A Promised Drink

Posted on Sat Apr 9th, 2022 @ 2:01pm by Lieutenant Didrea Zade & Lieutenant Commander Finnley Keating VII

Mission: Character Development
Location: USS Athena, Lounge
Timeline: Between missions, after "Is It Me You're Looking For"
3840 words - 7.7 OF Standard Post Measure

When they arrived at the lounge, Finn scoped out an empty spot in the middle of the room. "I'll go and secure that table for us. Can you get me a rum and coke with whatever you're getting and meet me at the table?" It seemed the best course of action since the first round was Zade's.

Zade nodded, looking around the lounge. Since all her time was spent between the surface and her quarters, she hadn't really had time to explore the ship, so she took a moment to take in the space before heading to the bar. The lounge wasn't too full, but she did recognize some faces from the day shift. It was pretty spacious, and there was a gentle tune that mingled with the conversations in the room. When the bartender came over, Zade ordered the rum and coke and got a Ktarian beer for herself.

After a moment, the drinks came, and Zade nodded her thanks as she grabbed them before heading to the area Finn mentioned. "A rum and coke," she said, holding the glass out to Finn. As Zade sat, she added, "this is a nice casual area."

"I take it you haven't been here before. I assume you have something similar on the Colossal?" Finn asked as she took the glass from Zade. She put the amber liquid to her lips and savored the first sip, feeling the comforting warmth as she drank.

"No, I've been busy on the surface," Zade replied, pausing to take a sip of the beer. "The Colossal has something like this, but much smaller." She gently shook her head with a small smile. "I think I've seen more science talks given in the lounge than card games."

"Forgive me if I find it amusing that your ship is named the Colossal yet your lounge is much smaller," Finn chuckled. "Speaking of card games...do you play any?"

"You haven't even seen the ship yet... the only thing colossal about it is the number of scientists on board," the Trill said. The irony of a small ship named the Colossal was definitely not lost on Zade. The Athena was massive by comparison, and when she was on board it felt like a maze. "I've played some poker, but I do enjoy cribbage. A group of us actually came up with a game that I call kaye'deh zhuro. It's like Earth chess but with cards."

"Interesting," Finn took another sip and deliberated on whether or not she was interested enough in learning this new game. With no other prospects for entertainment and seemingly good company, she took the bait. "Tell me about it."

"It's effectively simulating a combat scenario," Zade began, shifting in her seat so she could cross one leg over the other. She took another drink of the beer before continuing, "each person gets a suit of cards from a 54-deck, and the objective is to take out the other player's king. Most of the cards are pawns, but there are two healers, two supports, the queen, and the king. The cards have points indicating their strength, and the players take turns trying to force the other into a situation that requires the king to be played. The king is the only card that can't be removed from the table once it's played, so it's important to have a good strategy."

As Zade explained, one could tell it was her favorite game, because there was that excited twinkle in her eyes. "Karav, my boss, added in the jokers as sabotage cards. We used to call out 'red alert' but we say 'battlestations' now when we play the joker because... well, we may have accidentally triggered the red alert on the ship once." The Trill chuckled quietly at that, remembering the mishap and how Karav had to explain to T'Lara and Munro that they were playing a card game.

"Interesting," Finn could see the security officers' enthusiasm over the game and she couldn't help but feel intrigued. "I don't know how long you have to hang out tonight, but I'd love to play. I can get some cards from the replicator unless you have some on you. When do you have to report back to the Colossal?" She asked, wondering if there was even a possibility of a rematch in the future after tonight ended.

Zade waved her hand, "I have several hours. It's my first night off in three days, and I intend to enjoy it while I can. I don't usually carry cards on me, but a single 54-card deck is all we will need." Thinking for a moment, she added, "from what I've heard, we will probably stick around until the Athena gets closer to Starbase 32, so at least for a few more days."

"Oh, nice! Glad you'll be sticking around for a while," Finn smiled as she hopped up from the chair. "Be right back. I'll grab us some cards. Do you need a refill while I'm up?" She pointed to the glass in front of Zade.

"Sure, thanks. Ktarian beer," Zade responded, despite her half empty glass. To be honest, Zade wasn't entirely sure how long she was staying, but she had a meeting with the captain in the morning and hoped the team's trip back to the Colossal would be mentioned. Starbase 32 was a commute for a shuttle, so it made sense to hitch a ride at least part of the way. Not that there was really anything on their table, the Trill took a moment to make sure there was space for the game while Finn was away.

