Judgement – Blind Date
by Commander Richard Dunham & Commander Karen Villiers
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Rick had told him that he was going to meet his date here by the railings that ran around the upper deck of the promenade, securing people from falling into the shops below. Krem unconsciously straightened his uniform one more time. He was praying to what ever gods were listening that this blind date went better off than the last one. He straightened his uniform again and brushed away some dirt that was in fact not there. The ferengi gripped the railings, more to secure himself against nerves than anything else.
Karen was already there, in her customary spot, watching the rest of the inhabitants of the station live their lives. She wasn't sure why she had agreed to this. He wasn't going to be her type, she'd never met the guy ... what was she doing here?
Forget it! it was half a thought and half a mutter. Karen was going home. She pushed back from the railings and turned aside.
Bastard! Thought Krem to himself, he'd been no more than six feet away from this women for the last several minutes and she was a Commander! Not only had he almost missed her but she was a superior officer and a commander to boot! The only reason he had guessed this was the girl he was suppose to be seeing, was that she had been watching him out of the corner of her eyes. Bloody hell, what should he do!
"One drink, just one, then if you want to leave after, it will be no questions asked, what do you think?"
Karen looked down in response to the voice. A Ferengi, she'd forgotten that Dunham had set her up with a Ferengi. "One drink," she agreed, wondering if she was going to find herself trying to make her way through a single bath sized cocktail of gin, bitters and blood wine.
Krem spotted the bar he liked on the station, one that Rick had recommended to him. It was called the red lion. They headed in, and wen't to the bar, Krem got the attention of the bar tender and asked for a drink "I will have a black sheep please" he asked politely "What can i get for you.......?" Hell, he didn't actually know her name.
Did Krem genuinely like Black Sheep, or had Rick told him that she liked it? the lawyers innate sense of suspicion came into play immediately. "Same for me," Karen said. "Karen," she added.
"Really?" he said in genuine surprise. "Make that two please bar tender," the bar tender fed the pumps and poured the dark brown liquid into two pint glasses, then handed them over, Krem followed Karen to a booth after handing her her drink. They sat down, Krem looked about himself "nice place," he said conversationally. Come on Krem you can do better than that to make conversation "so...you're commander, are you the stations XO?"
Karen nodded. "And head of the local JAG detachment," she said as she wrapped her fingers around the glass. "Good stuff this, brewed by traditional methods on Earth. So what do you do?" she asked him.
Krem smiled in agreement "I'm second officer, on-board the USS Hagnon...." he smiled "and yes...I know, I visited the brewery in Masham North Yorkshire," he smiled again reminiscing a little. "I missed my first starfleet academy lecture, because I was taking the tour."
"Been there and done that," Karen grinned, "not the missing the lecture part, but the rest. What made you decide on Starfleet?" she asked, despite the earliest pioneer from Deep Space Nine it was still an unusual choice of career for a Ferengi.
"I was adopted......" Krem's life story was a little complicated, and more than once he wad bored people with it, so he decided to stick to the notes. ".....My father was the aid to the federation ambassador the the Klingon empire, my mother was an advisor to Klingon Defense Forces and I grew up on Qo'noS until I was thirteen, then my father got transfered to a starfleet starship were followed him....I joined because I loved it."
Karen scratched her temple. She tried to avoid applying stereotypes but what Krem told her not only bypassed those, but blew them out of the sky - an adopted Ferengi who grew up among Klingons and then joined Starfleet. "I'd never have guessed," she replied, not meaning it to sound sarcastic. "That's quite a background. I spent some time off world, Trill, Betazed and Romulus when my dad was posted there - he was a diplomat too. The rule was that the whole family went or he didn't, so it was quite an experience."
Krem smiled. "so we have something in common, both our fathers were diplomats." Krem took another sip of his drink. "What about you Karen..." he asked politely "...why did you join starfleet?"
"My Master's thesis caught their interest - Ethics and Exo-legalities – Examining the limitations on co-operation and common practice in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. I got the funding, and an intership in the JAG HQ. That was my first actual contact with Starfleet. After I was done, I decided I could practice law as well there as anywhere else, and have the chance to use my research. I started down the diplomatic route, but I prefer getting to my feet and talking my opponent into submission over subtle negotiation, so I went straight back to the law."
'submission over subtle negotiation,' she's more Ferengi than I am Thought Krem to himself with the humor in his inner monologue. "Yeah....I tried the diplomatic route to in my early starfleet career," Krem shrugged "It didn't work out." He was talking about himself again and that wasn't very polite of him so he moved the conversation back to her. "How long have you been XO of Deep Space Five?"
