Bowling Alone... Maybe?

Posted on Sat Jul 8th, 2023 @ 6:21pm by Captain Tristan Faust & Lieutenant Shinobu Miyake

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Mission 3: The Peace Ship
Location: Deck 20: Bowling Alley
Timeline: M3 MD04 (2268.6.14) 1700-1800 -Between "House "Arrest" and "Off The Rails."

The ship's bowling alley smelled like any good bowling alley should, of old tobacco smoke and beer. The place was deserted except for the Captain who was bowling alone. His score was quite decent tonight, even by his standards although he wasn't paying the least bit to the game. He sighed and sat back down onto the bench and leaned back against the hard plastic back.

"I hope I'm not interrupting you from anything, Captain?" he could hear Lieutenant Miyake inquiring as he spotted her from out of the corner of his eye.

"No," he said, looking up at the young woman as she walked into the bowling alley, "Just trying to distract myself... Which I am failing to do."

"Well, for starters... you're a lot livelier than when I last spoke to you," Lieutenant Miyake remarked. "I take it by the fact you're up and- well, bowling- that Doctor Kitchner has cleared you to return to duty?"

The captain nodded, "And just in the nick of time too," he said, "The Romulans almost caught us in one of their traps... Poor bastards..." He picked up the mug of beer which was sitting on the orange Formica countertop.

"Hmmm... so that was you, then?" Shinobu commented. "Our resident "Saint" was wondering what was up with all the turbulence..."

"That's my job," Tristan responded, "To get us out of the fire, broken ribs and all... In fact, the bridge was my detour on the way to sickbay to be cleared for duty. I had I feeling I was needed up there."

Shinobu shook her head and chuckled. "That sounds exactly like something that a big shot like James Kirk would say. But whatever the case... it's good to have you back, Sir; the bridge was hardly the same without you."

The Captain smirked, "Thank you," he responded, "I'm definitely glad to be up an about, even if it's commanding this fool's errand."

"You can say that again," Shinobu sighed as she sat down next to Tristan. "What I wouldn't give for a normal assignment around here; it feels like a lifetime since I was last on an assignment with no surprises..."

"Well, the term normal is the antithesis to this posting," Tristan countered politely, "A ship of the line always deals with the most pressing and oddball situations floating around out here. Border patrols they leave to Anton-class starships, like my first posting..." He paused and then slightly nodded his head, "Although that was a bit different."

Shinobu chuckled at that. "Makes you wonder if designating ourselves as a "ship of the line" is tantamount to painting a big red target on the hull..."

"It does, although during the war any ship was fair game," Tristan responded, then he pointed to the ball shelf, "Are you going to pick one?"

Shinobu blinked in surprise. "You're... asking if I'd like to bowl a couple of rounds, Sir?"

"Well, we are in a bowling alley," the Caption responded, "I doubt you just want to watch me make a fool out of myself." He gave her one of his characteristic crooked smile.

"Well, I was originally here to give you an update on "Saint" John," Shinobu replied as she moved over to the rack. "But I suppose it couldn't hurt to give it a try. Be warned, though, I am still on duty, so I apologize in advance if we won't be able to get a full game out of this..."

"I'm practically always on duty," Tristan responded with a sigh before his picked up a ball, "Still this is one way to kill time." He walked up to his starting spot and then executed a launch of the iridescent blue ball in a near perfect pose. Unfortunately his ribs were still quite stiff. The ball went down the lane, knocking off most of the pins but it veared a little too far to the left. Three pins were left towards the right of the lane. "Dangit," the Captain responded before walking back to the ball return.

"I've always wondered, but never had the chance to ask; is there any sort of special skill to this?" Shinobu asked out of curiosity.

"Yes, actually," Tristan responded as he picked up his returned ball and headed back to his starting point, "There is a correct form to get a strike every time, but it's about consistency... Frankly I'm off my game due to the ribs." He then executed the move, in much better form this time. Fortunately the ball was in a better course and knocked down the remaining pins. "Well that's more like it," he said.

Seeing as it was her turn, Shinobu picked up a bright pink bowling ball and attempted to imitate Tristan's movements. Unfortunately, she released the ball just a little too late and (much to her evident disappointment) the ball curved into the gutter before it was even halfway down the lane.

"Damnit," she hissed under her breath.

"Better luck next time," Tristan responded as he retrieved his ball. "A lot of it is timing as well," he added as he stepped up to his starting spot. He started towards the line, this time his form was much better as was his timing. His blue ball flew down the lane and took out each and every pin. "Well that's more like it," he said.

"Lucky you," Shinobu sighed as she picked up her bowling ball and tried to more closely mimic Tristan's timing. No such luck this time, as her form was off and the ball once again curved into the gutter.

"Okay, now this is starting to piss me off," she grumbled.

"Sorry," Tristan responded, "It takes a lot of practice and it's easier than it looks."

"Yeah, perhaps this was a bit of a mistake," Shinobu sighed. "Maybe I'd be best off waiting until the end of my shift for you to teach me? If you're not busy, that is."

"Eh, you're having an meeting with the Captain on ship's business," Tristan responded, "Regulations say nothing about sitting at a conference room table to have a meeting." He tapped on the console and one of the viewers in the room. The port side viewer switched on showing a diagram of the proper bowling stance, "Does this help at all?

Shinobu took a minute to study the diagram, imitate the motions displayed a few times, and- when she was confident she had it down- she proceeded to pick up her bowling ball and line herself up for one final shot. This time, the execution was near-flawless, and her eyes widened as she realized the ball was rolling down the center of the lane in a straight line.

"Yes... yes..."

Bullseye; the ball made contact with the center pin, sending it flying backward and toppling the other pins directly behind it...

"YES!"

...Except for the 7 and 10 pins, which, by some horrendous stroke of dumb luck, were only lightly jostled in the ensuing clammor.

"...Ah, shit." Shinobu grumbled in defeat.

"It's an improvement anyway," Tristan responded, "Takes time." He was about to pick up his ball when he head the bosun's whistle come over the comm unit on the wall.

"Security to Lieutenant Miyake," a voice said over the com.

Shinobu glanced over at Captain Faust.

"Best take this, Captain," she sighed as she moved over to the wall-mounted communicator. =Miyake here.=

"Osborne here ma'am," the comm unit said, "Mr. Novo went off the rails... We are attempting to subdue him without success."

=He what now?!= Shinobu sighed. =I swear, Osborne, you'd better not be blowing this out of proportion again, or you and I are going to be having another talk!=

"No lieutenant," Simon responded in a hurried voice, "There are four... Now five officers fighting to subdue him. Cadet Larant stunned him twice and it did nothing... Gosh even Ensign Novak couldn't bring him down and he's like a freight train."

=Alright, stay put; I'll have a team down there in less than ten,= Shinobu replied before terminating the communication.

"Sorry to be cutting this short, Captain," she quickly apologized. "It appears there's a situation down in Engineering that demands my attention, so I'd best be on my way."

Keep me in the loop," Tristan responded as he watched her leave the bowling alley.

 

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