EXETERNRPG: EXETERRPG: (1 - 1230) 2O/CEO, Commander Keira Merek & CSO, Lieutenant Erin Cortez

[Mark Howard]

Stunning post you two.

On Sat, 18 Jun 2022, 18:16 Jaclyn Smith via exeter-rpg, <
exeter-rpg at startrekfreedom.com> wrote:

> Mission: Space was cool before it mattered
>
> Day: 1
>
> Stardate: 2446.04.25
>
>
>
>
>
> (USS Exeter - Starlight Lounge - 2O/CEO, Commander Keira Merek & CSO,
> Lieutenant Erin Cortez - 1230)
>
>
>
> Keira was honestly a little early, but that gave her time to sit around
> and mull through some things. Like what Jack said about how she felt she
> didn’t deserve patience. She had made Commander soon enough, and the things
> that were holding her back from advancing her career, really weren’t a
> factor anymore, with Ravok’s passing. Much too early to order anything with
> real bite in it, she ordered an old Earth drink called an Arnold Palmer
> that was half lemonade and half iced tea. She took a sip staring out at the
> blues, magentas and golds in the nebula they were parked outside, the
> fingers on the hand that wasn’t holding her drink were drumming absent
> mindedly on a small box that was sitting on her lap, underneath the table
> and out of view.
>
>
>
> Erin walked in and took a moment to look at her friend.  It had felt like
> an age since they had last spoken, since she had lost a brother and Keira
> had lost her love. Sitting down opposite her, Erin said softly,  "Penny for
> them?"
>
>
>
> "Huh?"
>
>
>
> "Just something my mom used to say. Penny for your thoughts. Problem
> shared and all that…. "
>
>
>
> "Never heard of that one." Keira said.
>
>
>
> "Never mind. How are you, Keira?"
>
>
>
> "Simple question with a complex answer," Keira mused. All the emotions she
> had been exploring during the session were were still fresh on the surface,
> like freshly dug earth. "Physically, I'm fine."
>
>
>
> Sensing something else under the surface, Erin nodded gently and said,
> "Hey, you don't have to say."
>
>
>
> "I resumed my counseling with Roberts, got a lot of stuff on the surface
> right now." Keira admitted.
>
>
>
> "Oh believe me. I have been there. Like I say, I'm here to listen. Not in
> any official capacity. As a friend."
>
>
>
> "I know." Keira said softly.
>
>
>
> "Keira, you know me and my history. I won't push you to talk but I just
> want you to know that I am here. Even if all we do is just sit in each
> others presence. That's fine. You don't have to do this alone. "
>
>
>
> "Thank you for being one of the few I can really open up to. I think we
> should do that over a bottle of wine or something harder, later. Right
> now…" Keira sighed. "I'd like to reconnect and distract myself with
> something pleasant."
>
>
>
> "Would that be the promotion? Don't think I didn't see that!
> Congratulations keira! Well deserved."
>
>
>
> Keira reached up to her collar with her drink hand, realizing she hadn't
> seen her friend since her own promotion to Commander. "Thank you." She said
> humbly. "It means a lot coming from you."
>
>
>
> "Me? I did nothing to help you with that. You did that all on your own."
>
>
>
> "It's one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you actually." Keira said
> with a slight grin. ~ There that's better.~
>
>
>
> Noting the smile, Erin sat back in her chair and raised an eyebrow. "Okay…"
>
>
>
> " It's an old Earth military tradition." Keira began explaining. "In the
> days when they couldn't replicate anything they needed and higher rank
> meant higher pay…"
>
>
>
> Erin nodded and kept quiet, Sensing this was something that Keira had
> thought a lot about and, rather than make a glib comment, she stayed silent.
>
>
>
> Keira took out the small box she had been hiding and slapped it down on
> the table. She slid it to Erin before speaking again. "After promotion rank
> emblems weren't thrown away or recycled, they were reused. The promotee
> could present their old rank to someone to give that person something to
> strive for."
>
>
>
> Looking at the box, Erin wasn't quite sure what to say. The words thank
> you did not seem enough. Moving the box towards her, she opened it and saw
> Keira's old rank pin inside.
>
>
>
> "I want to be clear, I'm not saying you're on any list or anything, just
> merely saying if you need some support, I'm here to help you make it."
>
>
>
> "I… don't know what to say. How did you know about this?"
>
>
>
> "My mother it seems was an amateur history enthusiast, knows a lot of
> those little details."
>
>
>
> "Keira… this is so touching. I really have… thankyou doesn't seem enough
> at all for a gift of such meaning."
>
>
>
> " It's yours to keep, as the saying goes, for luck." Keira said with a
> smile.
>
>
>
> "I will treasure it always." She said, knowing that her face portrayed the
> emotions she was feeling. "I don’t know if a promotion is in my future. I
> mean, I hope so but I just do what I do and keep moving forward. If someone
> thinks that's good enough then I would graciously accept. "
>
>
>
> "Well, if it happens, you won't have to replicate a new rank." Keira
> grinned.
>
>
>
> Erin smiled widely, "If being the word."
>
>
>
> " We haven't spoken in a while, Erin." Keira said seriously.
>
>
>
> "We haven't. There's so much I could tell you if we had time…"
>
>
>
> "We'll make the time." Keira promised.
>
>
>
> "We should." Erin replied honestly. She had missed talking to her friend.
> "But enough about me. How are you doing?"
>
>
>
> "We know my love life took a nosedive," Keira started with pilot humor,
> "how's things going with that fellow that took Trip's old job on Mars?"
>
>
>
> "Oh that…. None starter really. " Erin replied, realising that there was
> only one, probably two when someone got back on board, who knew about the
> date later that day. Realising she was blushing slightly,  Erin smiled,