"Just a few weeks. I've got some insight into the unique diplomatic situation we have here," she might have said precarious, or incendiary, but the term she chose had fewer connotations. "Its a big station, and I don't think I've seen a quarter of it yet. What about you? Is it your first visit?"
"Second, but the first was only for a few hours," Krem reflected a moment on the 'diplomatic situation. "Is it true you've embassies for the Federation, Klingon, Romulan and Cardassain governments on this station?" He leaned forward in his chair, interested in what she was going to say.
"Its true," Karen admitted, those facts at least were listed in the station guide so she wasn't giving anything away. "The Romulans came first, a few years ago. They've kept themselves to themselves mostly even though they've a permanent presence here. Their latest Ambassador ... well, lets just say she has a knack of drawing attention to herself. We've a handful of lesser powers who came, then the Ferengi set up a base, and most recently the Klingons and that Cardassians have established a diplomatic presence." Karen paused for breath, "Its something of a hot potato."
Krem scratched his lobes, he was a little confused, but why? This is a Celestial Class Starbase, its role, is as a Military Waypoint and Resupply Facility. I don't understand why these governments would be here? Is it the location, or something about this staion....." he smiled "and more to the point you let Ferengi on board th station?" he chuckled it was a light hearted joke.
"If an alien power wants to set up a diplomatic base we view each request and if legitimate, we grant it. And once one is there, the rest come in. We can no more bar diplomatic representation than we can civillians, and remember that the vast majority of our population are civillian, not only on this starbase, but in the Federation as a whole."
Krem nodded in agreement "No truer words were said." Krem was an avid defended of Federation policy when it came to its democracy and people. It had been one of the reasons whay he had signed up. To protect its constitution
Karen took a sip of her ale, savouring the cold smooth feeling as it ran down her throat and warmed her stomach, "I sound like a Federation propaganda piece," she said. "As long as they keep themselves in line, they'll be welcome here," she added, keeping to herself that one or two of them were wearing out that welcome.
Krem laughed, "You never know, next you may end up with the Breen....or even the Tholian Assembly ringing on the door bell asking to stay. You're lucky its such a big station, you would start to run out of room." Krem took another sip of his drink, he emptied it, and Karen's was almost empty too. "Can I get you another....?"
"Sure," she said, "we should probably spread them around a bit though and not lump them all on deck sixty." The Romulans had dealt with that in their own way, they had funded the alterations that isolated their facility from the main corridors and gave access exclusively by two turbolifts. Karen did not yet know how they'd managed to swing that.
"Krem," she added, "can you get some nuts or something nibbly too?"
"Sure" he said flashing a smile, he got up and went to the bar to order two more pints and a packet of crisps, with some nuts as well. He brought the drinks over one in each hand, and unlike some other species, he did not have the extra hands to carry the nibbles so carried them in his teeth. He placed everything at the table, then settled down in his chair.
"So what do you do when you're not second officering?" Karen asked.
"Cricket" he said with a smile. He didn't really want to go into some of his other hobbies, tactical and security systems for starships or Targ hunting and free running. Then again, cricket probably made him sound like a snob.
"A team player," Karen said, ripping open the bag of crisps, "Sorry, I missed lunch," she continued finding it hard to imagine Krem in a crisp set of whites. "I always found it a great excuse to spend all day lounging around with a picnic, cricket I mean. I was a rower at University, took my place in the eight, but I've got to admit I preferred sculling on my own. Batter or bowler?" she asked, trying not to give in to her tendency to hijack conversations to talk about herself.
"Bowler, does sculling require a specialist kind of oar?" he asked with genuine interest.
Krem thought things seemed to be going well, he had not scared her off yet, though he felt he probably inevitably would, he never really had acquired the confidence nor the skill to keep up a conversation with the opposite sex for this long.
"Pair of oars, I prefer about 175 centimetre length, but its the technique that makes the difference."
Krem clamped down hard on his tongue, biting it with his mouth closed to prevent himself from passing some innuendo induced joke. Unfortunately; being a Ferengi he had rather sharp teeth, so the result was quite a large pain on the inside of his mouth, which he tried to hide by taking a sip of his drink. He moved on, "How many in your team." he asked conversationally.
"Mostly single, I also liked quads," she said, entirely unaware that her companion was wrestling with innuendo, "I've occasionally done eights, but its not my preference."
Change the subject Krem, before you bite your tongue off! Shouted the Ferengi to himself, as he had to clamp down on it again, he could swear he had tasted blood on his tongue. "So what other hobbies do you have, are they all fitness orientated?"
