Meet And Greet

Posted on 22 Mar 2014 @ 8:41am by Amril & Lieutenant Min Zhao & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Alfred Rayne & Senior Chief Petty Officer Keval zh'Erinov & Petty Officer 3rd Class Ellsworth Hudson

3,162 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Episode 05 - Solstice
Location: San Francisco - Amelio's Bar
Timeline: MD 29: 1530hrs

ON:

[Earth, San Francisco]
[Amelio's Bar]

Min sat at one end of a group of tables. Amelio's, the home of Engineers and Operations types for the better part of the history of the Federation. A lot of big names passed through here, almost every eng/ops cadet knew of this place and been through at least once.

Now it was soon to be the site of a meeting between the Ops staff of the USS Galileo. The meeting was an idea of Min's since she'd found out about her position as Asst Ops. Best way to get to know your fellow crew was to meet them outside work.

The message had been sent out 48hrs ago, all she could do now was wait and hope enough people were still around earth.

Amril walked into the bar wearing an operations uniform without a rank. He'd chosen that over his civilian clothes so as not to frighten the bar patrons. Now they would just be shocked, or angry, he supposed. He wandered through the bar until he spotted the woman he recognized from the manifest and walked up to her.

"Ah, Lieutenant Zhao?" he said with a cheery smile, "I'm Amril, the Galileo's chief operations officer, technically."

"Pleased to meet you. As you probably already know, I've been assigned as your deputy."

"Yes, I have heard," Amril said, sitting down.

Ellsworth entered shortly after Amril and spotted Lieutenant Zhao chatting with a Vorta. Huh. Interesting. He thought he vaguely remembered something about the COO being a Vorta, but he'd simply assumed the personnel file had been mistaken. A Vorta outside the Dominion seemed...genetically impossible. Weren't they bred for loyalty?

He shook his head and approached the table, dressed in an edgy outfit that made him look like a cross between a flyboy and a runway model. Momentarily he felt out of place with the COO dressed in uniform, but it was an after-hours meeting anyway.

"Hey, Lieutenant," Ellsworth said, giving a wave to Min as he approached the table. He nodded to Amril. "I'm petty officer Ellsworth Hudson, quartermaster. Pleased to meet you..."

"Lt j.g. Min Zhao." She smiled at the petty officer. "Off duty you can call me Min." She noted the rather unique outfit he was wearing. Her's by contrast, a pair of black slacks with pink shirt and a faded denim jacket, was a lot more sedate and, her baby bump aside, a lot less revealing.

"Interesting choice of outfit."

"I like it," Ellsworth said, turning a little to show off. It was all leather and sharp angles clinging relatively tightly to a small frame, something he'd picked up from an Orion designer in Florence. He wasn't sure if the remark was a criticism or an observation, but he smiled anyway; he felt comfortable in it and that's all that mattered.

Keval had gotten the invitation and decided it might be fun to attend. After all he had heard there were new crew coming aboard and he wanted to meet them all. He was dressed in a pair of charcoal grey slacks, a white A shirt and a leather jacket.

He got himself a glass of wine, then headed back to where the festivities were being held. "Hey, he called out in greeting. Then he stopped in mid-stride as her recognized the Betazoid, "What the hell are you doing here," he demanded

Ellsworth just froze, staring. In his mind he felt like he was trapped in a temporal causality loop where he turned, felt the initial jolt of shock and surprise and dread, and Keval repeated a thousand times "what the hell are you doing here." His mouth opened to say something but he didn't know what to say. He could have mimicked the same phrase, but that seemed confrontational. Instead, he just found himself stammering.

"Uh, I'm here, um, for a m-meeting," he managed, wanting to sink into the floor and vanish. He shut off his telepathic senses immediately, fearful of what he might pick up. "With the Operations crew, from my ship. The, uh, the Galileo."

Keval's face turned a pale shade of blue, much different from his normal color. His antennae both went flat against his skull. His mouth was working but nothing was coming out. Which was probably a good thing, the names he had in mind would no doubt get him in trouble.

"You... You're on the Galileo Son of a bitch. That's my ship too."

Min glanced up as she noted the exchange between the two. Something was off between the two from what she could see. The reasons why could wait for later, for now Min didn't want her first meeting with the staff to turn into a brawl between the two.

Getting up, she ambled over to the Chief. "I don't think we've met ..." she said as she offered her hand in greeting. "Lt Zhao."

Ellsworth had never been so thankful for the bulk of a pregnant woman in all his life. He had absolutely no desire for a run-in with Keval anywhere, least of all at an informal departmental meeting. But Zhao was only going to run interference for him for so long. What would he do on the ship? His first panicked thought was to transfer, but he quickly corrected himself; no way he was going to leave Galileo with K'os on board. He'd just have to...deal.

There was not a lot he could do at the moment. What was he going to do, go through a pregnant woman. His antenna rose of his head slightly. "Keval Grayson," he said staring past her and into directly into the eyes of the Betazoid. He looked like he was about to hurl another invective instead his eyes seemed to shift from anger to pain.

