Pick A Card, Any Card (part 3)

Posted on Sat Oct 31st, 2020 @ 11:47am by Lieutenant JG Talia "Phoenix" Richards & Lieutenant JG Juanita "Puma" Sanchez & 1st Lieutenant Kara Melo & Major John Kayhill & Lieutenant Aenar Torek & Lieutenant Bela Swain & Lieutenant JG Teenah Spartacus

1,162 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Eye of the Storm
Location: Lounge

[CONTINUED]

[OLD]

"I am Spartacus," She gave a smile. "I was adopted by a Merchant that showed the best of what the Federation projects; taking an Orion female into their family; an only child no less, and raising her. The federation Citizen ship saved me from slavery. It iwas a small thing to repay all the Federation has done for me so I joined Star Fleet ; my Betazoid heritage helped with my training to be a counselor and I love designing clothes and do so as a hobby." She grinned. "Spartacus Rule 37, never wear off the replicator what you can have altered to fit." SHe look around. "That is all you get for that size of a pot." She winked.

[NEW]

Bela gushed, "Oh, that's amazing! That means that I'm your Chief Officer! I'm Chief Counselor Bela Swain." She walked around the table and gave Spartacus a big hug. "We're going to have such a great time working together!" the woman beamed. There was nothing disingenuous in her voice.

"I look forward to working with you." Spartacus replied and returned the embrace as is proper.

"That's impressive," Kara said. Her life was bland in comparison. "So, do we want to do another hand, or just share stories?" She looked to the major.

Convinced that Spartacus did need any immediate therapy from her returned hug, she went back to sit in her seat. "Whose deal? Or did we just stop playing and are exchanging stories?"

"I'm up for either. We can always talk and eat the peanuts," Kara said, smiling at the counselor.

"Boof, the way I am playing, eating peanuts is best," Puma said, taking a sip of her drink.

"I'm happy to do either," Bela told everyone with a large grin. "I don't play cards well, anyways, as I said before."

"I don't care either way." Talia turned to the men. "It's up to you."

'Stories I should think - the deck needs to be shuffled and played a few times before we can use it properly, I should imagine,' Aenar said.

Kara turned to Kayhill. "If that's okay with you, sir, we'll order drinks and chat. We can play a hand later." She waved over the bartender to order more drinks.

"That's fine with me", John answered with a smile. "I am open to drinks and a story."

"Oh! That's good! Drinks and chatting! I could tell my story first, if everyone wants," Bela volunteered.

"Go right ahead," Talia said. "I'd love to hear it."

Bela looked over at the redhead and smiled. Bela's blue eyes twinkled, offsetting her dark brown hair. "I'm afraid that my story will probably seem rather boring to some, if not all of you. I have nothing that I can complain about. I come from a rather loving Risan family. I was not an intended child. I was an unanticipated blessing to my parents, so they say. My parents kept trying for a girl and they got one on their fourth try. That was Teela, my older sister. Then, of course, well, I came later. As most of you know, Risa is known as the pleasure planet. We spend our entire lives bringing pleasure to ourselves and our guests. Risa is a paradise where people can rest and relax and refresh themselves. My parents ran a resort on Risa and I would see so many unhappy beings come to us but they always left happy. So, I thought about this and said to myself, 'Bela, everyone comes to our planet and they seek things to make them happy. What is the common thread? They need contact. Everyone out there does not know how being together is healthier than being apart.' So, I enlisted in Starfleet and became a counselor, knowing that I could bring a healing touch, literally, to all of fine Starfleet members." She shrugged with a pretty and happy smile. "See, not much of a story, but it is mine nonetheless."

"It's a good story. It doesn't have to be long," Talia assured her. "Okay, who's next? Wait, why don't you choose the next person, counselor?"

The Counselor looked back pleasantly at Talia and said, "Why don't you tell yours now? After all, you're already talking."

The pilot chuckled. "I'm pretty boring. I come from the southwestern part of North America in the state of Arizona. Because of that, I'm fascinated by tales of the Old West. I learned to fly by racing personal shuttles with my three brothers." She smiled. "There's nothing like skimming over the desert or racing through a slot canyon. My only claim to fame is that my fighter lost power on a training run in the Academy. I managed to not hit anything or anyone on the way down. They tell me the crash was pretty spectacular. Because I walked away with minor injuries, they call me Phoenix."

She turned to John. "Your turn."

John sighed and said, "I was born on Tayna Colony and lived there until Borg attacked when I was ten. Only me and my younger sister got out of things unscathed. We were rescued by Marines, which gave me my career desires. My sister and I moved to Earth to stay with distant relatives. I entered the Academy as soon as I could, going the green track. I've had an interesting career along the way, but nothing shareable unless you want to get depressed. Who's next?"

Bela moved over to John and touched him lightly on the wrist. "Oh, I think that I will want you to share with me. But we do not have to do it now."

"You can always talk to us, too," Kara said. "We may not know what you've been through, but we're fellow Marines." Although she wouldn't be able to give as much help as the counselor could, you could always offer a listening ear.

"Why don't you go next?" Talia asked Kara.

The Marine sighed. "Okay. I grew up on a small colony. We're pretty unremarkable. My dad and uncle taught me how to shoot and took me out target shooting in the mountains. I actually thought I'd go into local law enforcement until the SFMC came recruiting." She shrugged. "And that brought me to the Calypso."

She turned to Askard. "Your turn, lieutenant."

When Askard was done, it was Juanita's turn. "I am Juanita Angelina Guadalupe de la Vega Sanchez. I come from Guadalajara, Mexico. I am the best fighter pilot in Starfleet."

Talia smiled. She wasn't going to contradict her, but there were a number of pilots who were better than the Latina.

"You say nothing," Juanita told her. "And since I am the last, the Tequila is on me."


____
OFF

Lieutenant JG Teenah Spartacus
Counselor

Lieutenant Aenar Torek
Chief Science Officer

Major John Kayhill
Marine CO

2nd Lieutenant Kara Melo
Squadron Leader

Lieutenant JG Juanita "Puma" Sanchez
Fighter Pilot

Lieutenant JG Talia "Phoenix" Richards
Flight Leader

Lieutenant Bela Swain
Chief Counseling Officer

 

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