Karen took another sip. "I run, I also debate, or I did at Uni," she wiggled her glass, "I like decent ale, quite fond of drama too, but I'm not sure the XO joining the promenade Am Dram Soc would reflect well on Starfleet."
"Debate, interesting...." said Krem with genuine enthusiasm "I was a bit of a debater myself back at starfleet, got invited to a live debate in the Palais de la Concorde in Paris, what subjects did you like to debate in?"
"I'm a lawyer, I talk for a living; if I don't know my subject, I make it up and hope to talk faster than my opponent and if I can't," she said a little aggressively, "I turn around and rip his argument to pieces."
"Even if you were in the wrong?" asked Krem, wandering what her response would be, and trying to read her face for an answer before she gave it.
"Did you miss the bit where I said I was a lawyer?" she asked with a smirk, "If I'm arguing for fun then I might back down, but professionally ... no."
Krem reflected the smile with a smile of his own, he nodded in agreement, he had respect for somebody who stood there ground, maybe that was from his Klingon esk upbringing. "A fine quality to have Karen in ones professional role.....do you find yourself butting heads with any of your officers?"
"Oh, we're one big happy family," Karen said without a hint of irony.
"Impressive work Karen, especially with a family that big; 8440 Officers and 47600 Enlisted Officers let alone Marines and civilians, you got your work cut out for you, respect to you." he said toasting the commander by raising his pint glass in salute, "I couldn't do it."
Karen almost snorted as she raised her glass, indeed she probably did snort as it touched his, "One big happy family," she said, "even a lawyer can only keep a straight face for so long. There are always going to be tensions, you know the territory."
He did, and he didn't. Krem had served on starships his entire career, he loved the journey, the traveling and the exploring and on a starship; especially the long five year mission, schisms and cracks could be seen in a crew dynamic, but the crew compliment of a starship was much smaller than a space station, making it evolve differently in these sort of circumstances. "Sounds like you may need a bigger counseling staff for the station" said Krem with a smile and a chuckle, trying to throw a little light onto a slightly darker conversation.
"Its not all doom and gloom, you know. We're just like a big city - people coming and going, Its quite buzzy really."
"I'd never thought of it like that before." But with 1250 decks, a length of 5880 meters a width of 8910 meters, and a height of 5380 meters, it practically was a floating city in space, she was absolutely right. "No wonder you have not seen it all yet..." he paused in thought for a moment. "how much of the station is given over to marine operations?"
"Just two decks," Karen replied, "They mostly keep to themselves except when they're bringing business to the promenade ... mainly the bars for some reason."
Krem smiled, then looked about the bar. "This one?" he said, it was more of a rhetorical question, as looking about himself he could see only fleeter types and some civilians in the red lion. "So do you get much chance to have some fun around here?"
Karen shook her head, "Mainly the ones that offer more in the way of entertainment than watching a Tellarite bartender pull pints," she said referring to where the marine compliment tended to go. "As to me, there's enough to do."
"Work taking over your life?" It was a frank question, and perhaps; reflected Krem a slightly rude one, but it was better than the alternative which was his other question; is your work your life.
"The job doesn't go away at the end of a shift, Krem," Karen explained, "If I down tools like that things'll never get done."
"The JAG side of the job, or the XO side of the Job." Krem was trying to get his head around this, he didn't understand, and that probably conveyed in his look. He was starfleet officer too, ok, not a an XO, but a second officer on board a starship, but he managed not take the work home with him.
"Both. In a station this size its inevitable, unless you're happy to let standards slip. Unexpected things don't often happen on a starship - here, where we have so many civilians and visitors the unexpected happens all the time."
"Hmmmmm" said Krem thoughtfully, "Remind me never to take a station posting." he said understandingly.
"Its not everyone's pint of beer," Karen replied, "and a lot of fairly thankless hard work. But its fun."
Krem smiled and nodded in agreement. "And thats what counts Karen, as long as your having fun in your work." He proffered his glass again for a toast. "Live the life you love. Love the life you live."
With a smile Karen raised her own glass and as they clinked she said, "A good philosophy!"
Krem chuckled a little "A Klingon one my mother use to tell me....its a bit modified as well, the full Klingon version kind of refers to live, life and love, as honour and war, or some such thing."
"See, I've never put 'Klingons' and 'fun' together. Still, I enjoy what I do."
"I'm happy to hear that. But still Klingons can be fun, you know if you get the chance you should visit the Klingon embassy a few days, I'm sure they will be having a hell of a party to celebrate/commemorate the Emperor."
