Meeting again for the first time...

Posted on Thu Oct 6th, 2011 @ 11:29pm by Admiral Ricky Wegener & Brigadier Akima

Mission: In Our Time of Need
Location: Cravings Restaurant & Bar
Timeline: Current - 2000 hours

It had been a long day for Rick. He'd spent some time in the Academy offices speaking with Professor Drake, a few hours in the Galileo Center with the construction and design crews ensuring the Gallery that was recently put up had been done so to his specifications and a few more hours in the Piper Medical Center talking to the CMO about possibly getting a few more medical personnel assigned to 900 to better cover the medical needs of the personnel. He'd missed lunch, having only a protein shake at the insistence of the doctor when he said Rick looked like he desperately needed to eat something.

He rounded up the day with a few hours in the ops center making sure everything was running smoothly before retiring to his quarters, having a quick sonic shower and changing to civilian attire. He put his feet up for a while but decided he'd rather not eat alone again tonight. The new owner of Cravings had gotten the restaurant up and running so he decided to give it a shot.


** Deck 281 -- Promenade**

Something about the Promenade decks being full of life made Ricky smile. Most everyone was happy to be there and it made him feel like he was doing things right on the base. Across the way, looking through a shop window, was a Klingon woman whom he'd met a long time ago and only once since he'd been on 900. It was Brigadier General Akima with Klingon Intelligence & Research. She, too, was dressed in civilian attire and he couldn't help but let his eyes wander a bit at her figure. For a Klingon, she was very attractive, but he knew her background. She was as lethal as she was beautiful.

"Good evening, General," he said as he stood behind her.

"Good evening Admiral," she said with out looking back. She knew who it was long before he even got close as he was wearing cologne, the one that adjusted to the wearer so that it was never quite the same on any two people. It was her favorite scent, one that she would never forget. She'd be damned if she would ever tell him that, or anyone else for that matter.

She stood still with her hand lightly on the hilt of her Katanga blade. It was reflex on her part that made her reach for the most available weapon when her senses picked up on the fact that someone was approaching her a little closer than she was usually comfortable with. Being on a star-base bustling with people going about their day meant that her hand hovered that hilt on a frequent basis. It may seem odd that a diplomat of her standing would be so on edge and that despite base protocols she always managed to have some sort of weapon or five on her person,but she was Klingon after all and an un-armed Klingon is a naked Klingon.

She continued looking at the garment in the shop window and was imagining how it would look on her when she replied. She knew this day would come, she knew he was in charge of the base. What she did not know was how it would work out. They had met before on another base many years back. It did not go well, as she recalled. She sighed as she quickly thought back to then. But now was another time wasn't it?

"I would like to apologize to you for not coming to see you before now, but as you may have heard, we've been a bit busy with the Divitians. I trust our intelligence department has kept you up to date on what information has been gleaned from them so that you can update your personnel?" He attempted to sound light-hearted, remembering as well that their last meeting hadn't gone very well.

She continued to face the window knowing full well that he HATED it when people did not look him in the eye when the spoke to him. She didn't fault him for that as she had the same issue. But she considered she was creating an extremely minor annoyance for him than what he did the last time they were together. Petty? You bet your sweet Federation ass she could resort to pettiness. She blamed that on her "human" upbringing, even though her foster parents tried to have her taught to embrace her Klingon heritage. Besides there was this odd need to toy with him in any manner she could and it puzzled her as this was not her usual style. Here was a man that could bring out the best in her, then the worst, then the best over and over again. She also breifly wondered who the hell used the term "gleaned' anymore?

She answered, "No need to apologize, sir. I am sure your time is as valuable as mine. And yes, I have been kept abreast of the current situation." She paused a moment and grimaced inwardly as she continued. "I just need to know how my team and I can be of more use to you."

She was right. And he felt like a heel for not being more personally involved with her on the base. She was a flag officer, after all. So, he swallowed hard and asked, "Well, if you're not too busy, I was just headed to the new restaurant to see how it was. I'm sure we could discuss some things over a business dinner, if you were so inclined?"

He made sure to say "business dinner". He remembered the last time someone asked her on a date. They were quickly pinned against the nearest bulkhead. She took the whole Klingon dating ritual thing pretty seriously.


