Staff Dinner

Posted on Wed Jun 10th, 2015 @ 12:42pm by Fleet Admiral Mike K`Wor Bremer & Captain Patrick Dow & Commander Jonathan Roebuck IV & Colonel Danny Lennox & General Janice Fultian-Bremer & First Ramata`tar & Commander Robert Stark & Fleet Admiral Sevlek & Admiral Deela T'Lar & Lieutenant General Jewel 'M'lara' Dartt & Major General Thomas Jackson & Captain Ryan Greenwood & Commodore Andrew Clifford & Commodore Leon `Lee` Pike & Commander Jonathan Coleman & Captain R'nard Lokran & Commander Tressa Brislan & Lieutenant Colonel Jillian "Phoenix" Sullivan & Major Percival 'Percy' Morris & Lieutenant Commander Holly Gillo & Lieutenant Saith i-Ki Baratan & Captain Jack Solomon & Lieutenant Nuala Takabe & Commodore Alexandra Harrison & Captain Worf Son of Mogh & Wesley Crusher

6,309 words; about a 32 minute read

Mission: Episode 88 - Memories Lost, Trouble Found
Location: Starbase 400, Reception Hall
Timeline: MD 3, 1930 hrs, Following 'Surprises'

ON:

Jewel was released from sickbay earlier today, when she was summoned to a dinner she got dressed. She looked at David, "are you sure up to watching our son while I go to this Staff Dinner?" She asked as she really didn't want to leave her son already. "Dear we will be fine," David said with a smile then looked down at their sleeping little boy. Jewel smiled, "I shouldn't be too long, I'll be back soon." Jewel said as she kissed both of them then headed out of their quarters and down to the Reception hall and entered.

She took a seat as she looked around the room, She wondered if she was early as there were barely anyone here yet.

Deela T'Lar walked in with Brandon in tow. She normally didn't take him to things but he was old enough now and she wanted to get him used to crowds. She saw Jewel and it dawned on her that she has completely zoned out.

Deela walked over to Jewel, "Hi. I am so sorry for not coming to see you and the new one. How are you both doing?"

She looked at Deela and smiled, "You're fine Deela I know you and others have been busy." She said with a smile. "We are doing good, he is back in our quarters with David." She said with a smile then hugged Deela, "Hope all is ok with you Deela." She asked as she could tell something was bothering her friend and Godmother of her son.

"Have I become that transparent? I am starting to feel more human than Vulcan these days. Things used to not bother me but lately." She shrugged it off, "I am okay, really."

She raised an eyebrow but didn't press further, if she wanted to talk about it she will more privately. "So this must be Brandon, you've gotten so big buddy." She said with a smile.

The boy was somewhat shy, "Uh huh." Deela bent down, "This is Jewel. She is a friend." Brandon smiled at Jewel. Deela looked at Jewel, "You will have to excuse my son. He is a little shy when it comes to people."

Lee was in his office finishing the latest report when he got the staff dinner invite, he sent a message to Alex about it. He waited for her response.

Alex got the same message and was already dressed and ready to go. She sent back a message, letting him know that she would meet him there.

Lee read the message from Alex then got up heading quickly to their quarters to change, he ran into Maal on the way there.

Sevlek arrived in at the dinner. He'd already made the appropriate changes to his uniform and rank insignia to reflect his new posting. He nodded to various individuals as he moved across the room to his assumed seat. As he sat down, he noticed Andrenicus cross the room to speak to him with a somewhat rushed look about him.

Once Andrenicus was near enough, he whispered, "Admiral. Sorry to interrupt, but we have an issue. Alpha-3-7-2 is reporting odd sensor ghosting."

Sevlek nodded, "Reroute the U.S.S. Tuskegee to the area. Ensure they as if they are on a standard service rotation of the sensor array."

Andrenicus nodded and then turned to leave the room. Sevlek merely looked around the room, taking the lay of the land, so to speak.

Holly had to excuse herself from Giaus when the comm came in. Taking the call she nodded and informed them that she would arrive when it was possible for her to get there. Going back to where Giaus was located at she explained to him what was going on and that she would be back as soon as things allowed her to. Having to change cloths she got back into uniform and was off to the staff dinner. Not sure what it was all about she prepared for the worse and hoped for the best.

Arriving at the reception hall some time later Holly did her normal of blending into the background and adjusting to all the minds that were in the room. Putting up her walls rather quickly she made herself invisible and found a seat to sit in and politely waited for things to settle and people for that matter.

