Idle Hands

Posted on 02 Oct 2015 @ 4:11am by Commander Terry Walsh & Lieutenant JG Perei & Ensign Quinn Mackie

1,711 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Rude Awakening
Location: DS 11
Timeline: MD 2, 1230 hours

The crew had been on the station for two weeks and Terry was already bored. He had seen the shops on the promenade dozens of times. And he had perused their wares enough for any man. Plus, this was a headquarters station; which meant that the place was crawling with Admirals. Not something he particularly cared for. He found the spot just outside one of the restaurants that he had claimed as his favorite and took a seat. A few minutes later, the waitress brought over a tall glass of cold kava juice and set it on the table.

“Here’s your regular, Terry,” she said. She had seen him coming and knew what he wanted. It had been the same thing for the last two weeks. “Anything else?” she asked.

“Nah,” replied Terry. “Just something cold and sweet to sip on, thanks.”

“Okay. But if you change your mind, just let me know.” She walked over to another table where a couple of Vulcans had just sat down.

Lunch hour. Why did I have to choose to come over here during lunch hour? Quinn frowned as he walked the busy promenade. It was the cadet's first moment of freedom in a week. Somehow someone decided that cadets shouldn't be awarded the luxury of R&R, especially since a couple months away from the Federation Subpsace Network put him behind in his studies, and being directly involved with the Black Hawk's repairs during the graveyard shifts.

He'd already circled the promenade twice, not finding an empty seat anywhere. He was wanting something Bajoran, but the growls from his stomach indicated he'd settle for dirt about now, just so long it was fresh dirt. Replicated matter only went so far these days...

There! Three empty seats at a table meant for four! Quinn recognized the man at the table as one of the officers from the Black Hawk, but knew not his name. He, just like Quinn, lacked a uniform, so it was more difficult for the young cadet to place the face.

But it didn't matter. He highly doubted a single table would open up anytime soon. "Hey!" He said, approaching the officer from the side. "Mind if I join you?"

Terry turned around and saw a young man standing there. He didn’t recognize the kid other than being from the ship. “Not at all, have a seat. I know you from the Black Hawk, but I can’t place a name.”

"Cadet Quinn Mackie," he replied, taking a seat across from the officer. He looked around, hoping to spot a waiter or waitress, though everyone seemed busy at the moment. "I think I've seen you around the corridors too, but I definitely haven't met you, sir."

“Terry Walsh, Assistant Flight Control. Lieutenant, but then again, I’m not in uniform and this is sort of a leave.” Terry may have been a really laidback person, but he still understood that there was some decorum between Cadet and officer. “I’ll answer to Walsh, though, at times like this.”

Perei sighed softly after she smiled and saluted another Admiral and walked away. She needed a place to pause and sit and with the crowd today with all the events that occured there. There did not appear to be one available any where until she spied two faces. The two she recognized only in the manner as one who walks by as they hurried from one local to the other other the ship or passed in ten-forward Perei approached hesitantly and then practically begged with a harried look on her face "Please, if there was any other spot. I wouldn't ask but might I sit and take a moment to rest my feet and perhaps have a quick meal?"

“Sure, pull out a chair,” Terry replied. “I don’t think....” Then he looked at Mackie. “What do I call you? Cadet? Mackie?”

Quinn immediately replied, "Mackie," following in the lieutenant's footsteps. He estimated that Walsh's name preference was more so in regards with regulations, so far be it for Quinn to try and blur those lines.

Perei slid into a empty chair and smiled a grateful but cheerful smile. "Appreciate it." as she glanced around for a waiter.

It was crowded and busy, so Terry put his fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly. Among the many that turned in his direction was a waitress. It was the same one that had brought him the kava juice from earlier. When he waved her over so the other two put in an order, she held up two fingers.

A couple of minutes later, she walked over. “I’d recognize a whistle like that anywhere. You used to be a Starfleet Marine, didn’t you?”

Terry grinned. “My two friends here would to put in an order.”

"Pesto sandwich," Quinn asked, smiling at the attractive waitress. "And whatever is on tap today."

