A Much Needed Distraction

Posted on Wed Dec 13th, 2023 @ 1:40pm by Captain Tristan Faust & Lieutenant Michael Amato & Ensign Peter Novak & Lieutenant Commander Marc Kitchner M.D. & Lieutenant Commander Darrod Hanous

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Mission 4: Through a Glass, Darkly
Location: Deck 5: Rec Room 1
Timeline: M4 MD04 (2268.07.13) 2330

In the dimly lit recreational room of the Midway, a circle of five officers sat around a sleek, modern table, each held five red circular playing cards. The hum of the starship's engines in the background provided a soothing ambient tone as the ship glided through the vast expanse of space.

Captain Tristan Faust needed a distraction from the mission. His striking blues eyes meticulously studied his hand, barely touching the cup of black coffee. No martini tonight... His pensive demeanor was in stark contrast to Dr. Kitchner's impatient tapping of fingers on the table. The ship's surgeon held these games weekly but with a varying pool of players. Tristan glanced over at Ensing Novak who was sitting across from him. There was no official rule baring junior officers, but it was rare for anyone under lieutenant to ask for an invitation. But given how Peter had been feeling, Tristan and Marc agreed to invite him.

To Tristan's right sat Dr. Amato. Mike was visibly distracted tonight, a lock of his brown hair was dangling down in front of his forehead. It was clear to Tristan he needed a distraction too. Although he understood Mike's jitters as they were close to settling the matter of his brother's death, once and for all.

"Fold," the Captain finally declared with an annoyed expression breaking through his emotionless expression. He set the hand down onto the table and then took a sip from the cup of coffee. The stakes were never too high, the real game was one of wits. "Your move, Dar," he said to his Orion chief engineer.

Darrod raised an eyebrow, having noticed the Captain's gestures. The Engineer was holding a mug of black coffee in his offhand as well - the difference was, he had a shot of something that resembled whisky in it. The pace of damage control had eased, so they'd gone back to using the still's product as more than cleaner - and the extra quadrotriticale aboard turned into a decent whisky when distilled. He looked over his hand, and made a judgment. He took a swig of his coffee, then picked up a token in front of himself. "I'll see it."

He looked toward Kitchner. "Doc, it's all yours."

"I'm in." Marc said tossing two chips into the pile at the center of the table. He got up from his chair and stepped over to the edge of the room and extracted a beer from the cooler sitting on an extra chair. "Am I the only one who can't wait for this assignment to be over and done with?" Marc asked tossing the bottle cap into a trash can next to the cooler before returning to his seat.

"No different from any other mission," Peter spoke up, "Just stand around and hope I don't end up in a fist fight... No offense sir." He said shooting a glance at Tristan who nodded.

Marc laughed. "That's always a good thing." He took a swallow from his drink. Dr. Amato held the rest of the deck in his hand. "I'll take two." Marc picked up the two cards that were pushed his way. It helped his hand.

"Show them gentlemen," Mike announced, the first words he had spoken in awhile. He was distracted, clearly by something else.

"Two pair 10s over 7s." Marc said looking around the table as he laid his cards down.

Darrod smirked over at Peter with a nod. "Always good to avoid a fist fight. But if you're bored of standing around, I bet the phase coils in Transporter Room 1 could stand a depolarization." It wasn't said as an admonishment, but rather pretty obviously in jest. That sort of harshness wasn't how Hanous led the Engineering department. He respected his people. Besides, they were off-duty; he was at least half-joking. If the work needed to be done, then he had confidence in his people that it would be dealt with.

He turned over his cards, still smiling slightly. "Three of a kind, jacks."

"Eh, you forget sir... I'm a security officer, not an engineer," Peter responded, "But I can see the confusion, red uniform and always hanging out in engineering."

Darrod nodded at Peter with a smile. "There's that, and you're as competent with this ship than some of my ratings. If you ever want to make a transfer, there's a station for you in Engineering."

Peter smiled in response. It wasn't as though he was looking for a career change though.

"Glad I got out of this alive," Tristan responded before taking a sip from his cup of coffee. "I guess it's my turn to deal," he responded, "Looks like this hand goes to the man in green."

To Be Continued...

 

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