Chapter 3 – It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

December 24, 2383…

Lieutenant Zaylie Burton made her way through the deck six corridor, anxious she had made a mistake, or hadn’t gotten an update on the breakfast meeting she was supposed to have with the Chamberlain’s XO, Commander Melissa Vargas. They were to discuss Zaylie’s career path in Starfleet, and go over possible course changes depending on the makeup of a nebula they were set to approach later in the day. The plan had been to meet in the deck seven lounge at 0800, but Vargas hadn’t shown up. Zaylie waited until 0815, then decided she’d go to Vargas’s quarters as the computer had informed Zaylie that’s where she was. She’d tried using the ship’s intercom to contact Vargas, but hadn’t received an answer.

Maybe she was running late and was in the shower, Zaylie thought.

Finally, after going some distance through the winding corridor, she arrived at Vargas’s door. She touched the control at the side of the door and waited.

After nearly a minute, the door opened, but instead of Vargas, the Chamberlain’s chief engineer, Bradley Dawson stood in the doorway, wearing only a pair of shorts.

“Can I help you?” Dawson asked.

“Uh…” Zaylie began. She must have gotten the wrong door. Her eyes quickly darted to the plate at the side of the door. It read: M. Vargas. She was more confused now.

“You okay, Lieutenant?” Dawson asked.

“I had a meeting with Commander Vargas this morning, and when she didn’t show…”

“She’s running a little late this morning,” Dawson said with a smile. “She’s in the shower, but should be out soon.”

Zaylie nodded. “Uh… I’ll go back to the lounge and wait on her then.”

“Suit yourself,” Dawson said. “You can wait here if you want. I’m going to get dressed and head off to engineering.”

“No,” Zaylie said. “I can wait in the lounge.”

Dawson nodded.

Zaylie walked down the corridor back to the turbolift. She wasn’t sure what to make of what she had just encountered.

“Flanora was right after all,” Zaylie murmured to herself. “I guess Vargas and the captain do have an arrangement.” She thought about it a moment. “None of my business.”

***

Fifteen minutes later, an out of breath Melissa Vargas flew into the lounge and walked up to the table where Zaylie sat, eating her breakfast.

“My apologies, Lieutenant,” Melissa said, her face flush. “I lost track of time this morning, and…”

“No need to explain,” Zaylie said. “And no harm done.”

Melissa nodded. “I’ll get something to eat and join you.”

A few minutes later, Melissa sat down, seeming to have regained her composure. “I really am sorry about being late.”

Zaylie smiled. “I was worried I had missed a message from you postponing this meeting.”

“Thank you for being understanding about it,” Melissa said as she pulled out her fork and began to eat the waffles on her plate.

Zaylie smiled.

Melissa still appeared to be somewhat anxious. She kept looking at Zaylie.

Zaylie decided to break the silence between them. “We were going to discuss my career path and…”

“Before we go into that, I need to ask you a favor,” Melissa said.

“Name it,” Zaylie replied.

“Bradley, Commander Dawson… I’d ask that you not spread gossip about him being in my quarters.”

“Of course,” Zaylie said.

“And… if you see Jack again, that you not mention it to him.”

Zaylie thought about it a moment. “Of course.”

“He and I… we have an understanding, but he doesn’t want to…”

“All the more reason not to spread it among the crew,” Zaylie replied.

Melissa nodded. “Thank you. I appreciate your discretion.”

They ate in silence for another minute.

"Have you heard much from the captain.”

“I talked to Captain Hayden before coming here,” Melissa said.

“Not her,” Zaylie said. “Captain McCall.”

“Oh,” Melissa said, smiling. “He’s not your captain any longer.”

“It’s difficult not to think of him that way,” Zaylie said. “I was just curious about how he’s doing.”

“He's settling in on his ranch,” Melissa said.

“He's got a ranch?” Zaylie asked, her eyes perking up.

“In Nebraska.”

“Wow,” she said, wide eyed. “We're practically neighbors.”

“Neighbors?”