She could smell the intense rise of pheromones emanating off of him and chalked it up to the rather slinky and flirty dress (as she has over heard some human staff refer to it) on display in the shop's window. She could see why he may be interested in imagining it on a woman who held his interest, in it but she didn't understand why she would consider it for herself. Besides the rich black color that suited her so well, the whole thing would be a waste of time as it was much too flimsy and impractical for a woman such as herself. She also took note of the slight hesitation and minor crack in his voice when he presented his offer of a 'business dinner'; He remembers their last encounter well then. Good. It will save time not having to remind him.

She finally tilted her head to look him in the eye as he had stepped right up next to her in front of the shop window as he spoke. (But not too close), she replied, coolly. "I do require a meal at this time and we do have things to discuss so this will be acceptable." She gestured toward the new restaurant just down the corridor as she continued. "The new place will suffice? I have been hearing some good things about it" Her hand that had been hovering over the blade in her waist band had finally relaxed somewhere during their conversation and she gave the hidden blade a small pat before lowering her hand further.


** Two Hours Later **

What had started out as a somewhat tense 'business dinner' eventually turned into a loud and raucous scene between an admiral and a general in the new restaurant. After Rick ordered some regular alcoholic drinks (none of the synthehol stuff for them!), things began to run much smoother.

Now the two were pretty intoxicated on their drinks of bloodwine, Saurian Brandy and the Admiral's bottles of Four Roses Bourbon that they were doing a (horrible) rendition of an old merchant song. Their glasses held high, and their voices loud, the sang:

"Across the void we come a warping
Across the fields of stars we..........soar
We pledge to land and...something something......
dum da dum da dum da da........................spaceship!"

They laughed loudly at the fact that they'd both forgotten the same words of the song, but pressed on to the second verse.

"And when at last our missions finished
In duty homeward shall we fly
Our glory cannot be diminished
Back to the heavens in our mighty spaceship!"

Despite the boisterous, and awkward singing, the crowd applauded, no doubt knowing exactly who the man was leading the charge.

At the end of the song Akima reached for another crab Rangoon (which Ricky insisted was an Earth dish and Akima knew that it was in fact not originally from earth but was a specialty of Praxtan 2 and was accidently left behind from a visitor to earth many many many years before "mankind" even knew that aliens were really among them.) and her hand brushed against his fingers as he reached for the same tasty snack. She hesitated longer than she felt comfortable with, in pulling her hand back. "Go ahead," she said after she cleared her throat to relieve a sudden bout of nervous tension. She gestured toward the dish offering up the last treat in the bowl. Inwardly she was getting a bit pissed at herself for letting herself to get so "comfortable" with this man.

"I'm sorry," Ricky said, his voice a bit more slurred than he would like. "I think you should eat that one, though. I think I was just reaching for it out of habit."

He regarded her a moment, then thought of her in the dress she'd been looking at in the window earlier. He realized just who he was thinking about and shook his head to try and clear it. Not just a shake of the head, but an exaggerated, dog-shaking head shake. After all, he was pretty drunk. He stopped, she was looking at him strangely. "Sorry. Just a...strange thought I didn't want to keep."

"Not a very becoming look for you," she said.

They both stood. "General," Ricky said first. "I do believe that we may have overstayed our welcome here. This business dinner has been a treat, and we must do it again sometime....maybe with a little less alcohol and a little more business."

She smiled, (yes I said smiled, so get over it. Klingons can do it ya know, usually involves bloodshed or alcohol, or both) as she brushed non existent lint from her clothes and said, "Though I did unexpectedly enjoy the evening I agree that any future meetings should be more business and less alcohol if they are to be productive. "

She discreetly touched her fingers to the hilt of her blade to make sure it had not slipped from her belt. "Well I guess all is in order now. Until next time Sir." she said with a slight nod of the head then she turned to leave.

Ricky stood as she left, his drunken eyes wandering down to her posterior as she walked out of sight.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" he asked aloud.

"Nothing, sir." "Not a thing, Admiral!" "You're great, sir. It's all good." came several replies from the crowd.

Rick raised his glass to those around him, tossed it back, and left for his quarters to think about what he'd done.


------------------------
A joint post by:

BGEN Akima
Klingon Intelligence & Research

&

RADM Wegner
Commanding Officer
Starbase 900
Task Force 38



** song taken from the television show 3rd Rock From the Sun. Click the following link to watch and hear the song on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmMU2BSc2iI