Lieutenant Commander Marty Tucker - Couples Skate
Martin Tucker
((Deck 14, Chief Engineers Quarters, USS Ronin in orbit of Endochromimas V))
Usually, awards ceremonies like the one he was about to attend were vastly different than all the ones he’d experienced on the Ronin. This one was a Roller Arena on The Farm. Marty wasn’t sure what to expect, but since it was at a roller arena, dress whites weren't the vibe. He was dressed in jeans, classic red-and-black-and-white Air Force 1s, and a Colorado Avalanche jersey with the number 29 and McKinnon on the back.
He grabs a pair of what in the 21st century are called “roller blades”; they were like his hockey skates, only with wheels instead of metal blades. He tied the laces in the middle and hung them over his shoulder. One last glance in the mirror, and he was out the door to the transporter room.
((‘Disco Inferno’ Roller Arena, The Farm, Endochronimas V))
As usual, Marty kept to the back of the room; he was a people watcher after all, and he loved watching when the whole crew got together like this. He quietly put on his roller blades, which he hadn’t been on in about two years. He was meaning to get back into skating, but he, just like most things, hadn’t found the time to do so, he missed playing his two holodeck programs, one for a pick-up game of street hockey or Game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Everyone started to hush as they saw the Skipper approach the stage. It was time to get things started; this thing didn’t last overly long. Of course, had work to do, and he wanted to see Rox. Their schedule for the most part hadn’t meshed in the last couple of weeks. Marty was almost done with his string of doubles, as Lieutenant Morgan would be returning from shoreleave in the next couple of days.
He sat down, ordered a vanilla coke, and listend to the captain.
Niac: In the interests of conducting our business here today before I need to avail myself of medical care, I’ll be as brief as reasonably possible considering the broad scope of your recent accomplishments. Because of you…because of your steady nerve in the face of a horrific attack…because of your focus under pressure…because of your dedication to one another…the embers of a grave threat to the Federation were extinguished before they could ignite an inferno. You have once again stymied the plans of a ruthless organization and shown them that Starfleet stands firm against terror for profit, against opportunistic brutality, and against anything that would reduce life to an expendable asset.
Thanks to Cabrillo and Morgan, they now knew more than they had ever known about what made their spiderbots tick. It was going to take a while to go through all the data, which is most of the fun, at least for Marty and Morgan.
Niac: To that end, each member of this crew is receiving a Silver Lifesaving Ribbon for your efforts to save our brothers and sisters from the Compass Rose. Let it be a reminder to you of the souls you were able to make safe…and all those others who will forever remain on patrol in the Kappa 214 system. In addition, based on my discussions with Starfleet Medical and owing to the incredibly unusual nature of the information we were able to uncover during the course of our mission, the whole crew will be receiving the Scientific Discovery Ribbon. You demonstrated once again that knowledge is the ultimate power and, in this case, used it to neutralize an insidious threat. Lastly and with the knowledge that each and every one of you suffered a level of exposure to a weapon that was, until very recently, invariably deadly…each member of this crew is awarded yet another Purple Heart to add to their ever-growing collection. I believe several people have earned enough to redeem them for prizes, which are available in a variety of colors at a small stand-off in the corner of this facility.
Marty chuckled; he’d now have four purple hearts, not something to be overly proud of, though. But as his Dad likes to say, “Shit happens, son”. And he was pretty dead on with that assessment.
Niac: While our medical personnel were distinguishing themselves, let us remember that they did not crack this problem alone—Lieutenant Commander Marty Tucker, Lieutenant Junior Grade Tess Evinrude…front and center.
Marty stood for a second to get his bearings on his roller blades and then took off for the podium at a casual skate. He felt like showing off, but now was not the time. He’d have to see about getting the ship team together for holodeck games, though there was a place to play “pond hockey” on Andoria, which was on his bucket list for sure.
He came to a stop next to the Skipper.
Tucker: Tucker present and accounted for! ::thumbs up::
Evinrude: ::Quietly, to Tucker.:: Think we're about to receive a Gott Co. gift certificate? "Thank you for letting our product steal a day of your life."
