Pool Shenanigans [Backpost]

Posted on Mon Jun 22nd, 2020 @ 5:09am by Cailus Griffin & Commander Owen Nash & Lieutenant Kalin Brennan-Griffin PhD
Edited on on Tue Jul 7th, 2020 @ 2:44pm

Mission: Divided We Fall
Location: Rec Deck (Game Room)
Timeline: BACKPOST

A Mission Post by Lieutenant Cailus Griffin & Commander Owen Nash & Lieutenant Kalin 'Shae' Brennan PhD & Janet Glyndar
Mission: Divided We Fall
Location: Rec Deck (Game Room)
Timeline: BACKPOST
Mon Apr 9th, 2018 @ 11:54pm

Watching Owen bent down low at the pool table, a wooden cue aimed by the XO carefully at a small white ball, Cailus grunted appreciately as Owen slammed the white ball into a green ball, neatly depositing it into a pocket in the far corner.

“Nice shot,” Cailus said, taking the opportunity to sip his syntheholic beer. “Sounded good too. Those holodecks are good, but they can’t quite replicate the real thing, that feeling of impact.” He paused as Owen gently pocketed another ball, then raised his eyebrows, plainly impressed. “Do you play much, Commander?”

Owen slowly around the table as he considered his next move, adding a tiny amount of chalk to his cue. "Me? I used to play for quite a while back on my fathers ship, The Maiden," he answered as he leaned in for his next shot. He lined up his next shot and gently sent the white ball into the red one, sending it off the cushion.

"However, that was a good few years ago... I'll go with being a little rusty... How about you?" Owen asked as he stepped back to let Cailus up to the table.

“A bit,” Cailus replied vaguely, eyeing the table with a frown. Owen had put him in a somewhat awkward position. He carefully bent over the table and escaped the trap, the white ball bouncing off two cushions to hit a striped one, but it left Owen with some easy shots. “We used to have one on the Churchill, but the entire Rec area burned during the Battle of Menelax. It never felt the same afterward. Sometimes you just need to unwind.”

Owen took a sip of his cider and nodded his agreement. "Yes, indeed it is good to unwind and chill for while," he agreed. Owen then took a look around the area that they were in and smiled before his next comment.

"You know, I think this should be a permanent arrangement on board, keeping the pool table and possibly having a league for the crew to take part in? Although at the moment I'm happily enjoying relaxing and wondering how I'm going to try and win this game," he explained, stepping up to the table and leaning in to take his next shot.

"How about a weekly meet up? A chance to sound off, throw off the days worries and enjoy a game, maybe two together?" he offered, before sending the yellow ball softly into a pocket.

After considering for a moment, Cailus raised his beer glass in a mock salute. ”Deal,” he said, taking a sip. After Owen missed a difficult shot, Cailus promptly put his glass down, bent over the table and potted a ball of his own. “If anyone asks, Commander, you won every game,” he added with subtle mockery. “The XO needs his reputation as an invincible hard ass, after all.”

"I dunno, I'm getting used to having a Captain who's approachable, maybe it's time to break with conventions in regards to the XO as well," chimed in the soft lilting tones of the ship's Chief Science Officer as she daintily padded her way towards Cailus and Owen. "Sorry if I'm late, I got held up in the lab," Shae stated as she leaned casually against another pool table that was not currently in use.

Owen smiled as he studied the table before him with the game in progress. "All I ask you both is that you keep that one under wraps... I don't want too many people thinking I can be soft," he responded as he realised he may lose this one. "Welcome to the party Lieutenant, do you play as well?" he asked as Cailus lined up a further shot.

"Approachable is not the same as soft," Shae reminded him gently. "Thanks for having me; it's been a while since I've socialized so openly, and I don't get nearly as much free time as I need, so this is a very welcomed change of pace. And I dabbled in a bit of billiards back home and at the Academy. I might be a bit rusty, but I can give it a try; I guess that means I've got next?"

