Captain Aeris - Club 47, Synthbar
A human woman sits at the bar, sipping Romulan Ale. She stares deep into nothingness until an approaching Trill civilian knocks her concentration off.
"Excuse me, I've got directions to your heart, could you double check that they're correct?" the Trill asks.
Aeris barely even looks at him. "Take a walk."
"Okay, so that one was bad," the Trill says as he leaves her.
While her peers like Captain Seifer and Admiral Cid were out exploring the galaxy on various extra missions, her ship, the Soveriegn-class U.S.S. Zephyra was stuck at Spacedock, assisting in starbase repairs. It didn't even make sense to have a ship of such caliber stuck at home, but at least the ale was working.
"Another round?" the El-Aurian bartender, Nelan asks, already knowing the answer.
Aeris nods. "The last. It's not going to be me that gets you in trouble for serving non-synth drinks."
"Heh. Fine. But I can handle myself. Don't let the hat fool you," he replies nodding up slightly to indicate the large purple headwear.
Aeris stops herself from one more sip, in shock, just noticing the hat for the first time.
---
Captain Aeris - Food Court
The next day, Aeris struggled with a headache and a PADD as she entered through the doors of the Food Court. One sleep was definitely not enough to overcome the hangover of Romulan Ale. She approached the communal replicators and requested another drink-- one with less regret.
"Raktajino, please. Extra strong," she said.
She was hoping to quickly forget the inappropriate smirks she received from that Ferengi near the Exchange and that very loud Fleet Admiral on her way here.
Aeris surveyed the area and saw it was moderately busy as usual. A patient Starfleet Captain with red hair, of Trill descent, caught her eye, as well as what she supposed was a half-Vulcan, also in Starfleet uniform; neither out of the ordinary.
"Captain! You wanted to speak to me?" said Commander Barnes, a Benzite male and officer at Spacedock. "Now, before you get started, you should know I have no say over what your mission roster is. Never have; never will-- Unless I get promoted."
She led them to a table where they both sat. "Yeah, I know. You're pretty much useless. Anyway, I wanted to talk about the Kitana's study of artifacts from the Verath system. There's no data at all on their survey or excavation procedures."
"That's because no Starfleet ship has ever been to the Verath system. Captain Terry obtained those artifacts from a Dosi merchant ship."
Aeris slapped her hand on the table. "I knew it! Terry is such a whacked-out cheat. I'm going to hurt him so bad next time I see him."
"Don't think you're going there either. You're stuck here for now, and I was told your excessive time at the bar at Club 47 hadn't gone unnoticed. They want to temporarily assign you to assist with station security."
The human woman shook her head in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? I can't even over-look my own crew's repair progress??"
"They say you can do both. By the way, here's the progress report from two days ago," Barnes dropped another PADD on the table as he stood. "You left it at the bar."
As he left, Aeris picked up the PADD and tried scratching the dried Ale off its edges. "Ugh. Well, this wasn't me," she said to herself, defensively, suddenly taking a second notice of the half-Vulcan, sitting in solitude. There was something non-descript about him, she observed. He was in a perfect, unobtrusive, ordinary state. Probably nothing.
"Security to Captain Aeris," came a voice over the comms.
She tapped her commbadge. "Aeris here."
"Report to Operations for re-assignment."
Aeris groaned. "Oh come on. Did you have to say it like that? Never mind. On my way." Verath would just have to be someone else's interest.
