<USS Avalon> "First Guest" (Skyler, Woodward)

First Guest
Skyler, Woodward
2006:08:10

Sitting in her quarters aboard the new Avalon, Skyler looked at the
box of pips sitting on the coffee table. Captain's pips. Was she
deserving of being a Captain after so many years and turned down
commands? Apparently Keith and Admiral Valdez did. Taking off her
Commander pips, she replaced them with the new ones. Looking in the
mirror she thought that just perhaps she did deserve them. It was
unfortunate that she had no one to celebrate with.

Her sister had returned to Earth with her new partner and her baby.
**My only niece and sister, the only real blood family I have and now
they are gone.** Georgia was off to Starfleet Medical to get her
degree, which meant for the first time in a very long time Skyler was
alone and on her own. Well, she wasn't quite alone. There was the
matter of a 10-year-old girl named Tavi, who would soon be living in
these same quarters. Looking around, she tried to figure out where she
was going to put her "child," so to speak.

Looking was getting her nowhere. So, she made her way to the new
lounge, if nothing else for a drink and maybe the chance of finding
someone -- anyone. Walking in, the lounge was fairly quiet -- which
was to be expected, considering the entire crew had yet to come
aboard. She found a table in the corner and stared off into space.
Everything was changing and it was not something she was used to. She
liked the status quo. A place for everything and everything in its
place.

When Bobby entered the lounge, pulling the antigrav sled loaded with
necessary gear, Monad trundled up to him and chattered. "A customer
already?  Didn't you tell them we're not quite open yet?"

More chattering.  "Ah, you thought I should.  All right then. While
I'm doing that, will you and Hap unpack the trivia board terminals and
set them out on the tables?"

He headed over to the lone occupied table and said, "Good afternoon --
Captain.  Congratulations on the promotion."

At first Skyler heard nothing. That's how deep in thought she was.
Finally she heard a male voice speaking to her. Looking up, she
noticed that he looked familiar.

"Do I know you, sir? You seem familiar but I'm not quite sure where I
have seen you. Thanks for the congratulations, although I'm not sure
that they are warranted. Is there something I can do for you?"

"Well, you have had a lot on your mind, so no hard feelings. I'm Bobby
Woodward -- operator of the lounge, here.  We met yesterday, just
before you were called aboard the new Avalon. Technically we're not
open yet, but I should be able to rustle up something for you."

Skyler remembered now. She had been sitting in one of the numerous
bars on Izar when this man had come up to her. "I remember you now. If
I am not mistaken I was a bit rude to you. I apologize for that. As
for getting me anything I think I am fine for now. I don't want to
keep you from your work. Oh, welcome aboard the Avalon. I'm sure you
will enjoy your tour here."

"I'm sure I will.  Just give me a shout if you need anything."

Turning back to stare out the window Skyler returned to her thoughts.
How was she going to get along without Georgia? Why did Melanie take
off with the baby without a word? How in the world was she going to
raise a child, alone no less? Would Ketchum approve of Tavi living on
the ship with her?

Her reverie was interrupted a few minutes later by an electronic
chatter.  A small, apparently mechanical contraption stretched up on
two long legs beside the table.  With a third appendage, it took a
very small PADD-like device from a stack tucked into the crook of a
fourth appendage, and set it on the table.  It then crooked the "arm"
back toward its body in a gesture unmistakably a salute, before
turning and walking toward the next table.

Looking at the strange machine that had handed her a PADD and now was
apparently saluting her, Skyler grinned. She had never seen such a
contraption, let alone one that seemed to have some personality. She
wondered what it was and what the PADD was that it had placed on her
table. Picking it up it appeared to be a menu of sorts. Skimming
through it she decided that perhaps she did want a drink after all.

Getting up she walked over to the bar itself where Bobby was working.
"Uh, excuse me, but what kind of contraption was that that left a
'menu' at my table? At least I am guessing it was a menu."

"That was one of my Exo-Comp companions," he said. "They used to be my
employees, now they are just friends who share the job with me. As for
this --" he indicated another of the small PADD devices, sitting on
the bar, "It's partly a menu -- it will display the specials of the
day -- but it's also the interface to a number of the entertainment
systems," he said, draping a towel over his shoulder. "The jukebox,
the trivia contest board, and so on."

"You don't happen to have any rum on stock do you?" She knew if
Georgia were here she would be getting reamed from top to bottom.

"As a matter of fact ... several varieties, synthehol and leaded. Are
you on duty?"

"Actually, no I am not on duty as a matter of fact. I have a few
things to clear up before I report for actual duty. So, I guess leaded
would suit me just fine. Where did you find these......what did you
call them.....exo-comps?"

"Right, Exo-comps.  These three -- Hap, Monad and Geisha -- decided
they'd gotten bored with mining work on Tyrus VIIa and signed on with
me when I was still captaining a freighter.  Been with me ever since."

Skyler was intrigued by the little machines, but not enough to take
her mind of off what she had been thinking about. She waited patiently
for her drink to appear before heading back to her table.

Bobby produced a tall glass of rum and cola and a dish of pretzel
sticks in remarkably quick time, considering that he had to retrieve
half of the necessary components out of crates.  "Just yell if you
need more," he said with a smile.