Finn arrived back just a couple of minutes later. She slid the deck of cards across the table and set the beer down. "One deck of cards and a Ktarian beer," Finn reclaimed her own seat. "That's my favorite deck of cards. I always replicate the same ones. A series of the most famous engine rooms in Starfleet history." She said with a nerdy grin stretched clear across her face.

Picking up the deck, Zade fanned a couple out to look at the pictures. She did admit, it was pretty neat to see cards like these. Usually she played with dark grey ones that many find boring. There was something about the simplicity of the card design. "Good taste," she commented, doing a casual overhand shuffle, enough to mix the cards from how the replicator generated them. "As is customary," Zade said, fanning the cards face down onto the table in a large arch, "we draw to see who goes first, unless you want me to go first to walk through the game."

"Drawing is fine," Finn picked a card from the right hand side revealing a seven of spades. She showed the card and set it down, waiting for Zade to do the same. "So how much trouble did you get in for yelling red alert in non-emergency situations?" Finn smiled.

"Karav took responsibility as the department head, so he got the primary scolding," Zade replied with her own smile, pulling a card and showing a five of clubs. She returned both cards back to the deck and scooped them up to begin sorting by suit. "... but all of us involved got a warning. If you've never been scolded by a Vulcan first officer, I don't recommend it." Zade smiled, "After we changed the rules, all of us had to clean the transporter rooms for a week, even though most of us were from security."

"Oh, I've had my fair share of run-ins with a Vulcan officer. Let's just say you'd do well to avoid P'Rel while you're on board," Finn practically curled her lip as she pronounced the ice queen's name. She took another large sip of her drink and sat back, watching Zade split up the deck. "Let me get this straight before we start. I can look at all of my cards and play them in any order, correct? And I basically want to build a strategy that requires you to force your King while keeping mine protected. Right? Whats the order of play here? I play one card and then you counter?"

"Yep, that's the basics," Zade said with a nod. Once she finished separating the deck, she picked the suit of diamonds for herself before gesturing for Finn to take a suit.

Setting the two remaining suits aside, she placed the two jokers face up in between her and Finn but to the side so they were out of the way. "There are a few more details, which is why I usually give new players written rules to reference," she added with an apologetic look. Figuring Finn could always ask later, Zade gave a simplified version of the rules. She used one hand to lightly touch two places in the middle of the table, "there are two battlefields, equal to the number of players. On your move, you are allowed one action. You can place a card in either battlefield to advance, return a card to your hand to retreat, move a card between battlefields to reinforce, or take out another player's card. You can also heal flipped cards as an action, but only the healers can do that."

Zade placed her cards on the table and slightly separated them to show Finn the roles. "I tend to play using ship terms, but the cards can be called whatever. These seven are pawns, or crew, and their strength is equal to their face value. The 8 and 9 are the healers, their strength is 3. The 10 and Jack are 10, Queen is 25 and King is 50." Picking her cards back up, she added, "there are two restrictions for placing cards: the King can't be picked up once placed, and the security cards can't be on the same battlefield unless one is flipped. There are a couple of other rules, but it makes more sense to mention them as they come up." With that, Zade gestured to Finn, "you had the higher card in the draw, so engineers first."

Finn nodded and played the four of spades, unsure of what the best strategy would be without knowing her opponent better. A middle ground card seemed the best bet to both begin to understand the game and how Zade played. "Just one card right? So I'm advancing with a strength of four?" She asked.

"Yep, you got it," Zade confirmed with a nod. It was common for new players to play a middle card, and was unsurprised that Finn followed the tradition. Thinking for a moment, Zade picked a five and placed it directly in front of Finn's four. "So I have put your card at risk, which means in my next turn I can flip your card unless you meet or exceed my card's strength, move it to the other battlefield, or return it to your hand. Whenever one card is put at risk, the other player gets one turn to try and save their card." As she watched Finn, she asked, "so I have to ask, what's the story behind the space eggs? You all looked like you had seen these things before when we moved Benedict the other day."

"We've seen space cows before, but never one in egg form. We didn't even know they had eggs as offspring," Finn carefully regarded her hand and the next move. "Remind me again, what happens if we move to the other battlefield?"

