Party Time - A Little Soiree

Posted on Fri Feb 27th, 2026 @ 5:35pm by Captain William Abernathy & Lieutenant Commander Elyse White & Lieutenant Commander Sabastian Walker & Lieutenant K’Var & Lieutenant Malcom Hunt & Lieutenant Lanna Alexander & Ensign Karri & Lieutenant Adrianna Baciami & Lieutenant JG Jarin Alexander, MD & Lieutenant JG Aiden Poe

2,558 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Forgotten Wounds
Location: Holodeck

With the Captain agreeing to her suggestion of a “Get to know you” party for the crew, Lanna had arranged a party on the holodeck. Between a beach party and a popular pool side party venue on Risa, she had chosen to go with Risa as her choice of location. Setting everything up on the holodeck, she had sent out an invitation to all crew to attend the poolside party at their leisure. She wasn’t sure if Sebastian would bother, but she was hoping there would be a good turn out.

Walking into the holodeck in her swimsuit with removable skirt she looked around, the temperature was as always perfect for a Risan summer evening, the pool temperature was lukewarm warm and the poolside bar was set up ready to go. There was a long table set out with various foods for the arrivals to enjoy as well.

Aiden Poe loved a good party. It allowed him to get to know people and after the disastrous XO shoe incident he needed a pick me up. Smiling he came in with some flowers and a bottle of pomegranate juice. "Hello counselor! You look great!" He handed her the flowers. "These are for you...I wasn't sure what to bring so I got that and some juice."

Lanna couldn’t help but smile as Aiden handed her the flowers. “Thank you so much Aiden, they’re beautiful.” She looked towards the food table. “You can put the juice right over there, and I’ll get some water for these. You really didn’t need to bring anything, but I appreciate it.”

He shrugged blushing. "It's okay. You took the time to make the party and people don't say thank you enough." He sighed. "Plus I kind of wanted to apologize to the XO...um is he here?"

Lanna shook her head. “Not yet I’m afraid, I’m not sure if he’s going to come.”

Poe's smile dropped a bit. "Oh okay. Well I'll go put this drink down and then are we allowed to swim?"

“Of course you can” Lanna nodded and smiled noting the way Poe’s smile dropped at the thought of Sebastian not turning up. “You put me in mind of someone, and I think right now the Commander may find that likeness a little hard to take.”

He sighed, "That's what the other counselor told me when she called..." He clasped a hand over his mouth..."I shouldn't have said that. Just ignore me!" He hurried away.

Lanna raised an eyebrow more in Vulcan fashion than Betazoid. “Fascinating.” With that she headed to put her flowers in water.

Karri walked in excited. She loved a chance to get out of "ops" mode. She also took the opportunity to get out of her uniform. She wore a teal one piece swimsuit with a teal ribbon on her tail. "Hi everyone."

Poe who'd gotten a drink was standing near the new person that walked in. "Hello!" He extended a hand tampering his first instinct which was to hug. "I'm Lieutenant Poe. Aiden Poe. And you are?"

Karri grinned and eagerly took the offered hand "Hello! Glad to meet you Aiden!" She said. Her instinct was to hug as well. "I'm Ensign Karri." She smiled.

"Nice to meet you. My instinct is to hug but this sheep doesn't seem like the huggy type." He grinned. "You're in Ops right?"

"Yeah. Started in supply but got put in ops. Glad too." Karri began. "And hug away." Karri smiled. "Had the same instinct."

Poe gave a squeel of delight and hugged her. "YAY! A fellow hugger."

Entering into the holodeck, Malcom Hunt observed the room full of people who were very still strangers to him. Other than meeting the ships counselor, the helm officer was still out of the mix.

Captain Bill Abernathy walked through the doors of the Holodeck, a marvelous new feature aboard sone of the recently remitted Constitution class Federation starships. Arcadia, was one of selected testbeds for the holodeck. It was a magnificent feat of engineering, both hardware and software. The downside was, it was a massive drain on power. Everyday use just simply could not be... yet at least.

Bill approached the Ship's Counselor. "You've done a lovely job, Lanna. I knew you were the right person for this task."

"Thank you" replied Lanna.

Elyse White wandered in. Parties like this were far from her usual scene, but then perhaps being on a ship would mean that she should get used to things being done differently. She'd only worked on stations. Adrianna had given her a heads up about someone 'huggy'. Elyse was far from someone who liked to be touched by strangers, and at least with the heads up, she may not put him on his butt.

