Cypress Mountain - Part 1

Posted on 12/23/2022 @ 1:53pm by Captain Cara Letsul

1,628 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: A Day In the Life Of..
Location: Deck 16 - Holodeck
Timeline: MD 6 - Day after the Breen attack

It was only after he had invited Cmdr Letsul to join him in holodeck 6 (she had, a while back, emitted the idea of meeting him in a setting connected to his past) that Brek realized with dismay that his little scheme to grow plants had failed completely. He had watered them once or twice and had quickly relied on his staff to perform this task.

“Well, never let failure go to your heart,” he grumbled to himself. ...”That could be fatal.”

He entered the holodeck, and enjoyed the same awe he had felt, some 7 years ago, upon discovering Cypress Mountain and the ski resort called Peak Tower, on Echevar. It was a remote colony where, with a group of officers, he had spent a shore leave. It remained by far, his favorite memory.

Cypresses, pristine snow and a-framed winter cabins scattered across the land. There was nothing else to see here. No perturbations. Peace of mind was almost forced upon you in such a quiet setting...

The invitation from Brek came as a bit of a surprise to Cara. She was curious though and went to the holodeck that he had reserved and stepped inside, she was amazed by the scenery that lay before her. This was magnificent and it took her back in her own memories of a time when she was out in the snow with some friends. She dared not make a sound as of yet, just taking this in. She spotted Brek and went to stand beside him, basking in the quietness of this panorama.

Brek was deep in thought, recollecting the events that had taken place at this site. The crew’s war cry - something odd, to do with penguins - snowball fights, snow-bike competitions, hearty meals, and not a care in the universe... He then felt a presence by his side, like a long shadow, and he frowned. What he hated about holodecks was that they were - in his opinion - too prone to spoil a perfectly fine scenery. A tiny glitch, and that was it, you could be confronted by a deranged EMH, or that sort of thing. It had happened to him, once.

He looked up at the ‘apparition’, and was instantly relieved. “Ah, Co... Cara! I didn’t hear you, and you nearly gave me a fright. Let’s go to that cabin over there, we’ll be more comfortable.” He walked ahead of her and opened the door. The decor inside was nothing special, white cypress wood, two white sofas with cushions, a bright fireplace in the middle of the room, and ample space to accommodate five persons.

“Please have a seat. Can I offer you something to drink?”

Cara followed after Brek, taking in the decor of this cozy room. She settled upon one of the white sofas, gazing at the flames which danced with in the fireplace. Then she turned to Brek, "Perhaps some hot chocolate with marshmallows?" giving a smile towards him. "This is a lovely place, where is this at?"

"This is a popular shoreleave site and ski resort on Echevar, in the alpha quadrant. I love this place." He shrugged and then went to the replicator. "This said, nostalgia probably makes it look better. We can't always trust what we see, can we?"

He was back moments later. He gave Cara her drink, and took his (hot chocolate with a dash of rum), to the second sofa. “Do you also have a favourite holodeck scene? Or maybe you prefer the station’s public gardens and arboretum?”

"No we can't always trust what we see with our eyes." Cara murmured before she accepted the chocolate from Brek. "As for a holodeck scene I have several." her eyes momentarily going distant as she thought of one, then brought her attention back to the current time. "I do love the gardens and the arboretum. Greenery that adds to serenity." Cara lifted the cup to her lips, lightly blowing the contents before she took an exploratory sip. "This is good." the corners of her mouth lifting upwards into a gentle smile.

“Hum... yes I could have placed a few plants in the cabin. It would have been thoughtful... It escaped my mind. Then again...” Brek made a pause and sampled his drink, nicely spiced up with the rum. “You are right, this is an excellent drink. You may remember my intention, a while back, to have a few plants in the Embassy? Well, it was a total fail. I never found the time, the energy, the thought even, to water them. A complete disgrace. I had an excellent reason for that. I don’t slack without cause. But before I get to this...” He sat up and took another sip of his drink. “I need to apologize for the way I stormed off the Diplomatic Briefing room the other day. I can tell that there is more to that Breen attack than is allowed to surface and, regretfully, I snapped.”

