Star Trek Raza
Season 1, Episode 10
Pon Farr
Captain’s log stardate 63829.02
We have recently arrived at Barradas III at the request of Starfleet Intelligence. It seems that the smuggler ship named the Argo has been seen in this system recently and Starfleet is eager to get their hands on her and her crew. Shutting the Argo down has been one of the top priorities in this sector. On-top of running weapons across this sector, Starfleet has taken kidnapping of a Starfleet officer very seriously.
Upon hearing the news that we may have a lead on the Argo, Mr. Cho has been very eager to assist in any way he can to find them. To recap, it was the Argo and her captain Alexa Devereau that kidnapped Mr. Cho in an attempt to fix her vessel that was severely damaged during a Bolian attack. Further investigation revealed that the Argo was a gun running vessel and the Bolian ship was a pirate ship eager to steal the weapons away. I guess the saying that there is no honor amongst thieves is very true.
Transporter Room One
Commander Mitchell, Commander Sung, Lieutenant Cho and Ensign Nirren walk into the transporter room and Mitchell immediately notices that Major Brynner and his team of MACO’s are not there yet. A look of irritation comes across the commander’s face as he approaches the Andorian Transporter Chief.
“Any word from Major Brynner?”
The male Andorian stands at attention, antenna twitching. “Yes sir. Major Brynner and his team beamed down to the planets surface thirty minutes ago.”
Now Mitchell is really pissed off. Not only has that pompous ass tried to get between him and A’Ryn, but he has undermined Mitchell’s authority. He turns back to his team. “Let’s go.” and he steps up onto the transporter platform followed by his team. After they all get into position he looks at the transporter chief. “Engage.” and within seconds the away team is beamed down to the planet’s surface.
The abandoned Dubrene outpost on Barradas III
Mitchell’s away team rematerializes down on the planet’s surface about twenty yards from the long abandoned Dubrene outpost. Back in the fourth century, the Dubrene; who were an offshoot of the Romulan’s settled Barradas III. The Federation Archeological Survey have yet to determine why that settlement never lasted. Major Brynner sees Mitchell’s team appear nearby and walks up to them. “Perimeter is secure sir.” as he reports in to Mitchell. A’Ryn can tell when James is pissed, and he’s really pissed right now as he starts to walk away from Brynner.
“Walk with me Major.”
The two men walk away from the core group and A’Ryn has a bad feeling about this confrontation. She watches, knowing that Brynner is like a dog in heat trying to get in her pants. What she doesn’t know is what are Mitchell’s feelings for her. Is he in this relationship just for sex? Does he ever plan on taking their relationship to the next level? If he’s never going to commit to her? Should she just cut ties and move on to a man that will commit? Nirren sees the Commander watching the two men walk away from the group and she approaches her.
“It must be difficult.” Nirren blurts out. A’Ryn is confused by that statement.
“What do you mean?”
“It must be difficult to decide which man you are going to sleep with on what night.” Nirren states very sarcastically. “Do you get pleasure in teasing both men? Does it make mating more…erotic?”
A’Ryn crosses her arms stunned that this Vulcan…an Ensign would be so outright blunt with her. “Excuse me?!”
“Please Commander, don’t be coy. Most creatures are very happy having one mate, but you clearly enjoy teasing both men. Is this a natural trait for you or is this part of your Klingon heritage?”
Now A’Ryn is pissed as her face gets red. She sticks a finger in Nirren’s face. “Listen to me you cold bloodied Vulcan bitch…” Cho hears the whole thing and steps in between the two women.
“Excuse us.” as he grabs Nirren by the arm and ushers her away from the very pissed off Chief Engineer. They make their way to an abandon building out of earshot of Sung who is still muttering to herself. “What the hell is the matter with you Nirren? Are you trying to piss her off?”
“I am obviously stating facts Lieutenant. For the past few months Commander Sung has been nothing more than a sexual tease for Commander Mitchell. Her failure to satisfy his sexual needs is well known aboard the Raza. If she doesn’t want her sexual relationship talked about then maybe she should not broadcast it so loudly.”
“Yeah well it’s not going to do your career any good if you keep that shit up. I would suggest you back down for now. Let the Commander cool off.”
Nirren looks into Cho’s eyes and she can feel the Pon Farr pulling at her. She can feel her blood starting to pump through her veins. Her sexual desire building. Her need to rip Cho’s clothes off and take him right here, right now. She closes her eyes and tries to push the swelling emotions aside. Cho sees her close her eyes and he gets confused. “Hey are you alright?” He touches her face with a gentle hand. She jumps at his touch, eyes popping wide open looking into his. She snaps out a hand touching the side of his face and temple. He has no time to react as she immediately forms a link into his mind. She can feel his emotions. His desires and needs. She sees into his soul and knows that Jeremy Cho is a pure and honest man. A man that could easily…
“Hey, are you tow ok?” asks Sargent Young interrupting Nirren’s link. She quickly takes her hand off of Cho’s face who is left dazed and confused not really knowing what the hell just happened. He looks up at Scott Young who is decked out in his camouflaged fatigues and armed with a Starfleet issue phaser rifle. Cho rubs his head in the area that Nirren touched him.
“Yeah, I’m ok.” and he catches Nirren walking away from them, quickly pulling out her medical tricorder taking readings around the area for any signs of life. Commander Mitchell and Major Brynner get out of earshot of the rest of the team. Mitchell stops and looks at Brynner. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” asks Mitchell getting right to the point.
“I’m securing the area for you and your team.”
