Oh The Stories I Could Tell You...
Posted on Tue Mar 26th, 2013 @ 7:23pm by Admiral Ricky Wegener & El'Shar Blackhorse
Mission:
Breaking New Ground
Location: ADM Wegener's Quarters
Timeline: Current
Once the group had departed his quarters, Rick turned to El’Shar. “So, Captain, may I offer you more wine? Or there are stronger spirits in the liquor cabinet there. You may help yourself to anything you wish.”
“Thank you,” she replied, “and please, call me El’Shar. My retirement is final tomorrow at noon. No point standing on ceremony anymore.”
“In that case, call me Rick,” he replied as he began clearing the dishes from the table. She began to help him and he stopped her. “Please, you’re my guest. Just sit and relax, I’ll clean up.”
She had to admit that seeing him doing the cleanup was amusing and a bit refreshing. Even in this advanced day, some men still thought it the woman’s duty to clean up after a meal. She stood at the cabinet and looked at the array of bottles. “What is in this bottle?” she asked, holding up a slim white and gold bottle with a very light blue liquid in it. “It’s too light to be Romulan ale.”
Rick looked up from the kitchen. “You’re correct. It’s Bajoran springwine, made from fermented Kava juice. It’s very good, you should try some. Very light and sweet.”
As she poured a small amount into her glass, Rick couldn’t help but take her all in. She was incredibly beautiful. “So, this may be an obvious question, but where are you from?”
“I’m Vulcan, if that’s what you’re asking,” she replied, now filling the glass with the springwine, happy with its taste. “Well, half Vulcan, half human. My father’s side is Mohawk Indian and I was born in Quebec, Canada.”
“Ah, le Québec est magnifique. Je n'y suis pas allé depuis longtemps, cependant.” *
“Vous parlez français?” *
He smiled. “Just a bit,” he replied, switching back to Federation Standard. “I’m way out of practice, to be honest. I may have butchered more of that statement than I care to know.”
She laughed. “It wasn’t bad, but your accent sounded funny.” She sat on the large sofa in the living room and waited until he finally came back out and sat across from her. “So tell me about the Delta Quadrant,” she said once he’d settled.
“Big and unexplored, in a nutshell,” he started, “but it’s shaping up to be quite an experience.” He told her of their dealings with the Divitians and the Archadians and how they were now beginning to make closer strides to a relationship with the Dendrian Order. He made sure to hit the high notes and glossed over some of the more mundane. “As you can see, my time out here has been nothing sort of exciting.” He smirked. “And you’re giving all of that up to retire?”
“I’m retiring because I’m tired of the work,” she said. “But I’ve come out here to enjoy whatever this quadrant has to offer, good or bad. I guess my main question for you is whether or not you’d have issue with me maintaining a residence here?”
“Absolutely no issues whatsoever.” He sipped from the ice water he’d gotten himself. “It’s not as if we don’t have rooms to spare. Where are you staying now?”
“VIP quarters, deck ten, I believe?”
“Why not just stay there?” he shrugged. “We have an overabundance of them over three decks. And I don’t see all kinds of delegates or flag officers showing up needing bunks.”
“Admir--Rick, I can’t let you do that. I don’t need VIP quarters, just a regular room for civilians will suffice.”
“Nonsense. It’s the least I can do for a retiring captain who is looking to have a little fun out here in no man’s land. Besides, I know the old man running the show here. I have a little pull.” He winked, then instantly regretted it. He was attracted to her, no doubt, but he didn’t even know her and he didn’t want her thinking he was flirting instead of just being silly.
She looked down at her drink and smiled, pushing her long braid from her shoulder. “Well, if you’re going to twist my arm...”
“That I am,” he said with a chuckle. “Now, have you had time to actually take in the sights on 900? There is quite a bit to offer. Fine dining, recreational facilities, we even have a full production live theater, but it seems that only a few people know about it since it’s the same crowd over and over.”
“I haven’t really had the time to wander, what with your little unannounced trip.” She took a sip of her drink, looking at him over the rim of the glass. In her mind she wondered if he really did look as good out of his clothes as he did in uniform, and remembered the vision she’d seen of him in her quarters. “I wouldn’t mind a guide for a proper tour,” she hinted.
“Assuming you don’t mind an old geezer escorting you around, I would like to claim the tour guide title for myself,” he said. “I tend to just go walking around the base anyway. It lets the troops know I’m not just some name or some prick sitting up on his ivory tower who doesn’t know their names.”
She laughed at his comments. “At least you make the effort. I can’t tell you how many times, while coming up through the ranks, that my CO had no clue who I was. It kinda’ sucked, to be honest.” Then she asked, “Old geezer? You can’t be much more than mid-forties.”
It was his turn to laugh. “Oh, quite a bit more. Try mid-four hundreds. Four sixty eight, to be exact.”
She looked puzzled for a moment, then put it together. “El-Aurian.” She shook her head. “You know, I looked through your profile just to see who you were, but I guess I skipped over that bit.” She looked at him over the rim of her glass again. “Very interesting.”
“That I’m El-Aurian or that I’m closer to five hundred years than four?”
