Party Time

Posted on Wed Oct 28th, 2020 @ 7:56am by Commodore Tyler Malbrooke & Chief Petty Officer Leslie Calhoun & Bones EMH Mark V & Lieutenant Commander Larim Myles & Lieutenant Paul Michael & Staff Warrant Officer Jennifer Masters - Calhoun & Lieutenant JG Mira Jayna & Lieutenant Commander Hermia O'Rourke & Lieutenant Junior Grade Kara Li & Major Cornelius Tremble & Lieutenant Commander Katherine Malbrooke
Edited on on Wed Oct 28th, 2020 @ 8:04am

4,345 words; about a 22 minute read

Mission: Episode 10 - New Home, Same Pioneers
Location: Holodeck
Timeline: MD009 2100 hrs

When the talk of having a bachelor and bachelorette party came up among the crew, Ameri had listened to the discussion and volunteered to plan a combined party for the two of them. She had heard about strippers and wild parties and instinctively knew this was not something that either Billy or Jennifer would want.

The hardest part of the planning was keeping it a secret from Masters. There wasn’t much that got by the intelligence chief, truth be known it was highly unusual that anything did. Ameri swore Jenn had the instinct to know what someone was going to do or try to pull off before they did. She had finally come up with a holodeck simulation that the two of them would be a part of. Then, the next hardest part was informing the crew and having them not talk about it. Jenn had eyes everywhere. She had managed with sheer luck and ingenuity to do just that and was a bit proud that neither of the engaged couple knew what was coming, at least to the best of her knowledge. Having Captain Malbrooke order the simulation had helped a lot.

The room was decorated in neutral colors, the operations crew had helped her out, along with some friends they had brought along. Ameri had spent her evenings finding out the couples favorite foods and kind of cake so that everything would be to their liking..

Next she had planned the menu and then came the dilemma as to what to do for a game at a combined party, since most of the normal things were not a possibility. She had turned to Jenn and Billy’s interests and come up with a plan. She smiled to herself as she stood in the holodeck. Everything was finally in place, the crew was there waiting for the couple to come in so they could surprise them. Ameri checked with the computer and they were almost there. She turned to the crew and held up a hand.

“Okay everyone, they are almost here!” Ameri smiled. “Time to be quiet!” She turned to the door and waited for them to come in. She was excited and nervous at the same time. Though she had planned parties before, it was always a concern that it would fall flat instead of everyone having a good time. Ameri smiled to herself and shrugged it off. She had this.

Tyler strode into the holodeck wearing what the crew had termed his off duty uniform. Denim jeans, a flannel shirt, cowboy boots and hat, this was what he wore most times when not on duty. His wife Katherine had been walking at his side and in step with him. It was the first time that Tyler had ever been invited to a joint Bachelor and Bachelorette party. He would not confess it but it felt somewhat awkward and he wondered what Ameri had cooked up.

When he walked in he was amazed at the decorations and attention to detail that Ameri did. Well leave it to an O Flannagain to get it done and done right the first time. Tyler thought with a smile. "What do you think my love?" Tyler turned toward Kat as he spoke.

"I think it's great." She grinned at her husband. "Ameri outdid herself." Indeed, everything looked amazing. She looked around for Ameri so that she could give her a hug and tell her how much she liked the program.

Ameri smiled as she saw Kat and headed over to talk to her. “What do you think?” She asked her friend.

Kat gave Ameri a hug. "It's fantastic. Youve done a great job."

“I was a bit nervous about planning it all,” Ameri confesses. “And keeping it from Jenn and Billy wasn’t easy at all.”

Kat nodded in agreement. "That's the hardest part."

"Well it seems that you have hit all the bases." Tyler said with a smile as he noticed the big band setting up. "I wonder if the ole man will grace us with one of his trademark swing dances, or perhaps he will break a hip instead."

No sooner did the words leave the Captain's mouth than the scowl of Bones, the Pioneer's Emergency Medical Hologram manifested. "Well if he does then I guess I will have to patch him up. It seems that Dr O'Rourke has given the medical staff leave to come here. So here I am stuck playing Chief while the rest of you wine and dine. Dammit Malbrooke I am a hologram not a babysitter."

Tyler smiled and clapped Bones on the shoulder. "I can't imagine any better hands for this crew to be in."

Jayna walked in, dressed in a black silk poet's shirt and snug-fitting black jeans. Jayde had volunteered to work so that others in security could attend the party. As both Jennifer and Billy were in intel, it was important for Jayna to be there. She was also tickled the two were finally getting married. She took a few moments to look around, then found a place where she could watch the others arrive and be out of the way.

Paul and Lyna entered the room, arm in arm. Paul wore a blazer, a shirt and a nice pair of slacks. Lyna wore a tradional Bajorian dress for the occasion.