Morris was there, one of the new guys, one of the marines - double strike in some opinions. But he was there, dressed in a brand new duty outfit. Many use the word sharp to describe something new like that, but Percy would say he looked crisp. The pants had one of the hardest fold creases he had seen. And it itched. But it was new and he looked pretty good in it. He gave a couple nods to folks he recognized, including General Hurd. But mostly he remained quiet until Colonel Jackson or others he knew well would enter, getting a coffee for himself before anything else.

Hoshi looked around tentatively from her chair, not wishing to appear to be looking for someone despite the fact that it was exactly what she was doing. So far she had made only one friend aboard the base, Ensign Silva. She disliked making friends at parties or dinners, unless she was the one hosting said event - it gave her a casual way to talk to everyone in the room without having to remain with any one person for too long if she didn't want to. If you weren't the host and you moved quickly from guest to guest you looked as if you were merely networking, which annoyed her - though of course half the events she had ever attended were born out of the need to make connections and hammer things out between two parties. But she disliked the impersonal-ness of it, even as she understood it. She did not like the thought leaving someone she had just met with the feeling that she had merely spoken to them for her own purposes. She wanted them to be have been happier for the interaction.

She had no good friend here yet that she could hang out with comfortably - Ensign Javier Silva was not yet in sight - and nor was she the host. So her next strategy was to discreetly scan the area for another soul to capture her attention.

Commander Coleman was working in the R&D office, hammering out several last finishing touches on the new computer cores that the starbase and several ships stationed at the starbase had gotten months ago. There were still a few issues he was having with integrating the cores into the ships and making sure that they did not gain sentience, therefore possibly interfering with the mission at hand.

When he had just about finished up, he looked over to see an invite had been forwarded to him from the admiralty aboard the starbase. He finished a few items he had to work on and put all the stations in standby mode. He made a quick pit stop at his quarters to grab a fresh uniform because he had been working in the one he was wearing for a 24 hour period straight, working on the core problems and making sure all the ships were back on active duty as soon as possible.

Once he was donned in his new uniform, he headed down to the Reception Hall on the Starbase. He saw several familiar faces, including General Hurd, Admiral Sevlek, among others. He grabbed a drink and mingled with a couple of them before taking a seat at one of the many tables that had been set. Now, just to take it all in, he thought.

Alex walked in and looked around for familiar faces. She saw Deela talking to Jewel and approached them. Brandon's face lit up, "Auntie Alex!" Alex didn't expect to see him but gave him a hug anyway.

"Hi." She looked at Jewel with a smile, "Congratulations on your new addition."

"Thanks Alex," Jewel said with a smile as she greeted her.

Alex then looked at Deela. She spoke with a soft voice, "You know Deela, Paul could watch Brandon for you." Deela smiled, "Not necessary. He is actually my dinner date." Alex chuckled to herself, "Aw, how sweet."

Stark arrived in the Reception Hall and quickly grabbed a drink, champagne.

Jack made his way to the announced Staff Dinner after putting on a fresh uniform earlier on. He felt this was a good chance to talk with some of the other Officers and Staff that served on board. He was looking for a chance to connect with other people on board, not previously had the chance to do so with the recent flurry of action both on and off the station. He put aside his worries and concerns over his impending personal mission as he entered the room, taking note of everybody talking and mingling together.

Jack grabbed himself a small cider from the replicator and he headed into the room looking to mingle with the others.

Coleman saw Solomon walk in and start making his way around the room. He walked over to the man and said, "Good job on the last mission. Without you and the rest of the team, I don't know if we would have made it through it with our heads still on our shoulders."

Jack turned round to greet Commander Coleman. "Thank you sir, it was a pleasure and an honour to serve under your command during the last mission," Jack explained as he spoke with his mission CO. "I have to admit that it felt good to be an XO again and to work as part of a team again was good. Should the situation arise again, I'll happily XO for you again sir," he offered.

Zhao, tapped Jack on the shoulder, "You made it, then." He smiled as he spoke, remembering how much Jack had been chomping at the bit to get down on the planet with his team at Hunster II.

Jack turned round whilst talking to Coleman to see Quan stood next to him. "Thank you, yes, it was touch and go but we made it. The whole shuttle mission got the Adrenalin pumping," Jack explained. "Well done to you as well Lieutenant, you kept the Ark Royal running like a Swiss clock, good job!" He praised.

