Salvatore's Soiree - Part IV

Posted on Wed Mar 26th, 2025 @ 5:13pm by Captain Robert Burke & Commander Vincent 'Vin' Salvatore & Lieutenant Commander Dr. Jeremiah "James" McEntyre, Jr M.D. & Lieutenant Marques Hunt & Lieutenant Ryssa Dari & Lieutenant JG Gianna De Luca & Ensign Shanice Winters

2,279 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: EPISODE 1: SHAKEDOWN
Location: Deck 3, VIP/Officer's Mess
Timeline: MD029 - 20:00 hrs

::ON::

[And now the conclusion ...]

Moving through the throng of senior officers, Burke spotted Hunt and another officer huddled away. Giving friendly wave, he approached them both. 'Lieutenant Hunt, top flying earlier today - you really helped us out of our bind earlier.' He looked to the Ensign stood by him. 'I'm afraid we haven't met, Ensign, Captain Robert Burke.' He extended his hand.

Shanice quickly accepted the Captain's hand. "Shanice Winters, media relations officer."

"Thank you, Sir," Hunt replied. "Just glad teaching didn't cause me to miss a step. A bold move on your part."

'It takes a crew to pull off a captain's stunts, ' Burke replied warmly, minimising his role in the affair. 'How are you both settling in on the Hecate? I can't imagine we've given much course to cause you a headache, Ms Winters?'

"Not at all Captain," Shanice replied. "But I would definitely like to do an interview on you when you have the time. The Hecate is one of the ships on the forefront on the exciting things happening in this area with exploration and diplomacy. Folks back home are very curious."

Burke nodded and smiled graciously, 'Ensign, nothing would give me greater pleasure. If you think they'd find it interesting to listen to me drone on, I'll be happy to arrange a time to sit down and talk with you properly. Contact my yeoman.'

"I'll do so right away Sir."

Spotting their resident Chief Medical Officer, Burke closed the space between them, and waved in his direction. 'Doctor McEntyre, a pleasure to see you outside of Sickbay. How did you cope during our altercation this morning?'

“Had plenty of work to keep my sickbay in business. Though in the future, do try to avoid any more risky maneuvers.” The doctor replied.

Vincent walked over to the table of bottles and picked up the grey one with the Klingon emblem. He nodded to the bartender who had already prepared trays with a bunch of shot glasses on them. As the wait staff began to clear some of the main table of food, repositioning it to another on the side for those who still wished to eat, Vin walked over to the table with the trays. He still seemed in happy spirits, hoping all of this was still going well, so this part would be a bit of a challenge.

"Gather around everyone." He said with a raised voice as he placed the bottle on the table. "I promise this will be the last time I asked for your attention." As he spoke he walked over to the record player and lowered the volume a bit, before walking back and continuing on. "Seeing as how we are going to be working in this section and dealing with the Klingons, I thought it would be a good idea to present to you a... uh... Klingon delicacy that will, no doubt, be dealing with often." He picked up the bottle of Klingon Bloodwine held it in two hands as if presenting it to his fellow officers.

"This is Klingon Bloodwine and it is their drink of choice. It's used in celebrations and rituals. This stuff comes in barrels and will often be on every Klingon ship we see. They will drink loads of this stuff and will sometimes turn it into a challenge. Groups of Klingons will often drink from a barrel, dipping their mugs in every time, for nights. Sometimes days at a time. All to see who will be the last one standing."

Burke raised his eyebrows as he listened to Salvatore explain what he had brought with him. He wondered how the resourceful Intelligence Officer had gotten his hands on such a delicacy. Probably some contacts of his within the Empire, Burke concluded.

"Don't worry. I am not going to recommend we do the same." Vincent joked before gesturing to Burke. "I am sure the Captain wouldn't be very pleased with me if I did." He pulled back his arm and looked around the group again as he added. "No, what I am suggesting is, you all have a small taste. You don't have to if you don't want to, so please don't take this as an order, but I think it would be good to try some at some point in the event you get presented with it later on. Klingons can e very particular and will sometimes test someone to get an idea of their strength and character. One of the things they will do, especially to other species, is break out a bottle or barrel of this to see if they can handle it. To a Klingon this is stuff isn't as powerful. It would take downing this stuff for hours until they might feel buzzed. For someone like us, this thing has a hell of a kick, so its best to be prepared. That's also why, for your first time, I recommend a shot." Vincent said as he put the bottle down and picked up a shot glass from the tray. "Again... if you don't want to, that's fine. You don't have to." He placed the glass down and picked up the bottle again. "So... any takers?"

Moving past the other officers who had gathered to look at the bloodwine in its bottle. He raised a hand, said laconically, 'I'll try.'

He gave the Captain a smile before opening the bottle. Vincent picked up a shot glass and poured some in. As he held the glass out to Burke, he added. "Here you go, Captain."

Taking the glass, Burke looked at it dubiously, holding it up to the light. Studying the liquid, he noticed the crew looking at him. He flashed a sheepish smile, and brought it to his lips, swallowing the vile concoction. Smacking a hand to his lips, he fought back gagging, and managed to swallow it. 'Well ...' he managed after a long moment, 'that was quite something, Commander.'

"Takes a bit of getting used to, Captain. Believe me. Being able to stomach that will help you out in the long run." Vincent said with a slight chuckle before ending it in a smile. "If you react like that in front of a Klingon, you're not gonna make any friends. More importantly, you may lose whatever honor or respect they would be developing. So, try to work on that reflex. Alright?" He held the bottle out a bit. "Another one?"