"Really? What's the occasion?" she asked with genuine interest. She was familiar enough with Klingon law but it was possible that Krem was correct - that there was more to them than endless boasting and loud declarations of how 'honourable' they were.
"The birthday of Kahless the Unforgettable, not to be mistaken with the birthday of Kahless, Son of Kahless; the clone, which some priests recognize as an official holiday as well. Its a great event, whole day of celebration and ceremony. Its a spiritual day, fueled by fast amounts of alcohol."
"Kahless seems to be a popular name," Karen observed wryly, "I'm sure that will cause a few surprises for us."
"Well he was....is the emperor of the Klingon Empire, its probably going to cause few surprises for us." He smiled and shrugged as he took another sip of his drink. Some days Klingon politics was more convoluted more shady and more machiavellian then the Romulan senate. But only on a bad day, unlike Romulan politics, which was everyday.
Karen chuckled, "I'll look into it. It'll be an experience, if nothing else, and I'll also make sure security are on alert," she said, "just in case."
"just in case," said Krem empathetically with a smile. He took another sip of his drink. He has a sudden thought. "Hows your federation charter and constitutional law?"
"If it wasn't sound they wouldn't have given me the JAG job," Karen replied. "Any reason?"
Krem sucked in some air as he formulated what he was going to say, he leaned back in his chair as he began to speak. "I'm a starfleet officer, with dual citizenship in both the Empire and the Federation, yet because I was adopted, I wasn't born on a home world, what complications would this cause me on the federation political stage?"
Karen pursed her lips as she considered the question. "The fact that you were formally adopted should be enough to give you citizenship. There are other examples of serving Starfleet Officers having dual citizenship without trouble - Worf is the one that immediately springs to mind. If someone was out to make trouble for you, I imagine that they would attack by suggesting that you have lingering longings and loyalties to Ferenginar. If that failed they might question the concept of a Ferengi raised on Qo'Nos. Tell me, Krem, is this purely a theoretical question, or is there something more behind it?"
"I've never been to Ferenginar" mumbled Krem into his drink as he took a sip. He put the drink down. "I was just pontificating really. I majored in welfare and social policy, a friend of mine asked me to come work for him when I have had enough of strafleet." He shrugged "not that I plan on leaving the fleet anytime soon."
Karen drained her glass. "That's alright then. There'd be no reason to stop you taking up a job if you ever get tired of the uniform," she told him.
"Have you got time for one more?" he asked politely, with a touch of nerves and embarrassment, as he indicated her empty glass
"Maybe a half," Karen grinned.
Krem was speechless for a moment, his mouth was slightly ajar from surprise, under normal circumstances Krem had found that the opposite sex would of used it as an excuse to go. He clammed his mouth shut and said "Wow really....Ok" he smiled. "I'll go get them" he got up enthusiastically. On his way to the bar he winced to himself as he realised he had just acted like a bit of a prat.
He was however soon back with two half pint glasses, filled with black sheep larger. "Here you go" he said passing her the drink. He striked the conversation up again. "What about you Karen you ever thought of life after fleet?"
"I'll probably lecture, or go back to the law full time," she replied accepting the glass. "It'll be a few years yet."
Krem smiled after taking a sip of his drink. "So is your own command on the agenda then? If so what posting would you fancy?"
"Now that's something I haven't thought of. I've got a nice job waiting for me at JAG HQ ... but if I was offered a command. Hell, I've no idea what I'd want," she said sincerely.
"I think you should give it some thought. You would make a brilliant CO." Said Krem with genuine sincerity. "And I've only just met you," he said with a little chuckle.
"That's probably why! I'm not sure its something that'll eve come my way, or that I'd want it if it did. Give me a court room and the chance to listen to the sound of my own voice."
A very interesting women, thought Krem to himself. A great personality, charming ambitious and more precious than latinum. Krem was not the most securest person when it came to talking with girls socially, in fact he found it very hard so his next words just sorted of blurted out. "So? Can I call you?"
"Sure," Karen replied with a shrug. It was nice to have someone else to talk to. "I should be getting on. Busy day tomorrow."
Krem nodded in agreement, desperately hoping that his Ferengi poker face was hiding his exultation and joy at one simple word; 'sure.' "I really hope to see you again soon Karen, maybe dinner sometime?"
"Gimme a buzz," Karen replied.