Zhao beamed a smile that threatened to split his face in half, "Thank you, too". He took a swig of his bear and wandered off.

Jack went after Quan momentarily, catching him up and keeping pace with. "Lieutenant, I was wondering, after this dinner, could I see you about a private matter I'd like to discuss with you? It has an engineering related subject..." Jack asked him. He knew that the Steadfast would need a good crew and Quan would be an ideal choice.

Bremer arrived with Janice on his arm. As they entered, she whispered to him with a smirk, “Wonder who'll be the first to notice you new, old, rank insignia.”

Mike just gently shook his head as he smiled back at her.

Behind the Bremers was K’Temoc, Worf, Malor, Crusher, Daniels, and Perim. The four Officers from the USS Warrior didn’t know too many people in the room. A moment later Rodek also came in accompanied by Doctor Mclintock,

Mike looked back at Rodek as he scanned the room, then he walked over with Worf, Malor, and K’Temoc while Janice went to speak with Jewel and Deela.

Rodek looked around the Reception Hall, then out the windows into space. He seemed lost in thought as Kaleb IV slowly turned below the Station.

Bremer looked over at Mclintock with a smile, “Kitty, go enough yourself.”

“How are you feeling?” K’Temoc asked Rodek, who quickly turned to look back at him then scanned his eyes from Worf, to Malor, to Bremer, then back to K’Temoc.

“I’m feeling, fine.” Rodek replied, “Isn’t that the Human expression?”

K’Temoc smirked as Malor slapped Rodek on the side. “Come, we will dine!”

Worf, Malor, and Rodek walked over to one of the tables that was prepared with food. There were several Klingon selections to pick from, but something non-Klingon caught Rodek’s eyes. “What, is that?”

Worf looked over to where Rodek was pointing. “Roasted Turkey, a Human dish.”

Rodek’s expression changed to one of almost discussed, “be’! I refused to try their burned replicated bird meat.” Worf looked over at Rodek for a moment as Rodek’s expression again changed and he seemed lost in thought again.

“Rodek, are you alright?” Worf asked.

Rodek nodded, “I had a flash of a memory, you were there,” he said to Worf, “and so were other people, but I do not know who they are or where we were.”

Worf wanted to push him to try to see if he could remember, but he knew this wasn't the time or place.

Elsewhere, K’Temoc and Daniels were talking about old times aboard the Enterprise-E. Daniels was already a seasoned Security Officer aboard the ship when K’Temoc came aboard as a new Ensign fresh out of Starfleet Academy.

A moment later, Stark walked up, “Cap’n, we’ve finished work on the Yorktown. Her computer systems are fully functional again and we’ve boosted relays to the tactical systems by another three percent.”

K’Temoc nodded, “Thank you Mister Stark.” He paused a moment, then “This is Daniels, Chief Tactical Officer of the USS Warrior.”

A few feet away, Bremer was talking to Crusher. “How’s married life treating you?”

“Good, very good, but different. Robin’s been great, but not having her aboard the Warrior has been difficult. She’s put in a transfer and Worf’s approved it, but we're still waiting for Starfleet Command to approve.” Wesley replied.

Mike smirked, “I might have a little more pull now, let me see if I can push that transfer through.”

Jackson finally arrived, after changing from his usual battledress into his duty uniform that is favored by Starfleet members. He looked around, and nodded at the people he knew including Major Morris, and took a seat.

R'nard had entered quietly and unnoticed as was his wont. It seemed that he was just there. No magic, he would have laughed at the thought, just the way he had been trained to move.

Ryan entered the room. He was glad to have an informal dinner with the senior staff and gave him some time away from recent events. Ryan looked around the room at everyone who had arrived already.

"Seem to be the last one in." Ryan thought to himself.

He quickly took a seat.

Saith paused in the doorway, she hated these things. She had come directly from her shift so she was still in her uniform. She looked around the room for Maal, but did not see him. She moved along the outer wall nodding to those who greeted her and ignored everyone else. She found a seat and sat, knowing Maal would find her. She had a scowl on her face and showed it to everyone who approached.

Lee and Maal finally arrived at the dinner, Maal quickly made his way over to stand behind Saith as Lee headed over towards where Alex was. "Admiral, General nice to see you.

"Hello Lee and Maal, glad you could make it." Jewel said with a smile.

Lee nodded giving a half smile:"Glad you could make it as well Jewel."