“We were supposed to beam down to the planet’s surface together.”
“Well I disagreed with that call. I thought it would be better to take the MACO’s down to the planet first and secure the area. If we all beamed down together we could have all fallen into a trap.”
“That wasn’t your call.” as Mitchell raises his voice. A nearby MACO can hear the argument and tries not to watch the two men go at it.
“Maybe you don’t get why I’m here Commander. I was assigned to the Raza to protect guys like you.”
“Guys like me?”
“Yeah, I’m getting paid to make sure pretty boys like you survive out here.”
Mitchell tries to get in Brynner’s face, but unfortunately Brynner is about five inches taller and Mitchell has to actually look up at him. “I’ve been surviving out here for a long time you piece of…”
The two men never saw Commander Sung approach them. She gets between the two men and pulls Mitchell away from Brynner. “Come on, let’s go. We have work to do.”
Brynner smiles watching A’Ryn lead Mitchell away. “Bye bye puppy dog.” he blurts out jokingly, but Mitchell hears him. Mitchell swings around and takes a few steps back toward Brynner wanting to get his hands on him. A’Ryn uses her Klingon strength to restrain him.
“Keep it up you piece of shit!” snaps Mitchell as he points at Brynner. Sung and Mitchell walk away together and Mitchell pulls his arm away from Sung in disgust.
The bridge of the Raza
The away team has been on the planets surface for quite some time now surveying the area for any trace of the Argo and her crew. The captain has ordered that Faye keep the Raza in a high orbit above the planets surface. Rheyna has the Comm as the captain has taken his leave to his Ready Room ordering her to alert him if any situation arises. She watches the main viewer hoping nothing happens. She has very little experience sitting in the big chair. The previous ships she served on awarded her very little time on the bridge. Most of the time she was locked away in an Astrometric lab dissecting data collected for her team. Since coming to the Raza things have changed for her. She pulls a night shift or two a week to hone her leadership skills. Something Captain Decker has urged her to do, and she has; doing very well in her time in the big chair.
She looks around the bridge pretty happy that things are calm right now. Commander Mitchell’s team has not been heard from in a while. They are not due to report in for another hour. Phos is busy doing, well whatever Phos does back at the Security station thinks Rheyna. A Junior Lieutenant is stationed at Cho’s Comm’s station. What’s his name she thinks to herself. He looks familiar. She thinks she has seen him in the Stargazer a few times. She smirks as she checks out his ass thinking that it’s kinda cute. Then she asks herself if Captain Decker thinks the same thoughts as he watches his bridge crew work. Does he check out her ass too? She tries to get that out of her head as she looks over to her best friend Faye Monroe. The Betazoid Helmsman who might just be the best pilot in Starfleet. Faye and Rheyna have been best friends since the Academy. They have done just about everything together and Rheyna has never seen her best friend so distraught since Liira took her leave. Rheyna gets up out of the captain’s chair and walks up behind Faye. Leaning forward she whispers in Faye’s ear.
“You ok sweetie?”
Faye looks at her friend over her shoulder with a smile. “I’m alright. Some days are good, others are so-so.”
“Well how about you and I grab some dinner tonight and hit the holo-deck. I’ve downloaded this hot new program. It’s a twenty-first century all male strip club in Las Vegas.” Faye looks confused.
“You do know where Las Vegas is right? Earth?”
“I know where Las Vegas is. But you do realize I just came out of a relationship with a woman, right?”
“Sweetie, I’ve been with both men and women. But you need to get over this and move on. It’s been almost two months since she left and not even a word from her. Let it go.”
Faye looks back at her helm and sighs. “I guess you’re right.”
Rheyna smiles as she turns to head back to the captain’s chair. “Damn right I am.” The Comm’s officer standing in for Cho looks up at her and smiles. Rheyna smiles back giving the young man a wink. Just before she sits down, an alarm goes off at her Science station. She rushes over tapping the screen trying to figure out what set it off. “Oh shit.” and she quickly taps her comm badge. “Karn to Decker.”
“Go ahead Lieutenant.”
“Please come to the bridge sir. We have an issue.”
Rheyna continues to tap away at her station crunching the data that is pouring across her screens. The captain walks onto the bridge from his ready room and up to his chair in the center of the bridge. “Yes, what is it?” asks the captain.
Rheyna looks down at the captain. “Sensors have detected a massive storm bearing down on the outpost. I suggest we beam the away team back immediately otherwise they may be stuck down there for a day or two.”
The captain hits his comm badge. “Decker to Mitchell.”
“Go ahead sir.”
“Number One, we are detecting a severe storm bearing down on your location. I am afraid that your time is up. Prepare to beam back to the ship immediately.”
“Yes sir.”
The abandoned Dubrene outpost on Barradas III
“Ok people, let’s go.” yells out Commander Mitchell loud enough so that anyone in earshot can hear him. Nirren, Cho and A’Ryn all head over to Mitchell’s position, but the MACO’s don’t pull back. Mitchell walks up to Brynner still pissed from their earlier spat. “I said it’s time to go Major.”
“You go first. When you’re safely aboard, we’ll beam up.”
Mitchell puts his hands on his hips. “I don’t get you. Are you really this big of a dick or are you just fucking with me?”
“I’m doing my job like I suggest you do. Now beam back to the ship.”
A’Ryn walks up to the two men and the wind has picked up considerably as her hair is being blown about. “We have to go.”