Off
Commander Karen Villiers
Executive Officer
&
Lieutenant Commander Krem
Played By:
Richard Dunham
by Commander Richard Dunham & Commander Karen Villiers
Post Details
| Title | Blind Date | |
| Mission | Judgement | |
| Author(s) | Commander Richard Dunham & Commander Karen Villiers | |
| Posted | Mon Feb 28, 2011 @ 8:54pm | |
| Location | Promenade by the railings | |
| Timeline | SD36 20:30 |
Rick had told him that he was going to meet his date here by the railings that ran around the upper deck of the promenade, securing people from falling into the shops below. Krem unconsciously straightened his uniform one more time. He was praying to what ever gods were listening that this blind date went better off than the last one. He straightened his uniform again and brushed away some dirt that was in fact not there. The ferengi gripped the railings, more to secure himself against nerves than anything else.
Karen was already there, in her customary spot, watching the rest of the inhabitants of the station live their lives. She wasn't sure why she had agreed to this. He wasn't going to be her type, she'd never met the guy ... what was she doing here?
Forget it! it was half a thought and half a mutter. Karen was going home. She pushed back from the railings and turned aside.
Bastard! Thought Krem to himself, he'd been no more than six feet away from this women for the last several minutes and she was a Commander! Not only had he almost missed her but she was a superior officer and a commander to boot! The only reason he had guessed this was the girl he was suppose to be seeing, was that she had been watching him out of the corner of her eyes. Bloody hell, what should he do!
"One drink, just one, then if you want to leave after, it will be no questions asked, what do you think?"
Karen looked down in response to the voice. A Ferengi, she'd forgotten that Dunham had set her up with a Ferengi. "One drink," she agreed, wondering if she was going to find herself trying to make her way through a single bath sized cocktail of gin, bitters and blood wine.
Krem spotted the bar he liked on the station, one that Rick had recommended to him. It was called the red lion. They headed in, and wen't to the bar, Krem got the attention of the bar tender and asked for a drink "I will have a black sheep please" he asked politely "What can i get for you.......?" Hell, he didn't actually know her name.
Did Krem genuinely like Black Sheep, or had Rick told him that she liked it? the lawyers innate sense of suspicion came into play immediately. "Same for me," Karen said. "Karen," she added.
"Really?" he said in genuine surprise. "Make that two please bar tender," the bar tender fed the pumps and poured the dark brown liquid into two pint glasses, then handed them over, Krem followed Karen to a booth after handing her her drink. They sat down, Krem looked about himself "nice place," he said conversationally. Come on Krem you can do better than that to make conversation "so...you're commander, are you the stations XO?"
Karen nodded. "And head of the local JAG detachment," she said as she wrapped her fingers around the glass. "Good stuff this, brewed by traditional methods on Earth. So what do you do?" she asked him.
Krem smiled in agreement "I'm second officer, on-board the USS Hagnon...." he smiled "and yes...I know, I visited the brewery in Masham North Yorkshire," he smiled again reminiscing a little. "I missed my first starfleet academy lecture, because I was taking the tour."
"Been there and done that," Karen grinned, "not the missing the lecture part, but the rest. What made you decide on Starfleet?" she asked, despite the earliest pioneer from Deep Space Nine it was still an unusual choice of career for a Ferengi.
"I was adopted......" Krem's life story was a little complicated, and more than once he wad bored people with it, so he decided to stick to the notes. ".....My father was the aid to the federation ambassador the the Klingon empire, my mother was an advisor to Klingon Defense Forces and I grew up on Qo'noS until I was thirteen, then my father got transfered to a starfleet starship were followed him....I joined because I loved it."
Karen scratched her temple. She tried to avoid applying stereotypes but what Krem told her not only bypassed those, but blew them out of the sky - an adopted Ferengi who grew up among Klingons and then joined Starfleet. "I'd never have guessed," she replied, not meaning it to sound sarcastic. "That's quite a background. I spent some time off world, Trill, Betazed and Romulus when my dad was posted there - he was a diplomat too. The rule was that the whole family went or he didn't, so it was quite an experience."
Krem smiled. "so we have something in common, both our fathers were diplomats." Krem took another sip of his drink. "What about you Karen..." he asked politely "...why did you join starfleet?"
"My Master's thesis caught their interest - Ethics and Exo-legalities – Examining the limitations on co-operation and common practice in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. I got the funding, and an intership in the JAG HQ. That was my first actual contact with Starfleet. After I was done, I decided I could practice law as well there as anywhere else, and have the chance to use my research. I started down the diplomatic route, but I prefer getting to my feet and talking my opponent into submission over subtle negotiation, so I went straight back to the law."
