A Cold Encounter at Club 47 (Part 1)

Posted on Sat Dec 24th, 2022 @ 7:19am by Captain Maho Takahashi & Captain Taiga Aisaka

1,178 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Sand Sea Fun and Surf
Location: Club 47, Risa
Timeline: Prior to "'Till death do us part!"

Club 47 was one of the hottest places in the Risian nightlife scene. After the success of the flagship location at Earth Spacedock, another location had been opened in Risa's entertainment district. Club 47 was so popular, in fact, that they kept to a tight reservation system with availability being on a first come, first served basis. As such, it wasn't uncommon to see a long line for Club 47 stretching down the street.

Luckily however Taiga and Ryuuji had booked in advance and were now enjoying a private VIP area. The small area was usually only held for higher up Starfleet Officers or special parties. So they were enjoying some drinks as they listened to the music.

As a disco song from the ancient times of 1978 came on, with the DJ announcing the time warp and how fun it was to stay at the YMCA, a young woman with short dark brown hair and a man with spiked blonde hair entered the VIP area. The woman settled into a barstool at the bar, while the man opted to remain standing beside her.

"I'll have a Budweiser classic and a root beer." The woman ordered.

The bartender nodded and fetched the Budweiser from a beverage cooler and handing it to the man before preparing the root beer for the woman.

"I'm going to go find a seat, babe." The man told the woman. "Barstools really aren't my style."

The waiter had just delivered a fresh bottle of champagne to Taiga's table. There was a loud pop as Ryuuji opened the bottle and began to pour out the fizzy liquid into two provided champagne glasses.

The table Taiga and Ryuuji were at was positioned in a manner that anyone seated at the bar didn't have a line of sight to it. Though the woman heard the pop, she didn't flinch or turn in the direction of the noise, instead keeping her gaze focused on the selection of alcoholic beverages behind the bar. A selection that the woman, Maho Takahashi, knew was off-limits to her.

Moments later, Maho's husband Keisuke returned to the bar and settled into the empty stool next to her.

"You know, I've changed my mind." He said. "There's not a seat in this place that's as good as the one right next to you."

"Awww..." Maho cooed. "You do care for little old me after all."

"Of course I do," Keisuke said. "If I didn't, I wouldn't have put a ring on it, now wouldn't I? Anyway, it's nice that they're playing the song that Senpai always danced to at the end of his rallies."

"Indeed." Maho said. "Here's to who we've lost: To Senpai... And to Zack."

"Here here." Keisuke said as the two of them clinked their glasses together.

It was at that moment that a strange feeling could be felt from behind them. Taiga stood there leaning against one of the posts observing both of them. However she didn't say anything, she was only observing them. She smirked as she took a sip of her champagne and watched the other officers.

She knew exactly who they were, but she wasn't quite sure how to deal with them. So she thought it was best to observe for now, luckily her height helped her blend in with anyone else around or be easily overlooked.

"Say, do you ever get the feeling like we're being watched?" Keisuke asked.

"Don't worry about it, babe." Maho replied dismissively. She had spotted Taiga and Ryuuji before settling in at the bar: The face of the woman whom had treated both Nakazato and herself like trash was hard for Maho to forget, and Frankly, Maho found it hard to believe that anybody could love someone so heartless. "You get people who live to stir up trouble here on Risa. In fact, some people choose to make a career out of stirring up trouble."

Maho quickly glanced over her shoulder when she finished speaking before returning her gaze to the bar.

Taiga was joined by Ryuuji. "What you looking at?" He asked curiously. Taiga simply nodded towards Maho and Keisuke.

"Just wondering what they're doing here." Taiga said simply. "I don't really care what they do to be honest. I'm just curious as the Myogi should be at the Klingon border right now..."

"Besides, I can think of worse people who could be tailing us right now." Maho said. "Shimakaze immediately comes to mind, though with her, it's easy: You can feel the temperature drop whenever that woman walks into a room."

Taiga made sure that they could both see her, before flashing them a smile and heading back to their booth. It was almost as if to say 'You're not worth my time here'.

Taiga's smile was met with a scowl from Maho, as if to reply 'neither are you, bitch.'

"Wait, was that-?!" Keisuke asked.

"Just let her be, babe." Maho said firmly before dropping her voice. "Starfleet officers with her attitude aren't worth our time."

"You shouldn't antagonise her Taiga" Ryuuji sighed as he led her back to their booth. "You know she still thinks that you're the bad guy. And for some reason she won't let the whole Miyahara thing go. The man was a loonatic, drunk with power..."

"Couldn't agree more Ryuuji. I just find it a... coincidence that she is here the same time as us. After all, its a big galaxy and I wasn't told she would be here. Strange when you consider the security issues I apparently seem to present at the moment..." Taiga said as she pondered on the moment. Had she been sent to spy on her, had she been sent there to report to Starfleet on their activities, or was she here purely by coincidence. Taiga didn't know, but knowing that the primary mission of the Starship Myogi is to reel in officers wanted by the law, it didn't surprise Taiga to see Maho here.

"You can't be serious, babe!" Keisuke protested. "After everything that woman put you through, put... Us though..." Keisuke put a hand on Maho's belly. "And you want to just let her go?"

"Babe, I've had Starfleet officers call me far worse things." Maho blushed. "Yes, what she said hurt more than those things, especially after what I had recently learned..." Maho looked down at her belly and placed her hand on Keisuke's. "But it's just not worth throwing your career away over a grudge. All we can do is pray that the darkness is eventually banished from that woman's heart."

"Well, perhaps if she'd seen the sobbing mess she reduced you to, the darkness would be gone a lot quicker." Keisuke grumbled. "You do know it took every fiber of my being pulling me in the opposite direction to not head down to where we were confining her and smack her in her stupid face. And that's on top of everything she did to Zack, so she's not very high on my favor list right now."

To be continued...

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