Three Blind Mice: Part II

Posted on Mon Aug 14th, 2023 @ 10:44pm by Lieutenant Alula Beru & Lieutenant Commander Andrew "Drew" Chandler & Captain Dr. Nairut Noxi & Lieutenant JG Jenny Goldstein
Edited on on Wed Aug 16th, 2023 @ 8:22pm

4,541 words; about a 23 minute read

Mission: https://www.uss-deliverance.starfleetuk.org/index.php/sim/missions/id/1
Location: DS9: Quark's
Timeline: Pre-arrival of USS Deliverance
Tags: Noxi, Beru, Drew, Rachel

Jenny's table was upstairs, looking down on the main bar area of Quark's: she suddenly heard the voice of one of the Ferengi who ran the place reply to a question in a guttural tone. "Table in the name of Goldstein? Sure, she's upstairs, right this way!" Jenny suddenly felt the need to move her drink into a slightly different position on the table, then she sat up and tried to look friendly. She was aware that her friendly face sometimes looked more 'manic', so she put the teeth away and tried for a more demure smile as the Ferengi brought the other woman up the stairs.

Alula entered Quarks Bar wearing casual white linen capri pants, a pale blue loose fitting tank w/ tiny embroidered daisies under a light tan cardigan sweater and a pair of sandals. She stopped at the hostess station to inquire about their reservation and was lead upstairs by Quark himself. As she approached the table she saw a brunette shuffling around her drink and grinning, then suddenly changing to a closed-mouth smile. Alula thought it was sweet as the junior grade Lieutenant looked to be a little nervous.

Jenny's heart sank as she realised how dumb she'd been turning up in her uniform. What a schmutz! Now she'd made the whole thing seem like a staff meeting, rather than a casual drinkies. Still, the lady looked friendly enough, that was sure a relief. But was this Lt. Beru or Doctor Noxi? 'Doctor Noxi' that sure was a funny sounding name.

She walked up to the table, put her hand out, gave the woman her best widest friendliest smile, hoping to put her at ease, and said, “You must be Jenny! I’m Alula Beru, soon to be the ships Chief Engineer.” She slid into the seat across from Jenny and turned to Quark, “ I’ll have a Cardassian Sunrise and can we get an order of Jumja Sticks? I’m starving!”

Ladies were meant to shake hands sitting down, that what her Ma always told her, but Jenny stood: it was respectful as well as friendly. She sat down a little dazed, this woman was direct and forthright, certainly knew what she wanted... something called 'JumboStix' or something, whatever they were.

Alula turned to Jenny, “Have you ever had them? They are delicious! Sticky and sweet. I could eat them all day long! But then again, I have a real sweet tooth problem!” She laughed at herself as Quark walked away shaking his head, mumbling, “Women….”

"No... I... no, they must be the only sticky, sweet thing I never tried, I certainly tried everything else!" Jenny admitted. She was about to ask if they were a delicacy from Bajor or the Engineer's home planet, but kept quiet: she couldn't be sure where this woman's home planet was: she looked like she belonged no Federation race that Jenny had ever come across.

She crossed her legs and leaned back in her chair, relaxing into the bar’s atmosphere, “Thank you for inviting me to lunch. I feel a little guilty I have not thought to reach out to anyone since arriving. I’ve been pouring over the ship’s systems and schematics non-stop! What have you been doing since you arrived?”

"Er, yeah, same." True, but only after she got bored of everything else. "A little shopping, too, I guess: there's a boutique across the way... not much my size, though. So... uniform." Jenny indicated her own garb. "You look wonderful" she complimented the other officer "I bet you don't have any difficulty finding clothes to fit, you've got a terrific figure."

Noxi was next into Quarks. She was used to Quarks; she had been to DS9 several times during her career and was even stationed there for a time. PLUS...her family was part of the Bajorans who'd built the original Cardassian structure. She smiled at Lek, the Ferengi who was the usual host with his pal Quark. He recognized her quickly. "Ah, Ms. Johnson..." Noxi shook her head. "No, Nairut. We...split up awhile ago," she said. "I am meeting two ladies for lunch....Goldstein, I believe, is the name?! She was led up the stairs. She was wearing a more casual outfit-she didn't have duty, after all, so she wore jeans that were rolled at the ankle, black flats, and a pink blouse. Her brown hair was pulled back. She only had her traditional earring in her right ear, but her nose ridges were highlighted in blue. She'd gone home for a day, and her mom had given her some of the traditional makeup they used-"to catch a man," as if THAT'S what Noxi wanted to do. "I can show myself, Lek, thanks," she said, but clambered up the stairs quickly. The other two women weren't hard to spot-DS9 had it's regulars, and besides, one of the women was in uniform.

