Drinks at Quarks

Posted on Sun Oct 5th, 2025 @ 7:39am by Captain Lukas Fredricks & Commander Naois Mercy MD & Lieutenant Commander Reruk & Lieutenant Faith Hawkins & Lieutenant Amelia Fox & Lieutenant Alvy Vithu

1,645 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: R&R
Location: Quarks, Promenade

Lukas walked into a busy and loud Quarks. He noticed straight away that Morn was perched on his usual bar stool, which made the Captain think for a moment if he actually ever moved from that stool or did Quark charge his rent for sitting there for so long.

"DABOO!" Was called out by the barely dressed Daboo girl. The players around the Daboo wheel cheered as the winner collected their latinum.

"Captain Fredricks, I was surprised to see your name on the booking list today." Said the Ferengi behind the bar. "Didn't think you believed in establishments like this on Federation starbases."

"Hello Quark." Lukas replied with a small smile as he approached the bar. "I don't, especially those run by scoundrels like you that still owe me two bricks of Latinum."

Quark laughed nervously and stuttered a little bit. "I'm not sure what you're implying, Captain, but I can assure you that I pay all my..."

Lukas held up his hand to stop the bar owner. "Don't give me that. I won two bricks of Latinum playing Daboo at the end of the war. You didn't have enough to pay me so I accepted an IOU. Pretty sure Station security will still have the incident on file to help jog that memory of yours."

"Oooo yes, I remember now. I can probably pay you back before your ship departs..." Fredricks cut him off.

"I don't want your money, just a quiet table and drinks my staff. I'm sure the two bricks you owe me will cover it."

Quark considered the Homan's words for a few moments. "Alright, Captain. You have a deal. You'll be upstairs, away from the noise of the regulars."

"Thank you for your hospitality. Direct my crew upstairs when they start to arrive. Have an ale sent up for me. Have a good evening, Quark." With that Lukas turned and headed up to the table and wait for his senior staff to arrive.

Glancing this way and that, a tall blonde Vulcan walked into the bar, clearly searching for someone.

"Naois." Lukas called to get his first officers attention before waving him over.

Lieutenant Commander Reruk stepped into Quark's Bar and Gaming Establishment unsurprised by how crazy things were. Having been assigned to the Yeager during the war, Reruk was very familiar with the station and had spent much time aboard. "Hey Quark," he greeted.

Quark looked up from the bar and flashed his toothy grin, "Why if it isn't my favorite Science Officer..."

"Jadzia's here," Reruk was suddenly curious if she'd come back from the dead.

Quark's smile faded and he answered matter-of-factly, "No. What will you have? A stardrifter?"

"No, I'm here to meet with my Captain and the crew of the Britannic," the Science Officer answered.

"Ah. They're upstairs," the Ferengi was far less jovial than earlier.

The Hekaran nodded, "Thanks Quark."

"Ah, Commander Reruk, glad you could join. Please take a pew." Lukas said with a smile.

The Chief Science Officer nodded curtly in greetings to the Captain and approached the seating area. He wondered where everyone else was.

Naois wasn't far behind the science chief, after the captain had drawn his attention. "Captain, commander," he greeted, while accepting the curious looking drink from the Ferengi. "This better not contain alcohol or anything citrus related," he warned quietly.

"It might be both," the Science Officer joked.

"I that event, I must decline this beverage," the Vulcan answered seriously while handing it back. "I would prefer to remain conscious and in possession of all my faculties." It wasn't common knowledge he was highly sensitive to alcohol and deadly allergic to anything citrus related.

Reruk smirked at the decision, waiting for what was to come.

The last time Alvy had been at Quark's, the war was still going on. She had just been rescued after the Second Battle at Chin'toka, and was drowning her sorrows after the loss of most of her crewmates. Now, the mood was much different. As she walked in, Quark immediately showed a toothy grin. "Ah, if it isn't my favourite half-Ro-"

"Iurret", Alvy cut him off. She must have divulged that information in her drunken state last time she was here. "Here with my new crew. Where are they?"

Quark chuckled. "Prickly as always. Upstairs."

With a simple nod, Alvy acknowledged the Ferengi and headed upstairs.

