The Game's Afoot

Posted on 19 Mar 2016 @ 11:18pm by Commodore Harvey Geisler & Commander Jayla Kij

2,273 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Outbreak
Location: Yolvanda II
Timeline: MD 4 || 1850 hours

Harvey had never before faced such a difficult decision. He stood in his quarters shirtless staring at his open closet. Hanging in it were seven standard duty uniforms and one white dress uniform. Aside from those, his PT uniforms and a couple articles of non-Starfleet clothing completed his wardrobe.

He wasn’t looking forward to dining with Administrator Falow, primarily because Harvey lacked a multitude of social skills. He knew, however, that wearing four pips on his collar meant that he had certain obligations upon his shoulders, including properly representing Starfleet and the Federation. Now, more than ever, with the Consortium lurking around every corner and willfully making their presence known, Harvey had to make sure he made the right impression.

And, a “right” impression at this moment did not include wearing a uniform.

Which meant, he had nothing to wear…

Jayla, dressed in a short, sleeveless purple dress with shoes to match, made her way to Harvey’s quarters. She had opted to leave her hair down as putting it up would have made her look too formal. The spots running down either leg was enough to set off most non-Trills. Why anyone ever thought they kept their spots covered was beyond her, but someone must have decided so at some point.

She pressed her thumb to the chime and smiled at an ensign who stared at her spots as he passed.

“Come in!” Harvey called out, shaking his head in dismay while he tried to figure this out. Looking up at the person in the doorway, Harvey couldn’t help but crack a thin smile despite his current level of frustration. “You look fantastic.”

“Thank you,” said Jayla, grinning back at him. “And you need a shirt. Why aren't you dressed, yet?”

“Well,” Harvey said in a tone that hinted sarcasm. “I’m trying to decide between red or red.” He pulled out a clean uniform shirt from the closet to illustrate his plight. “And I don’t think either goes well with purple.”

“Don't you have- you don't,” she said, stepping to his closet and seeing the lack of pretty much everything.. “How do you not have nice off duty clothes?”

“Because up until the last few days, I’ve never been off-duty,” Harvey simply replied.

Jayla sighed. “All right, come on,” she said, leading him to the replicator. “Let's find something for tonight. And when we get a chance, I'm taking you shopping.” She pulled up men’s clothing into the replicator and sorted out the shirts. “Now just pick one you like,” she said.

Harvey stared at the images for a moment, which happened to be a variety of short-sleeve button ups and polos. He tapped the scroll button repeatedly as he purused through the library, taking what was arguably not enough to look at each image. Simply put, he had no idea what he was looking for. “What goes best with purple?” He asked. “White? Purple? Purple pattern on white? White patterns on purple?”

“Don't worry about matching me,” said Jayla. “Anyway, you'd look atrocious in purple. Maybe lavender. Here,” she said, pulling up a solid lavender long sleeved shirt. “We’ll roll up the sleeves and you'll look smart, but casual.”

Lavender? He had never been much for any shade of purple or pink, especially since he’d donned medical blue and command red for over half of his life now. Given the short timeframe he was now operating under, Harvey simply pressed the button to replicate the shirt. Within moments, he was finished buttoning it up and started to roll up the sleeves.

“Mmm,” said Jayla, watching him with a half grin tugging at one corner of her mouth. “You look delicious. I almost wish we didn't have somewhere to be.”

Harvey could do nothing besides smile as he finished with his sleeves. “If the Administrator didn’t stand on punctuality…” he said, leaning in for a quick kiss. “We do need to be going.”

“Well, let's not keep him waiting, then,” she said. “And it's not like we're leaving the planet right afterwards, either.”

***

Shimmers of blue light quickly faded away, revealing an expansive horizon. Mountains painted cool colors by the red and orange hues of the sunset rose high above a green valley. Beyond the view he could spend hours enjoying, it took Harvey just a moment to assess the remainder of his surroundings: a large balcony connected to what had to equate to a mansion.

