Lt. Cmdr. Avander Promontory: The Time Has Come, The Walrus Said, To Talk of Many Things
Avander Promontory
(( Senior Officers Mess Hall, Deck 2, USS Octavia E Butler ))
Avander and his guests—the recently assigned Ensigns—had fallen into a comfortable chat. They had gotten a little personal about their reasons for joining Starfleet, but quickly moved on to more surface level discussions about their plans over shore leave.
Promontory: I took out the Gamma Flyer with Roger Hartmann—we just had to give this ring another buzz and see how it compared to Denali Station.
That race seemed so long ago now. The sort of adventure for the newer officers, to be sure. Avander grabbed a cheese assortment and sat back.
Lahl: That sounds interesting.
Caras: Lieutenant Cabrillo mentioned the Denali Invitational when we were on duty last. Hope it can still keep up. This ring certainly seems… rustic
Avander inclined his head. He hadn’t been able to spend much time on the I’Kiyo Ring, but then he hadn’t gotten to spend much time on Denali either. The fact of one ring’s existence was enough to stagger the imagination, but two such rings—both ancient yet beyond the scope of any currently known science to have been constructed—well, that just proved what Avander had always been taught: it’s a big universe and it holds a infinitude of surprises!
Nis: What is it like? We heard they needed Starfleet's help keeping the tech going.
Lahl: At the very least, from my time on the ring, it seemed very advanced, and very, very, old.
Nis: One of Nis's former hosts was an archaeologist, and I think she'd say the technical term for its age was 'old as balls.'
It seemed an idiomatic expression, but it wasn’t one Avander was familiar with. It seemed to get a laugh from the ensigns, so he just joined in with a weak smile of his own.
Caras: ::snort:: that is certainly one way to put it.
Lahl: What is your plan for Port Coray or DS14 Commander? Anything fun?
Promontory: I don’t know about fun, per se. Those Ports are more trouble than they’re worth, but they are convenient waystations. Deep Space 14, on the other hand, that’s well worth your time. I didn’t get the chance to try it previously, but I understand the central spindle has an anti-gravity ‘skydiving' experience.
Caras: a novel pursuit
Nis: If you do get the chance, let us know and we'd love to come along. Unless anyone gets hurt in Port Coray. Then we'll be . . . on the ship, probably. Please don't get hurt on Port Coray.
Avander pointed a finger at the doctor as if to underscore the rule “don’t get hurt on Port Coray.”
Lahl: I see, makes sense. New question for the group, what is everyone’s family situations? If you’re willing to share. I have one brother.
Nis: Is he joined?
Lahl: Response
Nis: My brothers aren't--they're kind of jealous, but usually in a playful way. They've always been playful, like that time they locked me in the basement for three hours. Very playful. :: She glanced at the table, resentful at the memory of slamming her fists against the basement door while they flickered the lights and shouted about ghosts down there :: Anyway, we're pretty middle class. Nis has had a couple of hosts who were, like, really rich, but not us. We're normal.
Caras: My sister and I haven’t spoken since I graduated from the academy. She’s also very dodgy with wherever she is. She’s probably getting into trouble somewhere in the alpha quadrant.Our situation was abnormal, but I believe as far as siblings go, we’re pretty normal.
Nis: Oh, we didn't mean other situations are, like, ab-- uh . . . :: Eats some more cheese. :: Right.
Caras: My sister and I did get into a lot of trouble together. Mostly trouble our parents put us up to, but my sister Z’Mat was always the one that was in charge when we’d be on a ship. She took care of me when our parents wouldn’t. She’s the one that set up a lot of my training and education.
Promontory: I have a brother and a sister. (beat) Well, had a brother. Officially, he and his ship are MIA after a mission to perform routine scans of a possible anomaly. But that was all before I was born, so I never knew him. (beat) I did inherit his collection of superhero holoprograms though, so there’s that.
Avander hadn’t used those programs in a while; perhaps it was time to run them again.
Lahl: Response
Caras: I suppose that isn’t too strange in the grand scheme of things. Older siblings are often like that and younger siblings make it more difficult.
Avander gave a wistful half-smile. It would have been nice to experience that dynamic. As it was, for all practical purposes, he was raised as an only child.
Shaking off the start of that reverie, Avander spun the lazy-Susan in the table’s center and reached for one of the Kendarian deviled eggs.
Lahl/Nis: Response
Caras: My sister made me take ::pauses looking for phrasing:: special engineering courses and made me join the seekers guild back where I’m from.
Nis: Response
Caras: Ah the seekers guild is short for the pleasure seekers and it’s a very Orion oriented guild that may be… not appropriate for dinner conversation.
Coming from a Beta Quadrant colony, some of the more tawdry aspects of Orion culture were familiar enough to Avander. While cross-cultural experiences were a vital part of the Starfleet experience, the intricacies and exploits of the pirate life were probably not suitably decorous for a casual first introduction.
Promontory: (judiciously) Perhaps another time.
Lahl/Nis: Response
Avander grabbed a parfait and slowly scooped out the contents while he talked.
Promontory: Alright, final ‘official’ question: where do you want to end up in your careers with Starfleet.
Lahl/Nis/Caras: Response
Promontory: I guess I’m as good a person as any to talk about that; let’s schedule some time later to discuss in more detail.
Avander was feeling good. This little soiree was going about as well as he could have hoped for and he found himself really pleased with this batch of new recruits.
Lahl/Nis/Caras: Response
Promontory: Well, we have this mess hall booked all night, but at some point I should probably finish up some PADDwork. (wryly) I understand a junior officer shot their superior officer and, well, now I have forms to fill out!
He looked at Ensign Lahl for a beat before cracking a grin. This batch could be fun to tease.
Lahl/Nis/Caras: Response
Tags/TBC
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