Brynner smiles at A’Ryn and Mitchell sees this. His blood is boiling. “How about a drink later Commander?” asks the cocky Brynner. Mitchell steps between his girlfriend and the Major.
“How about I fuck you up?” and before things can escalate further Mitchell’s badge chimes.
“Decker to Mitchell.”
Mitchell pauses, and then taps his badge. “Go ahead sir.”
“Commander, what’s the hold-up?”
“We’re coming sir.” and A’Ryn and Mitchell rejoin Cho and Nirren at the beam down point. Nirren can feel the sexual tension rise and this turns her on beyond belief. She can’t hold back any longer.
“Will you please just fuck one of them before I do.” she yells out over the increasing storm.
A’Ryn and Cho are stunned at Nirren’s un-Vulcan like demeaner. They just stare at each other as Mitchell taps his comm badge.
“Mitchell to Transporter Room One. Four to beam up.” and in an instant they disappear from the planets surface only to rematerialize seconds later aboard the Raza. Brynner watches them go and then motions to his men. “Let’s go people. Drinks are on me.” and seconds later they too are safely aboard the Raza.
Sick Bay
After beaming back aboard the Raza, Nirren makes her way back to Sick Bay. All she wants to do is put her equipment away and hit the shower, hoping that a hot shower will get her mind off her emotions that are slowly taking over. If that fails to work, she will be left with no choice to meditate again. She hasn’t meditated this much since she was a child back on Vulcan. Her mother was highly religious and she tried very hard to impress her belief’s onto Nirren.
Nirren plops her med kit on the counter, not feeling like sterilizing the equipment or putting anything away. Something very much not like her. She is usually very meticulous about her equipment. Not today in the state she’s in. She turns to leave the room and comes face to face with Chief Medical Officer Mikah Dorn. The Trill doctor blocks her path startling her.
“Nirren, may I have a word with you?”
“Yes doctor.”
“I have spoken to Commander Sung and she is very concerned with your behavior, especially on your recent away mission.”
“Tell Sung that she should worry more about keeping Mitchell sexually satisfied than anything I had to say.” and she pushes her way past him.
“Nirren, please; you need help. The Pon Farr is getting worse. The mediation or whatever else you are trying to quell your condition with is not working. We need to either try medical treatment or contact your hus…” Nirren snaps shoving Dorn against the wall. Nirren’s eyes pop out of her head in a fit of rage and the veins in her neck explode pumping blood. Her nose flares and as she screams at him spittle showers his face.
“I am telling you doctor that I am fine. You are not to interfere in any way. I tell you this for the last time. I will take care of this myself!” and she lets the doctor go and storms out of Sick Bay.
The Captain’s Ready Room
A few hours have passed since the away team was beamed back aboard the Raza. Captain Decker and Commander Mitchell are sitting in the captain’s Ready Room going over Mitchell’s report.
“Tell me what you have James.” asks the captain as he takes a sip of his coffee that he just removed from his replicator.
Reading off his data-pad. “Rheyna found two residual warp core signatures that match the Argo and another unidentified ship. They were here sir, albeit maybe a few days ahead of us; but they were definitely here.”
“Any hard evidence as to what the two ships were doing on the planet?” as the captain takes his seat across the desk from his commander.
“My guess is that it was a dead drop sir. Rheyna reports that the Argo’s warp signature is a few days older than the other ships signature. If I had to guess the Argo dropped their cargo and the second ship picked it up. Smugglers use planets like Barradas III to make their dead drops. Nobody would expect anyone to do business on a shit hole like Barradas.”
The captain looks disgusted. “They are very slippery bunch, aren’t they? But they must know we are on to them. Sooner or later they are going to slip up and when they do we will be there.”
“Agreed sir.”
A chime beckons from the door to the Ready Room. The captain looks up. “Enter.” and the Raza’s Chief Medical Officer Mikah Dorn enters the room. Mitchell looks at the doctor as he approaches the chair next to him, and back to the captain. “You can stay Number One. The doctor reported on a number of issues with Ensign Nirren that caught my attention. Doctor can you fill us in? Recent reports states that she hasn’t been herself as of late. Can you elaborate doctor?”
“Ensign Nirren has asked that I keep her situation private. It’s…for…” and he searches for the right words. “…medical issues sir.”
“Yes, well that was all well and good…but in your recent report she attacked a fellow officer. Her direct superior I may add. You. How do you explain that without disciplinary doctor?”
“I assure you captain, she wasn’t herself.”
“That’s obvious.” chimes in Mitchell. “She pasted you against the wall like a rag doll. You’re lucky she didn’t kill you.”
The doctor looks away not wanting to go along any further with this line of questioning.
“I am going to ask you again doctor, medical or not; what is going on with Ensign Nirren?”
The doctor makes a face, and then after a second of leaving the two officers waiting he blurts it out. “It’s the Pon Farr.”
A serious look comes across the captain’s face. “I see.”
“So, you’re telling us that this is all about sex?” Mitchell asks knowing very little about the Pon Farr.
“It’s not just about sex commander. Pon Farr is a mating ritual of the mind and the body for Vulcan’s. Every seven years male and female Vulcan’s go through this cycle. You see, Vulcan’s are bonded with a mate at a very young age and if they mate within a certain period of time within the Pon Farr, all is well. If mating doesn’t occur, then Vulcans start to lose their minds. They get very physically and verbally aggressive. Repeated mental and physical breakdowns will ultimately lead to death.”
“So, you’re saying if we don’t get Nirren laid she’s going to die? No problem. I’m sure there are plenty of guys onboard that would love to sleep with her.”
