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

[Jaclyn Smith]

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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