829: Cafe Chatter

by Paxton Briggs and Lara Valera Ryn
09327.00
Following Show and Tells

-=USS Serendipity=-

Well, one thing was for certain: Lara certainly knew the science station on the bridge.

It hadn't been a hard thing to learn -- the old Academy lessons did come back fairly easily. And she supposed that had been the point of Dabin Reece giving her the assignment for her first full day of work. He wasn't completely crazy, she supposed -- just mostly.

Signing off the station, Lara wandered over to the turbolift and left the bridge. The door closed behind her, and she stood there, the lift not moving, as she had not given it any place to go. She had had a long day and the thought of more work was unappealing. But she did not want to go back to her quarters. She needed company, fun company, nothing to do with work company. Admittedly, this was hard to do on a ship full of Starfleet officers, but certainly there must be something...

"Computer, where do people go for fun around here?"

^Please be more specific about your parameters.^

"What forms of entertainment are aboard the ship?"

^There are three Holodecks--^

"Skip those, I know where they are."

^There is a traditional, Earth-style movie theater--^

Lara interrupted again. "Movies alone are no fun. What else is there?"

^The Afterthought Cafe is located--^

Once again, Lara chirped in. "Sounds good to me. Take me there."

The computer complied with a beep and the turbolift began to move. A minute later it came to a stop and the doors slid open. Lara was going to ask for directions, but thought better when she heard a door down the hall open and the noise of people congregating and laughing filter down the hall.

So, she followed the noise and entered the cafe. It was about what she had expected, which was fine with her. Taking a look around the room, which included quite a few off duty personnel, she finally wandered up to what appeared to be a coffee bar and a barista.

"How can I help you?" the barista asked.

Lara paused and thought for a moment. Finally, she said, "I want an espresso. I don't know why. I have never liked them before."

The barista shrugged her shoulders and then walked off to make the drink.

Lara turned around and leaned against the coffee bar, waiting for her drink and people watching.

Seated at a round table situated in front of the large windows that gave a stupendous panoramic view of the sights to the aft of the Sera were several officers that she had seen around the Sera over the past few days. They seemed to be playing cards.

Suddenly the tallest man, and the only one in uniform, tossed his cards into the pile in disgust and then laughed. He stood and stretched, shook the hand of another man, she assumed the one that had beat him, waved at the others and left the table.

He made his way to the coffee bar. "I'll take a coffee, two sugars, skim milk." He asked the barista who simply nodded while she worked on Lara's espresso.

He looked at Lara. "Just get off duty?" He asked with a smile as he pointed to her uniform.

Lara nodded. "And there is nothing like a shot of espresso to help unwind," she said, but then immediately scrunched her nose. Since when did she like coffee, let alone espresso, at the end of the day? She was a morning coffee kind of gal; she did not need it, but there was nothing like a fresh pot of coffee over a real fire in the camp near an archaeological dig site.

The barista returned a few seconds later with the two coffees, and there was no mistaking whose belonged to whom. Lara took a sip of her own and was surprised to find that it was not as bad as she remembered them to be. And the jolt of caffeine was nice too. She watched out of the corner of her eye as the man took a sip of his own coffee. She expected him to walk away, perhaps even return to the game of cards, but he didn't.

So, they stood there in silence for a moment and savored their respective coffees.

Finally, she said, "I'm Lara, by the way, and you are?"

"Paxton Briggs." He replied. "Sorry I did not introduce myself but I did not want to intrude on your unwinding." He smiled. "So you must be new to the crew or you are onboard assisting with the repairs cause I don't remember you from before we got to dock." He took another sip. "This is not a huge ship after all and I am pretty good with faces."

"I am brand spanking new around here, a conscript to the Sciences."

"Ah." He took another sip. "I guess you could say I am new here also. In fact I am technically not even supposed to be here."

Lara frowned. "How do you mean?"

"I've been shanghaied by an admiral." He smiled. "Let's just say this has been the longest layover in the history of Starfleet. I hitched a ride to get to a conference, that I never made it to by the way, only to find myself taking command of the ship." He motioned to one of the empty tables near the tall windows. "Care to have a seat?"

