drinks

Posted on Fri May 30th, 2025 @ 12:16am by Lieutenant Commander Melor Pallara (Stoffels) & Lieutenant Commander Ryan Price

Mission: Those who are left behind

After the captain dismissed them Melor turned to the other man. "Do you have time to get a drink now?" He asked casually.

Ryan looked over too the other officer Hopefully this isn't business, I'm not in the mood he thought to himself "Say twenty minutes I want to file my notes and check on the latest after action reports."

"No problem, sir. Meet you in the bar?"

"See you then." Ryan said making his exit.

Melor made himself comfortable at one of the tables with a view window. He found it relaxed him to just look at the stars as the passed by. And since he was officially off duty now he had treated himself to a large cold beer while he waited.

Ryan arrived a few minutes later, his mind was distracted by some concerning reports from Galor IV along with some more serious personal news, he Saw Melor at a table and walked over "Sorry, about the delay, there are fifty different things going on out there."

'Tell me about it. I ran that department for the last several months solo, I know exactly how busy it is. And lonely. Can I get you a beer? Or do you prefer another poison?"

"Single malt Canadian whiskey, make it a triple." Ryan said "After eight months of swamps, cots and shuttlecraft benches anything is a break."

"Coming right up." Melor said as he signalled the waiter. "Hell I don't envy you that. It's been a while since I was out on a mission. So even being out on a ship is a nice break for me." He kept the tone light.

"It's a bit of a luxury liner for me, but there are benefits" Ryan said with a crooked smile

"Yeah absolutely." He took a deep breath. "Look if you would rather be rid of me, just tell me. I know that most Intel officers hate my bosses and what they are doing and I truly would not be offended."

Ryan shook his head, "I've been here barely three days, I don't want to make changes of any kind right now and no one on this ship seems to want to take the Dominion serious, so if I come across as angry it's because for eight months I've been in the fight first hand."

"Really? That has never been my impression. I have gotten nothing but cooperation and understanding from the command crew." Melor took another swig of his beer.

Ryan took his drink from the server and looked back at Melor, "USS Yorkville was boarded by the Jem'hidar, three hundred of the crew were killed repelling them, New Wales Colony burned to the ground and so on." Ryan took a sip of the whiskey "You throw in the brutality of the Cardassians, that's just a nightmare no one thought of."

"I know." Melor said softly. "I get the reports. But what makes you think the command crew doesn't get it? I have known them longer and I don't get that vibe at all."

"There's an attitude of we won here so we're winning the war now that isn't realistic, one battle doesn't end a war." Ryan tried to keep from showing too much anger as he paused "It could be a matter of hours before the Dominion attempt a counter attack and they will even if they loose again."

"I know and I am sure the captain knows that as well. Toni certainly does." He said. "You and I will have to be ready to do what it takes."

Ryan wasn't sure what to think, "This is the opening round and we're going to need to take some risks that no one wants too."

"You mean go against orders?" Melor leaned back. It was something he was not afraid of at all, the team he usually worked with went against orders a lot of the time. He also knew it was not as easy for a starship command crew.

Ryan sat back "Hardly." he paused "Bending the rules maybe, there's no point in playing be the so-called rules when the other side doesn't have any."

"Now that is going to be hard for them." Melor took another swallor of beer. "Playing by the rules is ingrained in their DNA. As is fair play."

Ryan snickered, "During earth's first world war everyone thought that troops from Canada would play by the rules, they threw the rule book out and fought by their own rules, they fought with a level of brutality that eventually led to changes to the Geneva Conventions, the same thing happened again in the second world war to, we don't have to become something as brutal as the Jem'hidar or Cardassians but we need to be ready to get dirty."

"Good luck." Melor said. Not that he disagreed, up to a point he agreed with his new boss but he had come to know the command crew on the ship and knew that it would be hard for them to think this way.

Ryan jumped to one business matter "Have you been down planetside to do the after action assessment?"

"Briefly. I went with one of the away teams but I did not have enough time to do a full report. Remember sir, I was doing everything on my own so I had to stretch myself pretty thin."

"I'm going down myself tomorrow, a squad found a Dominion supply ship crashed in the foothills away from the main settlements, I want to take a look first hand, I'll update your initial report while I'm there." Ryan said "If I add my own notes your report will move up the food chain faster, maybe get us some of the more fun assignments." he said trying to joke.

"Jolly." Melor smiled back. "Good idea though, sir. What do you want me to do in the meantime? I know that we haven't had time to do a propr handover yet. And now it looks like I may be staying on longer anyway."

