Joint Personal Log - LtCmdr Waterhouse & Lt Shea - "Blind Stars of Fortune"

Posted on Tue Sep 9th, 2014 @ 6:44am by Commander Amelia Waterhouse & Lieutenant Dustin Shea

3,061 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Are You Touched?

Dustin was passing his time idly just waiting for some excitement to happen somewhere. He's has come to the realization that retirement from service just wasn't suiting him any longer. It has been some six years since his last post on a star ship. Now he was just biding his time anywhere he could find any type of "excitement."

Dustin sat quietly at the bar downing his third mudslide and ordering up another. He gazed studiously out into the dining area, taking note and analyzing what everyone was doing.

Vlimar was still being coy... Or something. Dinner went well, but yet Amelia was waiting for something to happen. She'd ended up leaving him checking into a room in the lobby after they'd returned to the resort, and she was nowhere near ready to sleep yet. She found the small bar attached to the restaurant, and made her was to it. Instinct brought her to the stool next to the only other person sitting at the bar.

She was still wearing the black halter dress with yellow hibiscus along the bottom hem she'd worn to dinner, accessorized with black pearls, when she leaned across the bar to catch the Ferengi bar tender's attention. He was quickly there, staring at her chest instead of meeting her eyes.

"Do you have any good blood wine?" she asked of him, stealing a glance at what the man next to her was drinking. The Ferengi nodded and skittered off quickly. "Who drinks a human drink on Qo'noS?" Amelia asked, leaning towards the man on the next stool.

"Why, I do, ma'am. I've gotta stay true to my roots. Nothin' like some good ole' Kahlua. Later on, probably some Vodka and even some Rum." Dustin responded without taking a glance as to whom was asking the question. With that, he asked the bar tender for another.

"Rum can be good... but I haven't had any in a while," Amelia admitted as a mug of blood wine was placed in front of her, and the Ferengi skittered off again to get the man's refill. "I tend to drink whatever the local specialty is... and I don't make it to Qo'noS often enough."

Dustin took a glance out of the corner of his eye as to whom he was speaking with and saw a glimpse of black and gold. "I've made it out here a few times, almost my second home. Gotta do something to stay busy."

"So you've made it outside of the shitty little resort?" she asked, bringing her mug to her lips. She made a face as the blood wine touched her tongue, and set it down as she made a face.

"Aye, I've made it outside. I said this was ALMOST my second home, not that it was." Dustin replied with a bit of disgust in his voice as he took a drink of his newly delivered mudslide. "So, if you don't mind me asking, what brings you here to chat with the likes of me?"

Amelia looked at the man in surprise at his tone. "I only meant that it was nice to meet someone who wasn't convinced the Klingon boogie man was going to eat them alive if they stepped outside the resort walls," she returned, making eye contact with the bar tender and pointed at her mug with a frown. The Ferengi cupped his hands at his chin, dipped his head, and took it away. "I'm just bored on leave and not ready to sleep."

"Welcome to my world! I've been bored of six years of leave. Now, I've been just cruising around the galaxy just to find SOMETHING to entertain me again. Name is Dustin, if you don't mind me introducing myself."

"Amelia," she returned, holding a hand out to shake. She glanced around the bar, and noticed the Ferengi wasn't returning with anything to replace the rejected blood wine. "Wanna blow this join and find a more entertaining bar?" She grinned as she asked this.

Dustin extends his hand returning the handshake. "Pleasure to meet your acquaintance. By all means, lead the way," Dustin said as he motioned for Amelia to lead the way. "I have nothing holding me here."

"I have to make it back to my ship by the end of the week, Rochelle might get a little upset to leave without her XO, but otherwise I'm free," she returned with a laugh, sliding off the bar stool. She shot another look at the Ferengi bar tender, who made no effort to hide his gaping at her, and she sashayed out of the bar towards the front entrance of the resort.

"Really? You have to leave at the end of the week? Boo!" Dustin exclaimed as he watched Amelia walk ahead of him with such enthusiasm.

"Such is the life of a Starfleet officer. Just means I gotta make the leave count," she returned, unclasping her necklace. She slid it into an almost unnoticeable pocket, then pulled off her earrings, which likewise went into her pocket. "So, do you do anything other than bum around in bars and following red heads on crazy adventures?"

"Nope. Just do anything that is remotely entertaining. If that so happens to include following crazy red heads, so be it. Such is the life of a retired Starfleet officer. But, as I have mentioned earlier, it has become boring. So, where're we heading?"

"We're headed to a bar. A real bar, not a Ferengi run piece of Tribble-forsaken crap," she explained, turning around to walk backwards as they made their way out the front of the resort. She nodded to the Klingon guards that stood at the entrance, flashing a wide grin at them. A favor they returned. "What'd you used to do for the fleet?"