"Pear and spinach salad, light vinaigrette and a spring wine." Perei replied

As the waitress left, Quinn looked back to the occupants at the table. "I don't think I've ever seen a promenade this busy. Not even Deep Space Nine."

"It is extremely so" Perei said as she watched people move to and fro a moment as she continued "and I've noticed that everyone is preoccupied as if they are busier or on an alert of some sort." Perei said "I checked in with a former colleague and they barely had the time of day for me. In fact, I was to have lunch with them and it cancelled with a brushed off type of reasoning, as if I were not wanted to be there today."

“That’s odd,” replied Terry. “I’ve noticed that things here are bit, uh, ‘stuffy,’ since our arrival. I just chalked it up to being a headquarters station with a bunch of Admirals.” Wanting to change the subject from anything work related, Terry asked, “So how’s everybody’s R&R going?”

"Mine's just starting," Quinn replied, looking over at the lieutenant. "Lieutenant Dicon said something about being the low man on the totem pole, and him wanting a few more things before being shipped back to Earth. Looks like it's been good to you, si... Walsh."

Terry chuckled. “Yeah, that whole low man on the totem pole thing can really put a damper on any kind of leave, even as an officer. I can’t count the times that my seniors took off and left me to close up shop when we docked.” He took a drink of his kava juice. “I wouldn’t worry too much about yours just starting, though, Mackie. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of time to enjoy DS-11 or the Compound.”

The waitress returned, much quicker than Quinn would have expected, with their drinks. Smiling to the waitress as she left, he took a generous swig of the brew and smiled at the pleasant taste. "I'm thinking the beach or the mountains later myself," he said. "Heard the climbs are tough, but the view's worth every step."

“I’d bet the views are worth it. But the beach is pretty awesome,” he said smiling. Yesterday was still very fresh in his mind. “I’d recommend it any day. Oh, and there’s a nice place, not too far from the beach, to grab some good kebabs.” He paused a second and looked at the Vulcan scientist across the table. “How’s the salad?” he asked.

Perei glanced up from her clean plate and blushed slightly as she realized that she had indeed let the men carry the conversation while she ate. "Superb, by the looks of my plate."

Quinn glanced over, astonished that the Vulcan had finished her meal so quickly. He had only taken a bite or two of his sandwich. At this rate, he'd be left behind at the table before he made it halfway through. "How about you, Miss...?" Quinn had realized that neither of the men had learned her name when the Vulcan arrived. "How has your leave been?"

"Perei" She replied with a slight smile "Forgive my quietness. It has been rather busy for me. I had to forgo much of my leave and spent it in symposiums and studies about scientific items. This has been the first time where I've dallied just for the pleasure of it and found the space station much to crowded for my liking."

Terry had always wondered if there some kind of requirement for Starfleet science officers to like quiet solitude. But then with all of that research and study, they probably needed quiet solitude. "So Perei, outside of all of that, what do you like to do with your down time?" He'd never known a Vulcan to do much of anything 'fun' during free time.

"I study languages of all kinds." Perei cast her eyes downward for a moment and twiddled her fork on her plate before she finally set it back down."I know sounds boring, right, but it keeps my mind occupied." She glanced up "Besides, its not like there is much to do on the ship."

"Not really all that boring," said Terry. "I've got conversational Romulan and ancient Earth Gaelic under my belt. I've always thought it would be nice to learn another one. Though, I am a slow learner when it comes to stuff like that."

"I can't blame you at all," Quinn said, finishing half of his sandwich. "I've tried my hands at Klingon and a few other human languages. I can't wrap my head around it. Warp plasma conduits however, I can tell you all about those."

"Perhaps sometime we can compare dialects. As conduits plasma or any other type are not my thing." Perei said as she smiled and took a sip of her drink and leaned back to relax a bit and enjoy the company and conversation.

The group continued with their conversation and meals for a while longer. Terry was glad to get to know a couple more members of the crew. He was also glad to see them relaxing, especially after the last mission they had. Other than the oddities among the station personnel, things seemed to be going well.

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