, I will introduce you to her." Natasha said.

---

Vern sighed. He hated these sorts of frilly events. He much preferred to sit down with a few people and talk in low voices, not have bright lights and lots of faces staring up at him no matter where he moved through the crowd.

"I thought Will was the trouble maker in our family." True said as she glided up behind her big brother. "You're switching roles on me."

"Hmm, hardly." Vern replied, smiling slightly. He was glad to see she was okay, not that she wouldn't have been. After all Andromeda had not entered the Planet Killer and blown it up.

"You know what we can chalk this up to?"

"What's that?" Vern said ordering a drink and turning his body to look at her again.

"Old age. The personalities of people change as they get older. It's a proven fact." Her eyes sparkled as she smiled.

"Gee thanks," Vern said.

"Vern," a smaller blond appeared. "Glad to see your okay. You had mu ..... me I mean worried for a while there," Eddie said quickly realising True was with him. He didn't know if True knew of his mother and her brother.

"Food," he changed the subject. "Look a buffet."

"Uhuh," True said, giving him a peculiar look. "It's almost enough food to fill you up." She joked. "Good thing there's not ice scream or we'd be done for. Actually Eddie, I wanted to ask you something. Have you seen Tia lately?"

"I keep saying it. Ice cream is a different stomach," he joked then turned serious.

"Tia. Well I went and watched a movie with her. It was a little bit ... well I don't know. Awkward. But now we are back at the station I have some old friends there to catch up with. She's welcome to come meet them of course. Boks coming. I'll send her an invite."

"That would be great, I don't think she's done anything in a while but sit in her quarters. I'd love to see her making some friends but she's such a quiet thing."

Eddie nodded uncomfortably. He didn't like hearing Tia was being a hermit. But equally he wasn't sure how she would get along with any of his star base friends. They were kind of loud and older. "I'm going to go find that buffet. Later True. Vern."

---

Late as usual, all be it because this time she had been so fixed on her studies for the examination that time has simply slipped away from Xu. She had wanted to get here early so she could meet a few more of the Andromeda's officers that she had still to meet, not to mention the crews of the other ships that had been involved with the planet killer situation but even now her head was swimming with schematics and technical information. It had left her no time to get ready for this get together and has decided to just go in duty uniform rather than something more elaborate.

The doors parted and she didn't even notice Bumble as she plowed right past him heading directly to the bar for a drink to steady herself, wanting to leave her worries behind if only for a bit. Thankfully those worries were on a much smaller scale now compared to her pervious assignment.

Gwen, noticing the determination in Xu's stride, nodded to the bartender who promptly placed a shot down in front of her. It was colorless, odorless and pretty much tasteless until it hits the back of the throat.

"Take a deep breath before you drink that," Gwen said with a grin, "And then promptly eat a handful of these." She pushed over a bowl of some bright purple nuts, "It'll be worth it."

With one swift motion Xu downed the liquid which had been as Gwen had stated, colourless, odourless and tasteless... until it hit the back of her throat

"Whoa.." Gwen pushed a glass of clear liquid towards Xu, "You ok?"

She downed the second glass just as swiftly as the first, clenching her teeth for a moment after hit hit the back of her throat.
"I'm fine, just need to relax for a while".

Knowing this was to be a party of sorts, Aidan had arranged for a babysitter to watch their baby. "Want to dance?" he asked Emme, "someone has to be the first, right?"

The doors opened and Sansa, Melody's daughter entered. She was trying to be fashionably late. Melody caught sight of her and waved her over. "Jonathan, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Sansa."

Sansa smiled at him "It's nice to meet you. Is Amelia here?"

"Ahhh," Jon said holding his hand out to shake hers. "A pleasure. Nice to meet you Sansa. Amelia is I believe going to be attending."

With timing that bordered on the supernatural, the door opened and Amelia and Syvar entered. Sansa spotted her. "She's here. That must be Syvar."

C'Tora walked into the round table where the party had already gotten underway. He had just transported over from the Andromeda, which is always a sensation he has hated. It always made his fur tingle and feel like it was standing on end and the effect lasted for several minutes. He finished brushing down the last bit of fur as he looked up trying to see any familiar faces. Not spotting any he walked to the buffet to see what was offered.

Not seeing anything that caught his fancy C'Tora went to the replicator. " half liter hot green tea, one kilo uncooked yellowtail tuna, a bowl of steamed rice and 118 ml of soy sauce." C'Tora sat at a table near a window with a view of the stars as he extended a claw and sliced the fish into cubes as his gaze went towards the stars and thinking about the events that had recently passed.

