Love, Lies and a COMM Badge

Posted on Mon Feb 15th, 2010 @ 5:20pm by Lieutenant JG Winter Balmorra & Commander Acle Walex

Mission: Borderline Diplomacy
Location: Solayre Royale Lounge
Timeline: MD 01(??) 0202 Hours

Solayre Royale was by far the most successful lounge on the ship, out of the three lounges, one which was combined with the mess hall and two others, Solayre Royale was a unique experience for the Iapetus crew. It's gold and black theme made for a secluded and relaxing spot to eat, relax, or curl up on one of the black leather chairs under one of the Iapetus Microfiber Blanks and read a good E-Book. Out of her one month stay on the Iapetus, Winter loved this place most of all and when she had the all too frequent night were she couldn't sleep, it was the best place to curl up.

Sometimes a weary traveler might wander over to her chair or the one opposite her, a sometimes welcome gesture and this time it was no exception. For this time it would be her fifth meeting with the XO and the first off-duty. He sat down at the bar as if nothing was wrong, but the Tyran empathy made Winter slightly more aware then the other Human's on the ship.

Acle settled down quietly, his attention lost amongst his own thoughts. The bartender intruded on his private thoughts for a moment, but, quickly occupied himself elsewhere when he looked at the Executive Officer's face. The bartender was quite adapt at reading his client's faces, and more importantly their moods, made good business practices. He made up the commander's favorite drink (also a good business practice knowing the senior crew's preferences) and put it in front of him before turning to clean some more glasses.

Acle looked up idly as the drink was placed before him, then took it and began to nurse it. A small smile appeared to hover about his lips for a moment as he tasted the expensive Synthale. Acle did not normally drink, but, when he did, he liked to indulge a bit. The smile faded away as he once again returned to his thoughts. Although Acle was technically off-duty, as much as an Executive Officer could be anyway, he still wore his uniform, dressed impeccably.

Winter uncovered her self and casually walked to the chair beside him. Being in uniform at this time of night was uncommon and just feeding the rumor among her Medics that she slept in her uniform but since none of them were here she might as well just wear it. "Hello Commander." Winter nodded softly laughing in the back of her mind. "Working late?" Winter asked.

Acle looked up from the spot he war burning into the bar and blinked, then gave a slight smile meant to reassure the doctor. "Ah, no doc. Just relaxing I suppose you could say." Acle sat up in his bar stool and unconsciously drew his shoulders back slightly so as to appear to be sitting ram-rod straight.

Winter smiled at his attitude. "Then why are you up so late relaxing?" Winter asked.

Acle met the doctor's eyes and said "Is that a professional question or are we off the clock?" Acle asked. Acle had never been very fond of doctors, he had always been leery of them. Although Acle had been put back together by doctors at various times throughout his life, he had never liked going to them. This doubled when it came to matters of a personal issue.

Winter smiled. "Its o'two hundred, I think this would count as off-duty." Winter stated in a humorous tone.

Acle smirked slightly "I suppose it does. Couldn't sleep for some reason, so I decided to come down here. I've been told I don't appear to socialize enough in front of the crew anyway. So, maybe I will make it appear as if their executive officer isn't truly 'carved out of granite', or whatever they say now. " Acle finished, grinning fully. "What brings you down here at this time doc?"

"Same as you." Winter said, not wanting to elaborate on the dream she had. "And I hear there's a rumor going around that I sleep in my uniform." Winter stated in a false confused tone.

Acle's face turned completely deadpan. "I wonder why that could be..." Acle said, taking a very obvious look at her uniform. "Ah well, I am not one to talk either. " Acle paused again, gesturing towards his own uniform clad body. "Although, just between you and I, I don't wear my uniform to sleep, I assure you." Acle finished with a small grin.

Winter chuckled. "Neither do I.............." Winter's laughing died down a bit as the space between her comment grew larger. "Commander have you ever............................... been a part of a............black OPPS mission?" Winter asked, he seemed like the type that might.

Acle looked up sharply at the doctor, not answering for a moment. "Why the question doc?" Acle asked softly.