“It’s not that simple commander. Nirren must mate with the young man her family arraigned her to be with when she was a young girl. It cannot be just a random person unless their link is broken.”
“The Vulcan’s practice arraigned marriages still? And they still think they are better than us? Christ.” states Mitchell.
“So where is her betrothed now Doctor?” asks the captain.
“I have Phos reviewing Nirren’s personnel records to see if that gives us any indication of who and where this young man could be. But we are running out of time sir. It’s been five weeks since she first started showing signs of the Pon Farr.”
“Five weeks?” asks a startled captain. “How much time do we have?”
“At the rate of her mental decay I would say three or four days, maybe a week at best.”
“What about reaching out to her parents on Vulcan? They set this whole thing up. Maybe they would be willing to give us a name.”
“Good idea James. Get Phos on it right away. For the time being I want Nirren confined to quarters. Another outburst like we had in Sick Bay and someone could really get hurt.”
“Understood.” answers the doctor.
“Keep me posted if we find anything. Dismissed.” orders the captain.
“Yes sir.” answers Mitchell.
The Stargazer Lounge
Daisy and Sorek walk hand and hand into the Stargazer looking for a bite to eat before heading off to one of the holodecks for a night of fun and love making. As the door to the lounge slides open they immediately see the chaos inside. Rows of disgruntled patrons are lined up around the bar. Most getting impatient waiting for service, others are already at their breaking point and are shouting at the barkeep. Daisy weaves her way through the crowd and after a few tense moments finally gets to the bar. To her amazement she sees Chief of the Boat LaMay standing behind the bar trying his hardest to serve people. Daisy can see that LaMay is on the verge of losing his mind. She leans over the bar shouting down to him as he works the replicator. “Chief!” but he can’t hear her over the screaming crowd. “Chief!” she yells again and this time waves her hands in his direction. LaMay finally sees Daisy and rolls his eyes at her.
“Here to rub it in lass?” he asks.
“Chief, what are you doing?”
“I’m trying to run this establishment little one until the captain can assign a new proprietor.”
“It doesn’t look like your doing too good sir.”
“You think?” he snaps back.
“Where’s Nia and T’Lana?” asks Daisy as she looks around for the two Daboo girls.
“I gave them the night off.”
“Why did you do that?”
“Historically, Tuesday nights are our slow nights. I figured I can handle one night by myself. Plus, they have worked just about every night since Gilora was arrested.”
“It seems sir that you have made a disastrous decision.” Sorek remarks.
LaMay looks at Daisy. “Please ask Big Ears over there to keep his comments to himself. If he’s not going to be part of the solution then he’s part of the problem.”
Daisy looks back at her boyfriend, who has no idea that he just got insulted by LaMay. She then climbs over the bar top and jumps down beside LaMay.
“What the hell are you doing lass?” asks a confused Chief of the Boat.
“We are going to be part of the solution. You said it yourself.” as she looks over to Sorek and waves at him to climb over. He follows suit and he also drops down next to Daisy.
“What do the two of you know about bartending?”
Daisy smiles back at LaMay. “Bartending? Nothing. But I can take orders and you can run the replicators.”
LaMay knows he’s in deep shit right now and Daisy’s idea is better nothing. “Fine lass. But you keep an eye on him.” as he points to Sorek. “He screws an order up it’s on him, not me.”
Daisy smiles at LaMay and she grabs a data-pad handing it to Sorek explaining how to take orders.
The Captain’s Ready Room
Ensign Nirren is escorted from her room by Sargent Young onto the bridge of the Raza and into the captain’s Ready Room where Captain Decker, Commander Mitchell and Doctor Dorn are all waiting for her. She sees all three men waiting for her and her blood pressure spikes through the roof. The captain can already see the un-Vulcan like irritation on her face. The captain smiles as he motions to Sargent Young. “That will be all Sargent. Please wait outside.” and Young walks back out onto the bridge taking position outside the door as it slides shut behind him. The captain turns his attention to the young ensign. “Ensign Nirren, please have a seat.” as the captain motions to an open spot on the sofa next to Dorn.
“I wish to remain standing sir. I have a feeling that this will not last long.” she answers in a very sarcastic tone.
The captain tries to hold back from snapping back at her knowing that this isn’t her normal Vulcan like self. It’s a side effect of the Pon Farr taking her over.
“Nirren, the doctor has informed us of your… situation.” and upon hearing that she looks at the doctor in disgust before looking back at her captain.
“I assure you sir that I have the situation well in hand.” as she stresses the word situation.
“I very much believe that you think you do Nirren, but reports have been coming across my desk the past few weeks that speak the very opposite. You need help Nirren and I intend on getting that for you.”
“Help me sir?” she asks wondering what kind of help short of having sex with her could he possibly give to her. The thought of her screwing her captain does intrigue her.
“That’s correct. With the assistance of Rheyna and Phos we have located your husband. He is assigned to the starship Hades and they are currently in the Murades Star Cluster. We have reached out to her Captain and he has agreed to set an intercept course with us. We will meet with her in two days’ time.”
A look of relief comes across her face and a single tear rolls out of her right eye and down her cheek. “Thank you, sir.” and the captain can see the sincerity in her eyes.
“You are very welcome ensign. Now please return to your quarters and rest. We will inform you when the Hades is within visual range. Dismissed.”
Nirren turns and heads toward the door. It slides open and Sargent Young escorts her back across the bridge and into the turbo-lift heading back to her quarters.
