“Sh’ree did say she was coming tonight, didn’t she?”
Edrilli shrugged, “I haven’t spoken to her this afternoon. But,
the last I checked, she didn’t say she wasn’t.”
The Tellarite woman tutted in reply. “We can leave it a bit
longer, I guess,” said Lugmilla, “I’ll call her if she’s not here soon,
though.”
It was unlike Sh’ree not to leave any kind of message, thought
Edrilli, so most likely she had just been delayed somewhere along the route.
The Bolian shuffled the deck absently, having nothing better to do as they
waited. The four of them met up every now and then for a game, taking turns
between entertainments native to each of their worlds – one of the advantages
of such a multi-racial starship as the Endeavour.
Tonight was the turn of an Earth game, in honour of the
human member of the group. This time, Sumati had picked poker, a game she had
apparently come across at the Academy, since it wasn’t native to her part of
the planet. Ironically, it was Sh’ree who was the best of the four women at
playing the game, although sometimes the Andorian’s betting became too aggressive, giving one of
the others a chance to wipe her out.