"Its......................nothing............... nothing, you just seemed like the type." Winter stated in a rather evasive way.

Acle stared at the other for a moment, then deliberately broke contact and looked back at his drink. "Assuming that I would have participated in such a mission." Acle began, then turned to look at the doctor. "Which I am neither confirming nor denying, I would most likely would not be able to divulge any information about them at this time, nor this location doctor. The very nature of a black OPS mission, if such exists, would lend it towards secrecy."

He paused for a moment, clearly gathering his words together. "Again doctor, may I ask why? I promise, I won't bite." Acle said, summoning a slight grin.

Winter smiled a bit. "Yeah I was part of one too...." Winter explained.

Acle raised an eyebrow, but, said nothing. "I see." His thoughts shifted, and he began to analyze the conversation, his intelligence trained mind going over it.

"Let me guess... You couldn't sleep because of it?" Acle asked rhetorically, then continued on in a softer tone. "Yeah... Me too."

Acle looked up and signaled to the bartender to refill his cup, then looked beside him at the doctor pointedly. "Also, whatever the lady would like please." Acle said before turning to look at the other "For medicinal purposes of course."

The bartender poured more of the amber liquid into the Commander's cup before turning to look at the Lieutenant. "Ma'am?" he inquired in his slow deep voice.

"Water." Winter said in a hushed tone.

The bartender nodded, then turned to retrieve the liquid. Getting a fresh cup, he poured a glass for the doctor and sat it in front of her before returning to the other customers.

Acle watched the pouring and waited till the doctor had her cup in hand. He smiled slightly, although the feature never touched his dark eyes, then raised his own glass and said "To demons conquered and yet to conquer."

"And to absent friends." Winter said lifting her glass to Acle's.

Acle softly clinked his glass with hers then drained it in a gulp. He looked at the doctor then said "Feeling tired yet doc?"

Winter smiled, "Not in the least." Winter laughed.

"Was worth a try I suppose... How have you been settling in on the Iapetus? I apologize that I have been busy and haven't had the time to check in like I should." Acle said. He was warming to the doctor, a strange phenomenon for him.

"Well It's been an interesting month, but the one thing I like best is watching the crowd in the Royale." Winter said, gesturing to the room around her.

"The flow and ebb of life attracts you eh?" Acle asked, then said wrly "I suppose that makes sense seeing that you are a doctor." He paused, letting a brief silence ensue before speaking again "I can't help, but, analyze the crowd, looking for possible dangers or someone out of place. Like that ensign over there" Acle said, pointed with his chin. "He keeps reaching into his pocket. Every time he does, and I happen to be looking over in his direction, it draws my eye." Acle shook his head. "Still getting used to ship-board life I suppose."

Winter shook her head. "He's not dangerous, he's..................nervous." Winter explained.

Acle smiled. "I am not really expecting any danger from the crew... It is just an old habit that I can't seem to lose."

"Here is something to put your mind at ease." Winter said, pointing to the female Ensign that sat down beside the other one. "He's going to ask her something." Winter explained.

Acle watched the pair, turning in his seat so that they were in his peripheral vision. He took another slight draw from his magically refilled cup.

"He's proposing to her." Winter grinned.

The young ensign drew a velvety, black box out of his pocket and held it up to the other ensign. Nervousness and some stark fear were reflected on his face as he said some words, then got out of his chair and went to one knee, waiting as she opened it. For a moment, the other ensign was silent, then a tear trickled down her cheek and her smile lit up the room.

Acle turned back to the bar, a smile of his own dancing about his mouth. "So he is..." Acle said softly.

Winter turned to him. "So you ever think about getting married?" Winter asked. "Have a girl friend?" Winter inquired.

Acle did not speak for a long while. "Not exactly... I am not attached." He quieted for a moment. "You?" he asked.

"Same, one would say dating the good doctor isn't as easy as it looks." Winter explained. "One would say that I have beauty and brains, but way too nice of an attitude."

Acle turned to her. "To nice of an attitude doesn't seem to be much of a turn off for guys. I think I fail to see how that would be problematic." Acle said with a raised eyebrow and a hint of a smile.