"What have you got?" Eddie popped up his noses sniffing at the cat beings bowl. "Thats not part of the buffet is it?"

C'Tora was startled to see this young man that had popped up in front of him as if out of nowhere. " No it's not on the buffet, I replicated it. Thge meats were all over done for my taste. This is a simple sashimi of steamed rice and fresh yellow tail tuna." C'Tora cut off a bite and rolled it in the rice coating the outside of the meat lightly and then dipped it into the soy sauce giving it a gentle coating on the bottom. Would you care to try some? If you like it I could replicate some for you." He picked up the piece with chop sticks and held it out towards the young man. " By the way, I am Dr. Kuroka the CMO of the Andromeda. Whom do I have the pleasure of meeting?"

"I'm not sure," the teen said. "Is that raw meat?" he asked. "Sorry doctor. I'm Eddie Reynolds. My dads over there," he indicated in the direction of Jon but didn't actually state "the captain." He could work that out from his last name.

C'Tora stood up and extended his hand. " So you are Capt. Reynolds son then? Nice to meet you. And yes the fish is uncooked, on earth it is called sashimi and is quite tasty. Some people like adding slivers of carrot, celery and avocado to it. But I prefer a lightly marinated yellow tail rolled in seasoned rice. It brings out the fishes natural flavor that way. So are you enjoying the party? "

"Oh I always enjoy a party. Especially when theres good food," the blond said smiling. "And yes dads the Captain."

Melody was mingling around the room, noticing how well the three crews were socializing, laughing and talking together.

Adam Morgan walked into the large messhall known as The Round Table once he had transported to the Merlin. He had never been on any ship large like the Merlin before, hence he had never seen an Excalibur class starship before. He was hoping for the nice finishes and the futuristic touches to a larger ship of this class, but as he had transported to the Merlin and made his way to the party, the halls and the floors seemed all the same as if he were still on the Andromeda. He sighed as he he entered the room and looked around as many of the crew had gathered already.

He was late but he needed to get the rest that the doctor motioned for him to get, so after a quick dinner with Hawkins the other night, he went to his quarters and did just that. He had tossed and turned but managed to get the rest he needed. He shook off the thought and looked around at his surroundings some more. There was a large buffet and many of the crew were scattered about. Morgan noted the doctor at one of the tables near the viewport talking with a young boy with blonde hair. He smirked a bit and had to wonder on how many other children were on board.

Morgan walked up to the buffet table and picked up a glass of synthale and looked around at the food selections. With nothing to his liking, he walked up to the viewport with his drink and gazed out the window.

Xu spotted the new officer clad in red and thought this would be her opportunity to escape Gwen before she ended up unfit for duty with all the alcohol the young Security Chief seemed to be funnelling her way. She bid her farewell to Gwen and wove her way across the lounge to the vast expanse of stars.

Gwen watched Xu leave and quirked her brow to the bartender, "Do you think she missed the part where it's synthehol?" She shrugged and waved to one of her Security team.

"Hello Ensign. Please pretend you know me or I fear I may be forced to consume more alcohol than is socially acceptable!" she chuckled, "I'm Lieutenant Xu Chang-Lau, chief ops on Andromeda".

Morgan looked from his gaze of the stars to the officer now that stood beside him as if she were there the whole time. He smiled and spoke, "Im Ensign Adam Morgan, and i have become the newest member of the Andromeda crew i suppose." He continued after taking a sip of his drink, "Helmsman, i suppose."

Morgan than took his gaze back to the stars hoping for the night to end. As the other officer stood there after commenting on pretending to know each other, Morgan spoke again as he kept his gaze, "You must have some hardship if you really need to consume more alcohol at functions like this."

"I wouldn't say it was a hardship... She just kept giving me the drinks. It would have been rude not to have accepted it so believe me, I'm glad you came to my rescue... however unwittingly that may have been".

She chuckled, trying to lighten the mood but she could see he was lost someplace out in the stars. She regarded him for a moment before turning her own attention to those very same stars.
"You seem lost in your own hardships Ensign... I'm here if you need a friend!"

Morgan turned as he had his drink in his hand and the other arm folded over himself. "Thank you Lieutenant. Not many have considered me someone to talk to for a long time." He spoke, "Thank you," then drank his drink a bit and turned back to the view.