Owen looked across to Brennan with a grin on his face. "Well, if I lose to our very experienced Chief of Security here, I'll happily yield my place to you," he offered. Owen was enjoying the company and happy that he was making friends on board despite his position change. Going from Chief Ops to XO often meant that people could often see you in a different light, however both Cailus and Brennan were disproving this myth nicely.

Shae shot a fanged grin towards Cailus; Shae played to win and she wasn't going to go easy on him simply because they were sleeping together!

Cailus knew well that look in Shae’s eyes, and after potting the black ball, winning the game, he cocked an amused eyebrow at her. “It’s on.”

Former First Officer of the USS Pandora, that title had not really escaped her. Oddly enough, she still couldn't avoid the command life all together as she was routed it indirectly by her courting Lieutenant Commander Owen Nash. Oh how things changed and yet how they remained the same. Her and Nash had history. Her, Nash, and this starship had history. Some sort of 'double date' had been arranged with the four of them to meet up on the recreational deck. Part of me misses the days where men threw themselves at me and I had my choice of a suitor or several she thought back to her days way before the Starfleet life. There was nothing wrong with settling down with one individual though and as much as she disliked to admit it, Starfleet and the Federation had domesticated her.

She was the last to arrive for the shenanigans, having to pretty much force herself to be 'social' after a bit of a pep talk. "Don't go easy on him just because he's the XO, I don't" she said with a bit a smirk as she looked at the trio. "I hope you boys haven't been rough housing down here without me" she added teasingly. She was after all in good physical shape and her background in security was nothing to scoff at.

Owen smiled as Janet came over to join them. As she reached his side, he put his arm around her waist ad leaned in gently to whisper "Thank you" before looking over at both Cailus and Shae and seeing the competitive spirit between them quite nicely. "Oh no, definitely not, Cailus and I were just the warm up here...I've been looking forward to seeing how these two will fair on opposite sides of the battlefield and now I get a chance to see this in action," he explained. Owen was feeling a little mischievous at he thought of seeing how Cailus would cope against Shae in this game.

At that, Cailus rolled his eyes and instead looked to Janet as the only person here as sane as him. “How about it Glyndar? I know you’re not Terran and may not have played before, but we can tag-team it. You and me against these two.” He glanced pointedly at Shae. “And we can wipe the smirks off their faces.”

"Not bloody likely!" Shae replied with a grin. Owen was a strong contender even though he'd lost this round, and with her spacial acuity and knowledge of zero-point geometry, they would be unstoppable! "So c'mon now, bring it!" she challenged Cailus and Janet.

Owen smiled as he walked over to stand beside Shae and winked at Janet. Whilst she was acclimatising to this new situation, he knew she loved a challenge and this was certainly that. "Well Shae, I'm pretty certain we can handle the Terran on their team... however the Xenexian poses a challenge though... She's the unknown part of the equation..." he teased.

Janet looked at the trio and around the area. "Yeah, I'm not Terran. Not sure what gives it a way...I've been told it is the eyes" she said teasingly. "So, what the heck is it we are playing or doing? What is the objective, and how do I avoid being penalized for being too rough on them?" she asked in all seriousness. She had tried a few different Earth sports during her career serving aboard starship with humans. Apparently the object of 'Ice Hockey' was not to take the stick and protect the puck by smacking the other people carrying sticks.

Cailus shrugged nonchalantly as he reracked. “The objective to use the thin end of this cue to hit the white ball, which in turns hits another ball, and that ball goes into a pocket. It’s a game of precision and strategy, as if you pot the ball, you have the next shot. If you fail to pot, your opponent has the next shot. The player to pot all of their balls, as well as the black ball as the last pot, wins.”

Finishing reracking, Cailus glanced at Owen with an evil glint in his eye. “Of course, if you should choose to take the cue and beat the XO with it, that is entirely within your rights.”

She smiled at Cailus "No thank you. But if you would like to take the cue and beat him with it, then please be my guest...you know to work off that special tension between the two of you" replied Janet. She looked at Shae and flashed a smile. Janet was enjoying teasing Cailus the 'macho man." She then sought to pick up the cue. "Right...so take this and whack the white balls into the other balls, hopefully hitting the ones I want to into the holes and avoid hitting the black one in. Correct?"