"It would seem men in the twenty fourth century don't like really nice girls with medical degree's." Winter laughed.

"Only stupid ones." Acle retorted. "Of course, that seems to be half the population sometimes." He straightened up again, knuckling his back. "Ah well... They say there is someone for everyone out there, somewhere."

"Well when you think about it, the odds are in my favor...... one point zero two trillion people in the Federation, half of them are male, half of those aren't stupid, and a fifth of those are Starfleet officers.....hmm well those are good odds." Winter said turning to him, looking him in the eyes. "If you know where to look." She whispered.

Acle met the doctor's gaze for a moment before turning back to the remains of his drink. He swirled it around before downing the rest of it. "I suppose so doctor." He said, somewhat evasively.

Winter smiled at his evasiveness. "Yeah." She whispered.

Acle turned to look at her, emotion washed from his face. "Tell me a little about your past Doctor.", his voice was cheerful, although his eyes appeared dark.

"I was born on Tyran nine, my mother was an aide to the Tyran delegate to the federation Council, she's now the delegate to the council, and you might have heard of my father, Tycho Balmorra, the Artist?" She asked.

"I'm afraid that I am not much of an artist doctor..." Acle said, "I like to look, but, don't have much skill at hand for myself or much time to learn."

"Neither do I." She explained. "And besides that, all you need to know about me is that I'm a humanitarian, and I dont like the idea of the Marine corps." She laughed.

Acle chuckled then turned serious. "You do know that I was a marine right?"

"No I didnt." Winter said. "And I'm sorry, it's just I dont believe.........Jarheads, for the lack of a better word, fit in with the Starfleet charter." Winter explained.

Acle grinned suddenly "I was never a marine doc. Excuse my humor..." Acle looked slightly abashed, but, continued to forge ahead "Worked with them often though. Why do you think they do not fit in with the charter?"

Winter shook her head, trying to fight off a wide grin but it prevailed. "Well the fact of the matter is, no matter what they say about keeping the peace, all they symbolize is war." Winter explianed. "And war..........war isn't a thing the Federation should promote." Winter stated.

Acle nodded slowly "I agree. However, I would offer up that in order to have peace, you must also have a deterrent. Something that will give those who would do war upon us pause. Like are starships. Yes, they are designed for peaceful exploration and scientific endeavors. However... They are still armed, yes?

"Yes but they are multipurpose, they are explorers and warships and the Marines have one purpose commander, well two from a doctor's view. That purpose is to wage war and to miss their physicals and everyother medical appointment." She laughed.

"Could it not be argued that because we have such an organization such as the Marine Corp, that it serves a duel purpose as well? There are documented cases where the marines deploy to aid worlds stricken by natural disaster or disease. Furthermore, on a number of ships, the marines complement the security forces already in place. The marines are the elite ground forces of our defense forces. They serve the same purpose as the mainstay of the fleet, just on the ground." Acle said.

"Some would argue that security forces do just fine." Winter stated.

"So your argument is that the Marine Corps should simply be absorbed into the security division? Wouldn't they do the same task though?" Acle asked.

"Yes but in a less militant way." Winter stated.

Acle nodded then drank the rest of his drink again. He pushed the cup away and shook his head no when the bartender indicated refilling. "Interesting argument doc, I will give you that much. A doctor that does not like the marine corp is not that odd though I suppose." Acle ended with a grin.

Winter nodded, the conversation had been interesting, and she hand enjoyed the Commander's company. "Well Commander I'm afraid I must bid you good night." Winter said as she stood up. ""And as Chief Medical officer and as the only person who can give you an order besides Captain Krace, I order you to get some sleep." She stated.

Acle raised an eyebrow, but, simply said "We'll see..." He stood up slowly, stretching as he did so. "Good night to you as well doc. May you rest well."

Acle flashed a smile at her once last time, then slowly walked out of the lounge.

Winter walked back to her chair and grabbed the book. "He was kinda cute." She said to her self, but brushed it off.

_______________
Commander Acle Walex
Executive Officer
USS Iapetus

Doctor (LT JG) Winter Balmorra
Chief Medical Officer
USS Iapetus