"Hello. I presume you're Lieutenants Goldstein and Baru. Dr. Nairut," she said. She sat the glass of wine she'd ordered down and then smiled.

Jenny jumped up to greet her, as the 'hostess': she supposed that having organized this, that was her role. "Hey there. I'm Jenny Goldstein, this is Lieutenant Baru." she grinned, all teeth. She frowned, "Oh, so it's Doctor Nairut!? I've been thinking of you as Doctor Noxi! So, is that a Bajoran name?" A pretty dumb question, but small talk was always difficult when you first met someone. Unlike the exotic looking Beru, she felt that she was on safe ground with the doctor, who possessed the distinctive nose ridges of the natives of the local planet.

Noxi nodded. "Yes, I am Bajoran," she said. "But you can call me Noxi; my ex husband was Human and he could never get the hang of our social rules and just called everyone by our first names," she said, "And I truly don't mind." She said, settling down. "Thank you for the invite. It's always nice to get to know your crew mates before launch," she said.

Drew entered Quark's with a PADD in hand. He looked up from the PADD to see a server circulating the bar. He made a slight gesture to the stairs to the balcony. "One Risan white wine and one Trakian ale if you could please. I'll take it upstairs."

The Bajoran serving girl nodded with a nod and a smile. "Coming right up Mister Chandler."

Drew resumed perusing his PADD as he mounted the stairs and found a table along the balcony. He sat down at a table next to one with a trio of females, his eyes still focused on the PADD.

Jenny nudged her companions.

"Say ladies: I know I pitched this as a girls only thing but will you look at that poor guy on the next table? He looks kinda lonely, sitting there with his little PADD and all. Do you think we should ask him if her wants to join us?" she said. He didn't just look lonely, he looked pretty handsome, too, but she kept that to herself.

Noxi shrugged. "I don't mind; if he can handle it." She said, a wicked smile spreading across her face.

Alula chuckled at Noxi’s comment and shook her head good-naturedly, “Sure! Why not! He’s part of the Deliverance’s crew. Might as well introduce ourselves!” She tugged on Jenny’s arm and pulled her closer. Whispering in her ear she said, “Call out to him and then say this: Are you a bank loan? Because you have my interest!” She giggled egging her on to do it!

"No-wuh!" Jenny shook her head, laughing too. "He might be married. I'll just ask him normally. And I'm going to have to watch you!" She took her word for it, though, that the bearded man was going to be on the same ship as themselves. She stood up and walked the small space to the next table.

"Excuse me, Sir." she started "Are you an officer on the Deliverance, because my friends and I are going to be sailing on that ship, too." She waited to see what his reaction was before she invited him to join them. He might be as grumpy as he was dishy.

Drew looked up from his PADD to the young woman. He gave a brief glance towards Noxi and Alula before returning his gaze to Jenny. He stood up and offered his right hand. "Andrew Chandler. Strategic Operations Officer for Deep Space Nine. How can I be of service?"

"Oh!" she shot Alula a frown and turned back to the bearded hunk. "Somebody told me you were on the Deliverance crew, I guess I got it wrong." she stammered, feeling like a complete nincompoop.

Drew gave a nod of his head, along with a friendly smile. "Well, I won’t be assigned to the USS Deliverance, but I am going to be on attached duty as Mission Advisor until Captain Larson is brought up to speed on the situation with the local governments in this region of space."

Noxi looked at Arula, and then turned around. "She wants to invite you to sit with us," she said. "She thinks you're good looking," she said. She turned back, a wicked smile on her face, and sipped her wine before shrugging. Sometimes, you had to be crystal clear with men. No matter the race or species, they were dumb.

Drew was stunned by Noxi’s comment. He was not only rendered speechless, but he immediately started blushing. His mouth opened and closed several times but no words were forthcoming.

Alula bit into a Jumja Stick just as Jenny turned and shot her a frown. She left it in her mouth, put her hands, palms up, in front of her, managed a sheepish smile through the sticky treat and shrugged her shoulders as if to say, Oops! She retrieved the stick and continued to bite down as she smirked at Noxi’s remark.

“Crystal!," Alula said in amicable agreement, then nervously realized Noxi didn’t actually say her opinion out loud, but thought it. Alula was part Romulan, which gave her some psionic ability. Unfortunately, being crossed w/ Trill, her abilities were a bit….haywire. Sometimes she could hear a person’s thought or feel their emotions, but it came and went. Completely unpredictable, her doctor had said. That, and learn to live w/ it.

