Catching Up...

Posted on Wed 8th May, 2019 @ 6:53pm by Captain Andrus Grax & Commander Mikaela Locke

1,120 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: A Diplomatic Affair
Location: Deck 600 - Orchids and Jazz
Timeline: MD-05, 1715

For once, Mikaela Locke had managed to finish her shift in Ops on time and was, thus, unusually early for her planned dinner engagement. She hadn't been thinking particularly creatively when she made the arrangements and thus she sat where she usually sat when going for an after dinner drink - in 'her' booth at the back of Orchids and Jazz. She wasn't sure, but she had a sneaking suspicion that when she had called down to check whether she could reserve the table, Jade had made it possible, even if it might not have previously been so. The menu was familiar to her by now, but she scanned it anyway, awaiting both her guest and the drink waiter.

Jenna stopped by the commander's table with a cheerful smile. "It's good to see you, Commander Locke. Welcome back to Orchids & Jazz. Would you like to order a drink or appetizer now, or do you prefer to wait?"

“Tennessee whiskey on the rocks, please,” Locke answered with a smile. “And, Jenna,” she added quickly, “I’m off duty - Mikaela is just fine.”

With a grin, Jenna said, "Alright, then, Mikaela, one Jack Daniels on the rocks. Back in a flash." She was as good as her word, back in slightly over a minute, because the crowd hadn't hit yet. She laid a lavender napkin on the table and set the whisky glass on it.

"There you are. Are you ready to order, or waiting for a friend tonight?" Jenna asked.

"Yeah, I'm seeing an old friend," Locke replied, "He shouldn't be long."

As soon as the words come out of her mouth, Andrus Grax appeared beside Jenna. "Who?" he asked, with mock indignation.

Mikaela smiled broadly, stood and embraced him. "It's great to see you," she said, warmly.

"It's good to see you too," Andrus replied, moving behind Jenna and sliding into the booth, opposite Locke.

"Would you care for a drink, Captain, or a few minutes to decide?" Jenna asked.

Grax glanced across the table at Mikaela’s glass. “Jack Daniels?” he asked, knowingly.

Mikaela nodded, remembering that Grax had more than a penchant for all manner of whiskeys, scotches and bourbons, from all manner of places, but that Tennessee whiskey was his absolute drink of choice. They had bonded over in one of their earliest meetings.

“I’ll have one of those too, then,” Grax said, turning his attention back to Jenna. “Just ice, please?”

"With pleasure, sir. I'll return shortly." She glanced at the XO's glass, but it was still more than half full, so she didn't offer a refill, but moved away toward the bar.

“So,” Grax began with a smile, “XO of one of the most strategic starbases in the fleet! Who’d have thought it, eh?”

“Not you, apparently,” Mikaela replied jokingly. Andrus Grax had been one of her biggest champions ever since she’d known him - often believing in her when she didn’t believe in herself.

Grax laughed back. “How do you like command?” he asked.

“It’s growing on me,” Locke nodded and took a quick sip from her glass. “It’s more high-profile than I find ideal. The thing about intelligence is that if someone knows who you are you’re doing it wrong. In command, if people don’t know who you are, you’re doing something wrong.”

“And ain’t that the truth,” Grax replied with a broad grin.

Jenna returned with the drink and set it quietly in front of the Captain. Since the XO glanced up at her, she felt comfortable interrupting their conversation. "Would you like to order now? You can also send it back to the kitchen on the device there on the wall. She nodded to the thing that looked like some kind of music selection box. It also performed that function during certain times of the day when live musicians weren't playing. "Just press the red button on the right."

"I think I'm good with the spinach and cheese ravioli," Mikaela answered. It was one of her favourite dishes that the club served. She looked at Grax. "Sorry," she said, "I've put you under pressure now - I can wait if you need more time."

"Don't worry," Grax said genuinely. He looked back to Jenna, "Do you do a cheese burger of any kind?"

Jenna nodded, "There is a hamburger on the lunch menu, and you can add anything to it you'd like. We have a variety of fresh cheeses we buy from the farmers in Tivoli Gardens, or we can probably replicate something else, if you prefer. Though I have to put in a vote for that spinach and cheese ravioli the commander is ordering. She's our favorite Starfleet officer, so we let her order it at any meal of the day," she winked at the XO. "Since you are with her, we can as easily make two as one."

“Fine,” said Grax, looking at Mikaela with a smile, and then back to Jenna. “You talked me into it. Spinach and cheese ravioli it is.”

Jenna nodded, smiling and sending the order back to the kitchen from her padd. "Enjoy the music. I'll be back to check on drinks and bring you something that smells wonderful!"

“Thanks, Jenna,” Mikaela called after the waitress as she headed off towards another table. She turned back to her dinner companion. “So, Mister Director-of-Intelligence,” she ribbed gently, “How are you enjoying your new role.”

Andrus Grax took a sip of his whiskey. “Well, first of all, that’s ‘Captain Director-of-Intelligence’ to you...”

Mikaela had to fight to hold in a snort as Grax took her jibe and playfully used it to mock himself.

“But, seriously,” Grax continued, his expression falling, “I’ve barely had time to stop to get my head around it.” He took another sip of his beverage. “Between pirate activity, the weirdest interrogation ever and Doctor Addams crazy family rocking up, my feet have hardly touched the deck since I came on board. I mean, who the hell was doing this job before me?”

“Well, that’s been half the problem,” Locke replied, sipping from her own glass now. “We’ve been a little short-handed in that area for some time, so the Commodore’s picked up what she could, I’ve pitched in, so have the senior security officers and the strat-ops team, but the reality is all we’ve managed to do is fire-fight, rather than coming up with a joined-up plan that gets to the bottom of anything.”

“Well,” Grax replied, briefly raising his eyebrows, “I guess that’s what I’m here for.”

Mikaela nodded. “Yes, it is, my friend... yes it is.”

 

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