From: Erik, Taylor & Kim (kimtoussaint_at_yahoo.com)
Date: Sun Aug 17 2008 - 09:25:01 PDT
"Reunions"
( Continued from Taylor's 134 )
____________________________
Location: GATEWAY STATION
Stardate: 2.80816.2254
Scene: O'Shaughnessy's Irish Pub
NRPG: Written by Erik Waltz
____________________________________
Ben and Mav sat alone at the bar, nursing their drinks and not talking. Kyle and
his family were supposed to be there too, but a communique from the ensign a
few minutes ago had informed them that they would be delayed without
explanation, so the unlikely drinking companions were left to themselves for
the time being. Ben supposed it didn’t matter much. If their presence made
it any less awkward it would only be because he was the only one not speaking.
Despite serving together for four years this was the first time they’d ever
really interacted socially, and with good reason. When the marine first came
aboard they had participated in a training exercise together. When they were
led to believe the lives of the participants were actually in danger, Mav wanted
to follow his gut but Ben chose to follow orders. They argued, and so began a
power struggle that would repeat itself many times over the next two years.
Mav thought Ben was too concerned with protocol to get the job done, and Ben
thought the marine was undisciplined and insubordinate. Eventually they settled
into an unspoken policy of avoidance, which lasted until Ben’s promotion to CO.
Since then they’d managed an effective working relationship based on mutual
respect for each other’s ability, but that didn’t mean they had to like each other.
To be honest, Ben wasn’t entirely sure why he’d even responded to the invitation.
He didn’t often go out even with his close friends, and Maverick certainly wasn’t
one of those, let alone his son’s family. Maybe it was the shock of being asked,
or maybe he just really felt the need to celebrate a mission gone well. Whatever
it was, he decided he needed to make a little more effort.
“I read your unit’s casualty report.” He began, “I was happy to see them so
much lower than expected.” The marine squads had been a back-up plan. Mav
had gone into the mission knowing that if they were called up they’d be
taking a heavy beating.
“Yeah, the new armor they gave us really made a difference.” Mav replied.
“Even so Catherine’s team got pretty lucky.”
“Cheers to that.” Ben said, lifting his glass.
“Cheers to Marathon.” Mav added, following suit. “If it shortens the war
by even a couple months it’s worth a lot more than we paid.” Ben nodded
and the two drank. Shortly before docking the PATRIOT had received a
signal announcing that Marathon was a success, but the full extent of its
effect wouldn’t be clear for a few days. They drank in silence for a
few more moments.
“You fought in the first war against the Dominion before the
HELLESPONT incident.” Ben spoke again, signaling the bartender
for another round. “What was it like?”
“Worse.” Mav replied without hesitation. “That time we were fighting in
our space. It was our planets being bombarded, our stations being trashed.”
He took a long drink. “Plus we were losing right up until the last minute. If
the Cardassians hadn’t rebelled we probably wouldn’t have made it.”
‘I’ve been studying the history.” Military history had always been a hobby
of Ben’s, but since the battle of GATEWAY he spent most of his free time
studying the Dominion. “Last time the Dominion waited years until the
moment to attack was perfect before taking action. They infiltrated our
government, learned out tactics, tested our strength, destabilized the
political equilibrium of the entire quadrant, and got themselves an ally on
our side of the wormhole. Only after all that did they let it come to war.”
“That’s why it was so hard,” Mav answered. “They had us reeling from
the first punch.”
“It has me worried though.” Ben continued. “I mean, they made their
grab at GATEWAY at the worst possible time. Not the first time, they didn’t
know we were going to show up, but if they were willing to go to war for
the station, why didn’t they attack again immediately?” he asked. “Why
give us time to make repairs and prepare for them to come again?”
“They didn’t expect us to come back.” Mav Countered. ” When we did it
took the Founders some time to figure out whether or not they were willing
to risk a war. Besides, if the wormhole hadn’t reopened the repairs wouldn’t
have mattered. GATEWAY would have been taken or destroyed, and we
would have had a hard time waging a war in another quadrant. The Federation
probably would have let them have it.”
“It just seems like a big gamble for them. Especially since it’s clear they don’t
have the ships to stand up to us right now, we’ve been steadily advancing
since the war started.” Ben took another drink. “You’re probably right, but
it gives me a bad feeling.”
“Well, I’m not going to be the one to look a gift horse in the mouth.”
Maverick answered. “So, how long before our next mission?”
“Hard to say.” The CO replied. “Maybe a week.”
“You planning on visiting Moo? I hear she’s taken her brood to BAJOR. I’m
taking a shuttle in the morning.” Thanks to his friendship with Daisy, Maverick was
one of the few on the PATRIOT who knew about her relationship with the CO. Ben
wasn’t sure if he knew how strained they were, but he wouldn’t be surprised if
Daisy had told him about it.