Jayden walked into the surprise party and looked around for Clarissa. He didn’t see her so he headed over to get something to drink and then waited off to the side for her to arrive.

Clarissa had walked in with Quinn, he wanted to talk to her about her livin assignment with Jayden Robertson. He had gotten the official request. So that took him a moment. He needed to approve the request. He had been sitting on the request, for a little awhile.

Clarissa walked over to Jayden, and smiled as she said. "He said its official." She said, with a big grin on her face.

Jayden’s face lit up. “Looks like we are having a celebration of our own!” He couldn’t be happier, he was going to have to remember to thank the commander.

"I think tonight, we should celebrate this milestone in our relationship." Clarissa said, with devilish look in her eyes. She was very happy that he was now officially moved in with her.

“I’m with you all the way,” Jayden’s eyes lit up with a look of his own. “One we won’t forget for a long time.”

"I'm going to hold you to that promise." Clarissa said, with a big teasing grin on her face. And passion filled in her eyes.

Jayden smiled widely. He was looking forward to their private party...later.

Ameri wondered where Quinn was. He promised to close up his office early and Tyler had promised he would that he was gone when he left for the day.

Quinn walked over towards Ameri, and gave her a big side hug, and put his arm around her side, as he walked over towards her. "Did I miss anything important?" Quinn whispered to Ameri.

“Party’s just starting,” Ameri smiled at him. “The test of the crew has to arrive, I think I managed to keep it all from the guests of honor!” She looked at him. “You want something to drink?”

"Honey are you sure, I just got here." Quinn said, thinking it was very sweet of her to ask. He wanted to say no and get it himself, but he knew that Ameri might take offense to that.

“You’re right,” Ameri smiled. “But if you change your mind you might want one before the game we are playing. You won’t be able to access a drink then.”

Neil stared at the doorway leading to the holo-deck, arms folded as he debated entry. He wasn't wild about parties in general and his mood these days didn't exactly promote joy in Jenn and Leslie's forthcoming nuptials.

But, he was giving away the bride. So, he had to show the colors and maybe he could duck out early. Squaring his shoulders, Neil let his contact reach out and access the door's opening sequence and he began moving. As soon as he hit the door, he glanced around and made a beeline for the beverage dispensing area.

Paul got drinks for Lyna and himself. "Darling, I don't understand the purpose for this....party. On Bajor the couple does not see each othet until the wedding."

"Sweetheart, their not Bajorian. This is a party to celebrate their wedding." He gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Jayna noticed the Marine, and his beeline for the beverage table. Deciding she needed to say hello, she sauntered over. "Hello, Captain."

Neil noticed the sauntering as the Warrant made her way over and at her greeting, he half-feigned a surprised look around and then asked Jayna, "Wha...Malbrooke is over there, Warrant. Oh, you mean me." As he cast another look at the table, he asked, "How goes Intel? Keeping you running?"

She raised an eyebrow at his attempted deflection. What was the quote about fools rushing in? She couldn't remember. "Yes, I meant you. Intel has been a little distracted recently, with two of its members getting married. How are you doing?" Jayna watched him as she spoke.

Neil glanced at the table and not seeing, or at least recognizing any bourbon, he wordlessly ordered up a pair of rocks glasses. Assured that the glasses were room temp, Neil withdrew a flask from a SOB holster and shared the contents out between the two. Then he picked up one and handed the other to Jayna.

"I'm busy. And thankful for it, being run ragged is better than stewing in your own thoughts, yeah?" he said truthfully, deciding dancing about the truth with a trained intel officer wouldn't fit into...whatever this was Ameri had planned.

Then he vocalized his last thought, "I may be tired enough to miss a step or two...I didn't plot out a point to point transport to get out of here if this turns into some sort of cute couples game. Nor did I bring a micro EMP grenade..."

"Thanks," Jayna said, lifting the glass. "Neither did I. I'll make you a deal: you help me and I'll help you and maybe we'll both get out of this alive." The thought of being stuck here, watching people pair off, was not appealing under the best of circumstances. Her eyes searched his for a moment to get a better idea of how he was doing. "Glad you're keeping busy."

Neil felt her eyes on him and he attempted deflection again. "We're always busy in the Cure, what with getting the Gift shop up and our latest walk in the wild," then he shrugged. "But that's a tired old story. Things have to be much more exciting in the world of Intel."

She took a sip of her drink, just to let him wait for an answer. "I'm not a Pollyanna and I'm not here to blow sunshine. I'm here as a friend. At the same time, I don't want someone thinking the poor little intel girl is all alone and needs a partner. My offer is straightforward. Walk out of here together when it's acceptable to do so. I'll get you back to your quarters, regardless of your state of inebriation. Once you're safely inside, I'll leave you to whatever you choose to do with the rest of your evening. The way I see it, we both win. But if you'd rather guard the drinks table and scowl at everyone, that's your call, too."