"The short list, Check into this side deal pertaining too the treaty of Algeron, I want to have some plans in place in case the captain decides to get our cardassian friend's family out, second see if any of the tech guys have gotten into that cargo ship." pausing he continued "I have put staffing requests in to allow you to resume your normal duties but I got the usual When you put into a starbase next by line from intel staffing, so like I said earlier I'll need you at least until this mission wraps for us."

"Can do." Melor said making mental notes. He had a very good memory, one of the things you needed in this job. "Hopefully you have more luck then I had getting more personnel." He sipped more beer. "Have you had time yet to settle in with the crew?"

Ryan tried not too make a suggestive remark "That science officer Kingston,' pausing to not give anything away "the XO and you, haven't been able to connect with the security chief yet, I've only had a few minutes with the Captain so far, the rest of the crew will be on a as I can basis for now."

Melor nodded. "That's a good start. Ah the science officer. My sister asked me to have a chat with her as well seeing she is half klingon as well. I keep forgetting."

Ryan tried to be vague with his next response "She's an interesting woman to say the least."

"Then I will remedy my lazyness soon." Melor smiled. "I don't meet that many other hybrids in the Federation."

"No you don't, it's a bit of an oddity." Ryan commented again the attempt to be vague mostly for personal reasons, "I'm still getting used to being on a starship like this, it's taken some adjustment."

"It's a good idea to make some friends. I always hear that besides command staff counselling and Intel are the two departments that find it the hardest to make friends during tours. At least I can't complain about having family and friends at home and having my little sister here." He sighed. Taking this assigment had meant waiting on telling the family that he and his girlfriend were planning to get married soon.

"It's harder when it's been from battle to battle, being here is the most detactched I've been from this war so far." Ryan said realizing his voice had become hollow from the idea he was no longer on the frontlines of this war foe now.

"Have you thought about talking to a shrink?" Melor said. "I guess I have a bit different view on them. my stepmother is one. So is my little sister. There are some shrinks who do get it, you know."

"Most don't" Ryan started "Until you've dropped out of the side of a runabout into a massive crossfire trying to recue some kid it's hard to just disconnect, the first time I had anything resembling a break I spent the majortiy of the time sleeping."

"I fell apart badly a few years ago." Melor took a deep breath. "It involved children as well. For months afterwards I just kept going, kept denying anything was wrong. Hell I was a Klingon warrior after all. But finally Toni did not let me get away with it anymore. She saved my sanity."

Ryan's life was more complicated than most knew, he'd kept details from many. SFI had kept most of his personal details hidden, who he really was, where he'd come from, stuff that he'd tried very hard too keep a secret his thoughts crept back to the conversation "Right now I'm focused on the here and now, which is important." He paused as the server brought over another drink "Has the captain said anything about putting into a starbase in the next few days?"

"Not that I know, but I can ask." He hesitated. Melor recognized the danger signs in the other man but you couldn't force someont to go to therapy. And yet if an officer finally broke under the wrong circumstances that was also a disaster. So he did not know what to do.

Ryan could read the expression on his face, "I'm here because of a counselor, otherwise I'd still be in the treches." he took a long haul on his drink "After the Dorimir colony I was pulled from frontline duty." he said referring too the Bajoran colony that had been overrun by the Jemhidar in a brutal invasion.

Melor nodded. "Do you resent that? Being pulled from the frontline?"

"Who said this isn't the frontline?" Ryan said raising his glass.

"Touche and good avoidance." Melor grinned. "But you know that they will get those details don't you? You might want to be prepared for it."

Ryan smiled slightly "Avoiding and detail is why I'm still alive for so long." he said wondering if that'll provoke a question.

"Sounds exhausting to me." the other man said honestly. "May be time to stop running."

"The only running I do is at the gym." Ryan said with a smirk.

Melor shook his head. "Just don't say I did not warn you. Want another?"

"Well why...." the internal COMM system came to life =="Commander Price you have a personal subspace communique incoming."==

Ryan tapped his badge, "Thank you crewman." he looked too his colleague "I'll have to pass, I think this is a personal matter I needed to deal with."

"Go." Melor waved him on. "I will finish my beer and then head back to the office."

"I'll catch up with you later on." Ryan said as he started to walk out, he wasn't one hundred percent sure who was contacting him, but it was clearly important.

Melor watched him go. He was glad they finally had a chance to talk and he felt much better about his new chief. But he was not so sure that the man would not very soon get in trouble with the counselling department. Well he had done his best to warn. He finished his drink and got up to go back to work.