A Few Drinks

Posted on Mon Feb 4th, 2019 @ 3:31pm by Commander Jacob Bannerman
Edited on on Mon Feb 4th, 2019 @ 3:32pm

Mission: The First Step...
Location: Dev's Lounge
Timeline: 2388/08/26 2030 (August 26 2388 8:30pm)

After spending the day going over the roster of cadets who had chosen Intelligence for their major or secondary degrees, then the swearing in ceremony Devin had gone back to his quarters. There, he changed into a pair of black pants and a neutral gray t-shirt and black running shoes before heading out again. Instead of going to see if Teri was available, he decided to get a drink first and Dev's Lounge had been recommended as the place to be to get away from cadets.

Entering the lounge, Devin looked around before going up to the bar and nodded to the bartender on duty. "Black Hole, please," he said.

"Ah, an excellent choice," the bartender said. "One moment." Turning his back, the man prepared the drink and served it in what looked like a fish bowl that had fog rolling off the top of it. "Your drink, Sir."

Accepting it, Devin nodded and took a sip of the drink that he had learned about in Quark's aboard Deep Space Nine. Setting it on the bar, he turned to see who else was about from the faculty or staff.

Looking over from his end of the bar, Jake looked at the drink and smirked. He always thought you could judge a man on his favourite tipple and fancy cocktails weren't the look that he would ever go for. Lifting up his glass of Scotch he tossed it back and set it down again before commenting "Interesting choice."

Hearing a voice he assumed was commenting on his drink, Devin turned his head. "It's good for forgetting how maddening cadets are." He held out a hand. "Devin McCall." It had been so hectic since his arrival there, he had yet to spend any real amount of time with the other instructors.

"I know." Jake replied as he took the other man's hand and shook it. In fact, he knew who they all were. First rule of being a successful spy was know who you had around you and even if he was a lowly flight instructor nowadays, old habits died hard. "Jake Bannerman, Flight." he added in case the other man didn't know who he was.

Of course Devin knew who he was on a professional level, but he figured a few personal connections on campus couldn't hurt, either. "Right. I'm handling Intelligence for the cadets. What brought you out to this quadrant, Jake?" he asked, deciding on a first name basis to see what kind of reaction he got with the familiarity.

"Oh this and that." Jake replied. What else was he supposed to say? The truth? He didn't think so though he was pretty sure that as Intel Chief, McCall could probably dig deep enough to find it out if he wanted to.

Devin took a sip of his drink and set it down again. "Now that has to be the most interesting opening that I've ever heard in all my years in Starfleet. I honestly have no idea why I'm here teaching. I hope it didn't have anything to do with that Admiral's daughter and the Ferengi. It wasn't my fault he wanted the truth."

"Come again?" Jake raised an eyebrow as he lifted his glass to the bartender to show him it was empty and he wanted a refill.

"You know how it goes with the brass," Devin said. "They tell you they want the truth, then they punish you when you tell it to them. Girl meets guy, guy turns out to be not what daddy wanted. Admiral sends in Intel. Intel tells Admiral daddy and things get swept under rug while Intel gets sent under another rug. Pretty straightforward as Intelligence goes."

"Oookay then." Jake replied as his glass was refilled, "Is intel always that fun?" he asked, pretending like he didn't know.

"Even more so," Devin told him. "However, if I told you, I'd have to kill you," he joked. There were times that he had had to do just that, but he wasn't about to tell Bannerman. "So what got you into Flight?"

"I kind of fell into it." Jake shrugged, "First time behind a fighter and I was hooked." That much was the truth, he had always enjoyed flying and it had always been his one escape when the day job had kicked his ass on more than one occasion.

"I was originally going to go for Flight," Devin said. "Then I was caught accessing files that a second year cadet shouldn't have access to and was encouraged to go into Intelligence. I find it very rewarding, even if I can't be openly acknowledged in most of the things that I do."

A pang of regret shot through Jake as he considered his previous life. He missed it so much that he had a gnawing ache deep inside of him caused by the injustice of it all. He should still be out there. Fighting the good fight. Saving the Federation from the things that no-one should ever know existed. "Each to their own I guess." he shrugged, pretending that he was happy with his life.

Devin noted that Bannerman was about as reactive as a piece of inanimate machinery. Finishing his drink, he nodded. "I guess." He had no idea what to make of the man; for an instructor and Starfleet officer, Bannerman wasn't out to be a conversationalist of any caliber and Devin had to wonder how he'd be with his cadets. "Well," he said at last. "It is what it is."

"Guess so." Jake nodded, "So what's it about that concoction that it makes you forget about cadets?" he gestured to the empty glass in front of Devin.

"It doesn't ask questions that aren't related to the area of study," Devin laughed. "When it's empty, I know it needs a refill." With that, he motioned to the bartender for another one. "What brings you in here?"

"Figured I'd scout out the place, see if there's any female company to be found." Jake replied honestly.

"I haven't had much time for that," Devin said. "Other than talking with the Dean's Yeoman, that is. She's a feisty one."

"Interested huh?" Jake looked at Devin. He had to admit the woman was gorgeous, "You should go for it...nothing like a bit of fun to take your mind off the day job." he grinned, pausing to watch a waitress go by and looking her up and down.

"I hear that," Devin said as he took a drink of his replaced Black Hole. "Plus, it might get me an in with what's being planned next here on campus as a secondary purpose."