Deela didn't bat an eye, "Well you know what they say. Better late than never." She waited for a few seconds before cracking a smile. Upon seeing Maal, Brandon moved closer to his mother and hid behind her because he was a little frightened of Maal. He couldn't stop staring at Maal.

Maal:"If you'll excuse me" He turned on his heel and headed towards Saith.

Lee spotted Brandon staring at Maal as Maal walked towards Saith:"Have you never seen a Klingon that big before Brandon?"

Brand shook his head, "Uh uh, but he's scarey."

Deela laughed at her son. He had seen Klingons before but not up that close so he was a little intimidated by his seven foot stature. "He has not seen many Klingons up close. That is why he is with me. I think he needs the socialization. Paul will not be living here forever."

Lee gave a short laugh:"You know Brandon you are welcome to go over and say hi to Maal, am sure he won't bite."

Andrew thought he would be one of the last to arrive, and he wasn't far off. Without making any fuss of greetings he headed for the bar and ordered himself a drink, his usual smile noticeable by it's absence. With drink in hand he simply turned to look around the room. After a moment he allowed himself to lean back against the bar, and just watched people. He didn't really feel like mixing but an invite is an invite. His last LOA from the station had taken too much out of him and all he really wanted was to have something to take his mind of the LOA.

Takabe wasn't planning to go to the dinner. She had an old bottle of Chech'tluth. Before the dinner she had a shot or three and then more until the bottle was empty. The room was spinning as she entered the hall.

Tressa Brislan was mingling with old friends and new, and flagged down Jewel to ask after the new baby.

Jewel smiled at Tressa and they talked for a few moments.

Phoenix was the last arrived, and did so with her usual flare. As she was nearly late from her romp with two Orion gals and a young engineering male Andorian she was too drunk to recall. Thus Phoenix entered the room still zipping and buttoning parts of her uniform.

After everyone arrived, Mike walked to the front of the room and stood in front of the large windows. He looked around for a moment, then spoke in a loud voice. “May I have everyone’s attention please.”

Mike waited for everyone to quiet down before continuing. “First I want to thank you all for your efforts recently on Hunster II as well as here during Ra’ Graline and the Krazzle’s visit. We all faced some challenges we didn’t expect, but you all performed well and met the challenges head on, overcoming them...just as I expected you to.” Mike paused as he smiled and look around the room for a moment before continuing. “Now, for a little bad needs and business. I want the following Officers to step forward and stand at attention.” Mike looked around the room again for a moment, glaring at a few people, “Vice Admiral T’Lar, Brigadier General Hurd, Colonel Jackson, Major Sullivan, Lieutenant Commander Brislan.”

Deela was taken aback upon hearing her name called to come up. She bent down at her son's level, "Stay here with Alex." Alex put her hands on Brandon's shoulders while Deela went forward. She stared inquisitively at Bremer, wondering what he was up to.

Jax looked up at the sound of his name, making eye contact with the Admiral. He then made his way forward.

Jewel raised an eyebrow as she stood up, straightening out her uniform and walked up and stood next to Deela.

Lieutenant (JG) William "Billy" Keikeya Jr. arrived late at the staff dinner during the Admiral's speech. He slipped into the back of the room and was glad for the names being called as the attention would be drawn to them instead of the tardy junior officer. He still hadn't gotten around to learning the layout of the Starbase and rarely went outside the area of his quarters, some of the restaurants and the Diplomatic Offices as well as points in between. Trying to find the Reception Hall had been a nightmare.

Tressa took her place in line next to her friend Deela.

Phoenix plucked an apple off the table unceremoniously and ate it rather loudly as she stood in line with the rest of the folks.

Mike waited for them all to come forward, stand in a line facing the group, and at attention. Mike walked over to the good and looked them up and down for a moment, “I know I said this would be an informal dinner, but I still expected you all to be in the proper uniform.”

First Mike walked to stand in front of Deela, “Miss T’Lar, you are here-by promoted to the rank of Admiral. Congratulations.”

Mike then stepped over to Jewel. “Mrs. Hurd, you are here-by promoted to the rank of Major General. Congratulations.”

Next Mike stepped over to Thomas. “Mister Jackson, you are here-by promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. Congratulations.”

Then Mike stepped over to Jillian, “Miss Sullivan, Phoenix, you are here-by promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Congratulations.”

Finally Mike stepped over to Tressa “Miss Brislan, you are here-by promoted to the rank of Commander. Congratulations.”

