Surf's Up (Part 2)

Posted on Tue Jul 2nd, 2024 @ 4:30pm by Captain Rylan Gray & Lieutenant Tyler Malbrooke & Lieutenant Daegan Baas & Lieutenant Stormy Knight & Lieutenant Ayren Kelan & Lieutenant JG Shizuru Chikura

2,832 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: The Quasinon Gambit
Location: Holodeck 1, USS Thunderbird
Timeline: MD029 - 0730

Hanging back Daegan watched as people started to get their food. The show programmed was set to start until everyone was seated but the music was playing and mixing with the waves behind him. Scanning his shipmates he arched a brow as his eyes followed a pleasing shape. He was snapped back as a holo-character brought him the drink he had requested earlier.

Ayren was walking towards the waves contemplating whether to have a swim or not, but then someone's attention on her right alerted her. Usually she would ignore it, but the source warranted her taking notice and she glanced in that direction. She mentally shook her head as it might have been nothing. She was so deep in thought that the first wave got to her before she could dive under it and it dumped her unceremoniously back on the sand.

He had been watching her walk towards the surf but kept his gaze on the crew, even though his thoughts were not. He turned at the break in the waves rhythm to see Ayren thrown to the sand. Rushing to her, "Are you ok? There will be plenty of time to swim but why don't you dry off and get something to eat...ever been to a luau before?"

Ayren grabbed Daegan's arm to steady herself as she got to her feet. "I am fine," she said as she tried to brush her now sandy and messy mass of hair out of her mouth and face. Then she smiled. "One question at a time, Baas.." she chided chuckling, remembering that she never knew which question to answer first when he came to visit. "I will dry off, if you pass me that towel, and I will rather have something to drink and I don't think I have been to a luau.." she answered watching him.

Handing her a towel from one of the beach chairs, she was drying her hair as he offered her his drink. "Since this is your first time you are in for a treat. As for the drink...", he handed her the tall bright fruity drink with a pineapple garnish, "...here they just got this for me."

"Thank you," Ayren said as she took the drink and took a sip. "Very nice, pity this is not going to straight to my head," she chuckled. "By the way, you had better play the host. Just now people will think I am hugging you..." she said, then realized what she said. "Hogging you... whatever," she added, wanting to kick herself. "Oh there is Sarah.." she said and waved, even if Sarah wasn't looking at her.

Rylan made his way down the tables, admiring the spread of food, and taking a small portion of a few things. This was a cuisine that he didn't already know and that had been part of the reason for agreeing to the rotating dinners. He filled his plate and found a log on the beach, positioned so that one could sit and watch the water, and started eating. He thought, as he sat there, that he had got it right. Participating but off to the side. Allowing the crew to freely intermingle and, made a point of decidedly not noticing what interactions were a bit more ... intense ... than others.

Tyler had heard the call to the holodeck for The Captain's Mess. This was something that in the years Tyler had been in the fleet he had never heard of. For him the Captain had always wanted to be distant. But to each their own way to command he thought. Before he headed over he had to make sure that the holodeck had the power needed to maintain the program that Lieutenant Baas had requested. This took a little longer than he had thought and as such Tyler arrived late to the party and still in uniform.

When he walked in he whistled and smiled, now he knew why the resource allocation request was so large. Everything looked great although he felt a tad out of place being one of the only people still in uniform. He made his way to the tables of food and made himself a plate. At the moment Tyler thought it best to simply people watch and perhaps join in the festivities in a few minutes. He hated mingling on an empty stomach.

"There's clothing you can change into in the cabanas," a blonde woman in a blue halter-top swimsuit and a red Hawaiian shirt with white flowers said, coming up to Tyler. "I'm Stormy, by the way. Stormy Knight. Nice to meet you."

For the briefest of moments and uncontrollably Tyler's eyes widened at the sight of the beautiful woman before him. Realizing where he was and that the Captain was there he regained control of himself rather quickly. "At the moment I think I will remain in uniform, and enjoy this delicious meal. I am Tyler Malbrooke the Chief of Operations around these parts. Every day on the Thunderbird going to be like this?" He said with a smirk and a small amount of boyish charm.

"I don't know. I haven't been on board very long," she admitted. "But I like what I see so far." She wasn't, however, looking at the scenery. She didn't flirt as a general rule, but she found Tyler rather charming.

