Backstage at the Casino

Posted on Tue 18th Jul, 2017 @ 8:11pm by Lieutenant Commander Solan Jekkar & Lieutenant Thomas Maynard & Lieutenant Coco Kiralbi & Lieutenant JG Kellian Michaels

1,427 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Unity Week
Location: Casino Royale, Deck 1553
Timeline: MD 3, late afternoon

Thomas arrived at the casino, a strange place to hold a concert, but it had just celebrated it's opening night yesterday and after speaking to a few people on board Vanguard, it had been considered a success. The casino was home to a very large concert hall which was the venue for a concert tonight, one of which Thomas had been invited to take part in. He had been told some of the other crew on board had been invited along and also some different acts throughout so it wasn't all just music. He had brought his violin along. He enjoyed playing it as it allowed him to drift away in his thoughts. It was the only thing he would do where he wouldn't drink alcohol. The violin to Thomas was part of him. The top plate of his violin was made of spruce and the back was maple. He found these woods together made for the best sound quality in the violin.

Leah walked into the backstage area of the casino, donning a silver Tholian Silk strapless dress with a slit up the right side. Normally she wouldn't dare do such an activity as singing in front of a crowd, but being the CEO of Disney Inc. aboard Starbase Vanguard would help promote the company.

Kellian arrived in white tie and tails, with cello case and sheet music for Astor Piazzolla's Oblivion in hand. He still did not at all like calling attention to himself, but honestly, who off of Vanguard was going to pay the slightest attention to an amateur music concert given here? Several weeks before, he had told himself to stop being ridiculous and paranoid. And so he had bought an instrument of his own instead of just conjuring one up each evening in the holodeck, and here he was, about to perform in a pair of cello duets with Jekkar.

He found an empty chair, took his cello out of the case, and began tuning it. Once it was tuned to his satisfaction he warmed up with some double-octave runs and bowing practice. This enabled him to fine-tune the pitch to account for the way the humidity affected his cello. At last there was really no more he could do to prepare, and he could only wait patiently for the first performers to go on.

It wasn't often that Jade stepped onto a stage to play for an audience. Oh, she played at Orchids & Jazz, but that was more like playing in the living room for your family. Being in a concert hall seemed much more formal, and the tiniest bit intimidating, even at her age. She was in the first half of the program, which suited her because she could get back to the jazz club after intermission. Setting her sax case on a chair that was out of the way, she opened it, inserted a reed, and began to tune, practicing the scales until she felt the sound was perfect for the medley she planned to perform.

A woman with a clipboard began to make the rounds of the musicians, checking them off her list. As she came to Caroline Post, she stopped to watch her tuning the wooden stringed instrument in her lap.

"What is that?" the woman asked, startling Caroline.

"Oh! I didn't see you there. It's a New Caledonian dulcimer. Is that a clipboard you have? I haven't seen anyone use a clipboard in ... well, ever!"

"It is a clipboard, yes. I became accustomed to them on my homeworld, which was not as advanced as some, and I like it, so I use it. Your name is ...?"

"Caroline Post, of the New Caledonian Posts," Caroline answered. She had no idea why she said it that way. She'd never done so before, but something in the woman's attitude brought out the snob in her.

The woman made a check mark on her board and sad, "Right. You are the last act before the intermission. Don't go overtime." She walked on to the next person.

Caroline managed to keep her tongue in her mouth, but she was quite tempted to do otherwise. She watched as the woman walked up to others. She was brusque with everyone. As she went back to tuning the last two strings, Caroline muttered, "Could do with a personality transplant."

"Somehow I don't think that would help her," Leah replied taking a seat in a chair next to Caroline. "She would probably cause the transplant to short circuit or something," she finished with a shrug.

Kellian overheard them and snickered. "She's definitely all business," he agreed. "Makes me want to find out her homeworld and not go there!"

Miss Post smothered a laugh. "I suppose that's a universal reaction to her charm. Thanks for making me laugh. It loosens up the nerves and I'll play better. Do you two do this sort of thing often?"

"I played in the Starfleet Academy orchestra when I was there, but I didn't want to continue after I graduated," Kellian said. "A cello is a lot to lug around with you from place to place. Ever since then, I've mainly been practicing with a holo-instructor or alone. I was very surprised to find that my boss plays cello, too."

"I never thought about the size of a cello in that way," Caroline said thoughtfully. "You do have a point. Starfleet ships are not known for their expansive quarters, either."

Turning to Miss Jameson, the reporter asked, "I don't see you tuning an instrument, so you must be ... singing?"

"Yes, and I'm still wondering why I agreed to this to be honest," Leah smiled at the woman.

With a laugh, Miss Post said, "I guess we all dream of being rock stars at some point in our lives, even though we don't actually want to do that all that time. It's a change, something different for a while.

Coco was running behind schedule, which was unusual for her. She had got caught up talking with someone she hadn't seen for a while, and before she knew it she was running late for the concert she was to perform at. She had seen an advert asking for potential musicians to play at a concert in a casino, although the concert hall was sort of separate from the casino, she felt it would still have that "gambling" feel.

She decided to say she was interested; after all, Coco enjoyed playing and creating music so why not. Other people would enjoy the way she plays, so why not show them what she could do? Coco finally arrived to the back stage area lugging her saxophone and trumpet in two separate cases behind her. She had three different sets throughout the concert but wasn't going on at any point by herself, rather backing some of the other performances. There was a saxophone solo she was looking forward to performing though. As she stumbled in, the first thing she noticed was two women and a man talking to each other, so she made her way over and took a seat nearby.

Running the scales on her alto sax assured Jade that her instrument was in tune and she laid it on her lap to look around at those near her. She watched a lieutenant she recognized, but didn't know, take out a trumpet. There was a second instrument case that Jade was sure contained a saxophone. She stood to walk closer and speak with the musician.

"What's your sax?" she asked.

She smiled towards the woman who had asked, "Tenor." She tapped her saxophone case. "How long have you been playing?" Coco asked the woman.

Jade laughed, because it was one of the first things she'd learned when she came into human space, and that was a VERY long time ago, almost 100 years. "Yes, actually, quite a while. I find it very soothing. We should get together for a jazz session one of these days - maybe invite some of the others for a jam session at Orchids & Jazz?"

"That sounds great," Coco beamed. "I don't think I've been to Orchids & Jazz before. I might be mistaken though, I can't keep track of what I seem to do lately. But anything with jazz in is a great idea with me!"

"We'll plan on it, then." At that moment, there was applause from the audience, and Jade walked back to her instrument. The sound of Jonny King's voice penetrated backstage as he welcomed the attendees.

 

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