80705.20
Concurrent with Two Lights, Part One
-=Personal Quarters of Lt. Zander Blakeslee=-
Salvek sought out Zander Blakeslee in his quarters, where he was currently preparing to depart for shore leave with his wife and two young sons.
As dedicated to duty as Salvek was, and as dedicated as he knew Blakeslee to be, he still disliked being the one to tell the man that his family vacation plans were now on indefinite hold.
The Alchemy was not a place for children. Especially not at a time like this- when they were basically running for cover, in a manner of speaking. If not for the fact that he and Kellyn both had to go aboard to keep watch on the transwarp drive, there was no way that Salvek would want to be taking Arie to Betazed, either.
As things stood, though, Salvek considered his words carefully as he rang the chime on Zander's door...and was met there by a young boy with a large circle of chocolate ice cream smeared around his smiling lips.
"Hello!"
"Greetings." Salvek replied, as the child ran forward and threw his arms around the Vulcan's leg, in the process getting ice cream all over Salvek's uniform.
"Can Arie come over and play?"
"Not presently. Is your father at home?"
"Daddy!"
Zander’s wife and ship's Stellar Cartographer Samthia Wej-Blakeslee was the first to the door. She pulled up short of the door at the sight of the ship's first officer, partially from shock at the unannounced visit from the number two man and partially because she, as a Deltan, was particularly wary when in the presence of Vulcan males.
Deltan pheromones had a habit of playing havoc with the ‘sexual attraction’ of males from many species in the galaxy. While in most cases this caused no overt issues other then gawking, stuttering, and the occasional minor injury from one not paying attention to where one was going, when it came to Vulcan there was a danger. Most of the time Deltan females could interact without worry with Vulcan males, in fact better then most other races, except during the onset of Pon Farr. Then things have been known to get out of hand quickly, even turning dangerous.
“Commander Salvek.” Samthia smiled while keeping her distance. She backed into the room once again. “Please come in.” She waved her arm in an inviting fashion. “Zander is just getting dressed he will be out in a moment. Please have a seat I will inform my husband you are here.”
She gracefully slipped away into the bedroom area leaving the Commander alone in the room with the two little boys.
“You're tall.” Commented Thomas.
"Indeed."
“Do you have to sharpen you ears?” Asked Johannes as he sucked chocolate from his fingers.
Salvek blinked slowly. "No, I do not."
“Boys! Leave the Commander alone and go and help you mother pack or I’ll tell grandma you were misbehaving.” Zander walked into the room and waved his finger at the boys. “That will mean no cookies for you.”
Both boys' eyes widened in horror and they bolted towards the bedroom to pack.
Zander noticed the ice cream on the Commanders leg and walked to the kitchen area and retrieved a wet napkin. He handed it to Salvek as he returned.
“I’m sorry for that sir.”
Zander thumbed towards the bedroom. “They are like shark with blood in the water whenever someone new shows up. Their just overly curious.” He cleared his throat nervously.
"It is of no consequence. Do not forget, Mr. Blakeslee," Salvek accepted the wetnap and began to dab it against his pant leg, "That I am, myself, a parent."
Glad to see that moment pass, Zander was curious what had brought Salvek by. “What can I do for you?”
"I have come to ask that you do something for Starfleet, your Captain and your crew." Salvek looked around for a place to set down the now chocolate covered napkin, not wanting to leave a mark on the coffee table by setting it there. Hurriedly, Zander took it and tossed it, three point style, into the waste recycle bin.
He realized the gravity of Salvek's words suddenly, and he turned, and stood with his shoulders back. "Commander?"
"Lt. Commander O'Sullivan has been reassigned," Salvek began. "As you know this will leave us with a vital gap in the senior staff."
Zander frowned.
"The Captain has requested, and the Admiral has approved, a plan to terminate the singular Chief positions for Security and Tactical and to award the combined leadership role to one officer."
Zander nodded. “Considering the current status and crew compliment, seems like a logical course of action.”
"Indeed. The change in status includes a promotion in rank," Salvek said finally. Seemingly from nowhere, he produced a small black box.
Zander's eyes widened, and Salvek took note that his sons definitely bore a striking resemblance to their father.
"The position, and the promotion, are yours should you choose to accept them, Mr. Blakeslee." Salvek stood up and extended the box toward him. "Do you?"
“Hell yeah!” Zander responded then realized he was being a bit overzealous. “I mean yes, Sir.”
"Then in that case, I offer you my congratulations. I also, however, regret to inform you that you will not be able to take your planned shore leave with your family at this time. We require your presence on the Alchemy immediately, we are departing very soon."
"For?"
"Betazed."
Zander was intrigued, but Salvek had no time to lay out the itinerary for him now. "You shall find out all you need to know as soon as you are aboard." Salvek hesitated in the doorway now.
"As you know, Mr. Blakeslee, it is customarily the role of the Captain to bestow such an honor on a trusted member of staff such as yourself," Salvek sounded almost regretful that Zanh Liis had not felt well enough to handle the situation herself. "I apologize that the Captain is not available at the moment and it has come to me to be the one to deliver the news. I am certain she would have done so with much more..." Salvek sought the appropriate word, "...style."
“Well sir, it is the thought that counts.” He smiled.
"I thank you for preempting your vacation to assist us at this time. Please board the Alchemy at your earliest convenience and we will transfer the Security clearance protocols to your codes and voice print." Salvek continued as his footfalls triggered the opening of the doors.
"I am certain that when we are all back aboard the Serendipity very soon," his words would, if he were Human, have had a quality to them that Zander could only have defined as 'wishful'. "...that the Captain will want to honor you in a very personal way that the whole crew can participate in. In the meantime, perhaps an informal get-together of those present during the trip to Betazed will suffice?"
Zander shrugged his shoulders. “That would be fine but is not necessary, Sir.”
"I will leave it up to your fellow crew to determine how they would best like to honor you unofficially in that fashion."
Zander glanced back at the bedroom and internally grimaced. The news of this promotion would be received well but not the loss of the family time. They had been separated for so long prior to this posting, missed so much time, he hated having to tell them that he would not be going to Earth to visit his mother and to check on his family home in Alaska.
“How much time do I have before we depart?” He asked.
"We are scheduled to leave in a matter of hours," Salvek tilted his head. "Three at most. Is there a problem, Lt. Commander?"
Zander sighed but smiled. “No Sir. It’s just there are things I would rather do that to give bad news to the wife and kids, like lopping off a finger for example.” He held out his hand. “Thank you Commander. I’ll be onboard as soon as possible.”
Having had to disappoint Kellyn and Arie at the last minute on many occasions similar to this, Salvek understood Blakeslee's hesitation. "At least your wife and children are not Bajoran," he blurted, thinking aloud before he could censor himself.
Knowing Lair Kellyn, Zander could not help but smile, realizing he might not have it so bad after all. Heaven help the man guilty of disappointing not just one, but two women with Bajoran blood in their veins.
"I shall note in your file that you are due an extra two weeks of shore leave at a later date." Salvek offered as consolation, as he headed out the door and on his way.
LT Commander Zander Blakeslee
Chief of Security/Tactical
USS Serendipity/Alchemy
and
Commander Lair Kellyn
Engineering Research and Development
The Alchemy Project