As two-thirds of the Three Amigos, the Captain feigned a glare at the two. It had been an interesting shore leave to say the least, and not once did Marty get down to the planet's surface. He sighed, one of these days he was going to have to get out more, and he’s got a great excuse to do so now, he had Rox, and there so many things he wanted to show, like the vineyard at sunset or coffee on the deck as the sun comes up over the hill and spills into the valley.
The Captain started to speak, bringing him out of his daydream.
Niac: Although you were somewhat…haphazard…in the conduct of your duties, there is no getting around the fact that your work on the Consortium delivery mechanism and the subsequent capture of the creator of this plague were instrumental in developing a treatment. As such you are both awarded the Innovation Ribbon…and reminded that I still have those bracelets in my office. Congratulations gentlemen.
Marty winced at the mere mention of their botched exit from the freighter at the end of the last mission. Which had led to the bracelets they had to wear.
Marty absentmindedly rubbed his left wrist, where the bracelet once rested.
Tucker: ::he saluted:: Not to sound cheesy, but it's all in a day's work in the fleet. I feel proud every day of the work we all do around here, whether its evacing a planet or saving a runaway train. And you know, Skip, how I feel about bullies, and it’s always good to punch them in the nose. Hopefully, by effectively killing their virus, we’ve sent them back to the drawing board.
Evinrude: I prefer this over the bracelet... ::He said, accepting the ribbon.:: ...but thank you for the reminder. Sir.
Tucker nodded again and slowly walked down the steps before skating away at a high speed that he had used coming toward the dias. Time to get seated and cheer on his shipmates; he definitely needed at least a drink to unwind. He felt he should pop open a rare vintage from the family vineyard. He’d already set a bottle aside for him and Rox. It was 2340, only twenty bottles were made, because most of the crop had been invaded by Andorian beetles, of course, not from Earth, but some point since warp flight brought back the damn things.
The beetles wreaked havoc for a couple of years before someone developed a way to eradicate the entire species on Earth, mostly concentrated in the Pacific Northwest.
Rox rolled over to her bag and pulled out a small box. It was green and was perhaps only 6 inches long and perhaps 2 inches tall. Scanning the crowd, she found Marty and buzzed over to him keeping the box hidden. She stopped quickly and had to push the red bow further back on her head.
Rox: Hello! I got you a present.
Tucker: Hello m’dear. ::whispering::Gold pressed latinum hand cuffs? ::he gave her a grin::
She gave him a sly look.
Rox: Reprobate. ::pulling the box from behind her:: It's this.
Tucker: Ohh, I like it already.
Marty wasn’t subtle and ripped off the wrapping paper and lifted the lid on the small box. It was a silver wrench that had seen better days, along with a large rusty bolt. He cocked an eyebrow.
Rox: This is the remnants of my one and only foray into starship engineering. I offered to help a freighter Captain purge his exhaust manifold. Well, I went to take the cowling off and the whole nacelle dropped off the ship. Needless to say I booked it and never looked back.
Tucker: I am truly honored, Rox. I’m going to frame it, and it’s going up in my office. Put it next to the mini-warp cores of the Enterprise D, Defiant, and Voyager. You know how Captains have the starships in their office, well, I went with warp cores…::he gave a nerdy grin:: How old were you, if I may ask?
Rox: Maybe 12? I changed the oil in my uncle's hauler so I figured, how different can it be?
Marty chuckled. What he wanted to do was kiss her, like actually kiss her. They’d come close but had both bailed out at some point, but in front of the crew, it wasn't. Instead, he brushed his lips gently against her forehead.
Tucker: Fancy a lap or two? ::he smiled::
Rox: Response
Marty nodded, grabbed her hand, and started towards the rink itself.
Tucker: Common’ lets do this!
Rox: Response
She finally relented as Marty dragged the two onto the skating surface.
Tucker: You know you’re the best, right?
Marty smiled at her, looking into her eyes.
Rox: Response
As the song changed to something more earth-like, classical music, a song by a band by the name of The Cars, and the song was a ballad called Drive. He skated a bit ahead of her, turned around, skating backwards to face Rox, locked eyes, and skated through the song in a comfortable silence as the song played.
TAGS/End scene for Marty
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