Poker Interrupted

“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.

Blue

Author's note: This obviously shares characters with A Bad Day For Shore Leave, but the two stories are stand-alone, and can be read in any order.

The sky was clear and blue, not even a wisp of cirrus to be seen as the golden sun shone down on fields of crisp, white snow. Towering mountains reared all around, patches of trees on the lower slopes, snow and rock further up, a majestic scene of beauty almost entirely untouched by human hand.

Almost, but not quite. A group of five people stood on a broad ledge on a mountainside, the only sentient life for over a thousand miles around. Behind them stood the shuttlecraft James Cook, nestled calmly amidst the snowbanks. Around them, all was still, not even an alien bird wheeling in the sky.

Max Dorner, Lieutenant, j.g. in the Starfleet Sciences Division, breathed out into the chill air, his breath forming a cloud of white mist that rapidly dissipated. The air was fresh, and clean, as much so, if not more, than the skies of 24th century Earth, now that technology had conquered pollution. There was a slight alien tang to it, probably from the local plant life, such as it was at this time of year, a reminder that they were not on Earth at all, but a colony world many light years away. A colony world, moreover, where all the settlements were at the far end of the continent, close to the equator.

A Bad Day for Shore Leave

Sumati pulled her uniform jacket taut over her body, glancing down briefly to confirm that she looked suitably smart. It really shouldn’t matter, she thought to herself, as she flicked aside a few stray hairs from her jet black fringe. Here, just beyond the borders of Federation space, nobody was going to care that much.

Except that the senior officers might very well care, especially with the Captain being such a stickler for rules. The Captain always looked immaculate, almost infuriatingly calm and polished. And Sumati knew exactly what the Captain would say: today she was representing Starfleet, and couldn’t afford to let the side down.

The last thing Sumati wanted right now was to turn up at the transporter room and be sent back to tidy herself up. Perhaps it wasn’t very likely – it rather depended who was on duty – but she wasn’t going to take the risk.