I’m drunk

Posted on Wed May 4th, 2022 @ 8:03pm by Captain Bethsabée Leroux & Ensign Michael Sloan
Edited on on Wed May 4th, 2022 @ 8:04pm

Mission: Mission 5 - Babel
Location: Bable World
Timeline: 274 00:00
1527 words - 3.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Beth was pretty sure it was a bad idea to have had the third glass of the moonshine. It felt like she should be doing something more than being there on the planet for the night sat there wrapped up in a blanket watching the fire burning. She knew Lexi was back on the ship and out of danger after the stair collapsed on her but she felt she should be doing something more as Captain.

The camp had settled back down into something that resembled a campfire like it had the last time she had been on the planet at night but that had been hours ago and everyone was pretty much asleep now. It just felt like she was on Earth and none of the stress and strains were there for a moment. She really hoped that the rest of the crew was feeling that too, that it was helping everyone.

Seeing the Captain sitting by the fire alone, Michael decided to join her. He picked a nice little spot on the ground a meter or two from Beth, close enough to talk but far enough to not seem creepy. The crackle of the fire and the cool night air brought back memories of campfires when he was younger. Looking up to the night sky, Michael commented, “It is different not seeing Ursa Major or Cancer the crab up there.”

Beth looked up at the voice and smiled sadly before looking up at where he was looking. “I had not noticed.” She admitted holding up the mug she had been drinking. “Is there anything familiar up there?” She wondered. Astrology had never been her forte at all. She had many skills but the skill to be able to recognise constellations was not hers.

Shaking his head, Michael replied, “No. Some of the stars are there, just the wrong angles for our old constellations to make sense.” Looking up at the night sky, he added, “In a decade or so, Sol might even be visible with the naked eye.” The last thing came out with a bit of hope in his voice. He had always loved the stars, both parts of himself. It was the common ground that made him feel almost normal.

“Or so,” Beth said with a smile as she traced a few patterns in her mind that turned into things that were unique for her. “I will have to ask you to point it out when we get there.” Beth took a long sip of the hooch that she had to take the edge off the day.

“Are you going to share?” Michael asked.

Beth looked down at the mug she had and shrugged. She should really share he had, had as bad a day as her. She got up and pulled out the bottle that she knew was stashed and held it out to him. "You asked nicely."

Taking the offered bottle, Michael took a small sip. It had been awhile since he had a sip of alcohol.

“How are you doing?” It had been a long day for them all with the accident inside the tower. King was dead and Nascimento and O’Connery were injured. They had been lucky to escape with what they did.

“It was a bad day,” Sloan commented. “Losing people is never easy, more so in our situation,” he pointed out the obvious. “Have to promote replacements. King was a good man, we were set to start cross training MACOs and Armory personnel before… before me,” he added with a pang of guilt.

Beth already knew who she would be promoting, there was only one logical choice. "Will be Stenn. He is the only option." Beth said without hesitation as she slowly moved to sit next to him on the floor. She smiled at him as she wrapped the blanket around his shoulders as well as her own even though he had his full uniform on. "Before you changed and found something you were more passionate about." Beth encouraged him to try and look at it in a positive way. None of what had happened had been his fault, it was the fault of bigger players than either of them could ever hope to be.

"Stenn," Michael repeated as he tried to remember the officer. "A Vulcan leading the MACOs, I shudder to think what they would think back on Earth," he half-heartedly tried to joke. It was beginning to dawn on Michael that what Earth would think of what they were doing out here really meant almost nothing. It was what they could look at themselves in the mirror and accept. For now, keeping up with the Starfleet standard was important in holding everyone together and he would champion that cause. "He is a capable officer, I ran backgrounds on all crew members before they boarded. He's a good choice, if you think the others can take orders from a Vulcan." Chuckling moment, he added, "Though they do take orders from a Romulan, so I don't think that would be a problem."

"They respect him. He is one of them." Beth assured having absolute faith in her decision. It was becoming easier and easier to be comfortable in her choices and actions, no matter if they appeared good or bad but she was comfortable that she was doing what she could for the greater good. "You were the trendsetter after all. It seems I am going to be having more Vulcoids on my command team more than any other Earth Starfleet ship in history... and no one will know about it for 150 years," She sighed almost laying her head on his shoulder for a second but decided to take a sip from the mug instead.

"From the data we got from the future ship, it seems like that will be the norm in a few decades," Michael replied. Looking back to the sky, the man added with a glimmer of hope, "While we'll miss the transformation of our home, we are treading the same path."

Beth nodded silently as she just looked at the fire and let her head forward trying to form sentences that conveyed how she felt about the glimmer of hope he was trying to give her. "I hope so. I hope Earth becomes a better hope and that our loss does not hinder it." She said finally revealing one of her biggest fears.

"I can't sugar coat it," Michael said with a bit of melancholy. "We are one of five of this class of starship. We will be missed, especially in a war." Rubbing at the place where his eyebrow ridges would have been, he added, "Though there won't be a Romulan spy at the tactical station. That has to count for something."

Beth had forgotten the war that was coming to Earth very soon. "I guess it counts for something." The woman commented closing her eyes for a long moment. "That core is locked away, isn't it? Only you, Nascimento and O'connery have seen content on there right?" She said wanting to confirm that she would not be facing more mental health consequences in the long term from the crew who got to see what was on the date core and what they would be missing.

"Correct," Sloan confirmed. "Though I'm not sure that we have much right now. We are trying to examine some of the information, but we basically max the computer core when we try to access the stored data," he explained, trying to ease the Captain's mind about people seeing things that they should not.

“Good. That is good.” Beth said relieved that the core was secure. The silence grew but it was calm and not at all awkward. Beth enjoyed it just sitting and looking up at the strange stars. "I am drunk and I am sad and..." She shrugged the words away looking at Sloan. She did not know if she could even reveal everything to him there and then properly that was in her head but the fact she felt sad was. Could she have a night where she did not have to be totally strong? "And I think I want to go to bed..."

A bit unsure of what to do, Michael stood to help Beth up. "It's okay to be sad, it's okay not to be 'alright,' it's okay to be Human," he said as though it was a lesson that he was still learning himself as he reached out a hand.

"Come to bed?" Beth asked softly as she stood up accepting his help and turned offering her hand to the man. She would not be upset if he said no but Beth wanted to let him know her feelings and that despite everything she wanted him.

The question had caught him off guard, it had not been a direction that the engineer had seen coming. Sure, they had had disagreements and they seemed to have a knack for complications. But, it would be great for just one night. They could talk about things once sobriety won over. Without giving it a second thought, Michael took the offered hand.