"Well, you're hardly 'whacking' them," Shae said as she picked up a cue, retrieving the white cue ball and setting it at the starting mark while Cailus finished racking the balls. When he pulled the form away, Shae leaned in and lined up the first shot, then with a firm tap of the cue she sent the cue ball into the pyramid of colorful billiard balls, sending them scattering across the table. As the motion on the table slowly came to a halt, two of the striped balls slipped into a pocket each, causing Shae to smile. "That was the break, and now that I've sunk stripes, Owen and I have to continue potting stripes and avoid the solids and the 8 ball. Letting the cue ball fall into one of the pockets is a foul as well," she explained as she stalked around the table to look for her next shot. "Part of the challenge of this game is navigating the obstacles, like this one," she pointed out a stripe and a solid ball near a corner pocket. "Good luck doing anything with this ball without knocking our ball in," she with a mischievous grin, intentionally leaving that ball where it was even though she had a clear and easy shot of it, instead sending the cue ball bouncing off the side walls to knock another stripe ball into the opposing corner pocket.

“Never underestimate your opponents,” Cailus said solemnly, seemingly unfazed by Shae’s showboating, “especially when they make a living from shooting things.”

Truthfully he hadn’t expected Shae to be that skillful at pool, and while it might just be a game, he had no intention of losing. As an idea flashed in his mind, Cailus strategically but casually moved right behind Shae as she lined up her next shot, sharing a subtle conspiratorial glance with Janet as he did so. Waiting deliberately for Shae to bend down for her shot, Cailus crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow as he eyed her rear end...specifically, the light green lacy fabric that poked over the hem of her leggings from how far Shae had to bend over.

“Your panties are showing, love,” Cailus commented nonchalantly as she pulled the cue back.

With a startled squeak, Shae snapped upright, sending her shot wild as she scrambled to right her clothes to cover her unmentionables. Her face was pure embarrassment and so red, especially as she watched the cue go nuts across the table, sending balls scattering; not only did she miss her target entirely, but she knocked a solid ball into a pocket. "Oooooh, you are going to pay for that," Shae said under her breath as she stiffly got out of the way so that either Cailus or Janet could take their turn.

Owen saw Cailus' low blow and chuckled slightly before seeing a glare from Shae after she had checked herself. He made sure to support his team-mate whilst her partner leaned in to take his shot. "Cailus, you did remember to file that Ordnance Report that the captain asked for? The one outlining every weapon and its status on board be it a hand weapon or a Starship based system?" he asked carefully.

"Yes, Commander," Cailus said idly, potting a ball with contemptuous ease. "I filed it this morning." He potted another ball in quick succession, this time a much harder shot. "I made sure to include all blade weapons onboard, including Lieutenant K'Laus' armaments and my katana." He potted yet another, this time with unquestionable flair. "Ensign Logann compiled the report on the ship-based weaponry with commendable speed." Finally Cailus missed a pot, but the cue ball bounced off the cushion in such a perfect way that Owen would be lucky to even hit one his balls, never mind pot them. Stepping away from the table, Cailus was the picture of polite innocence as he waited for Owen to take his shot.

Owen smiled as he realised his attempt at try to distract hadn't worked and he was also impressed that after potting three in a row, Cailus had left no room to either manuver or pot one of his own. "Well its good to know you were as thorough as always," he responded, knowing he'd been caught out. Owen instead leaned in and gently tapped the cue ball next to one of his balls, leaving a snooker inplace. He walked over to Shae and handed over the cue.

"Well, I happen to know for a fact that not all the bladed weaponry is accounted for, love," Shae added in mocking tone. "You remember that knife you found under my pillow?" Because she was still more than a little paranoid of someone coming to get her, she had explained to him. And why knives? Because they didn't run out of power like phasers and weren't affected by energy dampening fields, of course! "Yeah, that's not the only one I have."

"Of course not," Cailus grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Yet you still argued against me hanging the katana in our quarters."

