Air of Diplomacy

Posted on Sat May 11th, 2024 @ 3:03am by Ensign Wrenleigh Reed

2,222 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Mission Interlude Starbase 76 & Serenity
Location: Diplomatic Offices, Deck 2
Timeline: MD09 1100

Lindsy leaned back in her chair as she sighed, taking a sip from her water followed by a rub of her eyes. It had been a little while since she'd heard Kayto out in the common area knocking PADDs around, something she'd found annoying but was happy to finally hear silence from. Deciding to be nosey, she stood up and looked out, seeing the man gone. Truth be told she was happy as she'd been avoiding him since reporting on board. Considering the rest of his team had been off ship there wasn't much of anyone else in the department that she knew of to interact with, aside from the Romulan woman whom had been busy as of late.

Making her way down the hall, she stopped short as another purple uniform inside one of the offices she passed caught her eye. Backtracking a few steps the woman stood in the doorway and knocked on the frame. "Hello."

Wrenleigh was standing in one of the offices as she was talking to another Diplomat about a previous case the two had been working on. "Thank you, Commander, I'll be in touch." she said, closing off the video screen they had been talking on. She then realised that someone was standing in the doorway watching her.

"Hello to you too, I'm Wrenleigh Reed, one of the Diplomatic Officers around here." She confidently walked over and stuck out her hand to be shook, not being one for the more formal protocols.

Returning the handshake "Apologies for interrupting, I was just surprised to find someone else around here other than Civil Ops with the shortage lately. I'm Lindsy, assigned to oversee training, certification, and review of all diplomatic policies and procedures on board. The Captain was insistent in reminding me that it's more of an administrative role however I feel at times the operational responsibilities of our department get overlooked. It's nice to meet you, how long have you been on board?"

"That is true, and understandable." Wren nodded, guiding them both to an available seat. "I introduced myself to the Captain only a few hours ago, and I actually didn't find her demeanour too bad. I, myself have only been on board a couple of days so I've been busy wrapping up previous cases I've been working on in order to start afresh." She understood how frustrating it could be, being assigned more of an administrative role than anything else, but she also understood this could be a good stepping stone for her career.

"I suppose I may not have much room to talk then, I've only been on board a handful of days. Although I feel like the enlisted could do better at listening to the officers while their at it too. My one interaction with the Captain was shall we say, differences of opinion. I bring a lot of experience to the table and unfortunately I think that's failing to be recognized. I understand that where I'm at in particular is my own choice but I also know how bad Star Fleet needs field officers, otherwise recruitment wouldn't have been bombarding me for six months with messages and offers. I hope you've been getting settled in better than I have though." Lindsy took the offered seat and decided she'd keep a more friendlier approach with Wrenleigh. She needed someone here to talk to at least, and a potential friend was always good. Or at the very least a good co worker.

Wren could see from Lindsy overtalking that she needed more of an outlet to talk than anything else, and she was glad to be that person, "There's always more than one way to make the Captain and higher ups listen to what needs to change, you know that, right?" She asked with an eyebrow raised. "What are your specialities when it comes down to it? The strengths you can play on?"

Lindsy took a moment to gather her thoughts before responding "A lot of things I suppose, I've worked for several diplomats and advised on a number of curriculums for different training programs. Which in that case wouldn't necessarily make me a particular specialist. But if something stood out I'd have to say definitely my negotiation skills. Enough about me already though, tell me about you. You said you were wrapping up some previous cases you were working on? Sounds a lot more exciting than what I've been up to recently."

Wren gave it some thought, "Well, I come from a long line of diplomats and ambassadors, going back to almost the start of the 21st century, and I like to think that my best skills would be able to land us in a winning position when it comes to war or conflict." Then she smiled, "You know, I think this is going to be a good partnership, how about we get a drink or something, chat more?"

"My parents were quite big into politics, although more so the study and analytics side versus direct participation. I think a drink sounds great, I need a break as it is. The amount of paperwork I've been reviewing has been insane. And I haven't even gotten to anything on the Atarans yet. I am supposed to be assisting Lieutenant Spello with any tasks he has with them. But I've got to get my primary assignment in order first." Amano took a moment to try and think of somewhere the wo ladies could go. Considering it was almost lunch time she wanted a place more relaxed. "We could go to Ten Forward, or the aft lounge they have there. It would probably be a lot less busy than any of the the crew mess' right now."

"You know what, when you meet him, just be firm with him and tell him that you're not just here for 'admin tasks'" Wren used the air quotation marks, "And tell him he needs to get his rear into gear with the department." She stood up and headed toward the door, "I do hope the Ten Forward, which is called Paddy's Loft, will have some decent drinks, I think we both need one."

"Oh, I haven't met Spello yet, so I couldn't say how he'll be one way or another. Paddy's sounds good, I think some time away from the offices I'll do us both a lot of good before we reach New Sausalito." Lindsy stood up and motioned towards the door. "Shall we then?"