> "It's not an issue. Sometimes things just don't work out but something
> better comes along that surprises you. "
>
>
>
> "Yeah…" Keira agreed.
>
>
>
> "Oh…" Erin paused for a moment and then continued, "I..  May have a date
> tonight…"
>
>
>
> "Really?"  ~So no dinner tonight.~ "Anything serious?"
>
>
>
> "It's early days. I don't want to jinx anything but I like him, Keira.
> He's just different from the other guys I have met. He's kind, gentle and
> just a good guy."
>
>
>
> "Well, you're already doing better than my first attempt to get back in
> the saddle." Keira said with her eyes cast down.
>
>
>
> Sensing a story to be told, Erin raised an eyebrow and said, “Do tell.”
>
>
>
> "He was a literal Prince.” Keira said.
>
>
>
> “Wait… an actual royal Prince?”
>
>
>
> "Yeah, the one from Vandalos. By Freya, I thought I was flirting with him
> pretty heavily."
>
>
>
> Taking a deep breath in and exhaling, Erin just looked at her friend and
> said, “Oh Keira…”
>
>
>
> "Yeah, I didn't know that he was engaged at the time. I thought something
> was wrong with me. That I wasn't attractive enough."
>
>
>
> “Hunny, you are stunning. Never forget that. You shouldn’t feel bad about
> that.”
>
>
>
> "I certainly feel pretty silly now. Never got to see him again."
>
>
>
> “Can’t beat my history at all.”
>
>
>
> “Oh, do tell.” Keira said, mimicking Erin’s comment from before.
>
>
>
> “Well, let’s see.. The first guy i was actually intimate with was murdered
> on this ship, then there’s the fact that i was a complete cow to Billy
> after the whole Dulon incident and simply left Mars without so much as a
> goodbye… Then there’s …” Erin paused for a second and sighed, “...
> Christian who the saying “If you can’t say anything nice then say nothing
> at all” was written for.”
>
>
>
> ~Ravok, told me a little about him.~ Keira thought, but kept silent. This
> was Erin’s story to tell.
>
>
>
> “But at starfleet academy, there were a few dates but nothing spectacular.
> Either got stood up or never got a second date when i refused to… well you
> know…”
>
>
>
> “The kind of guy that you want to walk into a dark alley and get taken out
> of it on a stretcher.”
>
>
>
> “Look at things this way. You’ve been through something that hurts, that
> makes you second guess everything that you thought and that stings. Believe
> me, i know. It gets better. Sounds trite i know but it does.”
>
>
>
> “I bow to your greater wisdom.” Keira said with a flourish.
>
>
>
> A grin flew over Erin’s face as a thought entered her mind, “Maybe you
> need someone to act as a matchmaker?” she stated with a mischievous wink.
>
>
>
> “I don’t know…” Keira was hesitant.
>
>
>
> "Listen, you don't have to if you don't feel up to it. It's totally fine."
>
>
>
> “Look,” Keira sighed. “ No blind dates, and I reserve the right to veto
> anyone.”
>
>
>
> Erin smiled and replied,  "of course. I understand. " pausing for a
> second, Erin leant forward to her friend and said, "Now, tell me the truth.
> How are you really?"
>
>
>
> "It's not that I can't function." Keira paused, "but it still hurts." She
> explained further, "he was my… hell by Klingon customs we were married."
>
>
>
> Erin could see the emotion building in her friend. Not wanting to
> interrupt her, she nodded gently.
>
>
>
> "..and for him to go, like that. I couldn't even give him an honorable
> death. Pirates did it for me."
>
>
>
> "Keira, you know it wasn't his fault. It was the Empress driving him to do
> what he did."
>
>
>
> "You're right it is her fault!" Keira slammed her first on the table with
> greatly restrained force. The ice cubes in her drink rattled. A few
> onlookers from nearby tables shot concerned glances Keira's way, but went
> back to their meals. "She's lucky you made it to her before I did. I would
> have made good on my promise."
>
>
>
> Taking a breath, Erin looked at her friend and began to speak, calmly,
> "Keira, I know and, in some ways I am glad that I got to her first. Because
> you would not be sat here now talking to me.
>
>
>
> You know what happened,  what we found when we caught her." Erin stopped
> for a moment as the image of Caity holding Greta flashed before her eyes
> and the impromptu surgery that she had witnessed with Commander Bracken.
> ".... You know what happened on the holodeck when she made her first
> appearance too. She killed a member of my staff and Nesha. Heck, she nearly
> killed me. "
>
>
>
> "Well aware," Keira started, " almost as bad watching it go down, unable
> to help, but not as bad as not being able to save him…. how it all turned
> out."
>
>
>
> "I know it hurts. I'm not going to lie and say it gets better. It's always
> going to hurt. The way we deal with it is the only way we can get through.
> Just promise me that you won't give up. That you will talk about it.. about
> your feelings.. if not with me then the counselling team here.. just don't
> bottle things up. It will eat away at you until there is nothing left."
>
>
>
> "You know I'm not the type to give up." Keira assured her.
>
>
>
> "You had better not be."
>
>
>
> "I should be going. You've got your section to look after too." Keira said
> before chugging the rest of her drink.
>
>
>
> "True, I do. We should do this again. A girl's night maybe?:
>
>
>
> "We do." Keira offered, "Taco Tuesday?"
>
>
>
> "Sounds like a plan. But taco and tequila Tuesday. " Erin replied with a
> smile.
>
>
>
> "Count on it." Keira said returning the smile.
>
>
>
> (Reply none)
>
> (Posted by Todd & Jackie)
>
>
>
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>
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>
>
>
> --
> exeter-rpg mailing list
> exeter-rpg at startrekfreedom.com
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