Zaylie grinned. “I grew up in Iowa.”

Melissa nodded.

“Does he have cattle on this ranch?” Zaylie asked.

“I don't know,” Melissa said. “I've only been there once, and that was several years ago. I didn't see any cattle then. But I think there were cattle at one time.”

“A family property?”

“Something like that,” Melissa replied.

***

Jack McCall, now sporting a beard, strolled through the forest on his ranch in Pierce Valley, Nebraska. The ground before him was covered with four inches of freshly fallen snow which quietly crunched with each step he and Felicia Lowry took as they made their way through the dense collection of trees.

“This is nice,” Felicia said.

Jack nodded. “It’s been quite some time since I’ve been able to enjoy Winter.”

“You didn’t come home to Earth for the holidays?” she asked.

“Wasn’t able to usually,” he replied. “Most of the time the ship was a hundred light years or more away from this area of space.”

She looked at him a moment as they continued walking. “I’m almost ashamed to admit this to someone who has been so far…”

“What?” he asked with a grin.

“I’ve never been off the Earth,” she said, looking at him. “You must think of that as extremely backward.”

“I am surprised,” Jack said. “It’s a little out of the ordinary at least from the point of view of most of the people I’ve interacted with over the last thirty years.” He thought a moment. “But then my father was a starship captain. I guess I grew up thinking most people couldn’t wait to get into space.”

“How old were you when you first went up?” Felicia asked.

Jack’s mind filled with memories. “I was seven. My mother and I took a transport to Andoria. My dad was able to get some leave and meet us there.”

“What’s Andoria like?”

“Cold,” Jack said with a chuckle. “But it was a magical place for a seven year old.”

“Was it odd to be someplace where almost everyone else wasn’t human?”

“That made it all the more magical.”

They walked in silence for several yards.

“You’ve never even been to the Moon?” Jack asked.

Felicia shook her head.

“Are you anxious about going into space?”

“No,” she replied. “I’ve just never had a driving interest to go. I guess I’ve been content to stay here on the ground.”

“Nothing wrong with that if it’s what you want,” he said.

“And what do you want?” she asked not making eye contact with him.

“In what way do you mean?” Jack asked with a grin.

She cast a quick glance at him and began to smile. “I said I’d not press you on the issue of being intimate.”

“Sorry,” he said. “It’s hard for me to resist having a bit of fun with a question like that.”

Her smile widened. “When we met you stuck me as someone who liked to laugh and joke around. It’s just I haven’t seen much of that side of you.”

“Maybe I’m finally settling in to my situation.”

“Accepting it?” she asked.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Jack said with a grin. “Not yet.”

Felicia slipped her arm into his. “So, are you going to accept my invitation to dinner?”

“I haven’t said yes to that yet?”

“No.”

Jack smiled. “Then I’ll say it now… Yes.”

***

An hour later, Jack and Felicia entered the warmth of her home. A large Christmas tree dominated the living room. It was covered in lights and tinsel of various forms.

Felicia walked up to Jack, handing him a glass of champagne.

“What are we celebrating?” Jack asked.

“Christmas,” she began. “Our friendship, and… perhaps more.”

Jack shook his head, but couldn’t help smiling. A part of him wanted to boast to himself that he still had it. But that was tempered with the fact of his marriage to Melissa. However, it was more a marriage in name only after almost four months apart. Sure they still spoke via subspace, but because the Chamberlain was so far away, they could only send recordings to one another now and sometimes those took a day or more to arrive.

There was another reason he considered his marriage more a formality than a reality at this point, but it was something he didn’t like to think about because of the images it would dredge up in his mind. The thought of Melissa with someone else…

No. He had promised himself he wouldn’t indulge that kind of thinking. All it would do was torture him, making him miserable.

He turned to Felicia.

She stood, holding her own glass of champagne. “Where were you just now?”

“Sorry,” Jack said, looking at his glass. After a moment he turned to her and smiled. He held up his glass to hers. “To Christmas, and… Friendship.”