"Uh, yeah, because I don't care if my daggers get broken, but your katana is an antique, a priceless heirloom! Not to mention the sentimental value..." Shae said in defense of her decision. It never crossed her mind that Aoife might get hurt, but rather that Aoife might break it! "Besides, the idea to hang it in the Box was wonderful; it really it a stunning weapon and it should be shown the love and appreciation it deserves," she added, looking fondly at where it hung now.

Owen looked up at the fine ancient weapon adorning the wall. "Well in that case I'm rather glad I suggested it all that time ago," he offered as he watched Janet step up to the table. The thrill of seeing his beloved never ever got old...in fact watching her lean over the table made him smile.

Janet was shaking her head at the chatter about weapons and logging them. "Phasers are wonderful, but I do miss the days of a good blade or melee weapon" she said aloud. "I presume you have made note of all my weapons as well? Even if they are just decorative pieces now...because you know a nice throw on the bed is lovely, but a Xenexian battle axe mounted to the bulkhead over the bed really makes my quarters so inviting" she teased as she took her shot and though it wasn't a pretty shot, she managed to get one of her balls in albeit in doing to she had knocked her opponent's ball in as well. She winced as she saw it go in.

"Not bad," Shae said with an encouraging smile; she had no problem hustling either Cailus or Owen, but if this was Janet's first time playing, then she wanted to be constructive. "Don't feel bad about knocking our ball in, that was a tough shot. Next time, make sure you aim your cue at the center of the ball and it won't go so astray," she suggested, then looked at the table for her shot. She sunk one more stripe, but she didn't have anymore clean shots, not unless she felt like really showing off with some fancy geometry or jumping the ball across the table, so she took a shot to break up a collection of balls, then surrendered the cue to Owen. "I've never been a huge fan of weapons as decorations," Shae said as she glanced around then waved down a waiter to bring her a drink. "Don't get me wrong, I think there's a lot of beautiful craftmanship that goes into weapons, like Cailus' katana or my bow, but showing respect to a weapon by displaying it is different than simply decorating with weapons."

"Well, I don't think me running around the ship with a battleaxe is going to make Cailus happy" she said looking at him. "Even when I was First Officer. Actually, even when I was Security Chief...Merith was a very patient Captain who taught me a lot, but she would have still raised a fuss if I opted to switch out the protocol phaser for something else in an emergency or during an away mission."

“As a good captain should,” Cailus said solemnly, nodding, mentally filing away the fact that Janet apparently slept underneath a damned battleaxe, of all things. Something to interrogate Owen about at a later date, he mused. “What was Commodore Merith like, anyway? I’ve been hearing about her since before we left Luna, but it’s all the usual unreliable junk. Senior NCOs exaggerating to scare the junior enlisted, wet-nosed ensigns who are just making rubbish up to sound important, that kind of thing.”

Janet thought for a moment. "Pretty by the book as far as command style and decisions, just a lot more approachable off duty than most COs tend to be. Kind of like Temple in that respect. Her quarters were always open for someone seeking refuge or words of encouragement and wisdom. She was Ba'ku, so she was older than most everyone aboard yet maintained a youthfulness about her externally and internally. She was like a mother to me and a mother to the rest of the crew" explained Janet.

She blushed a bit. "Well, maybe not so much a mom to a certain member of the crew. The XO at the time sort of caught her in the turbolift making out with one of the crew...nothing too crazy though she was not too thrilled about it" said the Xenexian. "Our XO was Cardassian, and a pain in the ass, but he grew on ya to the point he was pretty much one of the greatest assets the Pandora could have back then."

"Oh my...." Shae said with a blush at the thought of anyone getting caught making out in the turbolift. "Well, that, uh... ahem, explains quite an awkward log the former Chief Science Officer left behind..." she added with a knowing nod. Then a waiter came around with her drink, a new favorite she had found from exploring Japanese food now that Cailus had her properly addicted, a fizzy green 'melon' concoction; she didn't know what kind of melon this flavor was based on, but she couldn't stop drinking it! "Is it true that Commodore Merith and your XO were on the USS Katana when it disappeared?" she asked after a sip of her drink.

