241607.09 CO Personal Log: Capt McKeon

Posted on Sat Jul 9th, 2016 @ 8:42am by Captain Alistar McKeon

1,193 words; about a 6 minute read

The sounds of New Orleans at night had not changed since Alistar had last visited his home town. Still dressed in his dress white uniform, he had casually walked from the transport hub where the shuttle had left him to the center of night lift in the city. The French Quarter was always alive, day and night. For a Friday, it seemed to be a bit more tame than normal though. Naturally, there were more law enforcement officers than Alistar remembered seeing, but even as he turned off of Canal Street and onto the legendary Bourbon Street, he was surprised at how tamed everything seemed. New Orleans had either gotten tamer since he had left, or there was one hell of a party elsewhere.

Walking down Bourbon Street, Alistar ignored the majority of the signs and people standing outside trying to get customers to enter their restaurants. He knew most of the good places to eat, and while they were all good, he had already decided on his destination. Walking the seven blocks from Canal Street to what was technically the center of the French Quarter, Alistar found his destination, an old iron bar covered door that led into a dimly lit tavern known as the Club Bourbon Heat. Slipping past the tables, Alistar found the door along the back of the club that led to one of his favorite haunts known as The Courtyard. An open aired courtyard that gave the place its name was lit by traditional means, candles, lanterns and light posts as well as a few mood lights here and there. A fountain had taken over the center of the courtyard, but the tables and chairs had remained more or less the same. Sitting down at a table near the bar, Alistar turned his attention towards the slightly raised stage where a human woman was singing a soft local favorite.

"May I get you something to drink, sir?" a voice with a clipped Creole accent asked. Alistar turned and nodded towards the waiter that had appeared from seemingly out of nowhere.

"Smirnoff Ice, triple black in the bottle," he ordered. The waiter nodded and almost disappeared towards the bar. Alistar turned his attention back to the stage, only to be surprised that the song had ended and now an Orion woman was singing. A rustle of fabric warned him that someone had walked over to his table. He turned around just in time to see the woman who had been singing sit down across the table from him.

"Alistar McKeon," the woman said.

"Hi, Ea," Alistar managed with a smile. "Still singing up the night, I see."

"And you obviously joined Starfleet," Ea said as she waved towards his uniform. "I thought officers wore a grey shirt with the dress uniform."

"Line officers do, captains wear white," Alistar said as his drink arrived and the waiter raised a questioning eyebrow. "I don't suppose I can ask you to join me for dinner?"

"Well, if you're buying I'll join you, Captain McKeon," Ea said with a smile.

"The lady would like a glass of red wine. As for ordering," Alistar smiled towards Ea. "Do you trust me?"

"You've always had good taste in food," Ea said.

"Two fried catfish plates with a side of red beans and rice with alligator sausage and bayou Lafourche shrimp and alligator sausage pasta," Alistar said. The waiter nodded and moved away.

"Have you missed the food?" Ea asked with a laugh.

"Well, the replicators on board a star ship just don't get everything perfect. Close, but not as good as the real thing. But as much as I missed the food, I missed you more," Alistar said before he took a drink of his Smirnoff.

"I have to admit that I've missed you as well," Ea said as she leaned back in her chair. "So, you're a captain in Starfleet. Does that mean you command a star ship?"

"It does. The USS Endeavour," Alistar said, a little surprised at the question. "I never figured you for keeping up with Starfleet."

"You know my brother enlisted during the Dominion War. My parents were against it, he was too young to be accepted into the academy, but he wanted to go, so they signed the waiver and he went," Ea said as her wine arrive.

"He must have missed the requirement age by a year, he could have waited another year," Alistar said as he quickly figured up her brother's age.

"He was seventeen at the time. He loved it. They selected him for an assignment to the USS St Albans as a security specialist. I learned a few things from him until he was killed in action."

"Ea, I'm sorry, I didn't know," Alistar said, wincing in reaction to the news.

"It was his choice, and I don't want you to apologize," Ea said. "He wasn't the only person who died during the war."

Alistar was quiet for a long time as he finished off his drink. Setting the empty bottle down, he nodded towards the stage as their food arrived. "I see you managed to start singing," he said before he attacked his plate.

"I did, actually. At first some friends and I had a band, but they voted to replace me with some Andorian vocalist, so I managed to get a job here as a night time singer. It pays the bills, and it's really not that bad of a job," Ea said.

"You're actually pretty good," Alistar said.

"Better than you thought I'd be, if I read the undertone correctly," Ea said with a teasing grin.

"I have to admit, you had a voice that could give a nail scraping across a chalkboard a run for the money," Alistar laughed.

"I had an excellent vocal coach," Ea chuckled.

"So, are you available for a few hours or do you have to get back to work after we eat?" Alistar asked.

"I'm working until two AM, but if you want we can meet tomorrow for lunch," Ea said.

"I'd like that. Where are you staying?"

"I can drop by your apartment if you still have one in New Orleans," Ea offered.

"I don't have an apartment here in New Orleans, but I do have a room reserved at the Mazarin for a few days," Alistar said.

"I'll drop by around 10:30."

"That sounds like a plan," Alistar nodded as he finished his dinner. Seeing that Ea had finished hers as well, he stood. "It's been a long day, and I've kept you from work long enough. So, until tomorrow morning?" he said.

"I look forward to it," Ea said with a smile as she stood and took a step around the table to give him a hug. "I'll see you tomorrow morning." Giving him a parting smile, she started back towards the stage where the band was starting to return from a break.

Alistar watched her for a moment before he turned and headed towards the door, pausing to pay for the dinner. As he stepped back out into the busy night air of Bourbon Street, he turned and started walking towards his hotel.

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