Main Engineering aboard the Raza, 0800 hours
Lieutenant Phos has been ordered by Captain Decker to undergo a routine check-up overseen by Lieutenant Commander Sung. Ever since leaving Starbase 718 Phos has not been herself. The meeting with A’Ryn was scheduled for 0800 hours in Main Engineering, but the commander is uncharacteristically late. Phos makes her way around the Engineering room taking note of every nuance. She slowly makes her way to the main reactor core and positions herself at the main console. Her hands flash across the touch pads faster than any human’s eyes can see. Using her access codes, she digs deep within Main Engineering’s control system. Screens flash by her eyes faster and faster in which her positronic brain can only keep up. Off in the distance she can hear A’Ryn’s voice.
“Where is Lieutenant Phos?” asks A’Ryn.
“She’s in the Warp Core room sir.” answers a young man’s voice and Phos can hear, with her well-tuned android ears; the light footsteps heading her way. Her hands pick up speed as she rapid fires away finishing what she started. Just as A’Ryn turns the corner into the room Phos completes her task and places her hands at her side staring out at the Warp Core. A’Ryn stops dead in her tracks as she sees Phos just sitting there very stiff.
“Phos…are you alright?”
Phos turns her head toward A’Ryn and cocks it slightly to the right. “I am functioning well within acceptable parameters sir.”
“Yeah, well let me be the judge of that. Let’s take a look at you.” and she leads Phos over to a side room off the Main Reactor Chamber. Phos takes a seat on an examining table and A’Ryn opens up a side panel on the left side of Phos’s head. The panel opens up and her long hair drops to the side exposing a section of Phos’s robotic brain. A’Ryn grabs an Engineering Tricorder, and proceeds to examine the open circuits. “Everything looks ok as far as I can see.”
“Why were you late this morning?” asks Phos.
“What?”
“Why were you tardy this morning? Has it anything to do with your current relationship status with Commander Mitchell.”
“Commander Mitchell and I…”
“Or was it because you spent the night with Major Brynner?”
“Major Brynner and I…”
“Were you aware that there is a ship-wide pool taking odds that you will break up with Commander Mitchell and take up a sexual relationship with Major Brynner within the next two weeks?”
“Is that so?”
“I did not take that bet. I am betting that you will not last one week before you have sex with the Major.” and A’Ryn’s face drops at the sound of that. She slams Phos’s access panel shut and tosses the tricorder onto the examining table. “Are we through?”
A’Ryn crosses her arms pretty pissed off. “Yeah, we’re done here. Get out.”
“Did you find anything?”
“No, nothing. I’ll send the report off to the captain, now get out”
“Thank you, sir.” and Phos jumps off the table and leaves Engineering. As she walks through the door, an evil smile spreads across her face.
Commander Sung taps her comm badge. “Sung to Brynner.”
“Go ahead.” answers Brynner.
“Where are you? We need to talk.”
Chief of the Boat LaMay’s office
Chief of the Boat LaMay sits back in his very small office going over the recent weeks events in the Stargazer Lounge. As he recounts the events he can’t get Daisy and Sorek out of his head and all the help they gave him. A chime is heard at the door.
“Yeah.” answers LaMay in his Scottish accent. The door slides open and the Romulan teenager Sorek walks in. The young man notices how small the office is and LaMay sees this.
“The captain promised me a larger office. It just takes time I guess.”
“I see. You have requested my presence sir.”
“Yeah, I want to thank you for helping me out the other night at the Stargazer. You and Miss Braun were a lot of help.”
“It was very…interesting Chief.”
“Yeah well, if you need something to do. You know, like a job; I could use the help.”
The young Romulan man ponders the idea. “It would give me something to do while Daisy is working. I accept your offer sir.”
“Great. You start tonight.” and the two men shake hands in agreement.
Major Brynner’s quarters
A chime is heard at the door and before Marc Brynner can answer he can hear a loud pounding like ten men are trying to break in. Wrapped in only a towel he heads to the door still wet from the shower. The door slides open and A’Ryn storms in like a bull. “What the hell are you trying to pull?”
Confused. “What do you mean?” asks Brynner.
“The God damn pool.”
Brynner chuckles. “Oh that.”
“Yeah that.” and then she sees the water from the shower running down Brynner’s chiseled chest and abdomen ending at the towel that is wrapped around his waist. She turns her head. “And can you please put some clothes on.”
Brynner smiles. “You really don’t mean that do you? You’ve had the hots for me from the first time you saw me. Why don’t we stop playing games A’Ryn?”
She shoves him and the towel nearly comes off. “NO!” I’m in love with Mitchell you ass and he loves me!”
“If that egotistical dick loves you so damn much why wont he commit to you? You deserve to be with a real man. You deserve to be happy A’Ryn.” and he leans in to kiss her.
Before he locks lips with her, “I’m through with you!” and A’Ryn storms out of Brynner’s quarters leaving him standing there dumbfounded.
The bridge of the Raza two days later
The Raza has been speeding toward the Murades Star Cluster for the past two days at warp nine on an intercept course with the Hades.
“I’m picking up the Hades on long range sensors sir.” announces Cho from his Comm station.
“On screen.” orders Captain Decker and the Nebula Class Starship Hades appears on screen heading right at them. “Phos?”
“That is the Hades sir. Nebula Class. Captained by a one Dominic DeLuca.”
“DeLuca?” asks Mitchell in amazement.
“Do you know him Number One?”
“If it’s the same DeLuca, he was my roommate at the Academy for four years.”