Regarding him a moment, she unconsciously pulled her long braid back around front and began twirling it. “Both,” she finally said. “I’ve done some travelling in my lowly sixty-two years, but I can’t say that I’ve ever met an El-Aurian, or if I have I wasn’t aware of it. That, in addition to your age, tells me you must have seen so many things in your own lifetime. I may just have to schedule in some time in my soon-to-be busy schedule where you and I can just sit and swap stories.”
Glancing at the chronometer on the wall, Rick turned back to her. “It may be a bit forward of me, but you’re here now and it’s still quite early. Ask me anything you want to know.”
She smiled, now curious about this man who had lived for so long. Not only had she seen a vision of him in her quarters, now she was getting a one-on-one Q&A session with him. Folding a leg under her, getting more comfortable, she said, “Four hundred and sixty eight years. That means you were born in...1918?”
“I was.”
“And Wegener sounds German, correct? Is that your original name or have you taken another one after all this time?”
He smiled. This was fun! “It is, and I have used other names in the past but only to keep those on Earth from wondering how I was still living after such a long time. But my full name, and the name I use now, is Richard Strauß Wegener. I prefer Rick, though.”
They talked for quite a long time about his life growing up as an ‘alien’ on Earth, how he and his family coped with living among them and keeping their identities safe. He told her all about his involvement in World War II and how he’d fought for Switzerland, his time with Germany’s Federal Defence Force, or Bundeswehr, after the war and how he’d had to use El-Aurian technology to age himself so that people wouldn’t begin to talk, even faking his own death and coming back as his own relative so that he’d be able to keep the family property in Bremen.
He then continued on with the story of how he and his family had fled Earth just prior to the beginning of World War III, their feelings about it, and what they had done afterward, which included his brief marriage to Narin and how she had died. The room fell silent as he recounted that particular memory.
El’Shar broke the silence. “I’m very sorry to hear that, Rick. It must have been very difficult.”
He sighed heavily. “It was, but that was, oh man, what--a couple hundred years ago. I haven’t forgotten it, but I’ve moved on.”
“Did you ever marry again?” she asked, then wondered if she wanted to know the answer to that question. But she did find herself wanting to know more and more about him--it was just something she couldn’t help, and thought briefly about her inability to find someone that she was meant to be with.
“No. I never really looked, to be honest,” he replied. “One of these days, though...”
She decided it probably best to switch topics. “When did you join Starfleet? I’m sure it was in your records but I didn’t really look over them other than to see that you were in charge here.”
“I went through one of the first academy classes back in 2153. It was still the UESPA back then, but just after I graduated they changed it to Starfleet.” He whistled and laughed. “Man, that really does make me sound ancient, doesn’t it?”
“In a way, yes, but I find it very interesting. And you don’t look much over forty.” It was her turn to look at the chronometer, which read 0048 hours. “Oh, wow. I didn’t realize we’d been talking this long!” She stood, and noticed he did as well. “I really shouldn’t take more of your time, but I’d love to hear more about you.” She turned to him. “If that’s okay?”
“I don’t mind at all,” he smiled. “Maybe while you’re giving me that tour of the station?”
“What are you doing tomorrow?” he asked as he walked her to the door.
“Up until noon I’ll be in my office acting like a Captain in Starfleet. After that, anything I want since I’ll no longer have to wear this uniform.”
“Well, then,” he smiled, “how about I take you out to celebrate your separation from service. We’ll hit all the good spots on the station and I’ll take you out for dinner and I can bore you with more more stories of my life.”
“Oh, Rick, it wasn’t boring at all! I actually find it quite fascinating. I’m sure there are other El-Aurians out there that could do the same, but to be able to talk to you and hear about history first hand, it’s very, very cool.”
He opened the door for her. “Cool, huh? Never had it described as that, but I’ll take it.” As she stepped outside he said, “Thank you for sticking around tonight. It was nice to get to know you and maybe you can tell me about you tomorrow as well.”
“It’s a date.” Her eyes grew wide. “Deal! A deal, I mean.” She groaned. “Well, that just made it awkward, didn’t it?”
He couldn’t help but laugh. “How about this,” he said as he stood straight and faced her. “Soon-to-be ex-Captain Blackhorse, would you do me the honor of being my date tomorrow so that we can celebrate your retirement, tour the station and allow me to make you yawn incessantly with stories of my youth?”
She giggled, a hand covering her mouth. “Why, yes, Admiral Wegener. I would love to be your date tomorrow.”
“Now it’s a date.” He stood there smiling, taking in just how lovely she actually was then managed to clear his throat to bring himself back to the moment. “It was a pleasure, El’Shar. Have a good night.”
“And you as well,” she said as she turned to leave.
Once gone, he found himself looking down at the floor where she had been standing. Then, as if he couldn’t help it, he poked his head out of the door to catch a glimpse of her walking away. Her slim body was gliding down the corridor with that long pony tail swinging. When she turned to look back, she caught him ogling. His eyes grew as wide as saucers and he ducked back into his quarters, quickly closing the door.
“Well, if it wasn’t awkward before, it is now,” he said.
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Admiral Ricky Wegener
Storyteller
Captain El’Shar Blackhorse
Admiring Audience
