The Admiral's Morning

Posted on Thu Jan 12th, 2012 @ 1:38pm by Admiral Lucius Hawke & Commander Oralia Zeferino

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant

* * * Admiral Hawke's Quarters * * *

Lucius laid the padd down on the coffee table and rubbed his eyes. The coffee table brought to mind, just for an instant, his last visit to the Berkeley quarters shared by Li and Sakkath before the wedding, and a certain coffee table that had collapsed under the weight of a tiny crystal glass. Li's hasty attempts to repair the table that had fallen victim to ponn farr. He'd let her save face by commenting on the lack of quality in Starfleet furniture and left it at that. The memory brought a laugh that continued, good and long. It brought relief to the tension in his shoulders and he rubbed his eyes, the laugh softening as it continued, quieter so as not to wake Aia from her nap.

He'd been cautious too late: Aia was awake from her nap. And she was grumpy. Not because Lucius had woken her, but just because she was so damned uncomfortable. Rolling her whale-sized self out of the bed, she waddled into the living room and asked him, "What's funny? I need a good laugh."

Lucius rose, moving over to take her face in his hands and kiss her gently. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." He walked her over to the sofa and lowered her down onto it, then settled in beside her. "I was just recalling the visit to Li and Sakkath when she first moved in with him. I was drinking from a very delicate glass that weighed no more then a few ounces. I placed it on their coffee table, which collapsed beneath it." He smiled and leaned in to kiss Aia's temple. "Apparently, her furniture repair skills are not on par with the rest of her abilities. It seems she had done her best to glue just about every stick of furniture back together, following their..demolition of it."

"You didn't wake me," she said and rocked side to side on the couch, trying to get her bulky, pregnant butt comfortable. It wasn't working. Because of that, Lucius' retelling of the table incident didn't hit her as funny. Annoyed, she frowned and griped, "Do you really have to go to Arcadia? Why not bring them here?"

"I wish we could. After what Section 31 pulled, with re-routing their communications to the Fleet and pretending to be us, we have a lot of damage to repair. Things are on very shaky ground right now. If this does not go well, the station will have to be moved, which would be a huge tactical loss for us, given our position by the gateway. So, to use the slang term, we're having to do a little sucking up. If that means not inconveniencing their Prime Minister, so be it." Once Aia was settled, with her feet in his lap, he began to massage her ankles with a strong, sure motion. "This actually came at a good time. You're still a month out, better now than then. Not that I want to be away, mind you."

"Of course you do," she was still on a grumpy trend, even though his hands on her ankles felt rather divine. "I wager you'd rather be anywhere other than here, with a whale of a wife who has a whale of a temper." Aia frowned and looked pensive for a fleeting moment. "I need chocolate. And something salty..., something like...," she named a Romulan dish that was the equivalent of a Terran's request for pickles, chocolate and ice cream.

"No problem." Lucius shifted out from under her feet and rose, moving over to the replicator. "And Aia, my darling, rest assured that you are roses and sunshine compared to my previous ..er....bouts with a pregnant woman. You've met her, I'm sure you can envision it." He returned with a dish and a spoon, placed it in her hands, and sat, resuming the foot massage.

Smiling slightly, Aia broke the crust on her treat. A month to go and she already felt horrible; right now her feet and ankles felt good, under Lucius' firm grasp, but already she was wondering how she'd tie her own shoes without him around. "Perhaps Li could come help me while you're away. Or I could talk to Doctor Paget about assigning an aide to me."

"I thought about that actually, and I think it's a good idea. Li's hands may be full with all the recent issues with Section 31 in the neighborhood. Call the doctor and make arrangements in the morning. I know I'd feel better while I'm gone. Till then, I'm all yours, aside from a couple of meetings." Lucius fell silent, watching his wife. In truth, he wasn't thrilled about being gone, but duty called. A month away or not, he knew babies could be notoriously unpredictable with their time tables. Li herself had arrived much earlier than expected, causing quite a ruckus during a Council meeting on Betazed.

