An Evening Aboard Endeavour, Part I

Posted on Sat Aug 26th, 2023 @ 2:49pm by Commander Isabella dei`Silvisi & Captain Alistar McKeon & Lieutenant Commander Zodrac Kosh & Lieutenant Jera'turak Ros & Ensign Zara Ross & Grace Winters PhD

2,098 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: The Return
Location: Port Side Dining Lounge, Deck Eight

Dressed in a comfortable blouse and slacks, Isabella arrived at the port side dining lounge early, knowing that the phrase regarding the early bird applied although in this case it rewarded her with a table with one of the best views of the large view port. The view was that of Earth as the Endeavour slowing orbited around the planet. As she settled into her seat, Isabella took a look around the dining lounge. Some of the crew were only beginning to arrive, and most of them were officers and a handful of civilians she wasn't familiar with. In order to pass the time, she ordered a glass of green tea and split her time between watching the crew and enjoying the view of the Earth.

Grace was the next to arrive. She decided to wear a simple blouse and skirt as she'd been wearing slacks all day. She noticed the science officer and nodded to her, then went over to get herself a drink.

Isabella smiled when she noticed Grace Winters, the diplomatic officer, enter. She offered a formal nod of her head towards the civilian diplomat before she returned her attention back towards the view.

Grace returned the nod.

Zodrac seemed to cautiously enter. His eyes immediately wondering back and forth, as if scanning for threats. He was in his security uniform, even though he was supposed to be off duty, but he wore a traditional Bajoran ear ring with his wifes family crest on it. Upon letting out a soft sigh a small voice came from his side.

"What are you looking for, Papa?" The little girl asked as she held onto his hand tightly. She was confused as to why her father was acting so strangely. The little Half Cardassian and half Bajoran girl had on an organ dress which came down passed her knees and small Bajoran slippers. She had on a similar ear ring to her fathers. "Do you think they have any Jumja sticks?"

"I don't know, Arna." Zodrac replied softly, looking down at her with a smile. "Let's go find a table and fine out, okay?"

"Can we get a table by the windows?" Arna asked happily as she looked around.

"Sure." He smiled as he began to walk over to an empty table. Zodrac could feel the eyes on him and Arna instantly. The soft whispers as they passed some tables. His daughter would smile and say hello to the various people they passed, being as friendly and curious as she every was. However, her father, was remain tense. A Cardassian onboard would certainly turn heads and bring up some bad memories, but on in a Starfleet Uniform would certainly stir up some kind of trouble. As they two sat down, Zodrac couldn't help but notice the occupants of a table nearby get up, leaving their food and drinks unfinished.

Grace noticed the Cardassian and made her way over to their table, greeting people as she went. "Hello," she said to Zodrac and his daughter. "You must be Commander Kosh. Nice to meet you. I'm Grace Winters." She turned to his daughter. "A pleasure to meet you, too." She wondered if his wife would be joining them.

Zodrac looked over as he saw Grace approach. He let out a deep sigh. Perhaps this was one of those moments where he was about to be asked to leave or something. She didn't seem angry, but he had been deceived by some peoples appearance before. When she greeted them kindly, even knowing his name, he smiled a bit. Perhaps he was wrong. "Yes... I'm Kosh and this is my daughter Arna."

Arna looked over to the woman and smiled pleasantly. "Hello."

"We were just about to order something." He said, smiling a bit before adding. "Arna was looking forward to see if they had any Jumja Sticks. She can't seem to get enough of them and yet she still hesitates to finish one whole stick." Zodrac looked over to Grace again before adding. "I hope we weren't disturbing you." It was an usual question to ask, especially since they were sitting so far away from where Grace had walked over from.

Grace raised an eyebrow. That was an unusual question. "Why would you disturb me? I came over to say hello."

Zodrac smiled slightly, lowering his head a bit, as he let out a bit of a sigh. "I'm a Cardassian. My presence is enough to be a disturbance to some people, Miss Winters." He looked over to his daughter, who only gave him a smile, before he looking back to Grace and continued in a soft tone. "I came here to treat my daughter, and take a small break, from showing her the ship. In my experience, as peaceful as my actions are, I tend to draw trouble. While, I am used to it and can take care of myself, I don't want my daughter to be subjected to it all because she shares her fathers blood."

She turned her attention to Arna and smiled. "I believe they do have Jumja Sticks. If not, they can easily get you some."

"I hope so." Arna smiled at Grace before adding. "That are very good. Have you ever had any?"

"Not in quite a while, but thanks to you, I will have to get one soon." She smiled at the two. "I see someone else I need to greet. It was a pleasure meeting both of you, and I hope to see you around the ship." She gave them both a bow and went off to greet another crewmember.