"Why should the Captain and yourself be the only ones to risk their lives," Marques said he stepped up. Grabbing a shot class, he held up to be filled.

Looking at the crowd, Hunt held up the glass before immediately swallowing. This was followed by coughing and gagging. Beating himself on the chest in attempt to make the vile drink go down smoother. "The Klingons will definitely question my honor based on how that turned out."

Next up to try the drink was Gia. "I'll, um, give it a try as well," she squared her shoulders and mentally prepared herself before she stepped up with her own shot glass.

"I admire your courage, Counselor." Vincent said, with a smile, as he poured the liquid into the shot glass.

Gia took the drink and swallowed it in one. Once it was down, she realized what a mistake she made with it, "Oh my god. Nope, no honor here." She made a face and moved off to the side away from everyone else because she was going to be sick.

Vincent watched as he quickly walked off to the side. He want to go over to her, feeling sorry for putting her in that situation, but he wasn't sure if it would be appropriate. All he could muster was "Sorry... Counselor. Clearly, its not for everyone."

"I appreciate the offer, but when it comes to drinking, I'm a lightweight," Ryssa said to the first officer. Besides not being much of a drinker, she didn't like the reaction from the others. At the same time, she recognized that this was something they would definitely see again, so knowing what it tasted like in advance would better prepare them for if a Klingon offered a drink.

Vincent nodded back to her, smiling back, as he replied softly. "I understand."

Spotting the Counsellor moving away and looking distinctly green, Burke frowned, concerned. He had no doubt that the Bloodwine was fine in and of itself, but should have checked that no-one was allergic.

'Counsellor?' he asked as he approached her, 'you OK? Need a glass of water or ...' he wouldn't embarrass her by asking if she needed a bucket.

Gia looked up to see it was the Captain and stood upright, still feeling sick, "I'm alright, thank you. First time trying that and I'm pretty sure it's not for me." She gave him a strained laugh. "I will, however, take my leave from here and get some fresh air though."

'It's not particularly refined is it?' Burke replied with a laugh. 'If you're OK, then a walk might do you good. Take in the Briefing Room. It has a wonderful view of the planet below.' Burke looked up at the rest of the party, then back to Gia, torn as to what he should do. 'I'll see you in the morning?' he asked hopefully.

She saw his hesitation and simply smiled her appreciation, "Thank you for the suggestion, I'll go have a look at it, and I'll see you tomorrow morning. Enjoy the party and have a good rest of the night." With that being said, Gia nodded her goodbye and turned to walk out of the room and toward the Briefing Room.

Shanice looked at the foolishness that just took place. Walking over to Marques, she whispered in his ear. "That was bold of you. But I am not drinking that shit."

Returning to mingle with the crowd for a while longer, Burke wondered how the Counsellor was doing. After a while, and checking his chronometer, he opted for the Irish Goodbye and headed for his quarters, excited to see what the next day would bring for his crew.

Once the captain left, Ryssa felt it was safe to do so herself. She still had some reports she wanted to read before bed and she wasn't much of a party goer, either. She thanked Vincent, nodded to those she passed, and headed for her quarters.

Noticing that the party was coming to an end Marques and Shanice made their way to the exit. Thanking the Commander for the invite the two immediately ducked out into the corridor.

Vincent was the last one there, taking a moment to look around, as a few officers began to clean up. "No... No... I got it." He said firmly, smiling back at them, before he started to clean up on his own. It wasn't anything against the officers, just the way he was raised. It was his party and his responsibility to clear it out. His mother wouldn't appreciate him leaving the work to someone else. Even if it was considered their job to do so.

When everything seemed to be all cleaned up, and all that was left was the things he brought, he took a moment to check what was left of the bottles. He opened up a bottle of Scotch and poured a small amount into a glass. Vincent leaned back against the table and let out a sigh as he took a sip. His plan was to use this party as a jumping off point. To put bits of his life on the table, to allow them to learn about him, so they could do the same and he could learn about them. Get to know them since they would be working so closely. He put himself out there, but there wasn't much in return. He picked up a few things from the small conversations, but nothing was shared when the time came. Maybe it was too much too soon. Maybe there was just no interest. Maybe the only interest that was there was just to relax from duty. Regardless, he put himself out there and now he would see how it would go from there.

As he finished the rest of the drink, he placed the glass with the others to be washed, before closing the bottle of scotch he opened. With a bit of a smile, Vincent gathered the bottles into the crate and finished up gathering what he could, leaving the records and the player behind for the second trip. Despite it not working out as he thought, he kept to his smile as he walked out towards his quarters. They at least got a taste of what he was about. A piece of his history. Hopefully, it didn't end up like the Bloodwine. Like a bad taste in their mouth and making them sick. He was confident this was a good decision and he would be able to provide a lot of assistance to them. With any luck, his history in this sector and any bad decisions he made in that time, wouldn't come back to bite him and hurt them. Only time would tell.

::OFF::

Captain Robert Burke
Commanding Officer
USS Hecate

Commander Vincent 'Vin' Salvatore
Executive Officer/Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Hecate

Lieutenant Commander Jeremiah McEntyre, Jr
Chief Medical Officer
USS Hecate

Lieutenant Marques Hunt
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Hecate

Lieutenant Ryssa Dari
Chief Science Officer
USS Hecate

Lieutenant (JG) Gia De Luca
Chief Counsellor
USS Hecate

Ensign Shanice Winters
Media Relations Officer
USS Hecate
[PNPC Lieutenant Hunt]

 

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