A Living Legend

Posted on Tue May 30th, 2023 @ 8:14am by Commander Patricia Cooke & Lieutenant Commander Tsukasa Izumi

935 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Auld Lang Syne
Location: Commanders' lounge, Camp Khitomer

The commanders' lounge at the event space at Camp Khitomer where the New Year's party was being held was a small room up a set of stairs which had a view of the main event space below. As the space was reserved for Commanding and Executive Officers, it was notably quieter than the main event space.

Patricia arrived in the lounge after climbing the stairs. She was relieved when she arrived that the ambient noise level was much lower than that of the main event space. She foresaw herself coming back here for brief reprieves from the loud, crowded main event space throughout the evening.

Patricia made her way up to the commanders' bar set up in the space to order herself something to drink.

"What can I get for you?" The bartender asked.

"I'll take some coffee. Black." Patricia responded.

The bartender perked a curious brow.

"Coffee?" He asked.

"You're right." Patricia sighed. "At this hour, best make it decaf."

As the bartender fetched Patricia her coffee, out of the corner of her eye, Patricia noticed someone approach the bar next to her, seemingly also waiting for the bartender to finish preparing Patricia's coffee.

"Here you go." The bartender said, handing Patricia her coffee. "And what can I get for you tonight, ma'am?" She asked, turning to the person next to Patricia

"What do you want?" A purple haired woman asked a young boy who had jumped up onto one of the bar stools.

"Erm... orange juice..." The boy replied nervously.

"One strong coffee and an orange juice" the woman ordered to the bar tender. She then turned to the boy. "Shouta, there's no need to be so nervous. I know you don't like crowds..."

"But mum... there's already lots of people here..."

"You know, it's a lot quieter here than it is down in the main space." Patricia remarked. "I suppose that's the privilege afforded to command officers. And what's the deal with all the coffee orders tonight? You'd think with it being New Year's Eve, everyone would be boozing up. Not that I'm complaining, of course."

Patricia took a sip of her coffee and set it back on the bar.

"Anyhow, I'm Commander Patricia Cooke, Commanding Officer of the USS Missouri." She introduced herself to the other woman. "Or, at least I will be soon. I'm technically not supposed to assume command of the MO until she's ready for her trials after the holidays."

"I've met you before..." Tsukasa said as she looked the woman up and down. "You invited my sister and I to dinner on Risa about five years ago." She paused and smiled. "I'm Tsukasa Izumi, your new Exec."

Patricia's eyes widened and she reeled back in visible shock.

"Tsukasa Izumi... The Tsukasa Izumi... My new exec??" She gasped.

In her excitement, Patricia grabbed Tsukasa's hand and began shaking it rather fervently.

"Holy crap, man! It's such an honor to be working with you!" Patricia squealed. "I had a poster of your sister in my bunk in the Academy! Talk about a New Year's gift, huh?"

"Erm... Yeah..." Tsukasa replied slightly nervously as her arm began to ache. "I'm your new exec, I went into command a few years back so I'm new to this..." she admitted.

"Well, I've only been in command full time for the past couple years myself. In fact, I was only recently offered command of the MO, and until then, I'd served as exec on the Sandusky. So I suppose if you need any pointers, don't hesitate to ask." Patricia chuckled nervously. "Oh, and speaking of the MO, is your sister here? Rumor has it she's the sponsor of this new Missouri, and that she was going to be giving a big New Year's speech."

"I'm not sure..." Tsukasa replied. "I haven't seen her, but I can't sense Hatsune. So I doubt she's here right now..." she paused for a moment. "Oh, Hastune is my neice, she's half Betazoid and she's rather 'attached' to me, and Shouta too." she smiled.

"Oh well," Patricia giggled disappointedly, running a hand through her hair. "I suppose the whole thing was just one of those crazy rumors that gets blown way out of proportion..."

Patricia turned back towards the bar.

"But still, little old me in command of the Starship Missouri and Tsukasa Izumi is my XO? Surely I must be dreaming!" Suddenly, Patricia slapped herself. "Nope, it's all real. It's all very real..."

"Anyhow, you wouldn't happen to have received any manifests ahead of time about who had been assigned, have you?" Patricia asked. "I mean, literally the only senior staff member I know besides you is an old friend of mine whose set to become our Chief of Security."

"Only a few Commander, but I've not officially started my duties yet," Tsukasa said with a smile.

"Alright, then." Patricia sighed. "Well, looks like I'm going to have to do some more floor walking, then." She said, extending a hand to Tsukasa. "I hope to see you down there at some point later tonight. If there are more Missouri crew down there, it'd be nice if you made an appearance or two as well. At the very least, come down and ring in the new year with everyone else."

Tsukasa took her hand and shook it. "I will do," she said with a reassuring smile. "I look forward to serving with you,"

"The honor is mine, Commander." Patricia responded with a smile.

Posting by

Commander Patricia Cooke
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Commander Tsukasa Izumi
Executive Officer

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