Reruk nodded, politely, in greeting to their new Chief of Security.

Amelia stepped out of the airlock onto the promenade. This was her first visit to Deep Space Nine, and she hadn't realised it was identical to DS 21... or it would be when they found DS 21. Melody had told her some stories about cleaning up at Quark's and that he still owed her some latinum. She still wasn't sure she should have come, even though the Captain had insisted.

"Another new face and such an..... attractive one." The Ferengi from behind the bar said as she entered.

"You must be Quark." She replied.

"Guilty as charged," he replied with a grin. "If you're looking for Captain Fredricks... He's upstairs... Or maybe we could spend some time together... maybe over a drink?"

"No, thank you," she replied curtly as she headed for the stairs.

"Was worth a try," Quark replied, then, without skipping a beat, turned his attention to another of the female customers.

Amelia reached the top of the stairs and then hesitated, unsure of whether or not to join the rest of the senior staff.

Naois waved het over. "Come join us Amelia," he called, deliberately using her name and not her rank. This was a social gathering after all, first names should be used.

Amelia was happy to see her friend and went to sit next to her, getting the attention of a waiter and ordering a bloodwine.

Alvy returned the greeting nod she had received, and looked around the room. Of course, none of the faces present were familiar, not even the waitress going around and taking everyone's drinks orders. She waved the girl over with a smile. "A pint of bit- wait, you don't have that. Romulan ale, then. Make sure it's a good one, I'll know if Quark tries to sell me cheap swill."

Late, or fashionably late. Faith considered she was the latter. Childcare had been arranged, in the form of Genie. In fact, Genie insisted Faith let her hair down. Not one to argue with her girlfriend, Faith made her way up to the private room where her colleagues had assembled.

Alvy noticed Faith arriving, and simply gave her a curt nod in greeting, when the waitress returned with a glass of pale, blue liquid. She took a sip, and nodded. "Decent stuff. Thank you."

Once everyone had arrived and received their drink, Lukas stood and cleared his throat a little louder than usual to get everyone's attention. "Firstly, I'd like to thank you all for coming. I know shore leave is precious and much needed down time, however, I just wanted to show you all my appreciation for all the hard work you all do aboard the Britannic. Most of you are existing crew, but we do have some new members to the family. I want you all to get to know each other tonight.

Secondly, the next round is on the last person to finish their drink. Bottoms up!" He said with a smile before downing his pint of ale.

Reruk did not comment, instead thinking about his history aboard the Britannic and how his life had changed in a very short span of time. Being Hekaran his species had barely been able to join the stars and yet here he was a scientist in Starfleet exploring the stars. Before he realized it he had drank his entire drink, realizing he was first.

No chance. thought Faith. She downed her double rum and orange juice in one go. She then ate the slice of lime garnish, dropping the peel into her empty glass.

Alvy chuckled as she saw people around her draining her drinks, and followed suit. Let them try to outdrink me, she mused, grinning to herself.

The Hekaran Science Officer looked around the gathering, wondering who would be last to finish.

Naois was in no hurry to finish his drink, carefully sipping his non-alcoholic beverage while observing the rest of the crew. He noticed some were on the verge of making this a contest, but he said nothing.

"So," Reruk spoke up, "What's next?"

"How do you mean, Commander?" Fredricks asked as he placed his empty glass on the table.

"Just curious what's next on our itinerary, Captain," the Science Officer answered from his seat. "I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say we're eager to get out on the road in an adventure or two."

"Ah, well, I've not been privy to our next assignment. With Britannic officially here for the next week and a half our jobs are simply to relax and enjoy the downtime." Lukas said with a smile, "However, I am looking forward to getting back out there. Wherever there maybe."

The Science Officer nodded in agreement. At least it would give him time to read up on the latest scientific journals on astrometrics in the former Cardassian Demilitarized Zone.

That was a question Faith was also keen to be answered. Still none the wiser after Lukas had given his answer, she summoned the waitress to order another drink. This was delivered in short order.

Lukas sat back and watched as his senior staff interacted with each other on a personal level. It was good for them to know the person behind the uniform and develop bonds deeper than just a badge or uniform. He hoped that this would be the start of a new Britannic family.

Only time would tell.

 

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