<USS Avalon> Father and Son

Father and  Son
by Captain Keith Ketchum and  Cadet John Forester
 
Keith rode the lift after running into the new counselor,  literally. Trying 
to catch up with John on the station, didn't afford him the  luxury of 
chatting at the moment,. After they arrived at DS9, Keith hadn't a  chance to 
talk to 
John before the crew was relieved to some time on the  station.

Making his way through the connector and exited onto the  Promenade. Looking 
both ways, he finally picked a direction and started walking  along.

John sighed as he left the small cafe where the odd old man was  still sat.  
Nightwalker had sent him off on an errand to get the man a  particular Bajoran 
fruit from the market but now he was a little lost.   "Old men," he muttered, 
"have a sick sense of humour."

Keith saw him  ahead, he sped up his step a little and finally came up behind 
him,  "John?"

"You'd be papa bear then would you?" John muttered with a smirk  as he slowed 
down and stopped.  "Hey, sir, what can I do for  you?"

Taking a deep breath, "I wanted to have a moment to talk with  you.  If 
that's ok?"  Motioning to a table over to the  side.

"Sure," John followed his father.  "What's  up?"



Keith sat down, "I wanted a couple of words with you before you left the  
ship, but seems you're quicker than I.  Though, I am glad to have caught up  
with 
you.  I wanted to let you know I am proud of you in how you handled  the 
recent mission, and if it hadn't of been for you locating that  wormhole, we 
might 
still be searching."  He watched for John's  reaction.

Tilting his head to the side, John stared at his father,  searching his face 
for the honesty of his words.  For a long time they just  looked at each 
other, both waiting for a reaction, but slowly a smile grew on  John's face and 
he 
blushed.  "Thanks.  It was all kinds of scary when  they invaded though.  
And..."  Okay, Nightwalker, here goes...  "And I'm sorry too.  I kinda thought 
you'd run away when you left the  bridge and didn't come back."  Adding 
quickly, 
"But I know you didn't, or  you did but you had to and it's cool, because I 
know how much pressure your kind  of captain is under.  And I guess all this 
needless babbling is kinda sorta  leading me to a point where I can say, I'm 
proud of you too."  Then he  laughed loudly.  "Like you need me to be," he said 
sarcastically. 
 
"Well, having your crew and family proud of you, does make the job a  little 
better.  And I hated running away from the bridge at least, but I  was 
watching and trying to coordinate efforts."  He watched John, the laugh  was 
something he hadn't seen, and he liked it.  "So, now that we have  that out of 
the 
way, have you thought of what ship you'd be interested in  posting to.  I know 
quite a few Captains...", he let it trail off,  realizing that maybe John 
wanted 
to earn his own place.

Blushing lightly,  John shrugged.  He'd thought about it, of course he had.  
Problem was,  he didn't want his father to think he was using their family 
connection to get  ahead.  "Yeah... I, er, thought about it..."  John so 
desperately  wanted to be able to prove himself as capable in his own  right.
 
"And what have you decided?  As a concerned Captain, and hopefully a  friend, 
but not as a father, wanting to throw his title around.  Actually,  don't 
tell me, make it better actually, then I won't have ability ramp up  your new 
Captain when it comes time, accidentally."  He stopped talking  almost at once, 
trying to decide what to say next.  Finally he asked, "Do  you play Dom-jot?  I 
haven't found anyone to play the game with in so long,  that or none of the 
crew want to beat their captain at it."

A mischievous  glint crept into John's eyes and he nodded.  "Trust me, sir, 
I'll have no  issue wiping the floor with you."  
 
"I believe that they have  a table on the station, let's go see."  They stood 
and made their way to  Quark's, luckily he didn't appear to be there, and 
Keith asked the  bartender if they had a Dom-jot table.
 
"In the back, it's not  being used", stated the Ferengi. He looked the two 
men up and down, trying to  decide what to charge for the table that would make 
Quark happy.
 
"Then I'd like to use it,  please.  Then start a tab under Captain Keith 
Ketchum of the Avalon,  also, do you have any Centauri Brandy?"  Keith reached 
into his pocket to  reveal at least two bars of gold-pressed latinum.
 
"I have a couple bottles,  yes."
 
"I'd like a glass",  turning to John, "Anything to drink?"

"The same, if I may," John asked,  peering at the little Ferengi then up at 
his father.
 
"Make it two then, and  bring them back to the table please"  Keith walked 
back to the Dom-Jot  table and peered at it, it had been a while since he 
played.  "How about  the first game, we just use for practice", he mentioned 
more as 
a statement than  a question.
 
The little Ferengi  brought the two glasses and the bottle back, "Just in 
case you want more,  Captain", smiling the jagged tooth smile.
 
"Yes, I figured you  would bring back the bottle.  Probably cheaper to buy 
the whole bottle  anyway, thank you."
 
The Ferengi turned with a  huff and muttered something about glasses and 
bottles and Captains outsmarting  him.
 
"Rack em up, son", Keith  said, as he grabbed a cue.

Smirking, John set up the table then stood  back.  "You know what they say, 
sir: age before beauty," then laugh  brightly as he took a sip of brandy.
 
They were laughing so hard after the second game.   Each had beat the other, 
but it wasn't about winning, it was the getting to know  each other.  "We'll, 
John you beat me that time, let's do a third one,  winner take all."  The 
'all' being a basket of Terran  pretzels.

It wasn't so bad,  spending the afternoon playing Dom-jot with his old man.  
John actually  found he liked the guy a lot, bit stuffy at times but they had 
a similar sense  of humour and they both liked having fun. 
 
"O'Donnell to Captain  Ketchum, if it's not inconvenient would you care to 
join me for a drink  somewhere?"  

Keith heard the comm, and  wondered what the Ensign wanted now, maybe to 
really shoot him.  "I'm  currently in Quark's with my son." He was making the 
final shot in their third  game, he hoped.  He closed the comm for a moment, 
"So 
would you mind having  the gal that threatened to shoot your father come by?"  
He made the shot,  and it blinked and plunked around the table.  Missing, but 
making John's  shot impossible.

 
John did, of course, lose  the third game.  "Ah, but that's only because I 
felt sorry for you," he  teased, "I just let you win." 
 
"I'm sure you  did."

"And I've no problem with company," John smiled.  "She tried  to shoot you, 
eh?  So... how come she missed?"
 
He smirked,  "It's cause she knew better."  He re-tapped his badge, "Come and 
join  us in Quark's, Ms. O'Donnell."  Closing the comm.  "Want to go another  
game?"  He took a sip of his drink.

"Maybe I can watch you and the  lady dance around each other," John giggled.  
"Should make for at least one  pleasant view."  Sitting back on an available 
chair, John crossed his legs  and smiled.  "You know, there's only one ship I 
want to serve on."   Then he shrugged and thought, here goes... "The Avalon."
 
Keith smiled, "Now, that  Captain, I do know quite well."  He laughed.

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