During this time, Cara had slipped off her shoes and tucked her legs up on the couch taking another sip of the chocolate. "Brek, do not worry about that, yesterday was a long day and I had snapped as well." she closed her eyes for a moment, just enjoying the ambience of this program. "So much has happened in such a short time. Some damage to the station, work crews are working like crazy. I hope we have a respite before anything thing else happens"

Brek observed Cara for a moment. The message was clear. The Commander wanted to relax. Forget the attack, the Breen, the destruction and the reconstruction. He could give her that easily. He had memorized ten pages of information on hydroponics. He could feed her those, and they would have a nice harmless chit-chat. But his heart wasn’t into it.

“So do I...” He remained pensive for a few seconds, thinking of his allegiances and priorities. “Anyway, it was your prerogative to 'snap'. Not that anyone in that briefing room doubted your ability to save Poseidon. Not even the Romulan Ambassador... I'd give a lot of latinum to see the Intel he sent you. Enough daydreaming though! I called you to make a little announcement: I'm done with loneliness. I'll be getting married very shortly. It will be a quick ceremony, among Ferengi. Everything's orchestrated by my grandmother."

Cara's eyes widened with hearing this news, but didn't stop herself from drinking her hot chocolate. She then lowered her cup down and looked at Brek. "Is it just for profit? Is it love? Or is it for both. Wait, you said your grandmother." she closed her eyes for a moment then opened them once more. "An arranged marriage, will you be happy, will she be happy? Will it be beneficial for both of you? However Brek, the lady will be lucky in having you."

Brek took a quick sip of his drink, and he too put the cup aside. "I misrepresented the situation. Only the ceremony is arranged by my grandmother. The soul searching was provided by me alone. Two years it took me to sum up the courage to speak to the soon to be bride. To sum things up, she likes my latinum, and I love her." He scratched his arm. "It shouldn't be too difficult to find a happy balance, when you consider that we need each other. Now, we need bigger quarters, but with all the repairs going on, it's a bit tricky. Do you think you could fast track my request? She wants our quarters to be on deck 40, we are on 111 at the moment. "

Cara having set her mug down upon a nearby table, reached into her pocket for her ever present PaDD and took a look, "I can do so, i am surprised you've not been given a diplomatic ensuite as part of you being the Grand Proxy. I am deeply sorry that hadn't been taken care of. Then again, we have been dealing with quite a bit." a few taps on the PaDD and then Cara gave a nod. "Your request has been acknowledged and made. You may get things ready to move in a couple of days if that will be okay with you."

“This is absolutely perfect, thank you,” Brek said, impressed with the rapidity of the procedure, and not in the least troubled by this blatant show of opportunism. “When I arrived on Poseidon, things felt rather chaotic, oppressive almost.” He smiled as he recalled his first encounter with Cara on the Promenade. “I used to avoid my title, and so at the time I was quite happy to settle in regular quarters. It helped make the transition from the art dealer that I had been for two years, to my brand new position at the embassy. Can you honestly say, that you always find transition between departments and your various roles within the Fleet, easy?”

"Brek, I would be lying if I said making the transition between departments and my various roles is easy. Its just more of settling into a familiar pair of shoes. I've been doing this for so long that, stepping back into this sort of role was as if I hadn't left it. My most difficult transition was leaving the station I had been at for many years, then trying to make the decision of leaving Star Fleet all together. I was very, very, very close to just stepping away." holding her fingers rather close together with only a mini fraction of a separation. " Then found I couldn't do so. I couldn't walk away, I couldn't leave this place."

Grand Proxy Brek
Ferengi Embassy
Poseidon Station

Commander Cara Letsul
Poseidon Operations Commander
Chief Counselor
SB 50

RSS Feed