Around a mouthful of creamy sweetness, Aia nodded and said, "Will do." She was about to say more, but a tone from the computer announced a commcall for Lucius. Aia hid her irritation with another spoonful.

The voice coming through was clear yet held a tiny hint of hesitation, "Admiral Hawke, this is Lieutenant Commander Oralia Zeferino. I understand that I'm heading up your security detail for the trip to Arcadia. Could we meet to discuss some particulars prior to heading down?"

"That we can, Commander. I will actually be meeting with all the team, but I'd like to see you first if you don't mind. The observation lounge? Say twenty minutes?"

"Certainly, Sir. Twenty minutes," Oralia agreed then closed the commlink.

**Fifteen Minutes Later, On the Way to the Observation Lounge**

Running a hand over her newly shaved pate (she'd found a barber who was open at this early hour), Oralia strode down the corridor and avoided the looks from others going the opposite direction. She wasn't yet sure about her new hairstyle, rather the lack of hair. She was also puzzling over a communication she'd gotten from Li Hawke: one wherein Li said Iggy was with her and was fine. Why had she felt the need to pass on such a bland message?

Putting the question out of her head, she entered the lounge and moved to a vacant table by a viewport.

Lucius entered a few minutes later and as it was still early morning, he moved over to the replicator for tea. "Care for anything Commander?"

"Ah, no, sir, thank you," Oz turned towards him and waited till he'd received his tea. "Do you anticipate any sort of hostility from the Archadians?"

Her question brought a smile as Lucius returned to the table, steam rising from his cup of tea. "That's something of a complicated question. Their Prime Minister assures us we are perfectly safe, to the point we are not allowed to go in armed. You will be there as the standard protection assigned to the senior staff. It's going to be a kid glove operation, make no mistake about that."

Schooling her thoughts carefully, Oz made mental notes of who would be on the away team. Gilroy... he's big, broad... or Darwin, smaller, but good with his hands.... She looked up and met Lucius' gaze and grinned, knowing he'd probably just gotten that one. "Then I'll make sure my team packs their gloves. You mentioned you wanted to see me; do you have something else on your mind, Sir?"

"If I may, I'd suggest that you leave someone here you trust to run things while you are gone. Given Section 31's recent meddling on the planet, I have no doubt they will slither their way onto this station." Lucius paused to take a sip from his tea. He lowered the mug slowly as he examined Oz. "I do, as a matter of fact. Li gave me some details on your recent trouble. As you can expect, they were vague. However, that is part of the reason she asked that you be included here instead of sending one of your staff. She feels it would be better that you are...out of reach, shall we say? And I agree."

"Yes," Oz pursed her lips and nodded, rubbing the back of her neck with one hand, "It's already been proven that some of our criminal element have no compunction about altering someone else's appearance." She smiled and shrugged with one shoulder.

"I know it's a sore point for you. Try not to let it pull you down, it will grow back. And it doesn't change who you are. Anyway, go, make your arrangements. The away team will meet in a day or two. I've some work to catch up on with our Fleet reassignment before we go."

"Of course. That will give me plenty of time to make sure my assistants are up to speed on everything," Oz stood then paused a moment. "Would you like me to assign someone to Ms. Rios? Or ask Doctor McKinney to arrange for someone?"

"Aia mentioned that just before I left, and said she would arrange for an aide from medical while I am away. Thank you." Lucius studied the CoS another moment. "I'd suggest that you assign someone to yourself until we depart. I don't expect they took well to your rescue. Please be careful."

Irritation swept through Oz: she hated that someone, particularly an Admiral, would think she needed someone to protect her. Wisely, though, she simply nodded, "I'll take it into consideration, Sir. At the moment, the person behind it is in my Brig."

"Perhaps so, but the people who work for him are not." He smiled, sensing her irritation. "Li thinks a lot of you so humour the old man. Dismissed Commander."

"Aye, sir," Oz smiled slightly and left him to muse over the view and his tea.

______________________________
Admiral Lucius Hawke
Lieutenant Commander Oralia Zeferino