"Sure," Lara replied, becoming intrigued by his story.

He continued his story in route to the table. "When all was said and done my traveling partner became the CMO of this boat and I got roped into assisting with the repairs and command of the ship until she get her full command staff back."

When they reached the table he pulled out her chair for her. Once she was seated he pulled out the opposing chair and sat down.

"Eventually I'll get back to my normal job as second officer of Indigo." He took a long sip from his cup. "So what's your story sailor?"

Lara shook her head. "That's just it, I'm not a sailor." Before he could say anything, she added, "Don't get me wrong, I'm Starfleet all right. I'm just one of those people who did not sign up to be on ships." She started down at her cup, which she twisted back and forth between her fingers.

Paxton took a sip of his coffee, which was just cooling to the perfect drinking temperature. He could see that his new acquaintance was struggling to come up with the right words, though she perhaps did not realize how obvious her nonverbal cues were. So he gave her a moment to come up with the right words.

"I'm an archeologist, and while I do study living cultures from time to time, you could say that I am much better with dead people, with their bones in fact."

A broad and relaxed smile crossed Paxton's face. "Well, you're doing just fine socializing with this living person."

Lara burst out laughing. "Oh, no, I'm good with the socializing bit, no worries there. I did not mean to make it sound otherwise, that I prefer the company of dusty bones to real, living, breathing, communicative people." She stared off into space for a moment. "In fact, most people who know me would call me a 'wild child.'" She shook her head and returned to the conversation at hand.

"That's quite a claim to make," he replied. "Care to back it up with a story or two?"

Looking directly at Paxton, she added with a grin on her own face, "That's a story for another time, assuming you are still here." More seriously, she added, "But to finish the first one, there was an accident on my last dig site, I got hurt, and after being hospitalized, the powers that be decided to send me to a ship. To do what, I don't know, but here I am."

Paxton nodded his understanding of her dilemma. "Suddenly you get hurt and they think you can't do your job anymore. I can relate. I got hurt, my back, several years ago they took me off of a starship and stuck me on a planet. It took me several years to work my way back into space. Even then they put me on a space station."

He shrugged. "I guess the moral of the story is to keep on plugging away at them, eventually you'll get back to what you like." He took another sip. "If it is any consolation the crew on this ship is top notch. I've seen them at their best which is when things are at their worst. That is something you want from a starship crew."

"I'll take your word for it. Today was actually my first complete day of duty on a starship." The answer was relatively true. It was Lara's first day, though she had a sinking suspicion that the same could not be said for the symbiont.

"No rotations at the Academy?" Paxton asked, genuinely surprised.

"None. All of my rotations involved field work."

"And how did it feel?"

She was silent for a moment before answering. "Strange. Ships are the things that take you from site to site, not the place where you actually do the work. There is just something off about breathing recycled air and having everything so pristine and clean."

"It almost sounds like you need a little dirt."

"Ha!" Lara blurted. "That's it! Perfect. I need some dirt."

"With some bones, I presume."

"Well, those are always a bonus."

Paxton laughed. "Well there is a very nice arboretum onboard and I am sure Doctor Hartcort can find you some bones. All we need to do is find someone to hide them for you and you'll be all set."

Laughing herself, she replied, "Oh, don't tease a girl like that."

Paxton stood up. "Well Lara it was very nice to meet you. Unfortunately I have to go and make my way back up to the bridge one more time before I turn in to make sure they are putting things back together up there." He smiled. "We should do dinner sometime before they finally let me go."

"I am going to hold you to that, Paxton," she said as she stood up too. "In fact, I will make you the best going away dinner possible."

"You're a cook?"

"No, not really." She grinned sheepishly. "But even I can read and follow a recipe." Lara picked up her espresso and finished it off. "Thanks for the company."

"You're welcome. See you around the ship."

"Bye," she called as he headed out of the cafe.

Commander Paxton Briggs
Second Officer
Border Station Indigo
On loan to USS Serendipity

Lieutenant Lara Valera Ryn
Science Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012