Zodrac gave Grace a smile and nodded his head. He looked down and let out a slight sigh, getting the sense the was all just a way of being polite. Maybe she really was busy and was the type who felt the need to greet as many people as she could. Maybe she was just testing the waters to get an idea of what the Cardassian Officer was like. Or Maybe she had no intention of learning more and being sucked into his problems. As he cleared his throat softly he looked over to Arna and said. "Stay here, Kiddo. I'll go see if they have any Jamja Sticks, okay? Don't go anywhere."

"I won't." Arna replied with a smile.

He stood up again and made his way to the bar counter, feeling eyes on him as he did so. Zodrac didn't like the idea of leaving Arna by herself, but on a Starfleet ship surrounded by Officers, he saw no harm in it. Not many Officers, in his experience, would demonstrate such hostility when surrounded by so many people. Only around others who shared their way of thinking or, for the most part, were too cowardly to do it themselves. He stood at the counter and waited for someone to approach him for his order.

Jera yawned as she walked into the dining lounge. She had barely had time to stop by her locker in engineering and put a clean uniform jacket on before deciding to take a break from the monster that was the predeparture checklist in engineering. Since shuttlebay one was the next item on her list, it only made sense for her to stop in the lounge for a quick bite before she checked the shuttlebay off her list. Engineering, it seemed, had an endless list of things to do. Not that Jera minded, for it got her away from that infernal engineer who had recently come on board. Finding a small table to the side, she slumped down in the chair and ordered a quick meal and a drink before rubbing her eyes.

Ayana walked in, not knowing anyone but the captain. There'd been so much to do with supplies coming in and personnel needing to find where to go that she hadn't taken the time to learn whoo any one was just yet. She found a table and settled in.

Alistar felt odd wearing the pants, light shirt and jacket he had ordered from the replicator but it hadn't taken him long to realize that he didn't own much outside of his Starfleet issued uniforms and a couple of outfits that simply wasn't suited as dinner wear. But he had to admit that it had been quite a while since he had worn anything other than a uniform, and while odd it felt a little nice to feel just a bit relaxed. Unfortunately being relaxed on the Endeavour meant bad things were peeking around the corner waiting to pounce. Walking into the dining lounge, he paused and glanced around. He could recognize a few of the faces he saw, some were simply too obvious to not stand out. He finally saw Commander Silvisi and headed over.

"If you laugh I'm leaving," he managed to growl as he stopped by the table.

Isabella looked up and smiled towards the captain. "I would never laugh in the face of someone's discomfort when they try to step outside of their comfort zone and attempt new things," she said as she indicated the chair across from her. "But please sit down. I'm actually surprised you didn't show up wearing something that looks like some form of uniform, so I'm somewhat impressed."

Alistar sat down and shook his head before he lifted his gaze and scanned the room. He took note of a few of the people in the lounge and felt his eyes narrow just a bit at the sight of Ltcommander Kosh. He shook his reaction off and turned back to Silvisi. "Well, you asked me out on a date, so you coming out of your little shell is impressive as well," he said in an effort to counter her.

"It's not a date, it's dinner between friends," Isabella reminded him as gently as she could while adding a hint of an edge to the tone of her voice. She had caught his reaction, and was mildly curious. Using the cover of waving over a waiter, she took the opportunity to look around. She froze for just a very brief second when she noticed a Cardassian wearing a Starfleet uniform, but she recovered quickly and turned back to McKeon. As the waiter arrived, she ordered a glass of red wine. Once Alistar had ordered and the waiter had started towards the drink replicator Isabella frowned.

"When did a Cardassian join Starfleet?" she asked.

Alistar ordered a beer and signed at the question. "That's a good question," he replied. "He officially joined the crew this afternoon, as to when he joined Starfleet, that's an answer drowned in shadows I haven't bothered to go digging through yet. All I know is that his commission is legal and he's an active serving officer." As his drink arrive, Alistar gulped it down quickly and sighed. "I wasn't the most welcoming captain either when he reported in," he said. "I still have a hard time dealing with everything from the war, add that to this DMZ issue we're about to be sent to handle and now having a Cardassian on the senior staff. I might just take Ms Winters up on that counseling session she offered a while back."

Isabella shook her head and finished her wine before she spoke again. Having served with McKeon for several years, she knew that the Dominion War and Cardassians in general were both subjects to be very careful with when brought forward. "I believe that we both agreed to keep work out of our topics of conversation this evening," she finally said, hoping that she could redirect the conversation. "With that being said, and I know that you won't like this, but you should try to be a little civil with all of the officers under your command."

"There are times I considering making you the blasted captain and I take a voluntary reduction in rank just to get out of dealing with headaches such as this," Alistar growled. "And I know." He shook his head and leaned back in his chair. "And you're right. We need something else to discuss to put a lighter mood on the evening."

Zara stepped into the dining lounge feeling just slightly out of place. Her uniform jacket was open, but as she was off duty she didn't mind, she simply hoped that no one else would either. Making her way to the bar, she sat down and thought over what she wanted before she ordered a salad and green tea.

To Be Continued

 

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