Christmas Truce (Part 1)

Posted on Tue Jan 11th, 2022 @ 8:56am by Captain Taiga Aisaka & Captain Maho Takahashi

1,597 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Christmas Time
Location: Starbase 18

USS Myogi captain's log:

During a last-minute two week patrol along the Romulan Neutral Zone before our winter layup, we have been invited to a Christmas party at Starbase 18 open to Commanding Officers currently active in the region. In a show of Christmas spirit, I have elected to attend.

I must admit, though; I am quite apprehensive to be back, as Starbase 18 was the last Starbase we stopped at prior to our rendezvous with the USS Tokyo, and the great personal humiliation that followed, and in the back of my mind, I have a nagging feeling I might run into Captain Aisaka there.

If I do, I sure hope the spirit of the season is enough to prevent me from saying what I should have back then...

End log...

Having left Commander Misono in charge of the Myogi, Maho arrived to the Myogi's transporter room dressed in Starfleet maternity dress whites, which seemed to be only slightly less uncomfortable than the regular dress whites, and Maho had good reason to be wearing the maternity variant of the dress whites, for in the months following Captain Aisaka's trial, her belly had grown quite a lot, and there was no longer a shadow of a doubt as to her pregnancy.

Maho arrived in the transporter room to find her husband, Keisuke, waiting, also in his dress whites with their contribution to the secret Santa gift exchange in hand. Though Keisuke hadn't been invited, Maho was bringing him along as her allotted guest.

"Looking stunning as always, babe." Keisuke commented. "Ready to head to the Starbase?"

"What I'm ready for is to get out of these dress whites already." Maho muttered. "Seriously, maternity doesn't mean squat when it comes to dress whites."

Keisuke chuckled.

"Well, at least try and enjoy yourself." He said. "Remember, we've got an image to maintain, and hey, if we appear the sharpest dressed there, it'll certainly be a conversation topic one way or another."

Together, Maho and Keisuke stepped onto the Myogi's transporter pad and turned to face the transporter operator, Maho giving a nod to the junior officer.

"Energize." She ordered.

On Maho's orders, the Myogi's transporter powered up, and the two of them disappeared in a transporter beam.

Starbase 18:

Moments later, the Takahashis reappeared on a transporter pad at the Starbase. The Starbase's transporter operator nodded at their arrival:

"Commander Takahashi; welcome to Starbase 18:" The man said. "The party's over in the main mess hall; if you wish, Petty Officer Stevens here may show you the way."

"Certainly." Maho nodded as she and Keisuke stepped off the transporter pad.

From the transporter room, the route the the main mess hall was a small maze of corridors and turbolifts, which was certainly handy having someone who knew the base and regularly walked the corridors and took the turbolifts to get them there.

Dressed in her dress whites, but opting for the skirt version over trousers, Captain Taiga Aisaka sat at one of the tables in the room reserved for the commanders party. It had been a few difficult months and the Tokyo was docked to annual crew rotations and R&R. Sat next to here was Ryuuji, whom had come with her as her plus one.

"You know Ryuuji, I've never been to one of these before. What do we do now?" She asked.

"Not sure. Listen to some admiral drone on maybe?"

Taiga couldn't help but giggle. "Maybe, I wonder if they have any Japanese food at the buffet?"

"Always thinking with your stomach eh..." Ryuuji sighed. "I'll go get us something, try to behave..." He said as he stood up to head to the buffet.

Taiga simply smiled at him as she sat back in her chair and pulled out a PADD. She might be at a party, but this gave her an excuse to check up on the crew rosters of the Tokyo.,

The doors to the mess hall swooshed open, and Maho and Keisuke stepped through. After a preliminary scan of the hall, Keisuke spotted a rectangular table up against the wall with an assortment of gifts on it for the secret Santa gift exchange they were told about.

"Well, babe; looks like I found where they're keeping the gifts for the exchange." Keisuke said, giving his wife a little nudge. "I'll go ahead and add our gift to it and then go scope out the buffet situation for us. Why don't you go ahead and mingle? I mean, you probably know more people in this room than I do."