He shook his head. “Not tomorrow. Some admiral will want a report on Eon, and
I’d like to stick around until we have a full report on Marathon.” Ben helped plan
parts of the massive operation, and felt a sense of responsibility over the results.
“I’ll try to get over later in the week.”
Mav looked over his shoulder at the entrance. “The boys are certainly taking
their time.”
Ben turned his eyes to the Dom-Jot table across the pub. “Do you play?”
Mav followed his gaze. “Not in years.”
Ben smiled. “Come on, I’ll try to take it easy on you.”
________________________________________________
Location: GS2
Scene: O' Shaughnessy's Irish Pub
Stardate: 2.80816
NRPG: Written by Taylor Williams
________________________________________________
In his youth, during the first war while he served on the Avalon and even
during the Hellespont tour, Mav had been known as a bar-fly, spending almost
every leave or break from duty in a bar at whatever port of call they happened
to be at. It didn’t matter if it was a Starfleet Installation, or a pub on Bolia.
He was quite the player of bar room games as well. Dom-Jot, Billiards, Pool,
he even played Darts at Deep Space 9 in a bar called Quarks once. That had
been several years ago though, as proven by the Patriot's captain wiping the
floor with him at the game.
"Ok, that was not fun"
"I thought you said you were good at this game at one time?"
"Yes but that was 60 years ago!"
"Excuses. Anyway, your family has arrived." Mav looked over to see Kyle
and Tyler walking in, arguing over something, and taking two chairs
where Mav's uniform jacket was laying.
"Looks like a fight. Wonder over what."
"I am intelligent enough to not get involved. Thanks for the drink.
And the game" Kenta walked away, setting his empty glass on the bar
before exiting the establishment.
Mav wandered over to the two of them and took a third chair. "Whats
the hubbub?"
"Teenagers are a pain in the ass you know?"
"I happen to know some along those lines. I remember one specifically that
used to torture his guardian by trying to kill himself in arboretums and in
turbo shafts."
"You shut up."
Mav laughed. "so what's up?"
"I'm tired of washing sheets from HIS brother" Kyle growled, jerking a
thumb at Tyler.
Mav started laughing. "Get over it. It will go away in a year or two. Or you
could introduce him to some Holo programs."
"No!" Tyler yelled out. "He can find that stuff out on his own. He's had the
chat already so everything else is up to him!"
"Then let it take its course. Now, I'm going to Bajor tomorrow to visit
Moo. You can come along if you like."
Kyle shrugged "I have far too much work to do. Your last mission trashed the
Rapiers, and the Strike is due some software upgrades. In fact Tyler and I
are going over tonight. You might want to take JT though. He's been asking
to see his brother and was quite down that LJ wasn’t here when we arrived."
"I will then. Have him pack light and report to my quarters at 2200. we
leave at 0600 so a good nights sleep will be needed."
====
0600
USS Wei Cheng
====
Mav was shocked when he boarded the aging runabout to see Tam sitting
n the copilot's chair. "JT, stow your pack in the aft cabin ok? A few more
passengers are coming so grab a seat before they all fill up."
"Ok Mister Mav" the boy ran to the back carrying a pack way to large for his
small frame and almost fell when it caught the door frame. He blushed and
ran off again without further words.
After a brief, yet almost completely one sided conversation with the Counselor,
they were cleared for departure and well on their way to the wormhole.
====
1357 Local Time
Bajoran Resort
====
LJ stared at the bright light high above in the sky trying to figure out what
it was. Gav and Erika were beside him watching the light move back and
forth. "What are you children doing?" Wangel Erek asked them. LJ sneered
back at him, never getting to the point of actually tolerating the Bajoran monk
like person that was Erika's father. He really didn’t like religious people at all,
they all made him nervous. And after that life guard had told him to leave the
beach because his bathing attire was too suggestive, he liked them even less.
"Daddy, theres a bright light in the sky" Erika replied.
Erek grabbed a pair of omnioculars, and pointed them up at the light she
had pointed out to him. "Daisy, I think your station is calling on you" he said,
reading the Registry numbers on the side of the ship. "A runabout is incoming."
Daisy growled as she stood from her relaxed position in a fluffy chair, and
came outside to look for herself. In the time it took her to do that, the light
had gone from a star like spec, to a rather large outline of an older runabout.
They were coming in very fast.
====
Runabout
====
Mav grinned as he punched the engines to maximum headed in a steep
dive towards the villa. Sensors could detect the onlookers staring up at
him. The heat shields were protesting as they were pushed to their limits.
====
Ground
====
The group scattered as the runabout came in hot and heavy to hover 12
meters off the ground before landing. Gavi and Erika screamed some as
the ship made its final maneuvers. Even after the engines were shut down,
you could hear the hull ticking as it cooled from the heat of entering the
atmosphere at such speeds.
Mav stepped out and was immediately slapped by Daisy. "You arrogant
hot shot sonofa"
"Watch it moo, your accent, you know how you hate your accent and
how it makes you sound imbred and uneducated."
