Once Upon a Midnight Dreary

Posted on Sun Mar 3rd, 2024 @ 5:25am by Lieutenant Commander Kevin Lance
Edited on on Sun Mar 3rd, 2024 @ 5:30am

Mission: Starbase 364
Location: Starbase 364
Timeline: Current

on:
{Visiting Officer’s Quarters, Starbase 364}

Kevin was awakened by the station’s red alert. Instantly alert, he rolled over in the enormous bed that dominated the master bedroom of his quarters, and grabbed his PADD. Blinking his eyes into focus he read that the Chuck Norris had not issued a recall of personnel. This alert was likely a drill by the station’s commander. Lacking any official duties on the station, he put the PADD back on the bedside table and rolled back over.

To help himself get back to sleep, he let his thoughts drift back to the date with Mira. Considering it had been a double date and etiquette required that he be sociable with the other couple, he and Mira had found ample opportunity for the little intimacies that made their second date very pleasurable. He had especially enjoyed dancing with Mira, the way she had moved with grace and had felt as he held her in his arms. Their after dinner walk in the arboretum had been similarly pleasurable and he had been more than content to allow Mira to indulge in as many kisses as she desired.

It was with some discontent that he had parted with her after kissing her goodnight at the door of her quarters. He had sensed that she had wanted more but he felt constrained by thoughts of Kera from exploring that possibility. He had no obligation to Kera. They had mutually agreed that their relationship was over when his assignment to the diplomatic mission was at an end. Seeking greater physical intimacy with Mira wouldn’t be cheating by any measure. Kevin just felt that he couldn’t begin greater intimacy with Mira until he had told her about his past with Kera. And that was a conservation that he wasn’t ready to have.

It was silly. Mira had freely shared her past romantic connections and Kevin couldn’t imagine that she would have any real issues with his own with Kera. But a knot in his stomach spoke of the anxiety that he felt of sharing that information with anyone, even Mira. He tossed from one side to the other and punched at the pillow to mold it in a more comfortable shape.

“Having trouble getting back to sleep, Lieutenant Commander?”

Kevin’s eyes snapped open and he sat up in the bed as he looked for the statement’s source. In the shadows, he discerned a human male. “Computer, lights,” he ordered but the bedroom remained dark.

“Now is not the time of a ‘face-to-face”,” the man said.

Kevin started to get out of the bed when the man warned, “Please stay where you are at. I would hate to have to shoot you. Especially when the relationship with your little Trill is starting to flower.”

Kevin gripped the bed covers in his fists but he remained where he was at. “What do you want?”

‘Right now,” the man replied, “nothing more than to meet you. We have a mutual acquaintance, Admiral Desai.”

The assistant chief of Star Fleet Investigation Division had covered-up any official record of Kevin’s duel with the Andorian delegate over the latter’s attempted rape of the executive officer. At the time, Desai had indicated that there would be a price. Was it now time to pay up?

“Acquaintance might be too strong a word,” the man confessed, “Colleagues might be better as we both have the same boss. Anyways, the Admiral has made aware of the debt that you owe him. We have need, from time to time, for a man with your skill set. I expect that I will be calling on you in the future for your assistance.”

“And if I refuse,” Kevin challenged.

“You really won’t want to do that,” the man frowned, “I am sure that you wouldn’t want certain…irregularities with your academy admission to come to light.” Kevin’s blood ran cold at the implication. “Ah, there it is,” the man continued, “Rest easy, Lieutenant Commander, as long as our interest align, you have nothing to fear.”

Kevin only glowered at the man.

“Go back to sleep,” the man said before he disappeared from the bedroom, “I will be in touch.”

:off

Lieutenant Commander Kevin Lance
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Chuck Norris