“And perhaps more,” she added.

Their glasses touched. A moment later they both sipped from them.

“You’re a lot moodier than I ever imagined a starship captain would be,” Felicia said, still smiling. “I’m beginning to think I like that about you.”

“Why would you like it?” Jack asked.

“It means you’re more complicated than you at first appear,” she replied. “I like my men complicated. It makes them more interesting.”

Jack took another sip of champagne. After a moment, he thought he sensed something in the air. He took a long breath. “Is that beef cooking?”

“Smell good?” she asked.

“Most certainly.”

“I like to cook a beef roast on Christmas Eve,” Felicia said. “It just seems right especially when there’s snow on the ground like there is today.”

“If that’s what we’re having for dinner, that will make this a perfect evening,” Jack said.

Felicia smiled wide and took another sip from her glass, the whole time keeping her gaze fixed on Jack.

***

“That’s about the most sour look I’ve ever seen on someone at a Christmas party,” Nick said, walking up to Mei-Wan. Several dozen people were crammed into Nick’s apartment with its Victorian decor. He had only recently moved here out of his old apartment, wanting more space when Neelon moved in.

Ten minutes earlier, Nick and Neelon had announced their engagement to the assembled group.

Mei-Wan had been keeping mostly to herself in a far corner of the living room. “Sorry, I guess I’m just not feeling all that festive,“ she replied.

“You that worried about our tests on the datacore?”

“No,” she said, surprised by the question. “I’m sure we were right with our first analysis.”

“Then what is it?” he asked. “You hate Christmas? Or are you that down about my engagement to Neelon? I could understand given the absolute prime specimen of human maleness that I am. I suppose tomorrow there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth on a dozen worlds at the news.”

Mei-Wan let out a short laugh.

“Wow! She can still laugh,” he said. “Come on, Mei. It’s me. We can still talk about anything.”

She nodded, and looked down at the ring still resting on her finger. “I miss Dani.”

Nick placed his arm around her, and drawing her near. “You can’t wallow in that pain.” He peered down at her hand. “You should take that ring off and see someone even if it’s just for dinner. Start living again.”

Mei-Wan closed her eyes. “I don’t think I’m ready.”

“No one ever is,” he said. “That’s why you do it anyway.”

She turned to him. “If you and Neelan weren’t…”

He grinned. “Oh, don’t let that stop you. Neelan’s culture is quite different when it comes to pair bond relationships.”

“Oh?” Mei-Wan asked, trying to decide if he was serious or simply joking, trying to get another laugh out of her.

“We talked about it, and she told me to enjoy myself no matter what form that took.”

“Right.”

“I’m serious,” he said. “I don’t think she’d mind inviting you into our lives in a deeper way from time to time.”

Mei-Wan didn’t even consider the offer. “Too complicated.” But the real problem was the ‘time to time’ aspect of it. She wanted something more substantial than a series of one night stands even if they were with friends like Nick and Neelon.

He took a long breath, leaning his face down toward hers. “Then go out on a date. Stop brooding in your apartment every night.”

“I have a lot of work to do.”

He frowned. “Obviously not enough to prevent you from coming to this party tonight.”

Mei-Wan rolled her eyes. “If you’re trying to cheer me up, it’s not working.”

“I’m trying to get you to live again,” he said. “I can’t stand that you’re hurting as much as you are.”

Mei-Wan turned to him, almost ready to cry. “It hurts so damn much.”

He hugged her. “I know.”

Nick started to walk away, but Mei-Wan pulled at his arm. He stopped and turned back to her.

“I’m happy for you and Neelon,” Mei-Wan said. “I truly am. I hope the two of you have a great life together.”

Nick gave her a hug. “Thank you, Mei. You’re always going to be a part of that life. Don’t forget that.”

Mei-Wan nodded as he walked away to join the rest of the guests at the party. She turned back to stare at the Christmas tree in the corner of the room, wondering if there was anything besides her work for her to live for any longer.

-GO TO CHAPTER 4-