The Christmas Ball

Posted on Fri Dec 11th, 2009 @ 5:14am by Commodore Samantha York & Captain James Montgomery & Commander John Sheridan & Lieutenant JG Alexandra Adeyemon & Colonel Damon Raine & Lieutenant Chris Brooks

1,726 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: The Devils Snare
Location: Lounge
Timeline: current

ON

The decorations were all in place and everything was ready. A holographic orchestra played softly in one corner for any who wanted to dance.

Several long tables were filled with food. A holodeck nearby had been programmed with a carriage ride through the snow-covered countryside for anyone who was interested.

With everything ready, the doors were opened, ready for the crew to arrive.

John and Max had just finished with a sleigh ride and a visit to ole Saint Nick. The hall was decorated beyond imagination. John was wearing his Santa cap and Max his Elf hat he made in school, it was quite a turnout."

Ted was behind the bar, cleaning the last of the Christmas glasses he had replicated. He had a whole host of holiday foods to choose from, from maple cured ham and turkey to corn casserole and green beans, buttered yams and mashed potatoes, deviled eggs and jellied cranberry sauce, to fruit cake, fudge, and Christmas cookies. Elena had surprised him by coming up with a recipe for an extremely large roll made of three lengths of dough braided and then baked. They were really good... For drinks there was everything from eggnog to beer and whiskey to every kind of wine from every planet imaginable. Nothing had been spared. Everything was there and ready. The pool tables and dart boards had been installed upstairs if anyone cared to have a friendly game. He looked around at the decorations. They were perfect. Something told him this would be a night to remember. Later he would dress up like St Nick and ask the children what they wanted for Christmas.

Alex walked into the room in a Mrs Clause dress. It was short and formfitting, but still managed to be very fun and elegant. She wore a Santa hat on top of her rather tall hair. She looked around to see who had arrived.

Ted smiled. Second person to arrive. She didn't look like she was going anywhere, so he just waited patiently while she decided where to go. The waiting staff were standing near the bar, watching her. They all had black pants and red shirts on.

Alex smiled at him. To be honest, she think she might have a bit of a crush...but she also had Chris... She looked at the mans well toned arms for a second, then forced herself to ignore the distraction. "Am I early or something?"

Ted nodded. "Just a bit. People are starting to arrive, more should be coming soon. Take a seat somewhere. Toras and Elena are cooking up some great stuff. Christmas ham, yams, mashed potatoes, corn casserole, pecan pie...everything from Christmas."

Damon and Samantha walked into the lounge together. Sam had chosen to dress in a Victorian ball gown. It made navigating between people a little tricky, but Sam also found it humorous as people looked at her and stepped away.

Chris walked in looking around, he wore a Black slacks, a white long sleeve cotton button up shirt and a red tie with blue and white snow flakes and a big white snowman towards the bottom. He walked up to the bar and asked for a Long Island Iced Tea and began drinking it.

Ted served up the iced tea and soon began serving more and more people drinks and food. People weren't ordering as much ham as he thought they would. It concerned him that people wanted chicken pot pie instead of goose or ham. Finally he got to the man sitting at the end of the bar, a guy in a white shirt with red tie. "Hello. Can I get you something to eat? Ham or goose, mashed potatoes or yams, fig pudding or fudge?"

Before Chris could answer, the attention of all in the room was grabbed by the arrival of a Christmas Tree. Even the orchestra seemed to pause, certainly not part of their programme. The 'tree' moved through the Lounge and stopped in the corner, as if to invite presents. Commander Montomery, dressed as the tree, chuckled at the responses.

Damon almost laughed at the percipitous change in demeanour of the people in the room. In many cases he noted that people almost looked awe struck from the symbolic value of the tree.
He shook his head and looked to the floor with a slight grin. He never understood why people had such an attachment to this holiday, granted his viewpoint would have been very different from most of the crew members on board.

Sam looked at Damon affectionately. "Not a fan of Christmas?" She'd noticed his reaction to the tree. "I'll see if I can change you opinion about the holiday," she whispered.

Sam walked up to the bar and ordered a mug of hot wassail, then waited for Damon to order.

He looked at the menu and had to admit that most of it was foreign to him. "Uh, egg nog?" He shrugged, not knowing what else was in the spirit of the occasion.