Janet let out a deep sigh. The Katana she thought of her friends. The woman found herself a beer and took a good swig of it before she went down that path of discussion. "They were. At the time Larkon was Commodore and the Task Force Executive Officer for the fleet's 38th Task Force. Merith was formerly a Commodore and Task Force Executive Officer for the 47th Task Force, but had left her post and was enjoying civilian life. They were aboard the Katana as it was testing a new drive, I believe it was transwarp of some sort. Something went wrong and the USS Katana has not been seen since. It was initially listed as MIA, but the status has since been changed to lost, all hands aboard. I like to have faith that they are still out there somewhere" she said. "I was aboard the USS Challenger at the time...briefly and then on the USS Adelaide" she added.

"I got in contact with a Doctor Landon Milo a few months back aboard the USS Beifong. Well, Commander Milo now. He became Acting Commanding Officer of that starship and was hoping to investigate the area where the Katana was before it went missing. When the whole Consortium thing happened though and we lost contact with the ships on the Gamma Quadrant side of the wormhole for a while, I fell out of contact with him until Starfleet was able to re-establish a presence and take out the Consortium" Janet explained, giving probably more details than required.

Owen smiled as he recalled his previous tour on the Pandora. "Yeah, we had some good times under the command of Commodore Merith, Larkon and the rest... They were good days as we explored the Gamma Quadrant in what was back then one of the first Luna Class Starships to be on active duty.

Owen took a sip of his cider before stopping for a moment and taking in Janets comments. "My god... You mean someone was going to look for the Katana? To try and find out the truth and see if the ship can be located..." He began for a moment. "As much as I miss many of my old crewmates this is a turn up for the books..."

He leaned in to take what seemed to be a simple shot but turned out to be more difficult than he thought. He'd heard about the Katana being classified as MIA but the fact that there was going to be a search offered hope.

Taking the cue from Janet, Cailus considered the table for a moment, although with his ears still tuned to the conversation. "Nothing is ever truly lost," he said soberly, and for the first time, Cailus missed what should've been an easy shot. "It's just temporarily absent. Wherever the Katana is, some trace of its fate will turn up eventually."

Owen nodded in agreement as he watched in surprise as Cailus missed his shot. "I like that one...temporarily absent," he commented. "I'd like know how that mission turns out if they give the go ahead for it... Merith was a damn fine CO."

"And from what I've seen, she was an even more exceptional scientist, I would love to get a chance to compare some ideas with her if she's ever found," Shae said as she stepped up for her turn. "I was quite taken with her work while I was working on my dissertation. I read one of her papers where she was working on a theory of subspace gravitational currents and it was riveting, absolutely fascinating; it's actually proving to be quite useful in my studies of the dark matter here in the Expanse and I already have a paper in the works that I'd like to submit to a science journal for peer review." As she spoke, Shae managed to sink two more, but the third shot didn't have enough force behind it so it fell just short of its intended pocket.

Owen picked up his drink as he looked toward the others. "A toast... To the Katana... May she return home safely!"

Janet could definitely toast to that. Come home safely she thought to herself, raising a beer bottle. "May her Intrepid Captain Kristopher Kerouac bring her home safely" she said remembering the name of the man who commanded the starship.

"Fair winds and following seas," Shae said in agreement, raising her fizzy green drink as well.

"And may those winds carry them home," Cailus finished the toast, raising his own cider solemnly with the others.

Owen took a sip as his friends toasted to his former colleagues on the Katana and then put his drink down. "So where were we? Oh yes, I believe Shae and I were winning..." He teased.

"For now" replied Janet with a bit of a smile. "Seems like this game can change in a moments notice with right shot and strategy" assessed the Xenexian rather tactically minded. "I for one have no intention on losing" she added.

“Damn straight,” Cailus agreed solemnly, watching Janet lean over the table to attempt a tricky shot that would, given the layout of the remaining balls, probably either win or lose the game. Even so, Cailus simply watched with confidence, trusting his fellow grunt. Janet, like him, would rather walk out an airlock than miss an important shot, and he trusted the Xenexian in this regard.

Even so, it was hard to resist a smug little smile as the ball slammed into the pocket.