Accepting her drink and the pretzels, Skyler stood and was about to
return to her table when she heard some electronic chatter coming from
behind the bar. She put her drink down and leaned over the bar to see
what was going on. What she saw surprised her. One of the little
machines was chattering away and it seemed that one of the others was
responding. Almost like a conversation.

"Can you actually understand what they are saying?" She just stood
there listening in amazement that she hadn't run across such things
before. She also wondered how the rest of the crew was going to accept
them, especially Tavi. Now that was another story all in itself.

"Oh sure," Bobby said.  "I understand their language, and they
understand ours.  Took a while to learn on my end, but they're
programmed to understand English, as well as a few other languages.
They can fit themselves with a comm-screen if they need to communicate
directly.  A vocoder too, in a pinch -- though for some reason these
three don't like doing that so much, never quite understood why."

"I have a feeling you may find yourself being followed around by a
10-year-old girl named Tavi. She seems to be interested in anything
relating to engineering or something like your friends here."

"Great," Bobby said.  "I'm sure the three of them will like that as
well.  They want to demonstrate to everyone that they are genuinely
sentient.  Not everyone in the Federation brass seems to believe that,
as yet."

Taking a sip of her drink Skyler thought to herself, **Am I doing the
right thing? I wish Georgia was here to tell me what to do.**

"Actually, while I have you here, I wanted to ask a question in your
official capacity," Bobby said.  "I am a civilian of course, as
opposed to sworn Fleet.  But I do have the same access to the medical
and counseling staff as Fleet regulars, right?"

"Of course you do. Is there something bothering you, that you require
medical services? We are getting a new CMO aboard, and we currently
have Sr.Lt. Alexis Cazook who is acting as CMO and if you are really
desperate I used to be CMO of the original Avalon."

"Oh no, right now I'm just fine," he said.  "Just want to be prepared
-- not to mention, I'm beginning to think the occasional chat with the
counselor could be very helpful for me.  This job is still pretty new
to me, you see."

Thinking for a moment Skyler spoke up, "In regard to your friends
here, if you send their specs to our Acting CENG K'etrall I am sure
she would be happy to be of assistance if needed."

"I'll let them know -- I imagine she'd be interested in getting to
know them, too.  Most engineers usually are, I've noticed."

Finishing off her drink Skyler requested another one. "If you wouldn't
mind, perhaps a little more rum and less coke." She was still upset
about the changes in her life and the fact that she no longer had
anyone to really confide in.

"Sure."  In a few moments another glass appeared on the bar, along
with a tall glass of what appeared to be ice water.

"Uh, excuse me, but I don't recall ordering any water. Also, why would
you need to see the counselor?  You seem to have everything together,
as opposed to some of us. If anyone needs to see a shrink it's me, but
that is easier said than done."

"I was told in mixology school that even in these enlightened days,
lots of folks will tell their bartender things they won't tell their
counselor.  So I figure, getting some advice on how to talk to folks
would be a good idea.  Never really had to do it for a living before."

Skyler took a sip of her drink, letting the burning sensation of the
rum slide down her throat. At least part of her knew what she was
feeling. Too bad the rest of her didn't.

Bobby watched her for a moment, then said, "You didn't ask for the
water, but my advice would be not to ignore it.  You can cure a
hangover with oxy-pills, but avoiding one in the first place is a lot
less uncomfortable.  And dehydration is one of the prime causes of
hangovers."  He smiled, pulled three mugs from under the bar, and
started juggling them.

Watching Bobby juggle the mugs made Skyler smile, just a little. She
non-chalantly pushed the glass of water to the side. She had no
intention of drinking it. In fact she took another swig of her drink
letting the sensation overtake her senses.

"You know Mr. Woodward, that statement sounds vaguely familiar. Almost
like it was something a friend of mine would say." At the thought of
Georgia, Skyler grew quiet and somber. She took another pull of her
drink.  "Some people may talk to their counselor or bartender, but I
have found that I am better off keeping things to myself. It keeps me
out of trouble most of the time."

Somehow, he managed to shrug while still keeping the three mugs
spinning between his hands.  "As you like," he said.  "I'm not here to
pry.  Or get you in trouble."

"I'm not saying that talking to you is going to get me in trouble. I
just have a hard time opening up to people. In fact there are only a
few people in my entire life that I have opened up to. One has left
the ship to better herself and the other is.....well I don't know
where she is? Probably back on her homeworld of Delta IV. Her name was
Moreya and I trust her with my life and my soul. Sometimes I wonder
what it would be like to have her back on the ship."

Finishing off her drink, Skyler stood up from the bar.  "It was a
pleasure meeting you Bobby and your compainions as well. I'm sure we
will be seeing each other sooner than later. Oh and if you happen to
hear from Georgia Lewis, tell her I am doing ok."

With that Skyler turned and headed back to her quarters. She was going
to have to figure how where to put Tavi. Thinking about Moreya made
Skyler remember the last time they had seen each other. It was an
experience that she would never forget.

--
"The weather's fine but there may be a meteor shower..."

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