=/\= Mess Hall =/\=
Athena had been walking by one of the mess halls when a
fragrant smell made her stomach growl. {The place is quite
busy.} Her trey held french onion soup with some crusty
bread, a sandwich that was loaded with turkey and bacon,
provolone cheese, lettuce, onions and guacamole and an ice
tea with lemon. {Where to sit.... an empty chair ... who
would I be sharing a table with perhaps.... uummm...
Dexter.} She walked over to where the man was sitting by
himself and asked, "Mind if I join you?"
Dexter was about to start his shift {Damn, I need to report
to the COPS} and decided to have some little meal before
duty. He entered the first mess hall on the way from his
quarters to the bridge and got a fine smelling tuna salad.
Like usual, there was no company for his, so he devoured his
meal all alone … until … the well-known Athena
Wellington came to his table.
"Erm .." he staggered with his mouth full, "well …
of course, yes … you're welcome. Commander" he managed
to say at last.
"Thank you," Athena said as she sat down.
There were two complexes that Dexter was suffering from.
First was the bad luck in duty matters. He was a member of
the Chimera for several years … in fact he served even on
Chimera-A … and for this or other reason, he was
overlooked with a promo … being only a meager LtJg. He
dreamed to become the CTAC in time, but all he's got was
AOPS … The second point was his (even worse) bad luck with
women. In his 28 years, he had no girlfriend and was
generally believed to be boring by the womanhood on board.
"How's your meal," Athena asked before tasting her soup.
{HHHmmm.... that hits the spot.}
"It's good, good" Dexter said swiftly, not really
answering her question but rather agreeing. He would say the
same even when asked how was his last waste disposal duty.
"And yours?" he asked not really realizing that Athena
did not start eating yet.
"Well... the soup is tasty... but its the only thing I've
tried so far. Are you ok? Do I make you nervous," she
asked as she observed his lack of eye contact and sensed his
unease.
"Huh" Dexter said a bit startled, "is it that
obvious?" he asked. He paused for a moment, gathering his
thoughts before saying: "To be honest Commander, it's
not very common that high ranking officers sit with me at
one table and women even less. You're both of that and I
ask myself what I have done wrong to earn your attention
…"
She smiled and laughed a bit; then motioned around the room,
"There really wasn't much of a choice. Besides just because
it isn't common doesn't mean it can't ever happen. Don't be
afraid to live life." She reached her hand across the table
and touched his arm making what she was saying even more
personal.
"I mean" he said, "that the last time a Commander
talked to me I was told that despite the time I worked in
operations, I shall not become Chief ops, but a fresh
transfer will get that position and the time before I was
told by the Captain that I have to leave tactical" He
paused, "so I wonder what will happen to me now …"
"Take a risk to be a little different ... work outside that
little boxed you put yourself in... You might be surprised
at the results," Athena offered with a smile of reassurance.
"Now tell me something would you be happier somewhere else
or are you truly happy here?" Athena sensed that her new
question didn't put him any more at ease. "Answer
truthfully, now," she urged.
"I … I do not complain, Commander" Dexter replied
carefully "and I follow my orders regardless of my
personal feeling". Sounded the text-book answer of a true
and narrow Starfleet officer.
"That's not exactly the honest answer I asked for... so
which department do you prefer more," Athena asked.
He did not want to sound too ambitious so he said nothing at
first: "Well, if you insist … to be honest, well …
then I must say that I enjoyed tactical more then
operations. I know that there are some positions free in
that department …" he left the sentence unfinished.
There was a special position free in tactical – Chief
Tactical Officer, but such a position was beyond his grasp
… but not dreams.
"Would you like me to say something to the captain," she
asked and continued, "because if you take the time to make a
request for a change ... I'll tell the captain what I
think."
Dexter looked at Athena with mixed feelings. She made him
believe she is more or less on his side and that she wants
nothing bad to him. On the other side … drawing on one the
attention of your Captain was never a good idea … one
could easily end on waste disposal duty …
Not wanting to sound like a coward, Dexter nodded at last:
"That might be a good idea, Commander. I'll send a
transfer request to the Captain. Thank you"
====== End of log ======
Commander Athena Wellington
Counselor
USS Chimera – C
&
LtJg. Martin Dexter
Assistant Operations Officer
USS Chimera – C
