Surprise!

Posted on Sat Aug 3rd, 2019 @ 3:40am by Lieutenant Commander Adlyn Rowley & Commander Logan Vance
Edited on on Sat Aug 3rd, 2019 @ 4:01am

Mission: Down the Rabbit Hole
Location: Deep Space Station 317 - Promenade
Timeline: MD 1, Time 1825

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Time: 1825
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Logan had been on the station for a little over a day. The USS Hawking had diverted here so he could meet a contact. No one outside of the Hawking's Captain knew of his affiliation with Starfleet Intelligence. None of the other senior staff knew, not even the XO. There were whispers of why they were here but they would fade away eventually once they were on their way.

Of course that required his contact actually showing up. They would always appear in their own time but it had never taken this long to make contact in a friendly port. In the meantime, he was scoping out the local 'wildlife'. No bites just yet but the night was young.

Adlyn sat looking out of the window of the promenade enjoying the view of the docking port beyond. It wasn’t that popular of a destination on the outskirts of Federation space, but it was still something different. The marvels of technology were all in front of her. It was busy enough though. It was so similar to what their own people had envisioned their future would be and yet they couldn’t get over their own differences and nearly killed each other off. The shakedown run had been successful and now they had an indefinite stay at the port while the actual crew was assigned aboard. The skeleton crew they ran with from Utopia Planetia Ship Yards would either stay or be reassigned.

She already had been approached by the Captain to stay. Even though they arrived today, she had changed out of her uniform and put herself into relaxation mode. She shifted in her position and crossed her legs. In the process, she adjusted her asymmetrical one shoulder long royal blue shirt and pressed out the invisible wrinkles in the cranberry slim pants she was wearing. Her brown leather jacket rested under her arm as she turned the PADD over and just watched out the window. She exhaled a sigh as she propped up her chin on her hand as she continued to allow her thoughts to ramble. She was content and excited for her new position. Her other hand absentmindedly itched a spot in hair that was held up in a loose ponytail near the nape of her neck. As she was lost in her thoughts, she was unaware of those that were passing around on the promenade.

Logan hadn't noticed Adlyn at first when he passed by. After all, he'd only seen her undressed or in her 'work clothes' and he didn't mean her uniform. By the time he realized who it was, he had to double back. "This seat taken?"

“Nope,” she said as she picked up her PADD and put it into her lap and continued to look out the window. She had been so out of it that she hadn’t recognized the voice that spoke to her. Even if she hadn’t been out of it, it had been four years since she had seen or spoken to Logan she wouldn’t have known unless she had looked at him. But since it was a promenade of a busy port, she thought nothing more of it and went back to being quiet.

He could tell she hadn't realized who it was yet. He sat down and ordered drinks for both of them. Waiting another couple minutes before he spoke up again. "I see the shoulder healed up nicely."


She turned and looked at the person who spoke to her and was shocked of the person who was now sitting next to her. “Of all the places and all the chances, this backwater station? Just passing through or are you stationed here?” she asked a bit perplexed, shocked that . “It is nice to see you, Logan!”

The waiter arrived with their drinks and set one down in front of each of them. "Just passing through. Unofficial official business." She would know what that meant. "I'm posted on the Hawking. Been their Chief of Security the past three years. What brings you here?"

“Shakedown cruise,” she said pointing out at the Akira ship through the port window of the Promenade. “Just pulled into port today. Indefinite hold until all the test data is reviewed and the skeleton crew gets backfilled to proper staffing levels. I’m glad you decided to get out from behind the desk,” she said smiling. Even though he had mentioned he was a chief of security for the last three years, the unofficial official business meant that he was still dealing with Intelligence.

"Circumstances changed," he replied. He didn't want to go into too much detail, especially if this were just a short interlude. "Brand new ship though? That's pretty awesome. Any idea where you're going?"

“Nope. Thanks for the drink,” she said as she had noticed the glass of whiskey now sitting in front of her. “Figured they took us to the backwater post to see how well she fared on long distance runs. Seemingly smooth, mind you,” she said answering her own statement with how well the ship had fared. “Probably head back to Earth once we pick up crew here.”

"Our orders have headed the opposite way. Out towards the Klingon border. Apparently some Romulan refugees have outlived their welcome and we're being sent to go pick them up." He took a sip of his drink. "So I guess it was fate we just happened to run into each other. Tell me, has anyone broken down your defenses and secured your loyalty?" he smiled.

She smiled. “I’m a Chief Engineer again, so that makes me happy; as for the other side of where that could go, no; I’m not seeing anyone. You?” She took a sip of the drink and savored it as it swallowed it, stingy as it went down. “Splurged for the real stuff, huh?” she asked.

"Well, seeing as how getting you liquored up worked so well last time, I thought I'd give it another go," he winked. "But no, I'm not seeing anyone. Not seriously anyway. You know how it is."

Laughing lightly, she responded, “yeah, well, part of that was fueled by the events that preceded it and the other part was two hot people bored passing the time. I’m not saying that it wasn’t enjoyable.” She rested her right arm with her drink in her hand over her other one folded under in her lap. “Yes, I do know how it goes. It’s kind of hard to be serious with someone when orders can take you elsewhere. The life of a Starfleet Officer.”

"Add in that you can't talk about most of what you do when you're in Intelligence and it's damn near impossible," Logan continued. "It's one of the reasons I like to keep things casual. Everyone has fun, we go our separate ways, no one gets hurt. That's the way it's supposed to work anyway."

She caught the slight in the last comment that he made. "I take it that something didn't quite work out?" She asked. "Everything okay?" As much as they were strangers they were more than friends on a completely different level. It took a level of trust for him to allow her to rescue him. It took them both a level of trust storming Brakka's compound. He knew secrets that would get her in trouble with her people and she knew his secrets as well. With that said, they didn't know who each other were, their likes or dislikes. The physical enjoyment they had four years ago was excess mission energy and boredom at their finest.

"Now, now. That would be telling," he smiled. He knew she would understand his reluctance. "I'll tell you what. If you're that interested in the story, however, I'll let you earn it. I have a little program we can run. A little competition. Winner reveals their juiciest secret."

"The juiciest or a juicy secret?" she asked. He had peaked her interest. Obviously, she was going to need to win because she wasn't about to release her juiciest of juicy secrets.

"The juiciest," Logan clarified. "But if you're too scared…"

"You do realize who you have challenged…" she trailed off seriously. "Right?" She asked with a bit of jest. "You better prepare to lose. So what's this program?"

"Cityscape set on a randomly generated planet. Objective program. Get in, get the intel, get out in one piece. Can be accomplished by fighting or stealth. So it suits both our skill sets. Scores points based on how skilled you are at getting the information. Deducts points for injuries and mistakes. Interested?"

She thought for a moment. Having kept up on her skills over the years were a necessity, because she was a foreign concept to most races, especially because she was a silicone based life form, not a carbon based life form. “Sure. Why not. You know I can stealth as much as I can fight…” she trailed off. The last time they had a go around it turned out to be more fighting on her behalf cause her side of the corridor had all the guards in it, and she couldn’t just sneak right on by.

Logan finished his drink and set the empty glass down. "Whenever you are ready."

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Commander Logan Vance
XO, USS Andromeda

Lt. Commander Adlyn Rowley
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Andromeda