The Date

Posted on Fri May 30th, 2014 @ 8:44pm by Captain Pete Samson & Lieutenant Commander Rosaleen O'Donnell

Pete, had not had time to get a new set of clothing. The black combat pants and his Green Marine Coloured Polo shirt would have to do.

Pete was incredible nervous and did not really know why he was doing this, oh yes he does cause their is something about Rosaleen and he wanted to get to know her better.

Pete headed to the shuttle bay to meet Rosaleen.

And there she was...

All of the heads in the hangerdeck turned toward the figure making her way down the ramp of the Captains Yacht. She wore a full length formal dress of emerald green, with matching shoes, and topped by deep blue cloak adorned with gold trim. Finishing the ensemble were a bracelet, necklace, earrings, and hair piece...all matching and made of diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires. The effect was the same as if a royal queen of old earth had appeared amongst the peasants.

At the foot of the ramp, she paused and looked around a bit, finally spotting Pete. She smiled and walked over to where he was standing. "Good evening, Captain."

Pete had seen Rosaleen enter. He tried not to stare, but it was hard not to. He started to panic, she was looking so beautiful and he was wearing the only clothes he had. He wish he had found time to have bought some nice clothes. Ah well it is to late now.

"Wow, you look beautiful Rosaleen. I think we should dispense of rank tonight." Pete smiled at Rosaleen.

"So were we off to. I am famished and looking forward to some great food?"

A demure smile. "A surprise. And I will let you off the hook. I had a formal reception planetside that I had to attend before meeting you." She had seen the momentary panic in his eyes...he was so easy to read. But then again, so were most people for her. A good trait to have in her position.

Pete had both a relieved and confused look. Pete felt like he was being set up, that this was some sort of trap. Rosaleen was beautiful, mysterious and was more, far more than just a Federation Lieutenant and assistant to the CO.

Pete waited for Rosaleen to enter the Captain Yacht, and he followed her in, knowing that the whole deck crew was looking at them. "So who is piloting Rosaleen?"

"I will be retaining my personal flight crew for the evening." She left out the fact that her flight crew were both members of the Crimson Guard, Kathleen's personal security detail. "They already have tonight's itinerary, and reservations have been made."

'My personal flight crew' Pete thought to himself. Who was this Rosaleen?

"I feel like I am being set up for a trap Rosaleen." Pete always believed in being up front. "What is it about you Rosaleen that makes me both excited and scared?" Pete was still smiling but he could not hold back any more. Pete thought he knew exactly what a black window mate felt.

Before she could reply, one of her 'flight crew' appeared in the aft cabin. He wore black and red body armor polished to the point that the black acted a bit like a mirror, and carried two side arms. He looked at Pete with a cold expression...studying him, before addressing Rosaleen in a soft voice. "My lady, if you will." He gestured toward a seat close to the fore bulkhead of the cabin, well away from any of the others.

"Thank you John." Rosaleen politely responded as she took the indicated seat, which seemed to fit her form perfectly, cloak and all. The man exited the room without giving Pete any further acknowledgement. "Please...have a seat where you wish." She told him quietly, and picked up a PADD from a pocket in her seat...scanning it briefly before returning it to it's home without further action.

'My lady' - clearly Rosaleen is not just a Lieutenant. Pete was now fascinated. As for the staff on board the ship, Pete did not believe that they were Federation troops. He kind of recognized them but only from reading about them and he could no put his finger on it.

Pete sat opposite Rosaleen, he made this choice purely due to the fact that she was so beautiful and he wanted to look at her. "So Rosaleen or should I also be addressing you as My Lady?" Pete had a cheeky grin on his face.

"That is neither necessary...or appropriate." She smiled again, but it was obvious that it was a bit strained. "Sorry. Sometimes...never mind. I am simply the Commodores assistant. Nothing else, ok?"

"I am absolutely fascinated by you now Rosaleen, I have never met any one like you before."

As the yacht exited the hanger deck and made for the planet, a pair of Raptors formed up on either side of their craft. "I assure you..." She suddenly got quiet, and the temperature in the cabin noticeably dropped. "This was a bad idea. I'm sorry...we should probably just go back to the ship and call it a night."

Pete felt guilty about him constantly asking questions, he had experience with this type of thing before when he spent time attached the Embassy Protection and Presidential Security Detail. He knew that there was more to Rosaleen than meets the eye, but she was clearly uncomfortable about it all.

"Rosaleen I am sorry, if you want to go back that is fine, or why don't we go to the surface have some decent food and I will ask you no more questions, apart from maybe your classic date ones like your favorite music, colour. I promise." Pete smiled at Rosaleen he hoped she would say yes. He really did want to get to know her.

A long moment passed with Rosaleen simply staring out the window, however the temperature slowly normalized. "I guess that would be acceptable, Captain. No more questions." She continued to stare out the window. They rapidly approached their destination, and were cleared straight in to a VIP hanger...not being required to fall into the normal traffic pattern rotation. As the ship started to shut down power, one of the flight crew exited the craft and met with the pilots of their escort craft, who were dressed in the same manner. They walked over to the waiting ground crew, and after a brief conversation the team was allowed to approach the craft and secure it and connect the ground umbilicals.

At that point the remaining flight crewman entered the cabin. "We are cleared to disembark, my lady."

"Thank you." She finally turned to Pete as she stood. "Shall we?"

Pete held out his arm for Rosaleen. "So where are we going?"

"A small place on the coast. We have a vehicle and driver at our disposal." She turned to her crew. "I will be fine this evening." Several heads nodded in reply, and the team disbursed. They would be there when she returned.