Hoping Noxi didn’t notice, Alula quickly polished off the rest of the Jumja, and wiped the long bamboo shard off w/ her napkin. Pulling her long blonde hair up into a messy bun, she then jabbed the stick through it to hold her hair in place. Giggling she said, “Is it getting hot in here or is it just them?”

She picked up her drink and took a long satisfying sip. Setting it down she lifted the plate of Jumja Sticks and offered it to Noxi, “ I’m sorry. Where are my manners. Please have one.”

Noxi smiled. "Of all of our cultural foods, Jumja stick is one I like the least," she said, shaking her head no. "But thank you for the offer," she said. She didn't mind it IN things-Jujma tea was one of her favorite drinks, iced with a bit of lemon, but the stick by itself reminded her of chewing spicy cardboard. "My mother used to give it us when we were sick, when I was a child," she said.

Rachel Chandler had arrived at Quark's perhaps a minute after her brother. She had converged at the bottom of the stairs to the balcony with the serving girl and offered to carry the drinks the rest of the way. She had stopped as she spotted a young woman speaking with her brother and watched in amusement until she felt it necessary to not only rescue her brother, but also the young lady standing with him.

Rachel sauntered the rest of the way up the stairs and over to Drew. She handed him his mug of Trakian ale and took a sip of her wine before speaking. "Drew. Care to introduce me to your friends?"

Noxi turned around at the sound of a new, female voice. Interesting change of pace...was this the wife? Girlfriend? Sister? Mother? She had to know.

Alula leaned forward in her seat, just as interested as Noxi in this newcomer. She smiled at the alluring woman standing next to Drew.

"Oh, er, I'm not his friend, I'm... I'm not hitting on him if you're worried about that... I mean your husband's very handsome but, I mean, I was just, er..." Jenny was in a tizzy, she assumed that this must be the man's wife and she had just walked in to find some plump hussy trying to chat up her spouse! And, of course, that's just what she had been doing!

Drew finally found his voice as he shook his head. "This is Rachel...my sister."

Jenny felt relieved, in more ways than one.

Ah, there it was. Noxi opened her mouth again. "Come join us, won't you? It's rude to say no," she said. "We were just telling Drew here that Jen thinks that he's cute, and to come sit with us," she said.

Poor Jenny was speechless and only signalled her confusion by turning even redder than she already was. At the same time, she sort of enjoyed him knowing.

Alula lifted her plate of Jumja Sticks towards them, saying, “Yes, please. Join us!” She was starting to feel like the spokeswoman for the gooey treat, but her father taught her to always be hospitable.

Rachel smiled at the group of women and nodded. "We would be honored to join you, but we'll need more room I think." She glanced at Drew and gestured to his table. "Help me slide the tables together so there's room for everyone to sit together."

"Are we allowed to do that?" asked Jenny, always the worry-bucket.

Drew looked at Rachel and gave a silent sigh before helping his sister shift the table and chairs to make room for everyone. He finally took a seat at the combined tables and took a long pull from his drink.

Noxi chuckled. "Careful with that, Commander, it's not Synthol," she said. "I don't want to see you in my Sickbay, dehydrated and hungover, day before we launch."

Drew gave Noxi a wan smile. "No worries Doctor. I was only planning on having the one."

Noxi shrugged, but sipped at her own drink. She wasn't on duty today-that'd start tomorrow, and the Station staff were currently clearing out the med bay so she could move in. "No judgements from me, just a friendly reminder."

Rachel looked about the table. "So Drew has introduced himself and me. May I inquire as to who we are sharing drinks and tables with?"

"That's Doctor Noxi and this is Lieutentant Beru" Jenny did the introductions "I'm Jenny Goldstein and you're Rachel and Drew. Oh, that kinda rhymed, how embarrassing. Don't worry, I don't write poetry. We had a guy wrote poetry on my last ship and it drove us all nuts." Jenny chattered away ten-to-the-dozen, the way she always did when she was in social situation and nervous. She took a sip of her drink through a curly-wurly straw and it made a horrible slurping noise.

"Ooops, sorry! So, you in the fleet, Rachel?" Jenny asked.

Rachel gave Jenny a friendly and reassuring smile. 'She does seem to like Drew. It's not just her friends having a bit of fun with her', she thought. "No, I am a teacher at the school. Though I have been thinking of a career change now that Ashley, my niece, is getting ready to start high school." She took a sip of her wine as she took one of the offered Jumja sticks.