Tyler was not looking around at the scenery anymore either. The woman in front of him had his undivided attention. "I think the scenery around this ship is better than most of what I have seen in my previous assignments. What do you do around these parts?" A lot of the time the words that Tyler selected were connected to Oklahoma the place of his birth. It was said that you can take the boy out of the midwest, but not the midwest out of the boy.

She tried to keep herself from flushing as he focused on her. Having men look at her once wasn't unusual, but most quickly lost interest when they learned she was a scientist. She had a feeling Tyler would be different. And she was nuts to be thinking this way about someone she just met. She probably just needed food. "I do science, mostly. I'm the Chief Science Officer. I'd say new, but we're all new around here." She glanced from his plate of food to her own. "Maybe we should find a place to sit and eat."

"I think that would be a great idea. Lead on m'lady." Tyler said with a smile. She led him to an empty table and they both sat down. Before he said anything else he took a bite of food, he was famished and needed something. "Chief Science eh, I guess you and I will be working closely. Operations and Science have a tendency to go hand in hand. I am excited to be here if I am totally honest. Being a part of a new ship class as it comes into operation is something special."

"Right?" Stormy said, looking over her plate to decide what she wanted to try first. "A new ship and a new class is an amazing opportunity." She decided to pick something at random and took a bite, closing her eyes to enjoy the flavor. "Oh, that is good." Then she turned her attention back to Tyler. "I look forward to working with you. And I may need some help before long as I'm still going over supplies." She gave him a teasing grin. "I hope you don't mind."

What he wanted to say was The idea of spending more time with you. Why would I mind? But what Tyler actually said was: "I don't mind at all. Whatever you need I am sure we can work out. You are officially the second person I have met on this ship. The Captain was the first. I have to say, you are sight better than our Captain."

That made her laugh. "I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad, but I'll take it." Again her eyes met his and she smiled. "I'm going to enjoy working with you." Then she turned back to her food so he wouldn't think she was being too forward.

"And I you, Stormy..." Tyler had some ideas, some of the boyish charm that usually worked for him. But a large event like this was not the place to ask someone out. So, he decided to use her first name as an effort to let her know he was interested, a way to make the conversation a tad more intimate. He made sure to continue to keep the conversation moving. He wanted to learn all he could about her.

Ayren saw that Sarah was talking to someone, so she made her way to Rylan. "Captain," she said as she neared him. "May I join you for a moment?" she asked.

"Of course," Rylan said as he gestured for her to join him on the log. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Absolutely," Ayren answered. "Except when I fought a wave and summarily lost the battle" she chuckled. "Thank you for agreeing to this, Captain. It is such a good way to start off. It is a first for me for sure," she said smiling. " You chose an excellent viewpoint for observation, Captain" she said as she watched the crew. "Anything interesting you have noticed so far?"

"Actually," Rylan said as he shifted position so that he could observe the party itself, "I was looking at the water. Not real, of course, but a close enough approximation." He set his plate to one side as he continued. "I may just visit the actual island when I next have some leisure time." He cocked his head slightly to one side. "As to the crew, I'm pointedly not observing them. Everyone needs a bit of down time. As long as it doesn't get out of hand."

"You are quite right," Ayren said. "I am not as disciplined as you," she chuckled. "I am way too curious and no matter how I try, my eyes do wander to people and how they interact. But I keep my senses out of it," she added. "My father taught me not to focus my attention on specifics, but keep to an overall feeling. That took some time for me to distinguish and learn, especially since my senses were so erratic in my teens," she chatted, rolling her eyes with a grin with a smile and a shake of her head at the memory. " I cannot help but sense how happy the crew is in general and how much they.. we needed this," she added. "I am looking forward to getting to know the crew." She was just going to get up but then remembered something. "I wanted to ask you, can we cook in our quarters? I know not all vessels allow for that."

"Quarters aren't set up for food preparation," Rylan said with a slight shake of his head. "Best you can do is book holodeck time and cook there, I'm afraid."

Ayren nodded. "I had to take a chance," she said as she got up. "I guess keping live gagh' or a I'lingta' or two around is also out of the question," she said in a mock matter of fact voice and then chuckled. "Thank you for the chat," she added.