“Confirmed sir.” answers Phos. “He is the same DeLuca you are referring to.”
“Well I’ll be damned. He got the captain’s chair before me.”
“Hail them Mr. Cho.” orders the captain.
“Aye sir.”
“I hope this works.” remarks Mitchell to his captain.
“I have them sir.” states Cho.
“On screen.” and the main viewer comes to life showing the lush bridge of the Hades. Captain DeLuca comes into view.
“Captain Decker. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Same here Captain. I only wish this was under more favorable circumstances. Is Lieutenant V’Latt ready to do his part?”
“He is sir. We will be at your position in about two hours.”
“We will be ready. And thank you again Captain.”
DeLuca thinks he sees a familiar face. “Mitch, is that you?”
James Mitchell walks into view. “Yeah Dom, it’s me.”
Captain’s DeLuca’s face widens with a grin. “How the hell have you been?”
“Good…yeah I’ve been good.” answers Mitchell awkwardly.
“Hey, let’s get together and get a few drinks while the kids are going at it.”
Mitchell can’t get the nasty picture of Nirren and some faceless Vulcan having sex out his head. “Yeah, sure. Beam over with them and we’ll pop a few.”
“You got it buddy. DeLuca out.” and the screen goes back to the darkness of space and the stars warping by.
“Sounds like fun.” states the captain with a grin on his face.
“Yeah, blast.” as Mitchell sits back in his chair rolling his eyes. The captain taps his comm badge.
“Decker to Dorn.”
“Go ahead captain.”
“Doctor, the Hades is about two hours out. Please prepare Ensign Nirren for our guests. We will receive them in Transporter Room One.”
“Yes sir.”
Transporter Room One, two hours later
Commander Mitchell has escorted Ensign Nirren from her quarters all the way to the transporter room. The door slides open and together they walk in. The tall Andorian Transporter Chief stands at attention.
“Easy does it Big Blue.” jokes Commander Mitchell as he turns his attention to Nirren who is dressed in the ceremonial Vulcan robes. He can see the nervous look on her face.
“Sir, why have they chosen you to escort me?”
“Well you’re not the only one that has guests stopping by. I just wish my visitor was going to be as much fun as yours.” and he winks at her with a Cheshire cat grin.
“Sir, the Hades is ready for transport.” announces the Andorian.
“Let’s do this.” and he wrenches his head left and then to the right hearing the cracking of his neck as he swings it around. “Energize.” and the air on the transporter pad crackles with energy as Lieutenant V’Latt and Captain DeLuca beam aboard the Raza. Commander Mitchell walks up to the pad and extends his hand to his former friend with a smile. “Captain DeLuca. Welcome aboard the Raza.”
DeLuca ignores the hand and gives Mitchell a huge hug. “Man, it’s so damn good to see you Mitch! How the hell have you been?”
Mitchell is both stunned and speechless at this greeting. “Yeah, I’m good.”
“Well let’s give these kids some room, shall we? I think you owe me a drink?”
“Let me show you the Stargazer.” and the Commander and Captain leave the transporter room. V’Latt looks down at Nirren with little or no emotion. She looks back up at him and the Pon Farr inside of her is ready to explode out. All she wants to do is rip off that Starfleet uniform and…wait she thinks. Starfleet uniform. Why isn’t he wearing the traditional Vulcan mating robes?
“V’Latt?” she asks with an almost pleading voice.
“It is good to see you Nirren.” and V’Latt walks off the transporter pad down to the floor. “We have much to discuss.”
She can also see that he is not suffering from the effects of the Pon Farr. “Why are you not in your robes?” she asks. “Why are you not suffering from the effects of the Pon Farr like I am.” and she uses the robes to wipe her brow.
“As I have stated, we have much to discuss. Please show me to your quarters.” and he walks toward the door. It senses him and it slides open. He stops halfway through, looks back at her and reaches out with his hand. “Nirren?”
She takes his hand trembling and leads him to her room.
The Stargazer Lounge
Captain DeLuca sits back in a window seat as he looks out watching his own ship, the Hades; drift alongside the Raza. Commander Mitchell returns from the bar with two drinks in hand. He places one down in-front of his old friend and takes a seat across the table from him.
“Beautiful, isn’t she?”
Mitchell looks out the window to the much larger vessel than the Raza. “She sure is big.”
“Yeah, but not the biggest. Starfleet has got some big plans in play when comes to designing larger warships.”
“Warships? Since when was Starfleet about building warships?”
“Since the Dominion war showed us that we need to be on our toes. They caught us flat footed Mitch. That won’t happen again.” and Deluca takes a swig of his ale making a face. “This the best you got on this ship?”
“Sorry, the usual barkeep has the next decade or so off.”
“Yeah, I read the reports on that Cardassian woman. Tragic. She played your captain really good.”
“That she did.” and Mitchell pounds down his ale in two shots.
“Tell me Mitch, why aren’t you captain yet?”
“Not my time I guess.”
DeLuca leans on the table pushing his lousy drink aside. “I heard you passed on the Hertz. That’s an Ambassador Class Mitch. Makes this ship look like a puppy dog.”
“I guess I wasn’t ready yet.” and Mitchell waves his empty glass in the air to the nearest Daboo girl asking for a refill.
“Let me tell you what I heard.”
“I assumed you were going to.”
“I heard you turned down the Hertz for a woman.”
“Did you now?”
“Yes, I did. And I nearly shit my pants when I heard the great James Mitchell was passing up a command for a piece of ass.”