"I'm new on the Andromeda myself. I've made a few friends here but still finding my feet so I know how difficult it can be".
Unsure if she was on the right path with her train of thought she decided to just let the comment hang for a moment as she too went back to her own musings.

Morgan contemplated her words then looked to as if he knew she was going to say that and spoke, "You are no newbie here, Lieutenant." He continued, "No offence, but I am the newbie here. I'm not sure what i'm doing here, but i know i need to be here." He looked out towards the stars again and spoke, "I belong in Starfleet, i know that, but for the rest, i'm not sure of since my coming back."

The statement 'my coming back' puzzled Xu and she wanted to ask for clarity however she could plainly see that something was truly bothering him. She didn't know him but in turn she didn't want to leave him struggling with something. She resolved herself to call in on him after the gathering but left his comment firmly alone... for the time being.

Jon spotted his security chief looking a little on her lonesome, so he wandered over. "Ensign. How are things?"

"Sir!" Gwen snapped the word out a little too surprised as she'd been lost in a daydream over her drink, "Things. Things are on edge, understandably..." She laughed, "But that's what we're here for, right? We're here to shift our focus and let our guard down." She looked around at the mingling crew, "Mingle.."

"Have you met our new Chief flight officer," he continued steering her in the direction of Morgan. "Ensign let me introduce you to the security chief Gwen Leighton. Gwen, this is Ensign Adam Morgan. He did some mighty fine flying when we engaged the Cetea in that last mission. And ..." he spotted Xu, "He wasn't the only one was he? Lieutenant Lau."

"Fancy flying," Gwen smiled, "Well that's a welcome addition to the crew."

"Thank you," replied Morgan as he suddenly snapped to attention as he noted his commanding officer with the new arrival of the security chief in tow. He looked at Leighton and spoke as he bowed his head a little, "Good to meet you chief."

Gwen smiled, "And you." She noted that he was also an Ensign and a Chief of his department. Suddenly she didn't feel so uncomfortable with her role.

"I'm not sure I would describe my attempt at flying Andromeda as fancy... It was certainly more seat of pants with hints of panic"

She allowed herself a smile but quickly realised that she was being rather informal and she had no idea if that was how the Captain wanted to be treated in social situations. She quickly added a clipped "Sir!" as she partially came to attention.

Morgan looked at Xu with a bit of a smirk indicating that Morgan wasn't the only one who seemed to like to be at ease most the time. He watched her interaction with the Captain and sipped his drink once again as he watched the two interact.

"We lived to see another day. I call that a win," Jon replied bemused at her emotional state now worrying she had rocked protocol.

"Glad to see everyone is enjoying themselves," Melody spoke as she approached the group. "I'd be delighted to meet some of your crew."

"Of course. Sorry I didn't realise you hadn't had an introduction. Captain Jones, these are my chief ops, flight and security officers.

He indicated each in turn, "Lieutenant Xu Change Lau, Ensign Adam Morgan and Ensign Gwen Leighton. Captain Melody Jones of the USS Merlin. Also the host for this evening. My party planning skills pale against hers," he joked.

"Call me Xu... everyone else does" again catching herself being far too informal to a superior officer... Perhaps it had been the drink Gwen had been shovelling her way. Once again she stiffened as if partly going to attention as she added a swift and clipped "Sir!"

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Gwen said with a nod to Melody, "It was an honour to watch your crew work and hope we can mingle again with less intimidating and doomy circumstances."

Adam drank back a little sip of his drink again and spoke as he held his hand out to the other captain and spoke, "Hello Captain Jones, Ensign Adam Morgan, helmsman. Pleasure to meet you," he stated hoping not to smirk too much as he looked at her gorgeous looks.

Melody accepted Adam's hand. "Likewise ensign, Lieutenant." Melody smiled warmly at him and the rest of the group. Just then a young lady with similar red hair to Melody came over. "Ahh Sansa there you are. This is my daughter Sansa." The new arrival smailed at all of them.

"I see you still know how to throw a party." Amelia called out as she approached with Syvar. Melody embraced her. "Hello there." Off their look, she explained. "Amelia is an old friend from the academy." She turned back to Amelia "I trust you're not drinking."

"Of course not, this is Altair water." Amelia indicated to her glass.

"Good good," Jon stated at his XO. "Right if you will excuse me I need a quick word with Captain Keading." He figured he better broach the subject of stealing Ron off him.

TBC