Jenny wondered why someone's niece becoming more independent would particularly release them from being tied to static job, maybe she cared for her. It never occurred to her that said kid might belong to the brother sitting here. She didn't want to say the wrong thing, so she just nodded her understanding.

"I gather you're in Starfleet. What area of expertise?"

"Ha! 'Expertise', yeah!" laughed Jenny, self-depreciatingly "Well, I started off as an astrophysicist, but everybody on starships ends up being a generalist after a little while. When the Skipper tells you to analyze a pesky space caterpillar who's eating his way through the hull of your ship like a lettuce leaf, you can't tell her 'Sorry Ma'am, I'm a physicist not a biologist'."

Alula laughed out loud agreeing w/ Jenny, “It’s so true! I’m in the Engineering Department. We work on sophisticated systems w/ endless bio-circuitry. We balance the annihilation of matter and antimatter in a fusion reaction mediated by dilithium crystals. We maintain the intricate plexus that converts a person into an actual energy pattern-sends it somewhere else and then reconverts it back into matter!! But when the XO comes to you saying that the water pump in his fish tank is clogged, I can’t say, “Sorry Sir, I’m an Engineer, not a Plumber!”

Noxi chuckled lightly. "Or, when you get to be my age, you simply don't care, and pitch in wherever you're needed. I actually started at the Academy as a science officer, then switched to medicine. You learn where you fit in," she said. She was forty-five, though she felt younger than her age, but her own child was nearly as old as these people! Benny would laugh at this.

Rachel turned to Alula and chuckled with a nod. "I know what you mean. I have been teaching mathematics, language and reading, sciences to young children for better than five years now. My minor in college was education. Didn't think it would be what I would be employed as."

"Well, I, for one, was always grateful for the schools on ships and stations. My ex-husband and I really relied on them," she shared. "Ben was an Engineer and I am medical. We were both BUSY, and Benny got shuffled around from the school to whomever's wife was available. Then, when Ben and I split, I really relied on it to help me have a place for Benny to be while I worked, and Ben was off... doing other things." She stopped short of saying "other women." Whoops, she'd need to switch to coffee before the words started flowing. "He's currently at the academy. He wants to be a helmsman...." she wrinkled her nose slightly-she had hoped he'd go into science or medicine like herself, and of course, Ben had tried to convince him to be an Engineer, but she knew that her son had a head for the tactical processes that Helming took.

The Doctor shared all right. Jenny was more impressed than Noxi over her son's choice of role than she was "Oh wow, a real Fleet family!" (if a broken one, she could have added) "And a Helmsman, yet! You know all the girls go for a Helmsman, right ladies?" Then she remembered Drew was sat there. "Helmsmen and... er... Mission Advisors... right girls?" she attempted to augment the list rather lamely.

She shrugged. "For me, it was the Engineers," she said. Of all genders, really, but Ben had stood out. Strong, rugged-black hair and blue eyes, how could she have resisted?! "I AM proud of him. He's doing well," she said. "Near the top of his class. I told him it wasn't fair; he'd be MY CO someday if he kept it up." She smiled. She liked to talk about her son; it was one of the best things in her life.

Drew glanced at Jenny and gave her a brief smile. "Kind of you to say, but it is true that ladies, especially lovely ladies such as yourselves...", he gestured in such a way as to include all the women at the combined tables, "... find handsome pilots quite a catch." He gave a shrug. "I was quite lucky to meet my wife at the Academy. We were married immediately following graduation. Admiral Trenton, the Academy Commandant at the time, actually officiated the ceremony."

Alula smiled at Drew, “That sounds very romantic.” She found he was easy-going and not offended by her odd physical appearance, so she was enjoying his company. A new friend is always something good to have,

Noxi nodded lightly. She and Ben had married quickly-not *that* fast, but soon. Still, she smiled. "That's very cool! Will she join us soon?" She asked. Noxi had a way of cutting straight through to the point.

Drew became visibly subdued almost immediately. He took another long pull of his drink and stood up. He set the now empty mug on the table. "Well, it has been a pleasure meeting you all. Please have an enjoyable and safe evening."

Alula had turned away for a moment to signal the server and missed Drew’s sudden emotional withdrawal. But upon hearing his departure, she turned back w/ a crestfallen expression, “You’re leaving??”

Rachel looked at her brother with concern. "Drew, would you mind stopping off at the bar and informing Quark to put everyone's drinks tonight on my tab?"

Drew glanced at Rachel and nodded before turning and heading to the stairs.

