Langston Bellies Up at Talons

Posted on 07 Jul 2016 @ 9:28am by Lieutenant JG Felix Langston

1,036 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Risky Business
Location: Talons
Timeline: MD 2 - 1900 hours

Lt. Felix Langston set his PADD down on the table and took his feet off the desk as his chair returned to its normal upright position. He leaned forward and rested his head in his palms. He breathed out a long sigh; today's day was long done. In fact, his shift had ended nearly six hours before, but he had administrative and mapping duties to complete.

"Well, I'm not gonna get any more done today, that's for sure," Felix said, stretching out his arms and cracking his knuckles. He closed his terminal as he got out of his chair. He walked out the door while trying to stifle a yawn. He went down the corridor to the turbo lift. He remembered overhearing some of the crew talk about Talons, the lounge on Deck 6.

The idea of chasing two starships into a nebula weighed his shoulders down. The last thing I want to do is fly into a trap, he thought, this nebula would be the perfect opportunity for the Consortium to spring one. But, we need to make sure that we can rescue the crew on the Chimera and Cochrane.

He pinched the bridge of his nose as he struggled to think.

"I need a drink," he said. "Deck 6, please."

The turbo lift whirred to life as it took him to Deck 6. Felix exited the sliding doors as the lift stopped and walked down the corridor to Talons. He walked through the doors as they slid open to reveal the dim, warmly lit lounge. There were other officers sitting down at tables, chatting, enjoying drinks. They had ways to keep their minds off what was coming. Felix only hoped he could find a way to divert his attention momentarily.

He walked up to the bar to find an empty barstool. He sat quietly, with his hands folded while waiting for the bartender.

Selah spotted the man seated at her bar and her face brightened as it always did when she had new customers. She hurried over and greeted him cheerfully. "Hi!" she said. "Welcome to Talons. I'm Selah, the barkeep. What can I get you?"

"Hey Selah," Felix said while returning the bartender's sweet smile, "I'm Felix. New Chief CONN. I'm always looking to try something new. What's your recommendation?"

"Ooo! I love it when people leave it up to me," she said. "You just want a drink or do you want some food, too?"

Felix chuckled a bit at the perky bartender. "I'd like something that could take my mind off the upcoming mission for a few minutes. Something possibly fizzy and semi-sweet? If you've got something light to go with it, I wouldn't mind."

"Oh, I've got just the thing," she said excitedly. She hurried to the kitchen and told the cook to make up some of those salt and vinegar potato wedges of his, then hurried back to the bar and took rum and chocolate liqueur. She began mixing them with dark beer and then added a bit of freshly ground chili pepper. "There you are," she said, setting it in front of Felix with a huge grin. "One dragon's breath."

Felix's eyes went wide at the sight of the drink. He caught a whiff of the chili pepper drifting from the drink. "You know, my aunt Imogen runs a bar in New Orleans, but I don't think I've ever had, much less seen a drink like this." He took the class and held it up to his lips. "Alright then," he said, "warp speed," as he tilted the concoction back, taking a medium swig. The chocolate and dark beer mixed in a pleasant aroma, giving the mixture a warm, earthy feeling. Then the chili pepper came along and ignited his taste buds. Just like home, he thought.

"This is tremendous!" Felix said as he set the glass down. "Where did you find the recipe for this?"

Selah's eyes danced as if she held a secret. "I made it up," she said. "Just now!"

"My compliments," Felix said, "I like this place already." He looked around the lounge, at the people milling about and talking to one another. "I know I've told you, but I'm new here. What can you tell me about this ship and the people on it?"

"Omigosh, okay, so everyone is really nice," she said, incredibly cheerfully. "Although my dad says that's just because I'm so friendly. But, does that like mean that everyone is mean to unfriendly people? I dunno. But! The cadets are a blast! They had an impromptu karaoke contest one night. Which, by the way, there is karaoke available. Oh!" she said as the cook rang a bell. She turned and grabbed the basket of potato wedges and set it in front of Felix. "Salt and vinegar potato wedges. They're my favorite. I have to be careful though, because too many of these and I will just blow up to like twice my size."

Felix reached in and nibbled on the potatoes and took another swig of his drink. The flavors blended together in a swirling whirlpool of taste. "This sounds like an awesome ship," he said. "How long have you been here?"

"A couple of months," answered Selah. "Maybe three. Time gets all confundled in my brain sometimes. I worked at a place on Deep Space 11 before this. And before that I was on Jupiter Station and before that I was in San Francisco. But none of them were mine, you know? Like this," she added, gesturing around to the bar, "this is mine."

Felix smiled. He raised his glass to the cheerful bartender. "Well, here's to new homes. May the Black Hawk be a home to us for many years to come." He took a giant swig from his drink and sat it down. "And may I have many more of these in the future," he said, looking at the glass.

"Cheers!" she said as she noticed new customers coming in. "Oh, duty calls!" she said. "It was nice meeting you, Felix!" She hurried over to the newcomers to do her thing again.

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