Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Posted on Thu Sep 13th, 2018 @ 12:48am by Commander Rita Paris & Captain Enalia Telvan & Lieutenant Commander Thex sh'Zoarhi & Lieutenant Samuel Clemens XV

Mission: Holographic Horrors
Location: USS Hera, Deck 8, Captain's Table
Timeline: 2395

Plans had been made, the stage was set and the curious captain had set wheels in motion to bring about a desired change. All that remained was for those players to play their parts. Tapping her comm badge, Lieutenant Commander Rita Paris called out. “Paris to Lieutenant Commander sh'Zoarhi. Please report to my office.” Tapping it again, she repeated the message. “Paris to Lieutenant Clemens. Please report to my office immediately.”

‘Report immediately’ was seldom a good sign, she knew, but she wanted the colorful assistant engineer to move with a purpose. After all, it wouldn’t do to keep the Captain waiting.

It wasn't long before the sapphire engineer had made her way to deck four, the flight control office that Paris still used as her office rather than using the XO’s ready room off the bridge. The flight control office had a better view and far more room, and even with the promotion Rita saw no reason the change venues. Stepping through the door the Andorian engineer smiled at her friend. “Need me for something, Rita?" She asked politely.

Looking up, Paris rose to greet the cerulean-skinned miracle worker. A smile lit up her face as it so often did, particularly upon sighting her diminutive partner in crime. “Thanks for coming on short notice, Thex. Captain called a meeting, we’re to dine at the Captain’s Table. We're just waiting for our other dinner companion now."

Before the word 'now' had finished echoing off the walls, the office door flew open, and Lieutenant Samuel Langhorne Clemens the Twenty-Fifth walked through the door, in a poster-perfect uniform, a PADD under his arm. He came to a halt, and his heels actually *CLICKED*, as they came together. His hair was...tidy. His moustache was heavily-waxed and far more under control than in any previous encounter. It was unnerving.

"Lieutenant Samuel Clemens, reportin' as ordered, Ma'am!"

A wide grin split the face of the first officer as she leaned her miniskirted ass on her desk and crossed her arms beneath her abundant bosom. "Well don't you clean up well! Call you on the carpet and you show up dressed for dinner."

Shoving off from her desk with her rear, Paris started off in motion, headed for the door assuming the other officers were in tow. "Come on you lot- we've a summons to the Captain's table and we're already late."

The Moustachioed Missouri Martinet gave a quick nod, pivoted like a piece of machinery, and whisked his way out of the office, like he'd been tethered, following the Beautiful Blonde Boss. Thex fell in step with the others- while her llegs were a bit shorter, she hustled to keep up.

Marching through the Hera to the turbolift was actually a short walk- unsurprising considering how much room the flight deck took up in the saucer section. Tabbing the button, Paris kept her back to her two shipmates until the lift arrived. Stepping in, she looked up and asked, "Deck 8, officer country please?"

The brief ride passed in silence, and when the doors opened, Rita Paris marched along at that martial gate she exercised so frequently until they had reached the bow, where to port were the captain's quarters, and to starboard was the captain's table. Striding up to the door, Paris tabbed the chime.

As the door opened, Enalia and Maica were both there to greet their guests. "Welcome!" they both said simultaneously, ushering them all into the retro twenty first themed lounge. They were both dressed in matching outfits, Maica in a red Chinese dress and Enalia in a red Chinese pants suit cut identically.

"Please, right this way," Maica prompted as she guided their guests towards the main table. "I've prepared a lovely meal for us today and I hope you all love it. With such varied tastes I've gone with a page from the Cantonese book from Earth and prepared a multitude of buffet dishes on a castilian suzanne table for your dining pleasure. I've also prepared both spiked rose lemonade and spiced Atlivan tea for a variety of flavors."

Enalia just smiled brightly and helped guide everyone in to their seats. It may have been a bit heavy handed, getting everyone in like this so suddenly, but dinner was waiting. Taking a look around, she made sure the view of the old Hong Kong night cityscape was perfect, as well as the lounge bar that had been added. The holographic waiters started bringing out the drinks and filling the glasses and teacups so she figured now was a good time to get started.