Mike then turned to face the group again, let’s give them all a hand.” Mike smiled as he started to clap.

Jack put his drink down to applaud the promotions announced by Admiral Bremer. He loved watching people getting promoted and he was glad and happy to see Deela was one of them. He made a note to speak to her later about it.

Deela wasn't sure how to react to the promotion. It was the last thing she had expected. She couldn't help but feel awkward from the attention.

"Admiral, thank you," Tressa stammered. She turned to Deela and grinned.

Deela smiled back. She was proud of Tressa and Jewel.

Jewel smiled glad to see that Tressa also was promoted, in her eyes she was the best Chief Medical Officer here on the base and deserved that promotion.

"A star?", Jax thought to himself. How in the hell did he warrant a star. But he was not complaining. He gave the Admiral a bow, and repeated the motion to the others in the room.

R'nard stood in honor of those who had been promoted. After the way the terrorist had eluded his grasp, he didn't feel worthy to be in their presence. He had taken his failure hard, even though he had been defeated by one more cunning than he was.

"Right... time ta get another whore," Phoenix smiled to herself as she took another bite of her apple.

Andrew put is drink down and joined in the applause for the promoted officers. For a second he caught T'Lar's eye and nodded, silently mouthing "Well Done, Admiral". There was no chance she could hear him at the distance they were standing apart, but he hoped she could lip read.

Deela did catch what he said and mouthed back, "Thank you."

Andrew picked up his drink and raised it towards her in toast to her promotion. He was missing the time they worked together on the Essex, both old and new ships. But life goes on and things change.

Ryan applauded for those promoted. A lot had been going on recently and they were well deserved.

She was sure surprised and smiled, "thank you Admiral." She replied as she noticed his new pip and raised an eyebrow and placed another star on her uniform. This was a good surprised just shortly after having her son.

Saith applauded and gave congratulatory salutations with the crowd, but she really just wanted to leave. Glancing up at Maal she wondered what he was thinking.

Maal applauded with the others then placed a hand on Saith's shoulder.

Lee smiled and applauded.

Takabe applauded along with everyone else. The Chech'tluth finally won and Takabe slipped away into a forgotten corner of the hall and regurgitated.

Mike was having a good time, and was happy to see his crew...his extended family having a good time too. As he walked around, he saw Ramata’tar standing close to the door as if he was on guard duty.

“Having a good time?” Mike asked.

Ramata’tar tilted his head slightly at the question, “Jem’Hadar do not, party.”

Bremer smirked, “Or eat, or sit, or sleep, but you wanted to be an Exchange Officer so you need to learn to have a little fun. Mingle, talk to people, you’re not on duty.”

“I will obey, that is the order of things.” Ramata’tar replied.

Bremer smiled again, knowing the moment was lost of his Jem’Hadar crewmember. “There is something I need to talk to you about. Tomorrow morning Admiral T’Lar and Lieutenant Solomon will be departing on a mission aboard the Steadfast, I want you to go along to, keep an eye out on them both.”

Now this, Ramata’tar understood. “It will be done.”

Mike nodded, then was almost amazed to see Ramata’tar walk away from the door and over to Captain Clifford and Lieutenant Baratan who were standing nearby.

“You are Captain Clifford and you are Lieutenant Baratan, I’ve been ordered to mingle and talk to you. You will talk back.” Ramata’tar said to Clifford and Saith.

Andrew looked at him, clearly not impressed. "What do you want to talk about, Ramata'tar?"

Saith winced, so much for getting out of here. She truly wasn't in the mood tonight. Her plan had been to let Maal mingle a little and then they could escape. She glanced at Andrew, then back at Ramata'tar waiting.

Ramata’tar wasn’t sure how to answer the question of what to talk about, he paused a moment, then said “I believe a full Security review of the assassination attempt on Ra’ Graline and Admiral Bremer. Something like this wouldn’t happen on a Dominion base, and...”

Jackson was still not used to being in close proximity to a Jem'Hadar, at least not a live one. But so far, this one has proven to be a good soldier. He thought to himself that perhaps, times can change.

Mike shook his head and continued to walk through the crowd, making sure to say hello to everyone. As he neared the back of Reception Hall he saw K’Temoc and Rodek talking.

“...and if you need anything, let me know.” K’Temoc was saying to Rodek.

Rodek nodded, “Worf said he was taking my back to the Klingon Homeworld, but I'm not sure I belong there. I feel, I feel like I have something I have to do.”