'submission over subtle negotiation,' she's more Ferengi than I am Thought Krem to himself with the humor in his inner monologue. "Yeah....I tried the diplomatic route to in my early starfleet career," Krem shrugged "It didn't work out." He was talking about himself again and that wasn't very polite of him so he moved the conversation back to her. "How long have you been XO of Deep Space Five?"
"Just a few weeks. I've got some insight into the unique diplomatic situation we have here," she might have said precarious, or incendiary, but the term she chose had fewer connotations. "Its a big station, and I don't think I've seen a quarter of it yet. What about you? Is it your first visit?"
"Second, but the first was only for a few hours," Krem reflected a moment on the 'diplomatic situation. "Is it true you've embassies for the Federation, Klingon, Romulan and Cardassain governments on this station?" He leaned forward in his chair, interested in what she was going to say.
"Its true," Karen admitted, those facts at least were listed in the station guide so she wasn't giving anything away. "The Romulans came first, a few years ago. They've kept themselves to themselves mostly even though they've a permanent presence here. Their latest Ambassador ... well, lets just say she has a knack of drawing attention to herself. We've a handful of lesser powers who came, then the Ferengi set up a base, and most recently the Klingons and that Cardassians have established a diplomatic presence." Karen paused for breath, "Its something of a hot potato."
Krem scratched his lobes, he was a little confused, but why? This is a Celestial Class Starbase, its role, is as a Military Waypoint and Resupply Facility. I don't understand why these governments would be here? Is it the location, or something about this staion....." he smiled "and more to the point you let Ferengi on board th station?" he chuckled it was a light hearted joke.
"If an alien power wants to set up a diplomatic base we view each request and if legitimate, we grant it. And once one is there, the rest come in. We can no more bar diplomatic representation than we can civillians, and remember that the vast majority of our population are civillian, not only on this starbase, but in the Federation as a whole."
Krem nodded in agreement "No truer words were said." Krem was an avid defended of Federation policy when it came to its democracy and people. It had been one of the reasons whay he had signed up. To protect its constitution
Karen took a sip of her ale, savouring the cold smooth feeling as it ran down her throat and warmed her stomach, "I sound like a Federation propaganda piece," she said. "As long as they keep themselves in line, they'll be welcome here," she added, keeping to herself that one or two of them were wearing out that welcome.
Krem laughed, "You never know, next you may end up with the Breen....or even the Tholian Assembly ringing on the door bell asking to stay. You're lucky its such a big station, you would start to run out of room." Krem took another sip of his drink, he emptied it, and Karen's was almost empty too. "Can I get you another....?"
"Sure," she said, "we should probably spread them around a bit though and not lump them all on deck sixty." The Romulans had dealt with that in their own way, they had funded the alterations that isolated their facility from the main corridors and gave access exclusively by two turbolifts. Karen did not yet know how they'd managed to swing that.
"Krem," she added, "can you get some nuts or something nibbly too?"
"Sure" he said flashing a smile, he got up and went to the bar to order two more pints and a packet of crisps, with some nuts as well. He brought the drinks over one in each hand, and unlike some other species, he did not have the extra hands to carry the nibbles so carried them in his teeth. He placed everything at the table, then settled down in his chair.
"So what do you do when you're not second officering?" Karen asked.
"Cricket" he said with a smile. He didn't really want to go into some of his other hobbies, tactical and security systems for starships or Targ hunting and free running. Then again, cricket probably made him sound like a snob.
"A team player," Karen said, ripping open the bag of crisps, "Sorry, I missed lunch," she continued finding it hard to imagine Krem in a crisp set of whites. "I always found it a great excuse to spend all day lounging around with a picnic, cricket I mean. I was a rower at University, took my place in the eight, but I've got to admit I preferred sculling on my own. Batter or bowler?" she asked, trying not to give in to her tendency to hijack conversations to talk about herself.
"Bowler, does sculling require a specialist kind of oar?" he asked with genuine interest.
Krem thought things seemed to be going well, he had not scared her off yet, though he felt he probably inevitably would, he never really had acquired the confidence nor the skill to keep up a conversation with the opposite sex for this long.
"Pair of oars, I prefer about 175 centimetre length, but its the technique that makes the difference."
Krem clamped down hard on his tongue, biting it with his mouth closed to prevent himself from passing some innuendo induced joke. Unfortunately; being a Ferengi he had rather sharp teeth, so the result was quite a large pain on the inside of his mouth, which he tried to hide by taking a sip of his drink. He moved on, "How many in your team." he asked conversationally.
"Mostly single, I also liked quads," she said, entirely unaware that her companion was wrestling with innuendo, "I've occasionally done eights, but its not my preference."