"Let's go." Wren nodded and stood to walk out the door with Lindsy in tow. She realised that it was only the start of the day, but it felt like she'd already been awake for hours at this point, so she had to make an amendment to what she said about the drinks as they walked, "By the way, I meant to say hot drinks, it's not even midday!" Then she laughed awkwardly.

Lindsy returned the chuckle. "Or synthehol. Sometimes the taste alone is good enough to break up the monotony. But then again, I've only been wearing this uniform for about a week now, so I've got a lot of adjusting to do. It's gonna be tough giving up a lunch time cocktail when I feel like it."

Wren looked slightly taken aback at the casualness of the other women, raising an eyebrow in reply, "Wow. I don't think I could ever go back to drinking synthehol, my family own a couple of wineries in the countryside back home and we have it with just about everything, so I've grown accustomed to that. I don't think they would notice too much if you had an occasional lunchtime cocktail though."

They made their way down to Paddy's Loft and sat at an available table, with Wren grabbing a menu, "I noticed your accent, it's European, right?"

Lindsy gave a slight grin. It wasn't something that came out very often depending on how passionate she got. "My parents are from what used to be known as the region of Spain. But I've lived several places so the accent I had when I was younger got washed out several years ago. You have quite an ear Wren, I'll give you that. Did you grow up on Earth too?" She looked over her menu as well trying to decide what she felt like for lunch.

Wren nodded and smiled, "Yes, ma'am, I did. Grew up in London, did the majority of my childhood and teenage years there, summers were spent in the countryside while learning how to be what I am today." She knew already what she wanted so put her own menu down, "The Spanish regions have always been known for amazing wines, especially sangria. Ever had that?"

This time Lindsy laughed "Almost too much, especially in my teenage years. I got into a lot of trouble but fortunately I managed to have good friends and their parents made sure we stayed safe at the end of the day. I think I made it up to London once when I was younger to tag along with my father on business but there wasn't a lot for me to do while he was working. I definitely remember the rain and having soup to keep warm."

"I feel ya on drinking too much with good friends!" Wren laughed as well, reminiscing about her own drunk times, "My parents built me my own cottage at one of their wineries and I spent way too much time with my brother's girlfriends getting drunk and causing chaos, but thankfully, we didn't have to go very far for anything. London, however, was always remarkably rainy and often bleak. But it did give me a chance to stay indoors and read, which I would gladly do any day."

Before Lindsy could respond, a young waiter came over and gave a nod to the two women. "Hello. How are the two of you doing? Care for something to drink?"

Lindsy gave a smile back and replied "I'll start with a water and a sangria, just one though. And a chicken salad with avocado and light dressing."

"Make it a jug and two glasses, please," Wren added in with her own order, "Can I just get a toasted ham and cheese sandwich too? You know, just to balance things out a bit." She then looked at Lindsy and laughed.

"Very well, I'll be back in a moment with your drinks." The waiter responded and shuffled away, looking at the notepad in his hand to make sure he got it right.

"Wow, that actually didn't take much convincing, did it?" Wren was referring to getting the sangria instead of the hot drink that was in her original plans when they came here.

"Apparently not. I've been up working since pretty early though so I figure I'll be sober returning back to duty from an extended lunch. Considering I don't really have anyone to monitor my hours it doesn't much matter. There'll be plenty to do soon enough." The dark haired woman gazed around the room for a moment and then looked back at Wren. "There definitely are some cute guys around here, the waiter isn't half bad either."

"And he looks about half your age," Wren gave Lindsy a knowing grin and then laughed again, "But you're right, there are definitely some cute guys around. What's your type anyway?" She used to think that her dream career was her goal in life but she realised she had neglected the social aspect of it all.

"There's nothing wrong with that if you're only borrowing him for a night or two. Besides it gives him something to talk about with his buddies later on and it gives me someone with the energy to match mine, and more likely not looking for something long term so it ends up being a win win. As for my type, I suppose it depends. Of the men I've had any sort of real relationship with I suppose tall dark and handsome have always fit the bill. Short guys have never been my thing. I'm definitely a sucker for youth. What about you?" Lindsy was curious about Wrens interests as well.

Wren had to think about it, it had been a while, but she nodded in understanding with what Lindsy said, "I honestly haven't really thought about it too much, but I guess it would have to be the older, silver fox type of guy.. Someone who has been there, done that all before, wants to settle down and is looking for a future and not the next day kinda thing." She shrugged, "Marriage has never been high on the priority list though, maybe halfway down? Casual relationships are fine though."

"Silver fox huh? I never gave them much consideration to be honest. Maybe one day I should." A moment later the waiter came back with their drinks and food on a tray, placing everything before the two ladies before making his way off without saying much else. Their glasses had already been filled so that was a pleasant surprise. "To the young, and the silver" Lindsy offered.

Wren took one of the glasses and repeated after Lindsy, "To the young and the silver," then took a long sip and found that the drink was somewhat sweet, which suited her perfectly.

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