Conversations

Posted on Mon Jun 13th, 2022 @ 3:25pm by Lieutenant Commander Diane Doctrine

Mission: The Lost Brother
Location: The Louge

The Lounge was a fury of activity as Wagnor entered and approached the bar. He ordered his food and found a table in the corner, he relaxed a little as he sat down. He scanned the room with his eyes and gripped the table.

He heard a quiet, feminine voice behind him say, "'Commander Wagnor, I presume?" Diane was sitting at the table behind Soran's chair having lunch with her son Toby.

"Yes," Soran said. "I don't believe we've met."

He wasn't feeling particularly social, but he knew he need to put for the effort.

"I'm Diane Doctrine, Chief Intelligence officer on the ship. My lunch companion," she waved her hand at her son at the opposite side of her table, "Is my son, Toby. I hope you're settling in all right?" She felt he was a bit uneasy. Perhaps, she thought, she should have waited a while before introducing herself.

Soran eyed the woman and child, he was surprised to a child on ship in these different times. He smiled and stood up.

"Would you mind if I joined you?" He smiled pleasantly.

They're table was closer to the back of the lounge and gave a better view of the door. Rationally he knew he was safe but his habits die hard.

"Please do," Diane offered as she introduced the two, "Toby, this is our new security chief, Lieutenant Commander Soran Wagner. This is my son, Toby."

The boy looked to be five, maybe six years old. He stood up and said, "Pleased to meet you."

Soran smiled and took a seat. "No one's on duty at the moment. Please call me Soran."

He turned to the boy, "Now what is your post on this ship sir?"

Toby looked unsure of what to say. His eyes moved to his mother and then back to Soran. "I'm in charge of... keeping my mom safe and not lettin'er get outa hand. Gotta keep an eye on that one. She's wily."

Diane's eyes widened at Toby's response. "You're pretty wily yourself there young man."

Soran laughed, "and I'll keep an eye on both of you. I am the chief security after all."

He gave them a wry smile, "you're a clever young man."

He found that seeing people with their children. It gave him a good baseline to judge character. He liked them both.

“Have you been in Starfleet long?” Diane asked. She had read his personnel file already but it was always good to hear about someone’s career in their own words. Files were impersonal and only gave straight forward facts and rarely the complete story.

"A little over a decade, I transferred from the Lister." He said before taking a bite of his food.

“Security the entire time?” Diane asked curiously. She was wondering if he was willing to talk about himself or not. Some people became guarded when they knew they were talking to someone from the Intelligence department.

"I think you know the answer to that I'm sure you've read my file," he smiled.

Diane smiled back. "It's true, I have, however, I've found you get a better measure of a person when you hear their story in their own words... I have a feeling that's not news to you."

"No, it is best to get your information from as close to the source as possible." The Angosian nodded.

Toby took advantage of the lull in the conversation between the adults and whispered something to his mother. Diane turned back to Soran and said, "It was a pleasure meeting you Soran. Toby here has reminded me of an appointment we have to keep," she explained pleasantly, "I'm sure we'll talk again."

"Of course," Soran smiled. "Goodbye Toby, keep your mom in check.

Toby fired off a stiff salute to the Resolution's new Security Chief, "I will sir. She's a wily one but I can handle my mom."

The two turned to leave with Diane chiding her son, "You think so do ya?"

Soran laughed out loud and smiled at them as they exited. It was good to laugh it had been a while since he'd done that.