Lanna noticed the new arrival walking over she smiled warmly. “You must be Elyse? I’m Lanna Alexander, welcome to the Arcadia, and to the party.”

Elyse smiled warmly, but it didn't seem too natural, "thank you. Alexander, umm, counsellor, correct?"

“Correct” Lanna nodded. “But don’t worry I’m off duty tonight” she smiled a wry smile. “I’m just here to enjoy myself.”

Elyse genuinely chuckled in response, "oh, don't worry, unlike my predecessor, I am an open book. More or less, anyway. I only use my intel training when required."

Lanna smiled. “That’s nice to know, you should get a chance to meet most of the crew, that’s the whole idea of this party,”

Poe danced over. "New person!" He was about to hug an then pulled back. "Sorry...I'm learning that hugging is not a thing on this ship." He stuck out a hand to Elyse. "Aiden Poe, Science department."

Bill Abernathy approached Poe from behind and placed his hand on Poe's right shoulder. "Mister Poe, I see you are mingling well. Lieutenant Commander White here, is our Chief Communications Officer."

"Yes, I do hope to meet everyone--" Elyse paused as Poe came over. Elyse saw the incoming hug and instantly took a step back, "ah, you're the one Baciami--" she didn't finish the sentence, not wanting to offend, "sorry, Mister Poe, I am not a Hugger-- not with people that I do not know well." She shook his hand nonetheless. Looking up at the captain, she took a breath and smiled, "wonderful party, captain. Thank you for this. It's nice to put actually faces to names."

Poe smiled "Yes it's amazing. Great welcome!" He looked at the Captain. "It let's us newbies mingle with the old hats."

Elyse smiled and nodded, "Indeed. Though the phrase made need tweaking. I'm not sure against comments are appropriate." Elyse's humour was dry. She struggled to make friends because of it. For those that knew her, her tells regarding sarcasm and humour were easy to spot: a slight upturn of the one corner of her mouth and that slight twinkle in her eye.

On the other side of the room the door hissed open and in walked, a man Lanna wasn't counting on. Sabastian Walker walked in wearing black linnen pants and a long sleeved shirt opened half way. All in black, with his black hair and silver eyes he cut quite the picture. He gave a nod to the Counselor and headed towards the new faces of Engineering he'd read about. He wasn't here for he party. He would say hello to the new recruits and chat briefly with his engineers and then leave. But he wanted to be here at least for that. His heart was breaking and he could see that Lanna was thinking about what happened in Engineering earlier. It had been difficult for both of them. He sighed. Turned and then headed for Lanna. "Counselor Alexander," he said as he walked up to her and the few that were standing there including the new science officer who stared at him with wide eyes. Probably recalling the shoe incident. He gave a grin. Lieutenant Shoe Horn."

Poe lit up like a red alert Klaxon. "Um....gotta run!" He hurried accross the room drawing a bit of a chuckle from Sabastian.

“Lieutenant Shoe Horn?” Lanna looked at Sebastian curiously. “What have I missed?”

Sabastian watched Poe run away and shook his head. "He thought I was in trouble and broke into my quarters ready to defend me with his shoes in hand as weapons it was..." He snored and then covered his mouth. "Interesting."

"There are times..." prefaced Abernathy. "Times where I think to myself, this is the next generation? This is what the Academy is producing these days. Then, I pour myself a little scotch and remind myself we live in different times now. We are back to being explorers, diplomats, and the Federation needs eccentric folk like Lieutenant Poe, but I am damn skippy he's in a blue uniform, because anything else and Id be gravely concerned."

Sabastian looked over at the Captain and raised his eyebrow. "I'm gravely concerned either way."

Lanna couldn’t help but smile, after the day they’d had she needed to relax and let her hair down. “I don’t suppose anyone has seen my husband this evening? He said he’d be here.”

Sabastian pointed. "Over there. I'm going to say a final goodbye to my engineers and then I'm heading out. Captain, Counselor." He gave them a nod.

"Gawd, if you're that worried, you should make a profile on the lower decks bulletin board. Genuinely-- amusing and will make you question the academy even more," Elyse chuckled softly, "that said, none of you can surely tell me that you haven't done stupid or reckless things whilst at the academy or a little after. Surely."

Sabsastian shrugged. "True enough. He's harmless. Somehwat amusing. As for the lower decks I'm an avid reader. Or at least I was." When he was XO. "Elyse, it was great to see you again. I wish you all an enjoyable party." He bowed again and headed out.