Jenny was aghast, wondering why the handsome feller had suddenly become so morose. The guy had been sitting there quite happily looking at his PADD and she'd gone and got him involved in their nonsense and now he was pissed off. She stood. "I'll just check he's OK" she said quickly and chased after him, aware that the man's own sister was there and would be the more natural person to do that. But she made sure that she was gone before anyone could stop her.

Rachel watched with a bit of curiosity as Jenny took off after Drew. She turned back to Alula and Noxi. "Drew...lost Kelly in the Dominion War during the attack on San Francisco. Luckily Ashley had been visiting Mom and Dad at the time."

“Oh, how sad,” Alula said, then offered, “I’m so very sorry.”

A Ferengi server came up the stairs carrying a tray with a trio of drinks. He passed them out to the ladies. "Compliments of Lieutenant Commander Chandler. He also said the rest of your party will have drinks on him until you leave."

Noxi downed the drink quickly. "Well. Damn it. Now I feel terrible," she said. "I hope Jenny can talk to him. I think I will approach him later and apologize," she said. She wasn't good at that, BUT she was good at trauma and definitely understood the pain and hurt he must be feeling. "I was old enough to live through the Occupation," she said. "I know what it's like to lose a person you love," she said. "How about that food?" She was desperate to change the subject now.

Rachel inhaled sharply as she picked up Jenny's menu. A subject change was definitely in order to salvage the evening. "Quark's actually has pretty good food. The staff is actually pretty good at preparing Bajoran and Earth dishes."

“I’ve been told Quark claims his Gorn chef stew is the best in the galaxy!” Alula exclaimed laughing. “You can’t get any better praise than that. I’ll have to try it!”

Noxi nodded. "Maybe the fish special; I have been eating too much junk lately. I had shore leave in-between my re-assignment," she said. "I took liberties with food and drink," she said. She hadn't meant to eat the WHOLE peach pie the other day.

Rachel glanced over the balcony railing to see Jenny return from her pursuit of Drew a couple of minutes ago. She was mildly surprised to see the young woman sporting a half smile of sorts. She turned to Noxi and Alula. "Your friend is returning to join us." She set the menu back on the table in front of Jenny's seat. She had dined at Quark's often enough to know what she liked to eat.

Noxi nodded. "She is very sweet," she said. She had realized she was the oldest of the group. "I hope that Drew will be OK," she said.
"It was nice of him to send drinks," she said, though she was trying to cut back on her drinking. It was bordering on a problem.

Jenny rejoined them, but didn't mention the dinner date: she knew sisters could be protective of their brothers, and she got the impression that these two were tight. "It's OK, he was fine" she smiled noncommittally, but couldn't resist the opportunity for a quick bit of relationship reconnaissance. "So... is your niece Andrew's daughter?" she asked Rachel casually: if the man had a teenage daughter, that was definitely a family set up she did not feel qualified to intrude upon. She had enough trouble dating 'normal' single men.

Rachel looked at Jenny with a curious expression her own. Drew had garnered the attention of a few women over the. Most had of course lost interest upon noticing the wedding band on his finger. He had only recently taken to not wearing it. "Well, I don't have any sisters and just the one brother so...."

Alula sipped her Sunrise while listening to Rachel answer Jenny’s questions. She smiled warmly at both of the women, before turning back to Noxi and winking at her. In the brief time they’d all spent together here at Quark’s, Alula felt like she was on a roller coaster. But she was definitely enjoying the ride!

Jenny pretended to do some math on her fingers and then nodded, she got it. Sister, widowed brother and teenage daughter. The feller should walk round with a big 'No Entry' sign hung around his neck.

"So, what are we all having to eat?" she asked out loud. She should forget Andrew and get on with what they were all here for, a night out with the girls.

Noxi raised an eyebrow, but said nothing for a moment. "Raising children who faced loss can be a difficult thing. I empathize," she said. "I'll have the fish, I think. I was just telling Alula that I have been overdoing it a little bit on Shoreleave here. Too much food and drink. Time to eat lighter," she said. "Everything here is good, though," she said. She sipped more of the drink, hoping that the others wouldn't notice how much she was putting back.

Rachel looked at Noxi as she took a sip of her wine and chuckling. "Might want to take the same advice you gave my brother. Unless you want to be paying Doctor Bashir a visit in the infirmary tomorrow."

Noxi just nodded. She could hold back a LOT of liquor, but still. "I am aware, thank you," she said. Changing the subject, she turned to Rachel. "So, if we set Jenny here up with your brother, that'd be ok, right? I mean, you wouldn't object, or try to push her out?" Noxi asked. The four women spent the rest of the afternoon chatting, drinking, and eating.

 

RSS Feed