Maho nodded and Keisuke walked off, though after Keisuke left, Maho seemed a little hesitant to begin mingling after having just arrived, and awkwardly stood around, tugging at her collar for a bit before a familiar voice grabbed her attention:

"Commander Takahashi! Over here!"

Maho turned in the direction of the voice and smiled, heading off to speak to the officer who had noticed her.

After Keisuke placed their present on the table, he made his way over to the buffet and began looking over the options that were being offered to see if there was anything there his wife could eat.

"Hmmm... Now is there anything here that a pregnant woman could eat?" He wondered aloud.

"Anything that isn't fish" a friendly voice said simply. "I hear seafood is a no go" Ryuuji said with a smile. "Sorry, you asked out loud and I've looked into that stuff before"

"Heh, Maybe that's what your research suggests," Keisuke responded, turning to Ryuuji. "But, I've found out from experience that actual pregnancies tend to differ from what the experts recommend."

"I wouldn't know yet" Ryuuji said. "Every pregnancy we've lost do far" he smiled nervously. "I guess congratulations"

"Um, thanks?" Keisuke responded with a twinge of confusion. "And I guess best of luck to you and yours as well..."

"Same" Ryuuji said with a smile as he loaded two plates of good and headed back to Taiga who was sat alone on the table just people watching.

Unsure what to make of the other man's actions, Keisuke decided to load up a bowl of fruit and go let Maho know about the buffet so she can investigate it herself. Because the last thing Keisuke needed was to bring Maho the wrong thing and have her hurling it up.

Keisuke found Maho talking with one of her captain friends.

"Hey, babe; looks like it's a self-serve buffet." He said as he approached the table and set his food down. "I'd suggest you go investigate it yourself, because I'm not too sure what to get you."

"Thanks, babe." Maho responded.

"Ah, and you must be K.T.," the other captain said, extending a hand. "Ry-Kun tells me great things about you."

"Yeah, that's my brother for you;" Keisuke said, recognizing the colloquial nickname his brother Ryosuke had garnered and shaking the captain's hand before sliding into the empty seat next to Maho. "Always trying to get me to meet new people ever since we went into Starfleet. Anyway, it's a pleasure to finally meet one of the captains he's served under."

"Oh, don't sweat it, sweetie;" the other woman said. "Any friend of your lovely wife's is a friend of mine."

"Well, I mean, you could say we're a bit more than friends..." Keisuke grinned flashing his wedding ring. "Anyway, what was the topic of conversation before I interrupted?"

"Oh, I was just telling your wife about how she should really meet this other captain friend of mine; Captain Taiga Aisaka, because I really think the two of you would get along." The other captain said.

"And I was about to tell Captain Delilah here that there's no possible way that Captain Aisaka could be the person she described her to be:" Maho added. "Because Captain Aisaka is a liar and a thief who cares only about herself."

"She's not wrong, you know." Keisuke said, his mood noticeably darkening. "Everything that happened was nothing short of the biggest embarrassment to our justice system in Federation history."

"Yeah, but Miyahara was always a little harder on his crew." Captain Delilah responded. "Speaking of which, how's his old ship holding up?"

"Oh, she still soldiers on." Maho said. "Captain Aisaka might have lied her way back into her commission, and in the process gotten us accused of collaborating with the Tal Shiar, but it is my duty to make sure that history never forgets the name Myogi."

At the time Taiga was passing the table when she accidentally overheard the conversation. The smaller Captain stopped in her tracks and turned to face the occupants at the table.

"Oh" she said with a slight smile. "I'm a what now?" She asked curiously. "Commander Takahashi wasn't it?" Her eyes went fron being narrow to normal as she simply smiled at the commander. "Congratulations on the wedding by the way, even if my Chief of Security ruined the day. You should know that I didn't ask her to do that..."

Maho and Keisuke both turned in the direction of the voice, and Taiga found herself on the receiving end of two cold stares, of which Maho's was near-identical to the one she had given to Taiga that day.

"Somehow, I seriously doubt that coming from your lips..." Keisuke spoke up. "You probably enjoyed hearing of what your... What was it, your Chief of Security? Did almost as much as you enjoyed telling my wife off for doing her job."

To be continued...

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