Beach Party Part 2 of 2

Posted on 14 May 2025 @ 6:52pm by Lieutenant Commander Raviran Dattek-Winters & Lieutenant JG Benjamen Kensington MD

1,844 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: The Festival of Unity
Location: Planetside
Timeline: Current

Continued/...

Drink in hand, Khalest had joined the crowd that was enjoying the music. Though she didn’t dance to the almost hypnotic beat of the drums and other more interesting instruments she couldn’t quite name, she did allow her head to nod to the rhythm, between sips of her maybe too sweet drink. It was a party, she should enjoy herself at least a little.

Noticing her newest doctor in the crowd nearby, Ravi turned towards Kaliest T. She waved and crossed the short but crowded distance to reach her.

"Hi, I'm Ravi, I was hoping to see you here. I'm sorry I wasn't there to meet you when you first arrived." She beamed and indicated to the decreasing drink in the Doctor's hand. "Can I get you another? Or even a different one if you like?" she asked, draining her own in anticipation of a trip to the nearest bar.

Khalest T. gave a slight smile back, raising her half full glass of blue liquid that was now missing most of its white layer. "Hello, Ravi. I believe you know my name. I am Khalest T. And it's alright that we didn't meet before. We are now. As for my drink, maybe another fruit based one, but a different color?" She could finish the one she had before she got the next one. This one was more mystery-fruit juice than alcohol, anyway.

"That sounds good to me!" Ravi agreed and went to get some more beverages. As she passed Caj she offered him a top up too. "What are you drinking my friend?" she asked.

Khalest T. took a few more sips from the curved glass as she approached the nearest bar with Ravi, also seeing Caj. She gave him a friendly smile, feeling the slight buzz of the small amount of alcohol in the Terran-ocean-blue liquid.

Caj sipped on his straw as he watched the two doctors interaction. It made a gurgling noise as it met the end of the drink." Caj looked at his empty coconut a little mournfully. "I think I will try my favourite earth cocktail now. A long Island Ice Tea."

"This is definitely a long island." Khalest T. observed, finishing her own drink. "But what is a Long Island Iced Tea?" She wasn't even sure what tea was.

Caj smiled to himself "It is a earth drink-Long Island ice tea, is an IBA official cocktail, typically made with vodka, tequila, light rum, triple sec, gin, and a splash of cola. Despite its name, the cocktail does not typically contain iced tea, but is named for having the same amber hue as iced tea."

Thalla zh'Ennev walked through the crowd, smiling and nodding in passing to those crewmembers she recognized. The darkness of the evening, along with the party lights, made her Andorian white hair almost fluorescent. She was wearing a sleeveless top that bared her shoulders, further emphasized by her perfectly straight poise, almost statuesque. The assembled crowd and music had made her antennae retract to within five centimeters of her skull to avoid sensory overload.

A passing waiter offered her a drink. In the glass, a turquoise liquid floated over a yellow mid-tier, and a bright red bottom layer. A red berry floated in the glass. Just by looking at it, Thalla knew the drink would be overpoweringly sweet. She shot a stern and contemptuous stare at the waiter, who promptly understood her meaning and backed away.

In this heat, thought Thalla, don't mess with an Andorian.

She made her way through the crowd and found the spot where Ravi had gathered with Kahlest and the ship's surgeon, Dr Kensington. She nodded to them in greeting, and managed a smile despite the pressing heat.

"Well, if someone goes into an alcohol-induced coma, there'll be no shortage of doctors around," she said, raising her voice to be heard over the music.

"Indeed, we are well staffed." The Vulcan/Klingon hybrid also rose her voice in order to be heard, as she handed her empty glass to a passing waiter. She was still waiting for that second drink, offered earlier.

As if on cue with the unheard thoughts of Khalest, Ravi arrived with the pre-ordered drinks. Seeing that Thalla had joined the others, Ravi was abashed that she had nothing to offer by way of drink to her newly arrived colleague. Fortunately it was clear that Thalla already had a drink in her hand.

Primarch Barsavi walked through the crowd of partygoers and exchanged traditional Elysian greetings with his fellow natives. Elysians roughly made up half of the assembled guests, the other half being composed of their Federation friends. The latest arrivals, the crew of the Cygnus, had been there for a few weeks, but this was their first formal occasion to mingle. And what better way to get to know each other than at the opening of the Festival of Unity?

He smoothed his ceremonial robes and brushed back his Lekki, formally wrapped in neat ribbons. The blue and black coloring of his robes neatly complemented his purple scales, and he hoped that no one would notice how the robes were beginning to fray at the edges. He knew there were fewer Festivals before him than there were behind. Such was life.