"Umm... that's a story all for itself as there is quite a bit of history behind it. In a nutshell, was an engineering officer..." Dustin said as his voice trailed off.

Amelia's head tilted to one side, considering the statement Dustin made, and fell into step next to him as she guided them north towards the path along the top of the cliffs and into the nearby town. "Engineers are handy, very handy," she stated simply. "We'll probably have time for story telling at the bar, I expect you to tell me."

"You're really going to make me tell it, aren't you?" Dustin questioned as he looked over at Amelia now at his side.

"Well, if you'd rather I can call up to Vindi and ask the computer to see what the fleet says," she teased. Her eyes drifted upwards to the star filled sky as they left behind the lights of the resort. The water below lapped at the base of the cliff, the only indication it was there was the sound of it with the night only lit by stars.

"That's quite alright. The computer would not be able to elaborate on the details of my service history. Somethin' on your mind, or you just gazing upwards?" Dustin questioned with intrigue.

"You say that without knowing my security clearances. Cocky." she laughed, her eyes falling down to her companion again. "Just looking. Don't get to see the stars through an atmosphere much. It's nice."

"Well, you've already mentioned you're an XO, so I can pretty well guess your clearances. And yeah, the stars are pretty nice from down here," Dustin said as he took a glance up towards the sky.

Amelia snorted in amusement. "You know what they say, assuming making an ass out of you and me. Never assume," she insisted with a head shake. She'd let him chew on that before mentioning her intel background. Down the path, she could see the first lights from the edge of town starting to light up their path.

"I never said I was assuming, I just said I could pretty well guess. There's a difference," Dustin said in a factual tone.

"I have a tendency to be on the edge of the bell curve, good luck guessing anything right with me." A smirk, and a skip in her step. They were so close to the bar she could feel it. Good blood wine, bar fights, drinking songs. A good time all around.

"That's fine. I'm not up for guessing anyway. Too much work." Dustin noticed the anticipation mounting in Amelia. He smiled and just shook his head as they both continued walk towards their destination.

Voices singing in Klingon, slurred and a little off key, started to drift from a doorway pointing towards the path. Only a little light spilled forth from it, and a pair of Klingon stumbled out of it and headed towards the center of town. A grin spread from ear to ear on Amelia's face. "Just where I was told it would be. The first round's on me."

"Alright, t'is fine with me." Dustin followed behind Amelia into the bar.

"Stay close, keep your eyes open," she instructed as she stormed up to the bar. "I demand Blood Wine from 2309!" she bellowed in Klingon as she reached the bar, grinning wide at the female bar tender. Out of her pocket, she slipped gold pressed latinum and slammed it down on the bar top.

"What are you, only a quarter Klingon?" came the challenge back, also in Klingon. "Can you handle it? Your human friend sure can't."

Dustin just tagged along going with the flow of the environment as he approached the bar and took a seat. "So, then. Now that we're here. Now what?"

The bar tender looked at Dustin, shook her head and headed off to get the blood wine. "Now we drink, we fight, and we sing," Amelia insisted. "Though first, you tell me your story before I have to make the computer comb your record for me."

"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." Dustin started with his story and left it hanging with a smile on his face.

Amelia rolled her eyes with a laugh. "Nice try, bub. I buy you booze-" Amelia paused as the bartender returned with two mugs of blood wine, and Amelia passed one to her companion, "-Now you tell me a story." She brought hers to her lips and drank. A grin bloomed behind the edge of the mug.

"My career started off on the USS-Enterprise where I had a grand ole' time being their Assistant Engineering Officer. Things went well for a time while I was on there. Got myself into all sorts of mischief. Blew up the warp cores a few times. Found myself in the brig a few times, and ALWAYS made the Engineering department my personal dance club." Dustin continued on with his story, purposefully leaving out any bits pertaining to the failed relationships he had while stationed aboard. "My next station was a bit shorter, that was aboard the USS-Archer. I left after the commanding officer retired. That became the start of my retirement. Satisfied?"

"Not really," Amelia sighed. "I was hoping for a story, not a listing of facts. We're here to have fun. Tell me about one of the warp core incidents, please." She scanned the occupants of the bar, looking if anyone looked like they were itching for a fight. The scattered chair legs said she'd missed a good one earlier in the evening.

"Well, the one that comes to mind was for some reason, I was either having too much fun or was pissed off at something. But, as usual, I was having a ball in engineering. I had my own liquor stash there with me. I had music blaring. I believe the rest of the crew was on leave from a mission and again, I can't remember the reason. I didn't tag along. I don't remember all the details as this was some ten years ago or so that this happened. But what caused me to blow a warp core was me throwing a beer bottle at it. Again, I don't recall the reason why. I'm sure it's in the computer's log. I just never cared to recall the details. I just know I was not well liked afterwards. Think that was one of my trips to the brig as well." Dustin had taken notice of Amelia's distraction and just ignored it. He was used to talking to himself and no one listening. Was a typical story of his life.