Pete felt on top of the world as he walked onto the planet with Rosaleen, he felt a hundred eye on him, but to be honest he knew those eyes were on Rosaleen and to be honest he did not blame them.

Pete had been away from the Federation for some years and this had been his first date for a very long time and he was enjoying it. It was great to have company and especially someone as pretty as Rosaleen.

They entered the vehicle, which rapidly accelerated to speed, the driver already aware of their destination. " I do hope the local cuisine sits well with you. It has a tendency to be quite flavorful and spicy."

"I love spicy, the hotter the better. I do love my food and trying new things. In fact I am a bit of chef, maybe one day I will cook for you, my specialty is Ferengi food and bush tucker." Pete started to completely relax, he was now comfortable around Rosaleen, now that he stopped trying to find out about her. He would know when she wanted him to.

Rosaleen had turned and was quietly staring out the window. Sometimes she absolutely hated who her father was. It complicated her life unnecessarily, in her opinion. But there was no changing it...ever. Even when he left office, she would still be who she was because of her parents. And she had a long lifespan to deal with it. She was starting to get a stress headache, which worked it's way down her neck...which she stretched a bit as she stared out the window.

Pete could see that Rosaleen was not really listening, he thought that something may of been wrong. "Are you ok Rosaleen, you look unwell?" "If you want to go back to the station, we can. I want you to be happy and comfortable."

She spoke without turning. "No, I'm fine." She paused for a moment, then turned to face Pete. "It's not your fault. Just been a long day, that's all."

"I have the perfect thing for you then Rosaleen, the best stress relief ever, the Marine annual fitness test. I have been doing the test every day as mine is coming up soon, you up for joining me. It will be at 4.00am at Hangar room 20." Pete had a cheeky smile, he had a feeling that Rosaleen would keep up with him but would she have the time. He knew that she needed.

But Rosaleen simply cringed...the last thing she needed was more things added to her day. "Honestly, what I really need is more sleep and less extras thrown in because of my father. I have enough to do without running around playing diplomat as well." There was yet another reception in three that she was expected to attend. That would put it right after Kathleen's arrival. And she knew how much work was coming with her arrival.

Pete had a feeling that he was getting it all wrong. This was not going well, but then Pete never was any good at dates.

"Lets go and eat Rosaleen I think we will both feel a little better after the food. As soon as we have eaten we can return to the station, I think we are both very busy."

Rosaleen turned and looked at Pete. Her features softened a bit for the first time since making planetfall. "Cap...Pete, I am sorry. It is completely not your fault. It's just been a very long day. Actually month." A hint of a smile appeared. "Let's just enjoy the evening. I will try to be a bit more decent company."

"You do not need to apologize. I won't pretend to understand but I have an idea." Pete gave Rosaleen a sympathetic look. "Well I want the most spicy and traditional food on the planet. Always try something once."

Finally a smile. "You had best be careful what you ask for, my friend. You might end up in the clinic." These folks had spices that could fuel a ship.

Pete and Rosaleen approached a lovely little restaurant which was next to the ocean. Pete thought the planet looked similar to Earth, he was hoping that there would be some large mountains to climb.

Pete opened the door for Rosaleen, he was on a beautiful planet with a beautiful woman. Pete had a feeling that a table would have been sorted out.

As he walked into the restaurant he was impressed, it was small and simple, in the middle of the restaurant was an open fire, which looked real. The rear of the restaurant was completely open overlooking the ocean. It looked like timing was perfect, the sun was about to set.

As they entered, the maître d' looked up...and immediately made a beeline toward Pete. And he did not look happy. "Sir...sir. We have a strict dress code here, and you...look at you. There is absolutely no way that you..." At that point one of the assistants came running over and started whispering furiously in his ear. The maître d's head snapped around toward Rosaleen. He turned a bit pale as he took a step toward her. "I'm apologize, my lady. I did not realize...please, your usual table is ready. Right this way." He led them up to one of the private balcony's that overlooked the beach. "Your personal waiter will be with you in just a moment." He quickly retreated, pulling the curtain closed as he left.

Pete did not take it personally about his clothing, he did look terrible. Pete went and pulled out the chair for Rosaleen.

"Thank you."

Pete sat down and started to look over the menu, "So what would you suggest?"

"The seafood salad...Trisne-ur-Neva on the menu...is excellent." Rosaleen did not look at the menu. She didn't need to.

"Seafood salad it shall be." Pete was watching the sun set, could live get more perfect, the sun setting on a beautiful planet snd the company of a beautiful woman. "I think I will let you order, but get a nice bottle of something as well. "

A slight frown appeared on Rosaleen's face. "I cannot drink alcohol, not even wine. It has an...adverse effect on me. It's not safe."

Pete frowned, he was so curious about Rosaleen, but he was not going to ask. "Well a nice cup of tea for me then, I hope they do tea." He knew it was odd, but Pete loved his tea.

Dinner was served in an extremely timely manner, and exactly as both had instructed. They ate quietly, with Rosaleen spending a lot of her time staring out at the ocean. Once finished, they returned to the vehicle that had remained waiting for them.

"I hope the meal was satisfactory. They always take exceptional care of me here. It's one of the reasons I come here so much."

"The food was amazing. I will be coming again, well if they let me in. I have really enjoyed my time with you and I hope it will not be the last."

Pete took hold of Rosaleen's arm and they strolled back to the ship.

Once in the ship, Rosaleen quickly settled in to her assigned seat, and promptly nodded off before they had even departed the surface. The day had been a long one, and she was completely drained. The night would be a long one as well...but they always were.

TAG and out

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Lieutenant Rosaleen O'Donnell
Commodores Personal Assistant

&

Marine Captain Pete Samson
Marine Commanding Officer