"I am the communications and security system expert on the ship. What about you?"

"I deal in computers & holographics mainly but I think the more relevant answer Mr Grayson is I'm the deputy department head."

He turned so he was facing her directly, "i'm sorry sir, you're not in uniform and I didn't know. I think I know why you came over here now. I'll stay away from Mr. Hudson for the rest of the evening. In fact, maybe it would be better if I just left."

"It's okay Chief. I normally don't like playing the rank card, especially off duty, but something seemed off between you two and it was the easiest way to defuse the situation." She paused. "I also suspect you were surprised to find out you're both on the same ship?'

"I think that is a pretty safe assumption to make." Keval said unwilling to further into details.

"Avoid him if you have to but I'd like you to stay and mingle." Min smiled. "That's not an order but more of a request. Get to know the other's if you haven't had a chance yet. That's why we're here."

"I've been on the ship for awhile I think I know most everyone already, but I'll stay for a bit. Maybe you should talk with him too."

Min nodded. "I spoke with him briefly when he arrived. The day is young and we're here for a while yet."

Ellsworth had used the intervention to seat himself at the group of tables as far away from Keval's likely choice. Hopefully they'd up on the same side of the table so the Andorian couldn't stare daggers at him the entire time. Or look hurt. The young Betazoid heaved an enormous sigh, closed his eyes to try to realign his emotions and then opened them with renewed focus on the meeting. A showdown with Keval would not be far off, but at least it wouldn't be today.

Keval started to tell the Lieutenant that what he meant was that she should talk to Ellsworth about staying away from him, but thought better of it when he sat down several tables away.

He was no less hurt or angry, much less shocked that he would be working with the man, but he shelved those emotions away. It wasn't the right time or place for a confrontation. but one would come. He had to acknowledge at least deep within himself that he held more than a margin of responsibility for what happened, but that did nor provide him much comfort.

Alfred walked into the bar wearing some black jeans, brown boots a grey t-shirt and a soft dark brown jacket. He had received the invitation to this gathering from his new crewmates and was a little nervous as he made a beeline to the bar. Ordering a double single malt scotch with a single ice cube with mint leaf frozen in it he took a moment to survey the bar trying to spot the people he would soon come to know very well. He hoped their picture on their record was enough to go on. Most of all he kept his eye out for this Vorta that would apparently be his head of department. The thought of it raised his heart rate and soured the optimistic outlook he had walked in with. Spotting an attractive oriental female he sort of recognised, he realised after a moment that it was his assistant head of department and she might have just noticed him staring at her for a little longer than is polite. Giving a quick smile he made his way over to her and the group she looked to be with.

"Hello, I am your new Bos'n " he said warmly as he stepped into the area the group were occupying. He smiled and moved his gaze from Min around to the rest of the gathered crew, as his eyes passed over the Vorta he'd only just noticed in the group he made accidental eye contact and his smile half morphed into a snarl or grimace as he jaw clenched and he forced the smile back onto his face and looked to the rest of the gathered crew.

The shift in Alfred's emotions was not lost on Amril. He considered for a moment how best to respond, finally deciding to let the matter be for the time. "Is that everyone new?" he wondered aloud, turning to look at Min.

"Well, then, it is a pleasure to meet all of you."

Keval of course wasn't new. Normally of course he would have made a snide, smart ass almost flirty remark, especially since they were off duty. It wasn't so much that he was attracted to the Operations Chief, just enjoyed pulling his leg. But today he just wasn't in the mood. So he just gave the man a curt nod.

Alfred almost winced and his left eye almost twitched at the sound of the Vorta's voice, *Why do they all look and sound the same, i wish they were all dead* he thought as cold washed over his body. Forcing himself to at least appear to be friendly he spoke again, looking at everyone else except the Vorta.

" I'm Alfred Rayne nice to meet everyone..off duty and all that.." he said trying to sound warm and waiting for some sort of introduction to who was who, hoping he wouldn't have to try and subtly pull up the list of names with their attached personnel photo later to remind himself.

"Petty Officer Ellsworth Hudson, the quartermaster," Ellsworth said, nodding to Rayne but not offering his hand in greeting. He recalled the older man's behavior in the meeting about the installation of the bar; bo'sun or not, it hadn't exactly endeared the young Betazoid to him so he wasn't going to go out of his way to be cheery and kind off-duty.

Alfred nodded to Ellsworth and weighed him up coolly with a short appraising stare, wondering if this man would need a short sharp shock to keep him in line and on track or if he would prove a more effortless asset.

Keval, not having been involved in the installation of the bar and being clueless as to what Rayne's behavior had been, was a bit more friendly. Chief Petty Officer Keval Grayson," he said offering his hand.

Alfred smiled reasonably warmly and took the offered hand with a politely firm shake.

Keval was a bit more reserved than he otherwise might have been whether that was because of the unexpected presence of Hudson, or because he didn't have to be a telepath do read the animosity that was emanating off of the other man towards his boss.