“Watch yourself.” as Mitchell points at his friend. The Daboo girl places Mitchell’s fresh drink on the table. Mitchell grabs it and puts down half of it in one gulp.
“It’s the Klingon girl, isn’t it?”
He finishes off his second drink and slams the empty glass on the table. “Yeah, it was her.”
“So, where is she?” asks the captain putting his hands out wide. “I need to meet this woman who grounded the great James Mitchell.” and DeLuca smiles wide. He sees his friend isn’t sharing with the smiles. “What happened? You screw some other woman and she found out? You blew it didn’t you?”
“No.”
“So, what? What the hell did you do?”
“Nothing. I didn’t do anything.”
“Well, you had to have done something you idiot.”
“No, I did NOTHING. She wanted me to make a commitment and I did nothing. So, she left me.” Mitchell points at DeLuca’s half empty glass. “You going to drink that?”
“That’s enough for you. Listen Mitch, you need to fix this. You don’t want to end up like me.”
Mitchell laughs knowing DeLuca must be joking around again. “Yeah right. Good one.”
“I’m serious. It’s lonely out there Mitch. I would give anything to have a woman to go home to at night.”
“But you have that.” and Mitchell points at the Hades.
“I can’t have sex with her, and I certainly can’t talk to her after a shitty day. Take it from me Mitch, you need to fix this shit.”
Mitchell nods at his friend in agreement.
The Stargazer Lounge
Nirren and V’Latt enter Nirren’s quarters. “Lights.” commands Nirren and the rooms lighting comes up. V’Latt stands stiff by the door as Nirren walks over to her replicator. “Shall I get you a drink?”
“No, that will not be necessary. I will not be staying long.”
Nirren spins around looking at her husband confused. “If you have pressing duties aboard the Hades, we can get right to it.” and she starts to disrobe. V’Latt walks over to her and stops her from taking her robes off.
“Nirren, I need to tell you something.” and Nirren sees the seriousness in her eyes and she gets very confused. “Please sit.” as he motions to one of her chairs in the room.
“I do not wish to sit. I wish to mate with you. Have you or have you not come here to do the same?”
V’Latt looks her right in the eyes. “I have not.”
Nirren starts to pace around the room feeling the anger build up inside her. “I…I don’t understand. You are my husband. We were sworn to each other by our families at a very early age. I have been true to you…”
“But I have not been true to you.” blurts out V’Latt. She has the look of a feral cat as he continues. “I have found another. Shortly after we were reassigned, I met a Vulcan woman and we fell in love. I have mated with her…”
Nirren puts her hand up in disgust. “Stop.”
“You need to understand. I did not do this to hurt you. I just…I do not love you Nirren.”
“What…” and Nirren stumbles for the right words. “What is her name?”
“Her name is K’Ren and she is the Hades Helmsman.”
Sarcastically. “How very nice for you.” and she points at the door. “Please leave.”
“I am sorry if I hurt you.”
Nirren rubs her eyes. “Just…just get out.” and V’Latt obeys her wishes and leaves the room with the doors whooshing shut behind him. Nirren can’t hold back her anger any longer as she picks up a chair and throws it across the room smashing it to pieces. She drops to her knees sobbing, knowing that V’Latt was supposed to be her savior. Tears stream down her face as she loses control of all her emotions. Desperate, she taps her comm badge. “Nirren to Rheyna.”
Rheyna wasn’t going to answer after the last time these two women had words, but she hears the pain in her friends’ voice. “Go ahead.”
With a sob and a sniffle. “I need you.” in a begging voice. “Please.”
“I’ll be right there.”
Cargo Hold Two
Chief of the Boat LaMay has spent the last two hours inventorying all the supplies that are being stowed for the Stargazer. LaMay had no idea that running a bar would be so much work. Gilora, or whatever her name really was made this look so damn easy. LaMay can hear the doors to the cargo bay slide open and shut. He never looks to see who came in and at this point doesn’t really care. At least not until her hears a female voice behind him. “What kind of game are you playing at?” and at this point LaMay turns around to see a very angry Cadet Braun, red faced beaming right at him.
“What is this about lass?” as he turns his back on her going back to counting bottles.
“You know exactly what this is about. Or do I need to spell it out for you.”
Now LaMay is starting to get mad. “Listen lass. You do not out rank me yet, so I would watch your tone. I will ask you again. What is this about?”
Daisy crosses her arms. “Sorek?”
“Oh, the Romulan lad. What about him?”
“You actually gave him a job? In the Stargazer?”
“Well what would you have the lad do all day? Sit around in that damn robe waiting for you? The lad needs a job to keep himself busy. To make him feel like he has some worth.”
“So, this wasn’t some ploy to break us up? Or to drive a wedge between us?”
“I promise you lassie, that was never my attention.”
“Good, because if it was; I was going to have to tell you that it wasn’t going to work.”
LaMay makes the sign of the cross across his heart. “I swear lassie. That was never my intention.”
“Good.” and she storms back out of the cargo bay in search of Sorek. A wicked smile comes across LaMay’s face.
“But since I was never the religious type, I guess crossing my heart means nothing.”
Nirren’s quarters
Rheyna makes her way down the hall until finally reaching Nirren’s quarters. She chimes herself in, but there’s no answer. She chimes again, and this time the door slides open. As Rheyna enters, she sees the lights are very dim. The room is trashed with broken furniture strewn about. What tornado ripped through this room she thinks to herself. She’s heard different things about Pon Farr, but this is crazy. She can hear sobbing coming from the bedroom. She looks in and sees Nirren in the fetal position on the bed. Rheyna kneels down beside the bed and brushes Nirren’s hair out of her face. She can see the pain on her friend’s face.