"If one card is at risk, nothing," Zade replied. She gave a small knowing smile, as if she were a little gremlin keeping a secret. "If more than one of your cards is at risk and you remove a card from that battlefield, either to another battlefield or back to your hand, you sacrifice one of your cards that are in play."

Finn placed a six on the table, testing out the waters of how these battle scenes played out. "So now your five is at risk? Is that right? What happens now?"

The Trill nodded, more to herself, as she processed Finn's play. "That's correct," she said, glancing at the cards in her own hand. "Unless I meet or exceed your strength in my turn, you can flip that card as an action on your next turn." Picking a seven, she placed the card in the space she defined earlier as the other battlefield. "If you choose to flip the card, my card is considered captured until I can at least match your strength to send the healer."

"What happens if I just leave it and don't flip it?" She asked.

"To you, nothing," Zade replied with a shrug. "At least, not immediately. I get another chance to meet or exceed your strength, which could put your cards at risk on your next turn." At least in her experience, new players tended to jump at the opportunity to flip Zade's cards because if she has fewer playable cards, then it must be easier for them to win, right? Zade held off on assumptions, however, since they were still very early in the game. "This is a play that's similar in concept to Earth chess: if your piece is in a position to take out your opponent's, but there's no imminent danger that would force you to make that move, you can choose to do something else."

With that, Finn tilted her head to the side and considered the options for a moment. The obvious move was to turn over Zade's now overpowered card, but then again, there was no immediate danger to her there. Instead, she chose to flip a 3 onto a new battlefield before taking another sip of her rum and coke. "I have no idea what I'm doing here," Finn shrugged with a smile as she awaited the security officer's move.

"If you knew what you were doing after I gave you a crash course on the rules, I'd be impressed," Zade responded with a smile of her own. Looking at the cards in play, she paused before adding, "bold move, putting a 3 against my 7. But now I'm going to give you a choice." Zade flipped a ten next to her five, putting Finn's combined ten at risk, then took a drink of her beer. "Save the three, or save the combined ten."

Finn nodded and placed a seven on the combined ten. "So now you have a chance to go higher on this battlefield or flip my three, right?" She asked.

Zade nodded silently, looking at the cards. There was no hesitation with that move, but it was still the right one to make. At least, Zade would have done that. "For someone who doesn't know what she's doing, you're certainly making all the right moves," she commented. Staring at the cards for a moment, Zade let her brain play out several different scenarios. Ultimately, the three wasn't that powerful of a card, but losing the ten would make it harder for Zade to win. Most of Finn's stronger pawn cards were in play, though, so she really just had to worry about the security cards. Regardless of which cards were in play, it would still take Finn at least two moves to save the three.

Making up her mind, Zade flipped her own five as she relocated the ten to the battlefield with Finn's three. "That's the sacrifice I mentioned earlier, because I'm abandoning a weaker card that's already at risk," she explained. "Making a player sacrifice cards is a good strategy, especially if there are more than two cards at risk, because they sacrifice a card, then you can go and immediately flip another card."

Pausing, Zade shifted her ten so it was diagonally behind the seven, then lifted her hand from the card to signal the end of her turn. "There's also no particular rule about how the cards are organized, so you can do formations if you want. It is a general guideline that the opponent's cards closest to you in a formation are the ones that are flipped first. Otherwise, you can flip any card you want in that battlefield."

"Must be beginner's luck I guess," Finn smiled and took a long sip from her drink. One thought was to pull the seven back to safety in her hand. Doing so might also lure Zade to outnumber her on that battlefield and bring in the healer. Giving Finn an opportunity to take it out. On the other hand, she could reinforce the three. Having decided that the three could remain at risk, Finn took her seven and placed it back. Behind the lines, so to speak.

Play continued like this for an hour until a single card rendered the game over. Finn looked over the board once, then twice, and then a third time before taking a long sip of her drink. "I'm afraid I'm not sure what to do from here," she let her glass tap back down to the table. "Shall we call it a draw?" Her hand questioningly reached across the table for a shake.