"Welcome everyone. Sorry for the late notice. There's a bit of business that needs to be discussed though and it's something I'd prefer to discuss over a meal. On top of that, it's been a while since we've had a dinner party." Enalia waited until everyone else had taken their seats and sat down as well. "Shall we enjoy our drinks a bit before dinner first?"

The shined-up secret spymaster smiled brilliantly in response, and noted, "Captain Enal'yah, Madame Maica, ah'm honuh'd t'dine at yoah luv'ly establishment. Y'all're thuh pictchuh uv grace an' b'yooteh. Many thanks foah th'hospitaliteh."

Rita took her time, taking in the view of old Hong Kong. It wasn't the way that she remembered it, but it was her homeworld. Over the years she had taken that for granted, but now, surrounded by aliens, a little touch of home was very welcome. "See, I didn't know if you were going to come at this all differently so I just played it aloof. I've got to get better at predicting you, Captain. And I must admit, it was very thoughtful for you to set the scene and cuisine as earth, ma'am. I appreciate a little touch of home."

As he sipped on his lemonade, making an appreciative noise, Clemens was quite busy being impressed by the sheer expertise in holographic technology that it must have taken to craft such a splendid and realistic venue. The quality of the emitters was better than anything he'd seen deployed on Starfleet vessels that weren't specifically built for such purposes. The Commodore had mentioned one of his projects, once- he referred to it as a 'repliship'- that utilized emitters at this resolution in combination with miniturized replicator panels to make a self-configuring ship, but the way he'd talked about it, it seemed almost like a tall tale. Clearly, he hadn't been just bragging.

Thex wasn't saying much as she sipped on her drink enjoying the holo setting. She'd never been to honk kong in any form though she enjoyed watching the light dancing across the water as the ships passed by. "You've both done amazing work with this setting." She said turning to look at her hosts.

Lowering herself gracefully into her seat, smoothing out her short skirt as she did so, Rita Paris shared a smile around the table. "So, business first, Captain?"

"Yes, I suppose so," Enalia nodded and waved to the mustachioed man with them. "With the influx of new personnel, yourself included, a few new assignments were bound to go awry. The Intel Chief we were assigned, due to some... Unforeseen circumstances... Will be unable to join us. So I'm assigning you as Chief of Intel. We're currently pretty down in the department, but if you have any questions, try and track down Crewman Dedjoy. She knows your systems better than anyone else on the ship now."

With a bushy eyebrow raised, the mustachioed mandarin of mendacity answered, without irony, "Oh! Ah'm terribleh sorreh t'heah of this misfoahtune! Uv coahse, Captain, Ah am, as always, atchya suhvice." He paused for a beat, nodded, and added, "Y'all've treated me with endless kindness and welcohm ahms, and 'tis an honuh t'suhv aboahd th'Hera in any capac'ty ah kin be of use."

“Sorry to steal your sidekick, Thex,” Rita joked, nudging the Andorian engineer’s shoulder. “Big guy like this woulda only slowed you down, right?”

The big guy in question rapidfire-quipped back, with that Clemens Twinkle, "Ah, yer right! She can git where mah moustache would surely get stuck!"

Maica giggled softly at that reference. "It certainly is a magnificent mustache. Shall we move on to the meal then? I've prepared an Earth and Trill asiatic style meal. Just spin the center of the table and help yourself." Clapping her hands twice, she spurred the holographic waiters into action. As they set the plates and silverware before the guests, they brought out over a dozen dishes of fried, grilled, and steamed meat and veggies from both Trill and Earth served with a variety of brown and red sauces. There were even a couple dishes served on crushed ice. "The iced eggplant steak should be at just the right temperature and the leafa chicken might be a bit spicy, so watch out."

Upon hearing of the spiciness, Rita chimed in. "Sounds like that ought to be the warning label for the Hera, eh?"

That got the dinner party off with a laugh, and it set the tone for the night. Good food, a few laughs and little time spent together amongst the crew of the USS Hera.