“Captain Geisler!” Boomed a deep voice from out of sight. A glance to Harvey’s left revealed the speaker to be that of Administrator Falow.

“Administrator,” Harvey greeted as the large man crossed the balcony to shake Harvey’s unextended hand.

“Who is this lovely flower you have brought this evening?” Falow asked with a wide smile, turning to face the woman in purple.

“This is my--” Harvey paused, not quite sure how he should introduce Jayla. If their time together over the last few days was any indication, he was no longer just a Captain and she the Chief Medical Officer.

Jayla was tempted to say ‘consort’ but decided against it. “Good friend,” she offered for now. “Doctor Jayla Kij.”

Falow took her hand and gave it a gentleman’s kiss. “These indeeds are the hands of a doctor.” Then, without warning, he declared in a bombastic voice, “Come!” as he turned and led them to a round table set further down the balcony. Three seats surrounded the table with only napkins and a pentagonal trapezohedron set before each chair.

“We have a tradition among our people,” Falow said, gesturing to each of them to take a seat. “Many years ago, a chef grew tired of pleasing his indecisive king. So, he created a menu of the king’s favorites, and assigned each one a number. He told the King that no matter what he rolled, that’s what he would get. The king immediately fell in love, and soon the rest of his kingdom did too.”

“How fun!” declared Jayla. “So we just roll these and whatever comes up is what we eat?”

Falow nodded with a smile. “The chef prepared a variety of Terran and Wadi dishes, along with a couple of exotic favorites.” Gesturing again to the die, “Ladies first.”

Jayla grinned and picked up the die, tossing it immediately to the table. “Here's hoping I don't turn out to be allergic to whatever it is,” she said.

“Three!” Falow exclaimed with a bit of glee. “If we were playing Yitku, you would have just earned all my profits!”

Jayla snapped her fingers as if she'd just missed an opportunity. “I knew I should have requested it,” she said jokingly.

Falow turned to Harvey, who assumed that the host was purposely waiting to be last. Not one to be short on protocol, Harvey promptly rolled his die without much fanfare. As it came to a stop, Falow frowned. “In Yitku,” he said, “You would have lost more than your turn.”

“Then it’s good we’re not playing Yitku,” Harvey said, an uncomfortable smile appearing on his face.

Falow only smiled, before picking up his die and casting it back to the table. “Five!” He declared.

“Well, now what?” asked Jayla, still smiling brightly.

A waiter came over and placed the dice on his tray, taking special care to leave them exactly as they were rolled. “Now,” Falow declared, leaning forward in his chair and grabbing Harvey’s hand in one hand and Jayla’s in the other, “I officially welcome you to Yolvanda II!”

Another waiter arrived, depositing three tall glasses on the table, each one shimming with the entire spectrum of light. Falow picked his up his own glass in preparation for a toast. “But, of course, there are some ground rules we must establish. First, tonight, we are here for fun, for the betterment of our peoples. We do not talk Starfleet or Wadi or Consortium business. We enjoy ourselves.” With that, he raised his glass.

“Sounds like a deal to me!” said Jayla, raising her own glass and grinning at Harvey.

“Agreed,” replied an uncomfortable Harvey. He knew that coming down here was going to push his limits, and he was satisfied to see that he wasn’t wrong. “Cheers.”

Jayla gave him a cheeky grin that said, ‘lighten up, grouchy-pants!’ “So, Administrator,” she said. “What would you recommend we see or do first on this planet?”

“What tickles your fancy?” Falow grinned, pleased to use a Terran term in front of the Captain. “We partnered with Risa in your quadrant to create the best tourism center on this side of the galaxy. Vectorboarding, beaches, massages, race tracks, dabo tables, nature exploring, couples retreats…” Chucking, he added, “We’ve even made accomodations for Andorian shens and tzans and the others I can’t fully remember.”