Change the subject Krem, before you bite your tongue off! Shouted the Ferengi to himself, as he had to clamp down on it again, he could swear he had tasted blood on his tongue. "So what other hobbies do you have, are they all fitness orientated?"
Karen took another sip. "I run, I also debate, or I did at Uni," she wiggled her glass, "I like decent ale, quite fond of drama too, but I'm not sure the XO joining the promenade Am Dram Soc would reflect well on Starfleet."
"Debate, interesting...." said Krem with genuine enthusiasm "I was a bit of a debater myself back at starfleet, got invited to a live debate in the Palais de la Concorde in Paris, what subjects did you like to debate in?"
"I'm a lawyer, I talk for a living; if I don't know my subject, I make it up and hope to talk faster than my opponent and if I can't," she said a little aggressively, "I turn around and rip his argument to pieces."
"Even if you were in the wrong?" asked Krem, wandering what her response would be, and trying to read her face for an answer before she gave it.
"Did you miss the bit where I said I was a lawyer?" she asked with a smirk, "If I'm arguing for fun then I might back down, but professionally ... no."
Krem reflected the smile with a smile of his own, he nodded in agreement, he had respect for somebody who stood there ground, maybe that was from his Klingon esk upbringing. "A fine quality to have Karen in ones professional role.....do you find yourself butting heads with any of your officers?"
"Oh, we're one big happy family," Karen said without a hint of irony.
"Impressive work Karen, especially with a family that big; 8440 Officers and 47600 Enlisted Officers let alone Marines and civilians, you got your work cut out for you, respect to you." he said toasting the commander by raising his pint glass in salute, "I couldn't do it."
Karen almost snorted as she raised her glass, indeed she probably did snort as it touched his, "One big happy family," she said, "even a lawyer can only keep a straight face for so long. There are always going to be tensions, you know the territory."
He did, and he didn't. Krem had served on starships his entire career, he loved the journey, the traveling and the exploring and on a starship; especially the long five year mission, schisms and cracks could be seen in a crew dynamic, but the crew compliment of a starship was much smaller than a space station, making it evolve differently in these sort of circumstances. "Sounds like you may need a bigger counseling staff for the station" said Krem with a smile and a chuckle, trying to throw a little light onto a slightly darker conversation.
"Its not all doom and gloom, you know. We're just like a big city - people coming and going, Its quite buzzy really."
"I'd never thought of it like that before." But with 1250 decks, a length of 5880 meters a width of 8910 meters, and a height of 5380 meters, it practically was a floating city in space, she was absolutely right. "No wonder you have not seen it all yet..." he paused in thought for a moment. "how much of the station is given over to marine operations?"
"Just two decks," Karen replied, "They mostly keep to themselves except when they're bringing business to the promenade ... mainly the bars for some reason."
Krem smiled, then looked about the bar. "This one?" he said, it was more of a rhetorical question, as looking about himself he could see only fleeter types and some civilians in the red lion. "So do you get much chance to have some fun around here?"
Karen shook her head, "Mainly the ones that offer more in the way of entertainment than watching a Tellarite bartender pull pints," she said referring to where the marine compliment tended to go. "As to me, there's enough to do."
"Work taking over your life?" It was a frank question, and perhaps; reflected Krem a slightly rude one, but it was better than the alternative which was his other question; is your work your life.
"The job doesn't go away at the end of a shift, Krem," Karen explained, "If I down tools like that things'll never get done."
"The JAG side of the job, or the XO side of the Job." Krem was trying to get his head around this, he didn't understand, and that probably conveyed in his look. He was starfleet officer too, ok, not a an XO, but a second officer on board a starship, but he managed not take the work home with him.
"Both. In a station this size its inevitable, unless you're happy to let standards slip. Unexpected things don't often happen on a starship - here, where we have so many civilians and visitors the unexpected happens all the time."
"Hmmmmm" said Krem thoughtfully, "Remind me never to take a station posting." he said understandingly.
"Its not everyone's pint of beer," Karen replied, "and a lot of fairly thankless hard work. But its fun."
Krem smiled and nodded in agreement. "And thats what counts Karen, as long as your having fun in your work." He proffered his glass again for a toast. "Live the life you love. Love the life you live."
With a smile Karen raised her own glass and as they clinked she said, "A good philosophy!"
Krem chuckled a little "A Klingon one my mother use to tell me....its a bit modified as well, the full Klingon version kind of refers to live, life and love, as honour and war, or some such thing."
"See, I've never put 'Klingons' and 'fun' together. Still, I enjoy what I do."