Neil's eyebrow shot and and said, "Well that's a straight forward enough op plan. I really hadn't planned on getting snockered at this, since it is something of an E&E exercise and besides that, it IS part of Jenn's wedding."

He sighed and asked, "Do I look like I need to get plastered?"

"No, but I like having contingency plans." She raised her glass in a salute. "Thanks for the drink. I'll let you get back to your...mingling."

Neil considered then nodded. "And I to yours. If your mingling finds less interesting targets, I'll be around,"

Jayna smiled. "I'm a people watcher. I'll congratulate the happy couple and find a wall to hold up." She gave him a nod and wandered off.

Eleanor had slipped in, why had no one told her that dress uniform was not required, she had instinctively thought when she was invited that it would be much like a diplomatic gathering and dress uniform would be required, now she just stook out like a sore thumb. Sighing to herself, she downed the flute of champagne. There were a few familiar faces in the crowd, but this group was new to her, she stood observing just hoping that no one would notice how out of place she looked.

Both Myles entered the holodeck both dressed very casually. Larim in his trademark button down shirt and khakis and lax in jeans and a t shirt. Mrs looked to mister and spoke."Any idea what this is going to be?

"None. You?" Larim replied.

Lax shrugged.

Hermia arrived dressed in figure hugging red dress. Most people were in causal wear, but it wasn't often she got an excuse to dress up in anything but her dress uniform, so she was going to take it.

Spotting Lax and Larim, she walked over to them. "Hi, Lax, and you must be Larim, I'm Hermia, either of you got any idea what Ameri has in store for us?"

Lax just kind of shrugged. "Hi Hermia." She replied. "And no clue." She chuckled

Miranda Schultz entered the room feeling a little out of place. She normally spent her down time on the Marine deck, but she'd worked with intel on a couple of assignments and thought it would be fun to be part of this little celebration.

Ameri received a message that Jenn and Billy were almost there. She clapped her hands and spoke loudly. “Everyone! We need to be quiet, they will be here in two minutes. When they walk in we are all going to yell Surprise!”

The only thing that Billy had known was that he and Jen were due at Holodeck 1 by 2100 hours. It was time to celebrate the fact that he and Jen were coming together. Billy only hoped that everyone left off the traditional bachelor party shenanigans like he had requested. "Well my love are you ready to face them all?"

Jenn was kind of frustrated that she didn't know what was going on for once. Normally all her ship spies tell her everything. Even Jayna seemed to keep her lips together. She had a feeling this was going to be a surprise on the fact they were getting married. She sighed, before she replied, "As ready as I will ever be I guess."

The room was quiet as everyone waited for Billy and Jenn to walk in. Ameri smiled to herself, thinking Jenn could kill her later, she was certain she would hate not knowing about this.

Billy pressed the button and the doors to the holodeck opened. As they walked in everyone shouted surprise. Billy was overjoyed and amazed by all the planning that Ameri had done. Everything looked great. He pulled Jen in tight and gave her a loving squeeze. It seemed that they had a large family.

Ameri smiled at them and walked over to them. "I know you hate surprises," she said to Jenn and Billy. "There was talk of separate parties but I took over and decided on a group party."

"Thanks Lieutenant. I could not have asked for anything better." Billy beamed to Ameri. He could not bring himself to break protocol and not call her by rank.

Jenn nodded. "I agree, Ameri, this is really nice what you have done, thank you so much."

Ameri spoke loudly as everyone quieted down. "It is traditional to have entertainment at a bachelor or bachelorette as you all know. Instead of going with the normal it was discussed and there will be one game." She looked around. "Seeing as Billy is a history buff and he has a love for the Renassiance it will be a game based on that time period." She paused and smiled. "It will be two teams, the men against the women.." She pointed to two doors at the back of the room. "Each team will receive a list of things they will go into their town and find. Once you have found them all, return to the door and come back in. The first team to complete it wins a prize." She held out a padd to Billy and one to Jenn. "You are team leaders, good luck every one.

Billy cracked his knuckles and winked at Jen. "Well if it is a renaissance village then we may already have this in the bag. How bout it men? Lets go..." He smiled and pointed toward his door.

Jayna wasn't in the mood for this. She'd hoped for a short stay and a quiet night. But, she would make the most of the situation. She went over to Jenn. "Well, Boss, how do you want us to proceed?"

Jenn looked at the list. She sighed. As an intelligence officer she loved finding things, but as Billy said, this was his turf. But she also liked a good challenge. She looked to her team. "We just have to find things. It's not like we need answer a quiz about the Renaissance. So we can do this."

Kat paused by Ameri. "Great idea."