With Sabastian gone, Abernathy acknowledged Elyse. "I was young and dumb, an Ensign on shore leave in the Delphic Expanse. We went to the floating bazaar on Xanthan. I had a bit of an addiction back then to gambling. I won the jackpot and came back to the ship with my earnings... lets just say I had a hell of a time explaining to the First Officer how I acquired a harem."

Elyse smiled and nodded her goodbye to Sabastian and then looked at Abernathy. His story made her chuckle, "gawd. For me-- Intel all have the same training and we haze the first years. We also are told to do the same with lower deckers."

"If you have a moment, Commander White, I'd like to speak with you, privately."

Elyse's smile faltered, "yes, of course."

Guiding the Communications Officer away from the crowd, somewhere they could have a moment. "The details are a private matter, but Lieutenant Commander Walker will be temporarily focused on his Chief Engineer duties. The responsibilities of First Officer need to be reassigned until further notice. You're ranking officer within the bridge crew. Logically, you should be the one to assume those responsibilities as my Acting First Officer."

Elyse blinked a touch blindsided. She was silent for a moment, looking around the party for distraction and composure before looking back at the captain, "temporary though, yes?"

"For now," replied Bill Abernathy. "Sabastian... he's uncertain about whether to remain with the Arcadia or not. I cannot have that kind of uncertainty looming over us on a critical mission like this one, not with the Klingons near. This is temporary. I just can't guarantee you won't find yourself in this position for a while longer if Sabastian decides to leave us."

Elyse thought about it again and then nodded, "alright. I'd prefer temporary. Being a chief is already a step up. This will be a further hike I'm not sure that I'm ready for. But of course."

"I wasn't ready my first time either," admitted Bill. "Still have the scars as evidence, but I appreciate you're willingness to step in momentarily. Shall we return and mingle with the others?"

Elyse nodded and smiled, "I may kill Baciami. She said it would just be the Comms job, but I'm almost positive she would have known, or predicted this. She always did push me hard."

"Would she have remained aboard a little longer, I would be having this conversation with her. It was my intention on promoting her to Lieutenant Commander when I came aboard, but I was slow at catching she was leaving, and apparently for good reason."

"No, you wouldn't have been able to stop a stubborn Italian woman from fulfilling family wishes and traditions with a fancy title," Elyse chuckled, but answered honestly, "she would have done the job brilliantly mind."

K’Var was late to the party and tried to quietly sneak in and keep an eye on things from the back of the room.

Moving up front Lanna’s took a deep breath before getting everyone’s attention. “Good evening!” She smiled warmly. “Thank you all for coming. We have a lot of new faces, welcome to you all. For those who haven’t yet met him, I’d like to introduce our new Captain William Abernathy.”

The man of the hour has nowhere to hide Bill thought to himself as he felt dozens of eyes lock onto him. Somehow, this was more unsettling than starring down several Klingons. Nevertheless, he straightened his uniform and found a means to elevate himself, to be at a higher level.

"Arcadia crew,

Not too long ago, I assumed command of this fine starship with a proud name and an even prouder crew. I will not pretend to replace what came before me. Instead, only to stand with you as we carry this vessel forward. Oh, yes, we shall sail into uncertain times. The frontier is a restless one. Old enemies will test our resolve. New allies wait to see if the Federation’s promises hold true beyond rhetoric and star charts.

We're explorers first. We go boldly where no one has gone before. We listen before we judge. We extend a hand before we ever raise a fist, butt make no mistake my friends, my crew. If that hand is struck away, we will not falter to fire phasers and torpedoes.

Arcadia will strengthen the Federation not only through diplomacy, but through courage. We must protect those who cannot protect themselves. We will defend what we have built, and when necessary, fight... not for conquest, not for glory, but so that exploration may continue tomorrow. So, we must stand together and stand ready."

Lanna nodded and smiled. She had to admit she liked this new CO. “A toast, to the Arcadia!” She held up her glass waiting for others to join in.

Captain Abernathy picked up a champagne flute and raised it. "To the Arcadia and to Commander Kerrigan, may he find success on Andoria. He's given me an incredible ship with a fine crew."

It was a lovely event for crew morale and bonding, but only the begging of what was to come. Together, this crew would be forged not by socials but by missions, tragedies, and accomplishments, relying on one another.

 

RSS Feed