He took a drink and placed his glass on the table. Glancing over to the captain and recalling his earlier slip of the tongue and hesitation, Falow added, “I’ll even recommend my own private island for a night. No charge!”

Jayla grinned, eyes twinkling, as she looked at Harvey. She got the feeling that the administrator had gathered more about their relationship than they'd let on. “I'm sure we'll be fine without it,” she said, turning her attention back to Falow. “Thank you, though, for the generous offer.”

Falow nodded, catching the hint. “I would recommend the T’razzti Midnight Follies. The sun may be setting, but tonight is when our moon reaches its perigee. As it will be so close, its reflection prompts our native T’razztis--luminescent birds--to dance under the moonlight as they sing their songs of love. I’ve seen it myself and the sight is quite spectacular. Happens only once every six months.

“Oooh, that sounds amazing,” replied Jayla, sounding truly excited. “We'll have to check that out. What do you think, Harvey?” she asked.

“I think it sounds wonderful,” Harvey replied, doing his best to smile. He actually did enjoy the sights and sounds of nature, but for an event so rare, there was likely to be a lot of people there, and possibly members of the Black Hawk’s crew. As of yet, no one knew about him and Jayla. Not that he planned to keep it a secret, as how long could secrets be kept aboard a starship?

“Excellent!” Falow instantly proclaimed. “I’ll have a couple of seats set aside for you.”

At that moment, a waiter returned with their food. He first set a plate in front of Jayla, a grilled fish with sauteed vegetables on the side. “Ah yes,” Falow said, smiling. “A personal favorite, our best and most nutritious from a fresh-water lake on the other side of the planet.”

Falow himself received a bowl of Terran chili, covered with cocktail crackers and exotic hot spices. His smile, if it were indeed possible, grew larger as the heat whispered into his nose.

Finally, the waiter placed a plate in front of Harvey. It was covered in live gagh.

Jayla bit her lips to keep from laughing. Poor Harvey. “I'll try one of you do,” she challenged, eyes sparkling mischievously.

Harvey glanced at Falow, and then at the plate in front of him. “Actually,” he confessed. “Back when I was aboard the Santa Maria, we had a Klingon security detachment aboard. It wasn’t the best arrangement, but when there was actually more personnel than there were ships, some of our crews were blended.” Harvey waved away the rest of the exposition and then used the same hand to reach in, grab a handful of the gagh and swallowed it outright.

And then, in a rare chivalrous moment, Harvey held the plate close enough to Jayla, fully intended to collect on that challenge.

Jayla stifled a giggle, impressed. “All right,” she said, bravely pulling out three squirming Gagh and giving it a disgusted look while still laughing. “Okay,” she said. In one move, she put them into her mouth and, resisting the urge to chew, swallowed them. “Oh,” she said. “Hey, those actually taste pretty good. And the wriggling sensation is… Not unpleasant.”

“They’re excellent at cleaning the digestive system,” Harvey added. “Why else do Klingons live well into their hundreds?”

This time Jayla DID giggle. And she couldn't stop.

Falow relished in the spotted doctor’s laughter and took it upon himself to pat the Captain on the back. It took nearly everything Harvey had not to scoot away from the Wadi, despite the smile on his own face. Protocol… the Captain had to remind himself.

“I know that sound well,” Falow said, leaning back after another bite of chili. “That is the sound of someone who has not had a break in a long time.” Looking over at Harvey, he added, “And so do the lines on your face, Captain. It will be a while before your cargo is ready, so I suggest you both enjoy yourselves on this planet.”

“I thought we were not going to talk business, Administrator,” Harvey replied before braving another handful of gagh.

“Pleasure is my business. And, as the Ferengi say, business is my pleasure. There is no need for me to separate the two.”

Finally, Jayla got her giggles under control. “I’m sure we’ll have a great time,” she said, finally cutting into her fish- which was perfectly flakey. “We’ll both get some rest. I’ll see to it.”

“And that I will toast!” Falow said, raising his glass again with glee.

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