About the same time, Worf also walked over and stood beside Rodek. K’Temoc patted Rodek on the arm then turned to walk off. As he passed Bremer, K’Temoc glared at his brother for a moment, still clearly mad Mike never told him about Kurn. “Fleet Admiral” was all K’Temoc said to Mike.

Worf waited for K’Temoc to walk away before speaking to Rodek. “Have you had anymore flashes of memories?”

“No.” Rodek replied, clearly frustrated he couldn't remember anything. “Just the one over there by the dead bird.”

“Then perhaps you need to go back to Sick Bay to rest.” Worf replied.

“I do not want to go back to Sick Bay and rest!” Rodek replied, loud enough for everyone to hear him, quiet down, and turn to see what was going on. “I’m not an old man, feeble and dying, and I don’t need to be treated like a loD qan!

Worf looked around for a moment, but didn’t have a chance to say anything before Rodek continued, “I am not puj!”

Malor walked over beside Rodek and placed his hand on his shoulder, concerned for his old friend, but that seemed to set Rodek off even more and he slapped Malor’s hand away as his anger at the situation seemed to boil over. After slapping Malor’s hand off he turned to take a punch at the elder Klingon, but Worf grabbed Rodek’s arm.

“That’s enough!” Worf said in an angry tone, but Rodek didn't heed the warning and turned his anger on Worf and took a swing at him. Worf didn’t attempt to block or duck Rodek’s punch, taking the hit to the face.

After punching Worf and seeing the blood flow from his lip, Rodek took a deep breath and calmed down. In his conscious mind, he knew he was angry that he couldn't remember anything but he didn’t know why he felt so much anger toward Worf.

Mike stepped forward, made sure both Malor and Worf were fine before looking over at Rodek. “Rodek, you need to return to Sick Bay, now. I understand you’re frustrated, but I will not tolerate a fight here.” Mike looked over to his left and saw Ramata’tar standing close. “First Ramata’tar will escort you there.”

When Ramata’tar moved towards the altercation, Saith also moved that direction. She noted Maal’s position and stepped nearer to him. She waited to see what would happen.

Maal turned his head hearing what was going on and stood there watching.

Saith leaned towards Maal, “can we leave yet? Or do you need to stay?” she asked quietly. She had enough and was ready to leave. She was tired, a little depressed, and wanted to go home and sleep. Despite her time on the station, she didn’t know most of the people here and had little to do with the majority of those she did. She moved behind Maal, so that she could head for the door.

Rodek stood taller, not liking being ordered around, but he remembered he’d given his word to Bremer when he first arrived, and something within himself ‘told’ him he needed to keep his word. After a moment, Rodek nodded and headed out the door with the big Jem’Hadar Ramata’tar behind him.

Mike then walked over to Doctor Brislan, “I think Doctor Raya is on duty in Sickbay, have her give Rodek something to help him settle down and sleep.”

"Certainly, Admiral," Tressa said. She tapped a quick message to her colleague.

Mike then tapped his commbadge as everyone else went back to their convocations, eating, and drinking. “Bremer to Ops, Mister Roebuck, Rodek is being escorted back to Sick Bay, please have a Security Officer on duty there please.”

“Acknowledged Admiral.” Roebuck replied before the comm closed.

K’Temoc checked on Malor as well, but the elder Klingon was fine. Worf had taken a napkin off a near-by table and wiped the blood from his lip. “This is why he needs a medical facility that’s trained in this sort of thing.” K’Temoc said coldly to Bremer, Worf, and Malor.

Worf gave a nod, he was starting to agree with K’Temoc’s point of view.

Jewel sat there and talked to Deela and Alex while she ate and drank, enjoying the evening. But she really did miss her little bundle of joy back in her quarters with David. She was still in shock about her promotion, "Oh Congrats Admiral T'Lar, it's about time you got a promotion." Jewel said with a smile.

Deela smiled, "Thank you. You too, congratulations. It was quite unexpected." It would take some getting used to.

Deela then turned to Alex, "Oh, I forgot with all of this craziness. I have to assist Lt. Solomon on a mission and I do not know how long I will be gone. If Paul could check in on them once in a while, I would appreciate it."

Alex nodded, "Sure. Maybe they can even sleep at our quarters." Deela was relieved, "I think they would like it. Thank you."

