Dinner for Two

Posted on Thu Dec 14th, 2023 @ 3:54pm by Commander Emily Knight & Captain Lukas Fredricks

1,173 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: To Catch a Thief
Location: Captain's Quarters
Timeline: MD1 - 1900 Hours

Lukas finished laying the table for dinner with Emily. It had been years since the two friends had shared a meal together. He placed a jug of water and ice on the table as the door chime sounded. "Come in, please." He said before tweaking the dining table arrangement for the umpteenth time.

The Chief Medical Officer slid through the doors while they whooshed apart, leading with her right hand which held a vintage bottle of red wine. "Ohh, something smells very interesting Captain."

Emily stopped in the entrance and took a look around the Captain's quarters, "I see your decorating style hasn't change much over the years," the immediate area in front of her was a spartan-esque living space that was common on starships of the Britannic's era.

"You know I don't like clutter, Emily. Even my children know not to leave the living space messy." Lukas replied with a smile. "So, we've hit a bump in the road already."

"Of course we have," she let out a defeated sigh, "go on then?" she continued as she removed the cork from the wine bottle. She moved towards the glasses on the table.

"We've been assigned a CMO." Replied Lukas with a roll of his eyes. "Drink?"

"Yes. You have. Because you assigned me, at short notice." She poured the red wine into a glass and handed it towards her friend and Commanding Officer. "Unless, that's change in the last few weeks. I've just about got the pod and Infirmary set up how I like them."

Lukas couldn't help but let out a sigh as he took the drink. "Yes, I've gone from no Chief Medical Officer to two. I believe Admiral Oban has done this on purpose. She wants to make a fool of me or has placed Doctor Elyro here to spy on me." He replied before taking a sip of the wine.

"Don't let your paranoia grab a hold of you Luke." she quipped quickly, "you have ever right to be suspicious but don't let that evolve into something unhealthy." She took a casual drink from her own glass. "Not to be selfish, but where does that leave me? I'm stuck out here in the middle of no where without a job now."

Emily was the only person who Lukas allowed to call him 'Luke'. Even his ex wife wouldn't dare call him that. "I've reassigned you to the Medical pod as Director. That way you have an official role on board but can continue the other work you were doing before I disturbed you."

She rolled her eyes, "To be honest, that's probably preferable. I've a shit-ton of work to do before the first convoys get to Cardassia. More wine?" She reached across for the bottle of wine.

"Please." Lukas said. "I thought that, hence why I used my initiative."

"How are you getting on back in the centre seat? I know it hasn't been very long." she asked inquisitively as she refilled their glasses.

"Honestly, difficult. Since my brutal treatment at the hands of the Jem'Hadar I have had been toying with handing in my resignation. Commander Mercy talked me into staying but I'm still not 100% sold on the idea. My ex didn't want the children being brought up on a Starship but now she is gone they are lumbered with staying with me. I've also got Zirvell to think about now too." Lukas explained before taking a deep breath.

"Hey," she started with a mock defensive tone, "life on a starship isn't all that bad for a kid! And to be honest, a Nebula class is a very plush place to grow up." She quickly had a flashback to her time growing up on Starships.

"I don't want you to dwell too much on the past either Lukas. Post-War, you need to be looking to the future." She twitched the plate in front of her.

Fredricks sighed, "I know. Its just been a very difficult six or so months. The war ending, getting the divorce papers come through and then their mothers death. Not to mention our post war missions. We haven't had much time to breath." Lukas paused for a moment in thought. "Perhaps, I'll request some R and R after this mission. Maybe call in at DS9, let the crew take a week or so to just relax."

Emily nodded. "That sounds like a plan. Anyway, lets eat?" she suggested moving onto the dinner as a way to switch her old friends focus, "Remind me, what are we having?"

"My galaxy famous, chicken casserole." Lukas smiled as he moved towards the replicator. "It's the only thing I can replicate which doesn't spoil and tastes pretty reasonable." Lukas explained as he headed towards the replicator, put on a pair of heat protective mittens before taking out the steam dish.

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "Love that dish. Hope there's enough for seconds," she let out a laugh.

"I'll make sure there's extra." Lukas replied with a smile as he began programming the meal into the replicator. "So, how's life treated you?" He asked making small talk as he busied himself with getting dinner sorted.

"Other than my husband picking off with that Orion harlot, nothing much." she said between drinks. "Oh oh oh...." she finished her drink in one go.

"My little brother got his own command. The Alliance, Intrepid Class, out of Deep Space Nine." she places her glass down on the table.

Calling him her little brother was a misnomer. He was younger, but he had the better part of half a foot on her in height. Little also implied she had an older brother, which she didn't. In fact, Peter Nixon was her only sibling.

"Alliance..." Lukas repeated as he tried to remember if he knew anything about the ship. "Hasn't she just undergone a major refit after battle damage from the war?" He asked before taking a sip of his wine.

"That's the one." Emily pointed towards the bottle of wine, as if to ask Lukas to pass it to her, "They're going back to Cardassia as part of the aid effort."

"Good luck to them." Lukas replied as he leaned forward to grab the bottle then passed it to Emily. "We've not had the pleasure of going to Cardassia since the war ended. We did provide aid to Lamenda, one of the colony worlds that was pretty much flattened by the Jem'Hadar. The scenes were awful, heart wrenching and stomach turning."

"Let's just concentrate on our dinner tonight, eh? Leave the war out there." she motioned with her head towards the viewport which showed streaking starlight. Emily didn't want to reopen any wounds with her longtime friend, and if she learnt anything in her Counselling extension course, it was to delineate between creating good new memories and the old ones.

"Let's." Lukas replied with a warm smile as he picked up his cutlery.

Emily waved her fork at him and with an exaggerated movement towards the meal on the plate before her. "Yum."

 

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