That comment made Jake prick up his ears. "Secondary purpose?" he lowered his voice a little and added "You're saying that it isn't all as it seems here?"

Now Devin's mind perked up from the languid motions of a normal conversation. Why had Bannerman picked up on something like that? He smiled and shrugged his shoulders, deciding to test the waters a bit. "A new campus in the Delta Quadrant? Seems like a perfect opportunity for anyone that doesn't like the Federation." He paused. "Or I could be paranoid due to my line of work."

"You think we're vulnerable to attack?" Jake asked, "Or are you saying that this place has been set up to fail?"

"Half a dozen of one, six of the other," Devin said, taking a drink. "It wouldn't take much with all the cadets running around outnumbering the staff by five to one."

"Depends on what staff you have along with the skill mix I guess." Jake commented, figuring that he had enough skills to ensure that he could have a pretty good go at keeping them safe.

"I'm not saying that we don't have the staff to handle it," Devin said. "But when you put untrained cadets into the mix with a state of panic..who knows what could happen?"

"Then I guess we'd better get to training them as soon as possible then hadn't we?" Jake replied, "I can take some combat lessons if needs be. As well as how to resist interrogation." he smiled grimly before adding "I'm pretty good at that when the occasion calls for it."

"Even when women are involved?" Devin asked with a chuckle. He didn't want to press the man, but definitely wondered how Bannerman got to be good at resisting interrogation. "I've found them to be the best interrogators in the field. They have ways of making guys talk that aren't even covered in the standard manuals."

"Ah but that's only if the guy doesn't know how to beat them at their own game." Jake winked at Devin remembering all of the times that he had used his looks to get what he wanted from whoever his target was at the time. Of course, that had been fun when the woman had been gorgeous, but some of the jobs....His smile began to fade.

Devin laughed at the wink; a bonding between males on a level that put women outside of that particular area. When he noticed the smile begin to fade, he nodded towards his drink. "Need a refill on the one that got away?"

"I was thinking more about the ones you never wanted to touch in the first place actually." Jake grinned, trying to make light of the things he'd had to do. He slid his glass across the counter to Devin and added "But a drink to blot that out sounds like a good idea to me." he flagged down the barman. "Only one ever got away...or rather was taken away." his thoughts turned to Charlotte and wondered if she was still rotting away in that penal colony for what she had done. "Actually, leave the bottle." Jake commented as the barman arrived by their side.

Devin shuddered at the thought. "You know...you're absolutely right," he said. "There have been days that I wanted to retire rather than do what needed to be done."

"Forget retire, there were times I really wanted to slit my own throat." Jake chuckled remembering an encounter with a very large and very hairy woman that even to this day made him cringe at the memory.

"That bad?" Devin asked, wondering what could make a person do that. He took another drink. "How did you get yourself in a position like that?"

"A warlord's daughter was the key to saving one hundred and fifty Federation colonists." Jake shrugged, "I couldn't exactly say no could I?" he added, "But trust me when I say that if you can think of the most horrendous person to sleep with and multiply it by ten, it wouldn't even come close." he shuddered again.

"Now that's bad," Devin admitted. "I once had to get..friendly...with a Nausicaan female, but I doubt if it was as bad as the one you encountered. Tis a noble yet thankless task that we are asked to do for the greater good, aye?"

"Aye." Jake replied as he topped up his glass and shook his head, "I always used to find the guys difficult...it's not easy to act that one out I can tell you." he added, the alcohol making him unaware that he was telling Devin things that he'd never normally mention.

"You win some, you lose some, and you take a hit for the team," Devin said. "What got you out of it?"

"Out of thir...uh out of intel?" Jake replied, cursing himself for his loose lips as he covered his almost slip with a large drink of whiskey then added "Let's just say something went very, very wrong and my ass was good as dead if I didn't leave."

It took McCall less than a moment to realize what Bannerman was going to say, combined with what he did say, to put two and two together. He nodded. "That's always a risk we take in that particular field," he said.

"And then some." Jake replied as he remembered all the missions that had gone south, the torture that he had endured and the others that he had lost. Changing the focus of the conversation, he said "What about you? Why are you teaching rather than being out there fighting the good fight?"

"I figured it was time to start teaching the next generation of cadets the ins and outs of the field before the knowledge was lost," Devin replied. "We may not be able to give real examples of classified missions, but we can provide real experience in the form of instruction. Besides, it gives me time to actually relax without looking over my shoulder every day. We tend to make a lot of enemies in the field who would be more than happy to come after us."

"Ain't that the truth." Jake replied, "Well if you need any help tutoring the little buggers, I can find the time." he offered, confident in his own abilities.

Devin took a drink, wondering exactly what qualifications that Bannerman had in the field. With his earlier slip of the tongue, he had a pretty good idea. "Always looking forward to working with a fellow collaborator," he said. "We'll put something together that will melt their mental warp cores."

"Oh I'm sure that we can come up with some pretty hairy scenarios for them to endure." Jake grinned, liking the thought of testing the cadets to the limit.

"For now, though," Devin said. "Let's focus on the local beauties and partaking of the better things in life." He raised his drink in a toast.

"Now that I can raise a toast to." Jake grinned wickedly as he raised his glass and looked around the room, checking out the local talent.


Commander Jacob Bannerman
Chief Flight Instructor
Magellan Campus

&

Commander Devin McCall
Intelligence Instructor
Magellan Campus