"Sure," Zade responded, after looking at the outcome of the game. They had gone effectively into a stalemate, which was hard to win anyways. Agreeing with the engineer's statement, Zade accepted Finn's hand and gave a solid shake. "I will say, you lasted longer than most newbies at this game." In a bantering tone with a smile to match, she added, "I'm gonna break that beginner's luck next time."

"We'll see," Finn smirked. The clock in the corner caught her eye and a small sigh departed her lips. "I'm afraid it's getting pretty late and I have an early morning ahead of me. Are you hanging out here? If not, you're welcome to join my walk back to quarters."

Turning a little to see the clock as well, Zade nodded in agreement at the time. "I should get some rest, too," she replied, gathering the cards to put back into their box. "I agreed to help the Colossal's science team inventory their supplies in the morning." It wasn't her favorite thing, but now that the mission was pretty much wrapped, there wasn't much for her to do, and she didn't mind helping other departments when needed. Giving what was left in her glass a swirl, Zade finished the rest of her drink.

"Inventory?" Finn stood, leaving the remainder of her drink unfinished. "That's the worst. I could always use an extra pair of good hands if you want an excuse," she chuckled, moving her chair back under the table before walking towards the door.

Zade shrugged, grabbing the cards as she stood to follow. "I don't mind," she said. With a gentle nudge of her foot, she pushed the chair in before following Finn to the door, straying only to return the cards to the replicator. "If anything, it gives me something to do between missions. I owe one of them a favor anyways." Putting her hands into her pockets, Zade gestured with her head and a slight rise of her shoulders for Finn to lead the way. As they left the lounge, an amused little smirk slowly crept onto the Trill's face. "So, I have 'good hands', huh?" she teased.

Finn laughed at the remarm. "I can only assume," her shoulders lifted in a shrug. "Must have pretty good hands to play a card game that well." She smiled at the security officer. "So how have you been liking the Athena so far?"

The remnant of her amusement still clear in her expression but fading into a neutral, yet content one, Zade folded her hands casually behind her back as the two walked. "To be honest, I haven't seen much of the ship yet," she admitted with an unbothered shrug. "A lot of my time has been spent on the surface and, with the exception of moving Benedict, with the department." It was, after all, her mission to assist with cure-related things, which happened to be focused on the surface. Pausing, Zade then asked, "is being blunt a shared personality trait with this crew, or is it the result of the mission?"

"I'm going to go with shared personality trait. Though to be honest I didn't think anyone was as blunt as me," Finn chuckled. "I know it's late, but would you care for a quick tour of the ship? Since you haven't seen much of it?" She asked, both interested in learning more about who all Zade had been interacting with and in general spending a few more minutes with the interesting officer.

"Rain check," Zade replied. "You said it yourself, you have an early day tomorrow, and surely even engineers need their beauty sleep. There's a couple of days until the Colossal's team is scheduled to depart, anyways." She paused for a moment, then her amused expression started to return as she added, "you're willing to lose sleep over me... are you going to miss me that much?"

"Yea, I always deeply miss people I've only recently met," Finn chuckled and lifted her shoulders in a shrug. "I just thought it was the polite thing to do, and I have enjoyed spending time with you. It's been fun," she confessed. Though she did leave out the fact that she had struggled to sleep ever since her conversation with Mason which had dug up painful past memories. If Finn had been truthful she might have noted that the closer they got to her quarters, the more she wished for a continued distraction, even if she had been the one to end the game early.

"Likewise," Zade admitted, silently wishing she could get more time to know this woman. "I am around for at least two extra days, so I'll make sure to take you up on that tour before then."

"No promises that I'll remember this conversation if you come asking for a tour while I'm tuning the engine though," Finn laughed recounting how this whole get together had started.

Zade shook her head as she let out a closed-mouth laugh, recalling the incident. "I'll admit, I'm impressed that conversation went on for as long as it did." Giving a sly grin, she added, "I can't believe I described you and you still didn't know."

My dad always said 'your focus determines your reality, Finn' she quoted with her best impression of his low and gravelly voice before chuckling. "I guess I took that advice to heart and maybe a tad too far." Finn laughed once more before they arrived in front of her quarters. "Well, this is me. Thanks for holding me to that drink, it was a fun time."

"Anytime," Zade replied, coming to a brief stop. "I'm glad I got to share a silly card game with you. I held you to that drink, so you can hold me to that rain check. See you around." With a little wave, Zade continued on to her own quarters.