"I ought to shoot you, but instead" she gave him a big hug. "Oh going
a little soft I see. Not as muscle bound as you once were."
"Yet youd still like to see me in my boxers again wouldn’t you."
"I hate you"
"I know."
___________________________________________________
Location: BAJOR
Scene: Davidson estate
Time index: Later
Stardate: 2.80817.0632
NRPG: Mine
___________________________________________________
Wangel Erek was never deliberately pompous. The handsome school teacher
was actually very humble. However, he was simply much more conservative
and well-mannered than most of Daisy's friends. Some people enjoyed teasing
him that his brief involvement with Daisy was the only truly "crazy" thing the
very respectable former starfleet officer and current school teacher had ever done.
Wangel Erek's more gentle nature only allowed for lighter bits of teasing at the
expense of others and nothing like the "Smartass central" that quickly
developed when people like Cade Foster, Bret Maverick and LJ Lawrence all in
the same room. So, the poor Bajoran man looked possitively squeamish around
the now "Chatty" LJ and two of Daisy's most obnoxious companions. LJ could
barely contain his sniggering as Erek invited Gavi to join him and Erika on a
trip out to explore more of the island with the younger children.
"What a wuss." the teenager muttered. Daisy grabbed a small piece of
indigenous fruit from a bowl on the table and promptly tossed it at LJ and
scolded him, "Watch your mouth."
Orange "Goo" from the fruit splattered over the side of young LJ's
handsome face. Mortified, LJ turned a deep shade of red and scoffed at
Daisy as both Mav and Cade sniggered. LJ started to go for the same bowl
of fruit as if to grab another piece and throw it right back at his mother. The
Marine moved more quickly than Foster to block his path and gave the boy
a look indicating that he'd better not think about it.
LJ glanced back and forth between Mav and Cade - as if hoping the
three of them could gang up on Daisy. However, Foster just backed up Mav
and chided the boy, "Go clean up, son."
The boy rolled his eyes and groaned - painfully aware they still saw him as
"The kid" in the room. Then, he went to the bathroom to wash his face. When
he came back - he gave Daisy a dirty look. She gave him one right back and
Mav sniggered,
"Got anything to drink? Or do you need a moment to stop and powder
the boy's diaper?"
LJ's mouth dropped open and Cade openly chuckled. "Hey, any chance this
guy could take over the Marines on GATEWAY? Send the P'Narran packing.
This guy's more fun."
Mav sniggered good naturedly, "I think your boyfriend's hitting on me, moo."
Cade snorted and laughed, "You wish."
Still annoyed, LJ asked, "Why does he call you Moo?"
Daisy flinched. "That goes back to when we served together on the
DISCOVERY - back when Jason was born."
Mav got a sad look on his face. "He was a cute kid."
Daisy smiled weakly and Mav quickly went back to his comfortable,
familiar "obnoxious" mode to try and keep the mood light. "Seeing your
'nethers' in all their glory, though - as you were pushing him out? Honestly, "
the marine gave a mock 'shudder'....." I still have nightmares, moo."
Both Cade and LJ busted out laughing as Daisy turned a bright shade of red
and chased Mav around the room. The Marine himself was laughing until he
had tears in his eyes as Daisy continued slapping him repeatedly about his
chest and shoulders and laughing and cursing at him....
_______________________________________________________
Location: BAJOR
Scene: Beach
Time index: A couple hours later
________________________________________________________
The sun was setting, the moons were rising. Cool green waves sloshed against
the shore as Daisy held Erika's hand. Her little girl wore a bright pink bathing
suit with ruffles across the bottom and big blue-green floaties on each of her
arms.
The muscular marine easily scooped up the child and twirled her around, making
her giggle and shriek. Then, he gently handed her back to her mother.
Cade was further up the beach with LJ and out of ear shot when Daisy finally
asked,
"So, how's he doing?"
Teasingly, Mav pretended he didn't know who she was talking about.
"Hmm?"
Daisy grimaced awkwardly and asked again, "Is he ok?"
Knowing full well she was talking about Ben, Mav gave her a nod. "He's
alright. Why?"
Daisy shrugged and changed the subject, not wanting to explain
infront of Erika or really "at all". Not answering his question, she just
stammerred, "Yeah...ahem...whatever. You hungry? I replicated
some hot dogs to roast tonight..."
-----------------------------------
NRPG:
I'm alive. I'm home. Highly medicated. Lortabs are great fun. LOL
Taylor and Erik - I hope you like it. If I got anything wrong - blame my pain meds
and my post-op fever. LOL
*Waves to the Gate crew* I'm looking forward to reading what you guys write with Ran while Daisy is on vacation - so happy posting! :)
Kim Toussaint AKA Commander Daisy Byrne Davidson, M.D.
Commanding officer of GATEWAY STATION
"To command is to serve, nothing more and nothing less." - Andre George Malraux (1901 - 1976)
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