“Sweetie what’s wrong? What happened?”
Nirren sits up on the bed and wipes her face with her robe. “We never…he…”
“What? Is he gay?”
Nirren looks at her friend. “He’s married.”
“Married?” she blurts out in shock. “I thought you two were married?”
“He has released me and found another mate.”
“What a dick. I mean, can he do that?”
“Yes, he can. It’s very much like divorce for human’s. I have been discarded and now I have no-one. Soon, very soon the Pon Farr will consume me and I will die.”
“The hell you will. There has got to be another option.”
“V’Latt was designated as my mate from a very young age.”
“Well screw that. We are going to find you another mate.” and Rheyna sits down at Nirren’s desk. “Computer, please list all single men aboard the Raza between the age of twenty and let’s say forty.”
Nirren looks over her friends’ shoulder. “Thank you Rheyna. I am so sorry for everything.”
Rheyna hugs Nirren and kisses her on the cheek. “This is what friends are for.” and she turns back to the monitor. “Let’s find you the perfect mate.”
Lieutenant Commander Sung’s quarters, 22:00 hours
It’s late at night and Commander Mitchell’s head is still spinning from the conversation… and many beers he had with his old friend Captain DeLuca. Somehow, his path has led him to A’Ryn’s quarters. He stands outside the door trying to find the strength to chime in. He takes a deep breadth and touches the pad. The chime can be heard inside the room. After a few seconds the door slides open and there stands the woman he loves, A’Ryn Sung; in just a white silk nightgown standing there barefoot. The same nightgown, so many times before; he stripped off of her. His jaw hits the floor as he gawks at her, heart pounding.
“Can I help you?” she asks trying to snap him out of the trance he’s in.
“I…I wanted to ah…”
“Do you want to come in?” she asks trying to help him.
“Yeah.” and with a smile he walks into the room.
The door slides shut and A’Ryn crosses her arms covering her breasts that Mitchell is staring at. “So, what brings you here this late at night?”
“I just wanted you to know that, I love you.”
A’Ryn smiles at him. “I love you too.”
“And that these past few months has been hell for me.”
“It sucked for me too.”
“And I know that you want more and I don’t blame you. It’s just that…I need time. I’ve never felt this way before…with anyone.”
A’Ryn throws herself at him and they drop on the bed making love for the first time in months.
Nirren’s quarters; midnight
As Jeremy Cho walks the halls of the Raza at this time of night, his mind is racing as to what could have been so important that Rheyna sent out the urgent message for him to meet her at Nirren’s quarters. As he turns the corner he sees Rheyna standing outside the door. She looks tired and her eyes are bloodshot. She smiles at him as he approaches her.
“What’s going on?” he asks.
“Listen, just go in and hear here out.”
“Listen Rheyna, I’m tired and I have duty at 0700. Can’t this wait till morning?”
“If I told you that it’s life and death, would you believe me?”
He looks at her not knowing what to believe. She kisses him on the cheek and motions him toward the door. “Just go in.” and the door slides open. The room is dark as she enters, save for the candles lite across the room. The door slides shut behind him and it takes a moment for his eyes to adjust. Then Nirren walks out from the bedroom dressed in only a silk robe. “Hello Jeremy.” Cho swallows hard as he can feel his heart beat faster. She looks amazing he thinks to himself.
“Nirren…” but she stops him and she presses her finger against his lips.
“Please, let me speak.” and she takes her finger away. “I am in the midst of Pon Farr. I am in need of a mate or I will most certainly die. I have chosen you from all the men aboard the Raza.”
“You chose me? Why?” he asks confused.
She smiles at him as she gets emotional. “Jeremy, besides the fact that you are young, handsome and very intelligent…you are also one of the kindest, selfless people I know. I have touched your mind and you have a beautiful soul and I would be honored mate with you.”
Cho laughs thinking that she’s kidding. “You’re joking right? Me?”
Nirren reaches up and rubs the side of his face and touches his ear. It has to be a sexual point of contact because he gets aroused when she touches him. Her hand hot to the touch. She lightly kisses him on the mouth and he can taste the sweet peppermint on her tongue. He looks into her eyes seeing the passion.
“Nirren I…”
“It’s the first time for myself also.” as she cuts him off. She takes him by the hand and leads him back to her bed.
Nirren’s quarters; 0600
Nirren is awoken out of a dead sleep by the chime of her comm badge. “Doctor Dorn to Ensign Nirren.”
Nirren pops up and the covers fall away exposing her naked body. Her hair disheveled from the crazy night of sex she had with Jeremy Cho. She looks back on the bed and she sees Cho laying there out cold. Apparently, she wore him out. She smiles at her lover and she stands up, fully naked looking for her comm badge. She rifles through her dress uniform and finally finds it.
“Dorn to Nirren.”
She presses the badge. “Go ahead Doctor.”
“I see that the Hades has departed overnight. I assume everything went well?” hinting around at her sexual conquest with her husband.
She looks back at Jeremy and smiles thinking back at their night together. “Everything is fine doctor. I will see you soon.”
Nirren tosses the comm badge aside and makes her way back to bed. She pulls the covers aside and climbs back into bed next to Jeremy. He moans as she reaches under the covers groping his manhood. She seductively climbs atop him and takes him inside her. His eyes slowly come open as she grinds away making love to him again.
***