Finally entering the holodeck still dressed in her uniform came Shizuru Chikura. She wasn't technically a department head yet, apparently there had been some sort of mix-up in the paperwork somewhere along the way. However, she was to represent the Flight Control Department until it was all 'sorted out'.

This was a new experience for her, mingling with the senior staff. She had come straight from the forward shuttle bay after her shift had ended. It was safe to say, that the young Lieutenant JG looked a little lost if not unsure of what to do in this situation.

Daegan turned at the opening of the holodeck noticing that the woman entering looked a bit lost. Trotting over he introduced himself. "Evening, can I help you Lieutenant?"

"Well..." she seemed to shift nervously. "I'm here to represent the flight control department. I'm not a senior officer or anything... But we don't have a Chief yet due to an admin mix up... so... yeah.. " Shizuru half explained half stuttered as she kept averting her eyes from his gaze.

Pushing reassuring hand on her shoulder Daegan smiled warmly. "Don't stress yourself out, it's a party so the more the marrier." Removing his lei he put it around her neck. "Welcome aboard, I'm Daegan Baas, the ship's Chief of Security and the host of this little gathering." He turned to look amongst the other officers and character. "Ah their he his." Pointing, he indicated the Captain. "The Captain is right over there if you need to speak to him. If you like there is a changing area to put on something more festive, no pressure. As you can see there is lot of food so help yourself. If you need anything or have any questions just let me know."

Shizuru nodded simply. She wasn't quite sure if she should change, but she decided to stay in her uniform at least for now.

Several hula dancers came on stage. "Before the next part of our performance, we'd like to invite some of you to join us," one of the women asked.

Stormy looked over at Tyler and grinned before raising her hand. When she was one of those selected, she and the others were escorted to a small area where they were taught several basic steps and the hand and arm motions to go along with them. Stormy was familiar with some forms of dance, but this was new to her. She carefully practiced, then was dressed in a hula skirt and the other accoutrements.

Then they were taken back to the performance area and lined up. When the drums began, Stormy focused on one of the dancers and followed her movements. She tuned out everything but the rhythm of the drums and the dance itself. And then it was over and she and the others were told to return to their seats.

Tyler was in total awe as he watched Stormy dance. She was indeed the total package and her dancing wasn't too bad. He would have to figure out a way to ask her out and get to know her better. But first perhaps he should settle in to his new assignment before he went off and rocked the boat.

As Stormy took her seat beside Tyler, she slipped one of her extra leis over his head. Traditionally it was supposed to be accompanied by a kiss on the cheek, but she thought that might be a bit too forward. Still, the thought made her cheeks grow warm and she took a quick swallow of her drink.

Tyler inhaled the aroma of the flowers. It still amazed him how accurate holodecks could get. He smiled and decided to take a chance. He took Stormy's hand and kissed it. "Thanks!"

Stormy felt butterflies start to rumba in her stomach at the touch of his lips. Her eyes met his and she smiled. "Yu're welcome."

Tyler took a chance and it seemed to have paid off. However, he knew this was not the time or the place to continue that line of thought. He would have to ask her out on a proper date when things settled down.

The fire performance ended with around of applause. Throughout the evening Daegan had observed and noted the activities of everyone. He smiled with satisfaction as the performers left and others prepared a fire closer to the water. While getting himself another drink he had the computer produce a guitar and taking it and his drink he headed for the fire pit. Taking a seat and setting his drink on the bench next to him he propped the guitar on leg and started plucking away.

Part of her wanted to sit by the fire pit and listen to music, but Stormy had to get up early, and she knew she'd regret it if she stayed any longer. So, she put a hand over Tyler's and bid him goodnight, then changed back into her clothes and left the holodeck.

Daegan had the acoustic guitar on his knee as he continued to play starting in on the instrumental version of an old late 20th century ballad.

Ayren made her way over to where Daegan playing was and sat down, humming softly to the tune she recognized. "Nice thing you did here, impressive," she smiled.

---

Captain Rylan Gray
Commanding Officer
USS Thunderbird

Lt. Daegan Baas
Chief of Security

Lt Ayren Kelan
Counselor

Holodeck characters played by Daegan Bass

Lt. Tyler Malbrooke
Chief Operations Officer

Lt JG Shizuru Chikura
Flight Control Officer

Lieutenant Stormy Knight
Chief Science Officer

 

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