"I'm happy to hear that. But still Klingons can be fun, you know if you get the chance you should visit the Klingon embassy a few days, I'm sure they will be having a hell of a party to celebrate/commemorate the Emperor."
"Really? What's the occasion?" she asked with genuine interest. She was familiar enough with Klingon law but it was possible that Krem was correct - that there was more to them than endless boasting and loud declarations of how 'honourable' they were.
"The birthday of Kahless the Unforgettable, not to be mistaken with the birthday of Kahless, Son of Kahless; the clone, which some priests recognize as an official holiday as well. Its a great event, whole day of celebration and ceremony. Its a spiritual day, fueled by fast amounts of alcohol."
"Kahless seems to be a popular name," Karen observed wryly, "I'm sure that will cause a few surprises for us."
"Well he was....is the emperor of the Klingon Empire, its probably going to cause few surprises for us." He smiled and shrugged as he took another sip of his drink. Some days Klingon politics was more convoluted more shady and more machiavellian then the Romulan senate. But only on a bad day, unlike Romulan politics, which was everyday.
Karen chuckled, "I'll look into it. It'll be an experience, if nothing else, and I'll also make sure security are on alert," she said, "just in case."
"just in case," said Krem empathetically with a smile. He took another sip of his drink. He has a sudden thought. "Hows your federation charter and constitutional law?"
"If it wasn't sound they wouldn't have given me the JAG job," Karen replied. "Any reason?"
Krem sucked in some air as he formulated what he was going to say, he leaned back in his chair as he began to speak. "I'm a starfleet officer, with dual citizenship in both the Empire and the Federation, yet because I was adopted, I wasn't born on a home world, what complications would this cause me on the federation political stage?"
Karen pursed her lips as she considered the question. "The fact that you were formally adopted should be enough to give you citizenship. There are other examples of serving Starfleet Officers having dual citizenship without trouble - Worf is the one that immediately springs to mind. If someone was out to make trouble for you, I imagine that they would attack by suggesting that you have lingering longings and loyalties to Ferenginar. If that failed they might question the concept of a Ferengi raised on Qo'Nos. Tell me, Krem, is this purely a theoretical question, or is there something more behind it?"
"I've never been to Ferenginar" mumbled Krem into his drink as he took a sip. He put the drink down. "I was just pontificating really. I majored in welfare and social policy, a friend of mine asked me to come work for him when I have had enough of strafleet." He shrugged "not that I plan on leaving the fleet anytime soon."
Karen drained her glass. "That's alright then. There'd be no reason to stop you taking up a job if you ever get tired of the uniform," she told him.
"Have you got time for one more?" he asked politely, with a touch of nerves and embarrassment, as he indicated her empty glass
"Maybe a half," Karen grinned.
Krem was speechless for a moment, his mouth was slightly ajar from surprise, under normal circumstances Krem had found that the opposite sex would of used it as an excuse to go. He clammed his mouth shut and said "Wow really....Ok" he smiled. "I'll go get them" he got up enthusiastically. On his way to the bar he winced to himself as he realised he had just acted like a bit of a prat.
He was however soon back with two half pint glasses, filled with black sheep larger. "Here you go" he said passing her the drink. He striked the conversation up again. "What about you Karen you ever thought of life after fleet?"
"I'll probably lecture, or go back to the law full time," she replied accepting the glass. "It'll be a few years yet."
Krem smiled after taking a sip of his drink. "So is your own command on the agenda then? If so what posting would you fancy?"
"Now that's something I haven't thought of. I've got a nice job waiting for me at JAG HQ ... but if I was offered a command. Hell, I've no idea what I'd want," she said sincerely.
"I think you should give it some thought. You would make a brilliant CO." Said Krem with genuine sincerity. "And I've only just met you," he said with a little chuckle.
"That's probably why! I'm not sure its something that'll eve come my way, or that I'd want it if it did. Give me a court room and the chance to listen to the sound of my own voice."
A very interesting women, thought Krem to himself. A great personality, charming ambitious and more precious than latinum. Krem was not the most securest person when it came to talking with girls socially, in fact he found it very hard so his next words just sorted of blurted out. "So? Can I call you?"
"Sure," Karen replied with a shrug. It was nice to have someone else to talk to. "I should be getting on. Busy day tomorrow."
Krem nodded in agreement, desperately hoping that his Ferengi poker face was hiding his exultation and joy at one simple word; 'sure.' "I really hope to see you again soon Karen, maybe dinner sometime?"
"Gimme a buzz," Karen replied.
Off
Commander Karen Villiers
Executive Officer
&
Lieutenant Commander Krem
Played By:
Richard Dunham