“I don’t even know where these items are,” Ameri spoke up. “The computer program placed them. Like Jenn said, it is just collecting them.”

"I think our first stop should be the inn," Jayna said. "That's the best place to get information."

"Good idea. We should also look for a museum," Kat added. "Depending on where this renaissance town is.

Jenn tapped her face as she tried to go through her own memories. "No, this is a renaissance town, so I don't think there is a museum yet, though, it probably looks like it should be in a museum by our standards. Now the first is a Mona Lisa painting, shouldn't we looking in an art gallery? I mean the Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci, that much I know, and I remember from history classes in high school, the renaissance was the period he lived in and painted that painting, which I assume he did in a gallery, right?" She looked to the other women to get some support.

"Wasn't it taken by da Vinci to France for the king? I believe it was kept by him until it went to the Louvre, so we may have to think outside the box. A gallery might work. Or it's hanging over the bar in the inn," Jayna said, half-seriously.

"So, a gallery, an inn, where did they go to play cards?" Kat asked.

"A tavern, perhaps, it would have tables and chairs." Hermia suggested.

"Yes. Let's see what we find there,' Jayna agreed. "If nothing else, we can get a drink and ask questions."

"We might even find the cards and a few other things there, too," Kat added.

They found a tavern called "Traveler's End" and walked in. Two men were playing cards at a table. Another was sitting at the bar. Behind the bar was the portrait of a woman with an enigmatic smile. She was wearing a Starfleet uniform.

"There's our first find," Kat said, nodding to the bar.

"We might find more," Jayna said, looking at the card game. "I think I'll see what sort of cards they're using."

She walked over to the table. "Mind if I join you?" she asked.

The two men looked at her and shook their head. "Have a seat," one said.

She sat down and began to watach hte game. Three rounds later, one of them played the Queen of Hearts. It had Jenn's face on it.

Miranda chose to sit at the bar and order a drink. Might as well see what they were using for mugs. Sure enough, Billy's head and shoulders were etched on the tankard.

"That's three," Kat said, looking around. "Where should we go next?"

"I don't know. I think I'll stay here and play a round first," Jayna said, ordering a tankard of mead. She could do with a drink, too.

Kat took a seat at the bar. "I think that's a good idea. I wonder what they have that's not alcoholic." She smiled at the bartender. "Do you have sarsaparilla?"

He stared at her for a moment, then shook his head. "We have sage water, lemon drink, or barley tea."

"I'll have a lemon drink," she said. "That sounds good."

"Looks like we're taking a break," Schultz said, turning back to her tankard.

Neil found himself in a fight or flight dilemma. He really wasn't of a mood for games. But he was part of the command team and it was important to support the moral of the Pioneer's crew. And Jenn and Billy were friends. Sighing inwardly, he his bourbon off and surveyed the village. At Billy's words, he said, "Well. I'd normally recommend a grid pattern, searching section by section."

His glance fitted over toward the women as they were clustering, "Or we find the pub and test the parameters of the sim," he finished with a grin.

Billy stood there a moment and stroked his chin. "Hmmmm this is a bachelor party after all." With smirk he added, "To the pub..."

Jenn was astonished by how her team went to work right away and found 3 items on their list already. Just by her thinking they picked it up further. She hoisted herself on a bar stool next to Kat and Miranda. "I think I'll have that lemon drink too. This is really great."
She looked at the list again as she took the drink. "Ok, we need a few more items. Would it be that easy to find everything here?" she looked around the room. "What about a sword with the image of the Pioneer edged in it. Usually these bars had swords for their decorations, it's possible this one has what we're looking for." She scanned the room with her eyes and found the sword mounted above the fireplace.

She walked up to the fireplace and inspected the handle. "Here we go. I guess it is that simple as finding everything in one place. The place you would find Billy if you had to look for him." She giggled.

Ameri smiled as she watched the two teams begin the scavenger hunt. It didn’t take long to figure out who was going to win. The women were serious about finding the items while the men were more interested in heading to the Pub and having some drinks. They did manage to find one item, the silver tankard, but only because it was placed in front of Commander Quinn when he ordered a drink.

It wasn’t long before the women had all the items. Ameri walked behind the bar in the Pub where all were now gathers and poured herself a drink and held the mug up. Her eyes went across the men all lined up at the bar having a drink. “Since the men decided to drink their way through the game, the women are the winners and will be awarded with going home afte the party while the men get the pleasure of cleaning up.” She smiled over at Quinn.” “With the exception of the groom of course.” She looked from Billy to Jenn. “I couldn’t be happier than I am for you two. Let’s enjoy the rest of the party.” With that the program ended and they were back at the party where some danced to the music, some started to line up for food at the buffet.

A Joint Post By

Captain Tyler Malbrooke
Commanding Officer, USS Pioneer