He finally located the person he had been searching for. This person identified as Bajoran male, easily distinguishable by the nasal ridges, was the leader of the Cygnus group.

Primarch Barsavi stepped up and gave a curt bow, which brought him down approximately at eye level with the Bajoran.

"Captain Bane Please, I presume? It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Primarch Barsavi."

Plase, who had been dancing and enjoying his very real alcoholic beverage, not the synthale stuff served on Federation assets, grimaced a little at his title being spoken, since he was trying very hard to relax and enjoy, then at the butchering of his given name. However, seeing who it was, Bane's demeanor changed, and he smiled. "Ah, Primarch, it's a pleasure. Want some," he asked, referring to his drink.

The Primarch smiled. "I have had two already. At my age I should pace myself, it will be a long Festival. I did not wish to interrupt the festivities, but merely to formally bid you welcome to our home of Elysia. I hope you will find your stay to be enjoyable and restful."

"I see." Khalest finally responded to Caj, after some thought. Maybe she would try that drink one day, but for now her second drink was enough. She thought she should return to her duties as one of the doctors in the makeshift med bay.

"Cheers all" said Caj with a big smile as he proffered his glass to the air for toast as his Colourful Hawaiian shirt flapped a little in the soft beach breeze.

"Cheers." Khalest raised her glass as well, as the slight breeze blew a few strands of her hair into her face.

Ravi responded with another "cheers", raising her own glass as well, joining in with the toast. She was thinking it very odd that she was feeling the effects of the strange, so called 'Juice' drink and
had begun to wonder what other ingredients could be in it seeing as she wasn't as proficient with the Elysian language as she should really have made herself before this.

~It'll be okay~ she told herself on realising this. ~She had always been genetically okay drinking Kanar. So what could they have here that was going to top the effects of that? Right?~


While the others were associating and enjoying the libations and hospitality of their guests, T'Lara sat on a strategically placed piece of driftwood, watching the large bonfire. She spun on the log, turning her attention out to the inky darkness of the ocean's edge, with the gentle waves reflecting a myriad of refracted glimmers of light from the beach party. The breeze had shifted since the sunset and a humid breeze blew off the water onto the beach, chilling her. She wrapped her shawl about her more tightly, but the additional fabric did little to stave off the cool night air.

A strange sound captured her attention. It was lyrical in quality...broken snippets of words...calling...T'Lara stood, relinquishing her grip on the shawl which pooled to the sand in a discarded heap. She walked towards the water's edge and shivered as the cool water lapped at her feet.

"T'Lara..." the ephemeral voice whispered and she experienced a strange compulsion to go out into the gentle, dark waves...'

Her legs were pulled by the unseen undertow, but the weight of the water broke whatever hold the sound had over her. The Vulcan engineer found herself standing thigh deep in the dark waters and wondered just how exactly she came to be out in the water.

Further up the beach where most of the people were, Bane danced with a local woman to the upbeat music, wholly and blissfully unaware of the near impending doom that nearly took hold of T'Lara. "This music is really amazing," he said to his companion, of whom he had no idea her name. "Back on Bajor we have some of the best musicians in the quadrant, but it's nothing like this," he stated to her. His voice was only just slightly raised over the music, which wasn't too loud, but really, just perfect, just like this night was, at least for him.

The CMO also felt pull of the music and commented to Caj, Thalla and Khalest T about how 'hypnotic' it seemed.

"So how about us blue collars..." started Caj referring to the blue of the science and medical departments "go cut a rug as the humans say"

"Cut a rug?" The Vulcan/Klingon hybrid raised a brow. "Oh, you mean dance!" She let a smile cross her face, beginning to feel the effects of the drinks. Maybe she should switch to water, or something non-alcoholic?

"Hey everyone," Bane said from several feet away "We are here to let loose, have fun, and cut up rugs as much as we can!" Several people around the laughed at the Captains unexpected (and jovial) remarks. "Excuse me," Bane said loud enough for one of the local waitstaff to hear. "Another round of drinks for everyone, on me!" The gathered crowd cheered, some whooped and hollard, others still raised their glasses and cups in salute.


As the night wore on, the party continued and it was the early hours of the next morning before everyone had finally taken themselves back to their beds, thanking their hosts profusely and hoping they wouldn't be on duty sooner than it would take for them to regret staying out so late.

It had, however, not only been a fabulous Festival of Unity but had also been such fun and release that the whole crew, having just managed to survive a catastrophe and bourne so much pain and sadness recently, had all been well overdue to let off steam.

#END#

 

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