Lizzie walked into the lounge dressed in a long green dress and looked at the decorations. She was pleased with how everything turned out. She made her way to the bar and grinned at Ted. "Hi."

The waitresses were walking between the tables, taking orders. Jamie, a short young blond, stood next to the XO's table and said brightly, "Can I get you something sir? We're serving all the best of the season. We have turkey, goose, fig pudding, ham... Really any holiday treat you want."

Father and son both exchanged glances... "GOOSE".

Ted saw Lizzie coming towards him and smiled. "How's it going, Liz? I'll be with you in a sec." He turned back to the marine and gave him an egg nog while Riven got four mugs of wassail. He told the marine, "If you don't like the egg nog, just tell me. I'll get you some wine or anything else you ask for."

"Thank you," Sam said, taking her wassail and sipping it.

"Thanks." He said before taking a sip of the beverage. At least the drink was something he could call tradition. "Not bad." He said to Mr. Turner as his eyes admired the liquid in the glass.

Ted helped three more customers before he had a chance to talk to Lizzie. "You look nice. Like how it turned out?"

"Thank you," Lizzie said, smiling at Ted. "It turned out really well. You did a good job."

The Christmas Tree could keep still no longer. Two of the branches swept upwards and took hold of the star on the top. it pulled off along with a large section of tree to reveal the head of James Montgomery. "That didn't really work" he said with a trademark grin, "good evening everybody, goodness me it's hot in this thing!"

Damon and Sam walked over to a table and sat down so they could enjoy their drinks.

"Sorry if I seem to be detached from the festivities." He said to her as he settled in his seat. "I know it means a lot to some people."

"It's okay. I'm just glad you're here," Sam replied. "If you weren't, I'd be sitting by the wall, watching."

John Sheridan Stood and tapped his spoon on his glass several times.

"A TOAST. To Mr. Ted Turner, thank you for this wonderful feast." He raised his glass and drank.

Damon was quick to follow suit as he tipped the remaing egg nog into his mouth. He gingerly put the empty glass back on the table as he contemplated what his next beverage would be.

Sam raised her glass to Ted and took a drink. Then she looked at Damon. "Want to try a waltz?"

The look on his face may best be described as a 'deer in the headlights' at her request. Despite his reservations regarding his skill at dancing, he found his resolve crumble under her gaze.

"It would be my pleasure." He said formally. He rose from his seat and walked over to the opposite end of the table where he delicately took up Samantha's hand to lead her out to the open floor. With a simple look over to the orchestra, they knew to start playing an appropriate melody.

They were soon joined by other couples as they waltzed around the floor. When the song ended, Sam smiled at Damon and curtsied. "Thank you, sir. You dance quite well."

Damon smiled before stepping back and giving her a bow. "When you do dance, I wish you
a wave o' th' sea, that you might ever do nothing but that."

Sam took his arm. "Your turn. What would you like to do now?"

Damon shrugged. "I'm content to be right here. I may not understand what the big deal is, but it's nice to see everyone so happy. To see you so happy."

Sam hugged his arm. "I'm just happy to be with you."

Ted looked to Lizzie. "You sure you don't want me to tell them?" His dark eyes twinkled at her. "I could tell them right now..."

"No. You can take all the credit. I'm good with that," Lizzie assured him. "I'm just happy it's going well."

Ted smiled and waved a hand as they all toasted him. "It wouldn't have been possible without the staff," he called and the girls beamed. "The waitresses, cooks and bartenders were just perfect tonight. I hope you'll give them as big a thank you as you gave me, cause I didn't do everything myself." After the applause, he said, "Now just have a good time! Music!"

He pointed to the band and the holograms began to play a slow tune, perfect for waltzing.

The floor filled with couples as they danced to the music. For the next few hours, people came and went, eating and laughing as they celebrated the holidays.

Finally, as the away team needed to leave in the morning, those who had to get up early began to filter out, slowly followed by the rest of the crew.

OFF

Commander James Montgomery
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Commander John Sheridan
Executive Officer

Lieutenant Samantha York
Chief Science Officer

2nd Lieutenant Damon Raine
Marine CO

Lieutenant JG Chris Brooks
Chief Flight Control Officer

Lieutenant JG Alexandra Adeyemon
Chief Engineer

Theodore 'Ted' Turner
Lounge Manager

Ensign Elizabeth Jackson (NPC)
Botanist

 

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