Even though he was not physically attracted to his boss and knew he could be a pain simply because he could be so socially dense sometime, he still respected him. and didn't like anyone judging him.

"Everything okay Alfred? You look, I don't know a bit upset about something." Of course Keval realized it was a case of the pot calling the kettle black but at least he was attempting to carry on a conversation.

" I am fine..Keval " Alfred said the first name rolling slightly awkwardly off his tongue at the mild shock of such, in his view, an impertinent question in the very public setting they were in.

Keval's antennae curled back slightly. He wasn't quite sure what he had done to upset the man but he could tell just from the body language that something was going on. He decided not to press the issue however.

"Good to know, " he continued keeping his tone even So do you prefer Alfred or Al?"

" Alfred or Mr Rayne , please " Alfred said politely, finishing his drink he looked around, wishing he could leave without it appearing rude.

~Ellsworth is right about one thing this guy is an asshole~ he thought to himself but said nothing more for the moment, just took a sip of his drink.

" So has anyone got any thoughts on the new mission? or any good shore leave stories?" he asked the group in general.

"I was studying the most recent warp theories being worked on by researchers at the Daystrom Institute," Amril offered, "There was a remarkable paper by Doctor Leah Brahms, Theoretical Applications of Induced Simple Harmonic Oscillation in Inverted Warp Field Phase Variance, that discussed the possibility of application in transwarp research. Very fascinating." He smiled as if it was the most exciting thing one could discover while on shoreleave on Earth; for him, it probably was.

Min cocked an ear. While her speciality was computers & holographics, she kept up a bit on warp theory in her spare time. "They think they've made some progress in the sub-harmonic variences?"

"Really?" Keval asked leaning in. He found the subject a fascinating one, so much so that he almost competently for got about Ellsworth. He wanted to hear more.

Alfred nodded as they spoke trying to keep a look of polite interest on his face.

Amril, with as much eagerness as a vorta could muster, launched into an account of the quantum physics behind the theories presented, listing long equations in a complicated format that, when verbal, doubtless no one but himself could keep track of. He was eager but he was not much of a teacher as far as clarity went.

Ellsworth had tuned out the moment he'd heard "Daystrom Institute." It was becoming increasingly apparent that he either needed to dedicate some serious time to catching up with his studies to be able to hold his own in a conversation with anyone from Ops or Engineering, or he could just hang out with someone from a different department. Maybe security. What did they talk about? Shooting people? He could talk about that, no problem.

As the conversation paused Alfred wondered how much more of these apparently boring people he would have to put up with before he could leave. He forced a smile and looked at most of the group, avoiding acknowledging the Vorta with even a glance.

" Well this has been interesting, a pleasure meeting you all, but i must be off, i have a few things still to take care of " Alfred said trying to sound polite before downing the rest of his drink and turning on his heel and walking out of the bar.

"What a pompous prig," Keval said loud enough for anyone, even the departing warrant officer to hear.

Ellsworth looked up at the language and turned to see the departing warrant officer; he couldn't claim to agree with Keval on everything, but he certainly couldn't dispute the statement. So far, it seemed to be spot on, and it made him worry more than a little bit about their upcoming departure. He wasn't in the least bit looking forward to training under the boatswain, much less having to work with him on a day-to-day basis. He reminded him of one of the instructors at enlisted training from which he learned absolutely nothing because he spent all of his time with him trying to rebel against and resist the abrasive personality.

"Now, now," Amril interjected, "No need to make jabs at your crewmates just because you happen to not agree with everything he says or does. If you can get along with having a vorta as your senior officer, I'm sure a human you do not take orders from is no trouble."

"Oh, I have no real problems with him, I think the shoe is on the other foot actually. Sorry though. I was just thinking out loud."

"Ah- well, mismatched shoes can be uncomfortable, I suppose..." Amril replied, trying to discern exactly what the man meant by that.

Min leaned over to Amril. "Just means Chief that the tables are turned. Kinda like a police officer being arrested. He's used to being on one side and now is on the other."

Min stood up. She had a date with Jared that evening and needed to get back to her apartment to freshen up. She glanced around the group. "Good meeting you all. I have commitments this evening so I'm bowing out."

Ellsworth had to be somewhere else other than in the same room with Keval, but he wasn't entirely sure how to express that. He cleared his throat and stood up abruptly, hoping to dovetail on Min's exit. "I've got plenty of paperwork to finish up for the refit, so..."

Keval was relieved to see Ellsworth leave, but was getting tired and decided to call it a night. After waiting long enough to make sure that Ellsworth was long gone and they wouldn't run into each other, he stood up. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to turn in for the night myself. It was a pleasure meeting everyone."

OFF:

Joint post by:

Lt Min Zhao
Asst Chief of Operations
USS Galileo

CPO Keval Grayson
Operations
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Nicholas]

PO3 Ellsworth Hudson
Quartermaster
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Mott]

Amril
USS Galileo
played by Psylus Anon

SWO Alfred Rayne
Boatswain
USS Galileo

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