A Game of Chance

Posted on Sat Nov 25th, 2017 @ 5:23am by Captain Alistar McKeon & Lieutenant Élan Val

1,388 words; about a 7 minute read

It had been a long day. The sentencing of Ensign Connor hadn’t been an enjoyable experience, although Alistar had to admit that the fact that the security officer had readily agreed to the punishment had helped. If he was sincere about actually trying to redeem himself, then Alistar was all for giving him the chance. Hiding a yawn, Alistar left his ready room and the pile of paperwork that he hadn’t been able to pay attention to and quietly slipped off to the turbo lift. It was almost 2200 hours, and he really didn’t want to think about anything more than a nice hot shower and some food. The lift doors opened to a quiet deck three corridor and Alistar casually strode down the corridor towards his quarters. As part of the Endeavour’s original refit to make the ship better suited for deep space missions, the command quarters had been moved about and the original captain’s quarters turned into a recreation room. It didn’t bother Alistar, since his original quarters had been too large anyway, and it helped the crew. Lost in his train of thought, Alistar walked around a corner and straight into someone.

Élan smiled, an almost evil minded devilish grin, as she retreated from the recreation room and the slightly upset officers still inside. She had tried to warn them about playing poker with her, but none of them had listened, thinking that the attractive female science officer was only good at her looks and nothing else. She had left with nearly fifteen hundred more credits than she had sat down with, and only then because Val had started to squirm in hunger. Sometimes, the symbiont could be a royal pain, but Élan knew that it was best to give in an eat rather than risk a grouchy Trill symbiont having a case of low blood sugar or whatever the little creatures got when they weren’t supplied with fresh nutrients. She had just tucked the last credit chip into her slim purse and snapped it shut when someone walked around an intersection corner and straight into her. Élan staggered back and reached out to help steady the other person, whom to her surprise was the captain.

“I’m sorry,” Alistar said quickly as he looked up and noticed Lieutenant Élan Val. “Lieutenant Val. I didn’t know you haunted the corridors at such a late hour.”

“Normally I don’t, but when the guys from security and engineering want to lose their money and help my shopping account, who am I to refuse them?” Élan replied with a smile.

“Let me guess: five card draw?” Alistar asked.

“Seven card Texas hold ‘em, no wild cards,” Élan answered. “I should have known you knew a thing or two about poker.”

“I’ve been known to win a game or two here and there,” Alistar said with a slight laugh. “I was actually on my way to my quarters, but now I’m tempted to see if I can scrape out the last of someone’s monthly earnings.”

“Don’t bother, I’ve already taken half of the crew to the cleaners,” Élan said proudly. “But, I might be interested in a one on one game, if you’re interested.”

“Oh?” Alistar asked. “I’ve got about fifty credits stashed away in my quarters, if that’s enough to get started.”

Élan smiled in a slightly seductive manner and nodded. “That should be enough to waste an hour or so, but only if there’s dinner involved. I’m afraid Val insists on fresh nutrients,” she said.

“Yes, and we must keep her happy as well, huh?” Alistar said as he waved the science officer on towards his quarters. “I was going to replicate some pork roast, if that’s suitable.”

“Sounds delicious,” Élan said as she stepped in beside the captain.

Alistar chuckled as he led the way to his quarters. Once inside, he headed over to the replicator and started punching up the order. In seconds, he had two bowls of rice covered with pulled pork roast, carrots, sliced potatoes and thin sliced onions and two glasses of tea. Carrying the tray over to the table, he sat down and pulled a bag of credits out from the center piece on the table. “Fifty credits, and now I have to find a new hiding place for them,” he said.

Élan laughed as she took a few bites. It was delicious, and as she ate she thought. Finally, she set her fork down and smiled. “I have a better idea. How about we play a slightly different game?” she asked.

Alistar carefully swallowed the bite he had been chewing on and raised his eyebrows. “Oh?” he asked.

“I’m sure you’re aware of the rules of strip poker,” Élan said with a slight giggle.

“Well, yeah, but how fair would that be?” Alistar asked.

“We’re both in uniform, so we’ll start off fair there. The rest is completely up to chance and how well you play,” Élan said with a grin. “Unless you’re too scared.”

“Alright, deal,” Alistar said. “Seven card stud, single deal per hand.”

Élan smiled and pulled a deck of cards from out of a pocket. Shuffling them, she dealt and then lifted her cards up and schooled her expression to something that wouldn’t show any outward emotion. Her hand, quite honestly, wasn’t good, but she wasn’t going to give in that easily. Her eyes flitted to the captain as she waited.

Alistar eyed his cards carefully. He had a decent hand, nothing that great, but it could be worse. Looking up at the science officer, he shrugged and flipped his cards over. “Two pair,” he said.

Élan sighed and set her cards down, showing the pair of threes she had. With a shrug, she unzipped her uniform jacket and tossed it to the floor before she gathered the cards and dealt again. “Not a bad start, but the game is just beginning,” she said.

“Yeah, and I’m sure you know full well that I don’t like to lose,” Alistar said as he glanced at his cards and scowled. Tossing them down, he sighed. “Pair of eights.”

“Full house,” Élan said with a wicked grin.

Alistar matched the grin and kicked his boots off. “My turn to deal,” he said as he reached for the cards. The third round, he almost gave in and folded but he decided to stick it out, which was a good thing since he beat Élan out with a pair of fours over her threes.

“I must say, you are quite the gambler,” Élan said as she kicked her own boots off. The next round, she lost again and this time she stood and shed her uniform shirt, casually dropping it to the deck before she dealt the next round. She lost that round as well. Standing, she starting removing her pants.

“You don’t have to,” Alistar said, although truth be told he didn’t want her to stop.

Élan finished removing her uniform pants and smiled as she walked around the table. Standing in her underwear, she smiled and leaned over McKeon, their faces just inches apart. “What if I told you that I don’t want to play anymore,” she said.

“Well, I might be upset but I think I’d get over it,” Alistar said as he tried very hard to not let his eyes look down at her body. He failed, naturally, but he quickly recovered.

Élan smiled at the captain’s attention and she leaned in even closer. “What if I told you that I wanted more than a professional relationship?” she asked.

“I would have to say that this is the most interesting way I’ve ever had a woman make her interests known to me,” Alistar said.

Élan laughed softly before she started to kiss him, pausing to pull him to his feet before she smiled and pressed closer to him and started kissing him again.

Alistar started moving them towards the bedroom, but he realized halfway across the living room area that they wouldn’t make it. Instead, he directed them towards the couch and silently prayed like hell that nothing would interrupt them.

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