"A beer bottle?" She made a face as she considered. "What sort of shit operation did you have on that ship if a beer bottle could cause a warp core breach?"

"Well, it wasn't just one beer bottle... or was it various malt beverages... I don't remember. All I remember was that I was really inebriated since I had been drinking for five days straight. Off and on, of course, but close enough to keep me inebriated. Don't ask me how many... I don't remember. There were just glass bottle scattered all about engineering, leaking, probably eating away at some of the conduit wiring. Some of the details I mentioned could be way off. About seven years ago is a long time to remember something so shameful, so I have tried my best not to allowing the details to start vanishing from my memory."

Amelia made a face as she considered this. "So, why didn't they wash you out of the fleet? A warp core breach, particularly one that was the result of drinking, would probably resulted in a removal of one's commission..." She was curious now, there had to be a good reason why he'd still been in the fleet until he chose to walk away.

"I honestly don't know. All I know is that later in my career even though my my partying never stopped, they used my carefree attitude and recklessness as part of a mission which took me off the ship for some time. I guess because they had considered me family. I just really don't know. I never really thought much of it, was just glad that they kept me aboard." Dustin let out a sigh as those were memories of his past he just didn't want to relive. Dustin just sat there staring at the Blood Wine sitting in front of him.

"You said retirement was boring you; what would you do, if you could do whatever you want?" Amelia had simply been seeking good bar stories, and instead she'd drug this man through thoughts of the past which haunted him. She didn't think blood wine was compensation enough, but she didn't know what else to do.

"I dunno, maybe reenlist. That's if there is if there would be anyone to take me. I only saw the light past lieutenant junior grade once, and that was short lived which was another reason for my retirement. I didn't feel like I was going anywhere anymore. I have had too long to reflect on my poor decisions, not to say I won't still make them, but I really need something to spark that thrill I once had." Dustin decided to finally drink the Blood Wine sitting in front of him coughing a small amount after the burn it left going down.

Chewing her lip as she thought, Amelia looked over the man sitting next to her. "Would you be willing to talk to a counselor as a condition of your re-enlistment? And promise not to blow up any more warp cores?" She winked as she mentioned the warp cores, hoping that it would come across teasing... though the idea of Almar wanting to skin this man alive for strewing his engineering with beer bottles and blowing up the warp core wasn't one that pleased her. She took another pull from her mug.

"I talked to enough counselors after that stunt. Spilling my guts to another one just doesn't bode well. Its been seven damn years. Blowing the core was not intentional. It was an accident." Dustin stood up letting out a sigh and started gazing towards the exit. "Some entertainment this is turning out to be..." Dustin mumbled under his breathe.

"Look, I get that it's a pain in the ass, but I can't just blindly sign off on some guy I just met in a bar joining my crew. I may be crazy, but I'm still XO," she explained with a soft sigh. "I'm sorry for dragging you here. It looks like we missed the excitement for the evening, and I don't see anyone worth getting into a fight with still lingering."

"Sure you could. You could forget I even mentioned anything of the sort."

"And I could just leave you here with your blood wine. You gotta meet me half-way here, bub," she returned. "I don't know you, yet, and I gotta look out for the well being of my ship. You mentioned the incident, you tell me I'm not going to be able to find anything if I look up your service record, and now you want me to just pretend I didn't hear what you told me? I can't do that." Not yet, she thought to herself, staring into her mug of blood wine.

"Fine... I'll meet ya half-way. BUT... How about the talks be between you and I instead. Like I said, I don't wanna be spilling my guts to yet another counselor. They'll just get the same results as all the rest. And... now that you know a bit about me, I'd like to know more about you."

"I know how hard it is to find a good counselor," Amelia admitted with a head shake. "You gotta convince me before we're ready to ship out again. How about we find somewhere... nicer to go for now?" She waved to the bartender to get her attention.

"Okay. That works for me then."

Amelia nodded to him as she haggled with the bar tender to be able to purchase a full unopened bottle of the 2309 blood wine. Between cursing and joking, eventually the two women reached an agreement. Gold Pressed Latinum and the bottle exchanged hands. When Amelia and Dustin had finished their mugs of blood wine, they headed back towards the resort, agreeing to sit on the beach to talk.

=/\= END LOG =/\=

Lt Commander Amelia Waterhouse
Executive Officer
USS Vindicator

Lt Dustin Shea
Asst Chief Engineering Officer
USS Vindicator

 

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