Deela saw Captain Clifford looking like he wanted to bolt so she excused herself from them and got two drinks. She walked over to him, "Hi there stranger." She handed him the drink and whispered in his ear, "I have come to save you."

Andrew took the drink, "Hello Boss. I'm not doing a very good job of pretending to enjoy myself, am I." He smiled slightly, "Thank you, though.. please rescue away, Admiral "

"Come on. Let's go sit at the bar and talk." She led the way to the bar and took an empty seat, "You look like you can use a friend right now. Want to talk about it to an old friend?"

Andrew sat down and looked at Deela, "I can't really put it into words, Deela.. Sorry Admiral."

Deela shrugged it off, "Deela is fine. All of this promotion stuff has made me a bit self conscious. But let us talk about what is going on with you. Why not start from the beginning."

"The time off station was hard, it was meant to be a straightforward visit to Earth to meet up with some old friends I had served with 10 years ago. It was the first time we had been stationed close enough to meet up since I left the Excalibur. There were six of us, now there is just me. They all died on the shuttle back to Earth to meet up." He found that once he started the words just came out. "Nobody has any idea what happened. The shuttle exploded just outside Jupiter's orbit, and it completely disintegrated. The navigation log showed nothing untoward, the signal just stopped. I helped with the investigation but we found nothing, and in the end it was declared as a faulty warp core explosion. I've lost friends in battles and accidents before boss. At my age it is inevitable I guess, but there has always been a reason. But this.. This is nothing, they just vanished, gone forever, for no reason."

Deela nodded, "That is strange, very strange." Deela put her hand on top of his.

At the moment, I have two conflicting emotions, one I want to rip the solar system apart and find out what happened, two I want to run away and hide and just let the universe forget I exist. I have never run away from anything before in my life, but this... this ." He stopped lost for words. He looked at the floor, then looked back up and shrugged.

Deela was very familiar with death. She had lost, not only one husband but two. At that time, she was so ready to disappear, "That is how I felt when I lost Vincent. I wanted answers and even to this day, I still do not have them. You have to ask yourself, is that what your friends would want you to do? Vincent would be disappointed in me if I gave up like I wanted to." Deela sighed as she felt those emotions come back. She gave his hand a slight squeeze before picking up her drink and gulping it down.

After awhile Jewel excused herself from the table and walked over to where Worf and them were. "So how you doing Worf?" she asked as she only talked with him a few times, she didn't want to be rude and not say anything.

R'nard also made his way to where Worf stood, a legend in his time. He made his bow according to his custom and said "Honored grreetings, Captain Worf. I am Commander R'nard Lokran, chief of Tactical and Securrity."

Jax only heard of Captain Worf, and his exploits during the war. Based on this alone, he had much respect for this Klingon. He stepped up, but let the others do their introductions before he introduced himself.

"Captain Worf. I am General Thomas Jackson of the First Marine Division, and I am honored to say that we have walked some of the same ground."

Percy had managed to find his way to his superior, having not yet congratulated him on the promotion. Jax had just approached Worf, so Morris just gave a small nod to Jax and stood at his side and behind him politely.

"And I would also like to introduce to you my XO, Major Morris."

Worf’s thoughts were elsewhere, but he was trying not to be rude. He gave a respectful nod to both men, “It’s an honor to meet you both”

Commander Coleman was mingling with several of the officers that had attended the dinner and was congratulating several of the officers on their promotion when he saw Jackson. He wanted to congratulate him on his promotion and talk to him about the new base on Kaleb III. So, he decided to pop in on the conversation.

As he walked over, he noticed why there was such a large group gathered around Jax. They were all talking with Captain Worf, who was by reputation a fearsome and honorable warrior. He had met Worf several years prior, on a mission with the USS South Carolina and while he only talked to Worf on a handful of occasion, he still looked as young as he did back then.

Coleman walked up beside Morris and Jackson and let them continue their conversation uninterrupted, as not to be rude to his superiors.

Worf paused a moment, then said, “If you’ll excuse me.” He left the Reception Hall.

As the night went on, there were no further fights, just good people having good fun. Bremer watched as Phoenix and something from the Warrior’s crew were talking in a corner, then quietly left the Reception Hall together. Soon after, Stark, Daniels, Perim, Crusher, and K’Temoc left. Janice soon excused herself too by kissing Mike and heading back to there quarters to relieve the babysitter watching Christopher.

Mike stood over to the side and just watched, he was proud of his crew.

OFF:

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