Story Star Trek: Staying Connected (UDC 9)

Week 14 Prompts are:
Fedora \ whip \ satchel \ leather \ tweed

~~

Pie with a whip topping was a rare treat but one Jim carried over to his adulthood and he always made sure to have a special dessert included even on dates.

Audrey's favorite turned out to be strawberry shortcake with extra whipped topping or turtle fudge with whipped cream.

"Don't expect me to make meringue," she said. "Every time I try, it weeps."

---

The satchels were filled with books for the book club meeting.

Nyota's held biographies of musicians while Sherralyn's contained novels that were biographic fiction.

Miranda's offering included a selection of classic poetry and feel-good nostalgic novels. "Things you read or had read to you as a kid" was how she explained them.

"Lovely," Nyota said. "Those are the books that turn out to be timeless in their appeal."

---

"That leather is fake, you can tell." Christine said to Janice during a shore leave in a shoes boutique.

"How can you tell?"

"It'll flake off and peel as soon as it's exposed to damp weather, rain or snow. Then you won't be able to wear them."

Janice scowled. "I love the height of the heel and the color, such a nice shade of blue."

"Ah! These are the real deal and are the same color."

"Thanks!"

---

Fedora and tweed … how retro! But masquerades were all about that.

McCoy and Jim decided to come as Watson and Holmes.

Audrey laughed when she saw them and Nyota teased them about sleuthing.

Nyota was exotic in a regal outfit of scarf-like material which floated about her in rippling multi-colored hues and was accented with gemstones of amethyst and sapphire.

"That is stunning," Audrey said sincerely. She herself was in a lovely Oriental kimono with leaping dolphins as a pattern.

"Thank you. This was a truly wonderful idea for a mid-tour celebration," Nyota remarked.

 

Oh very good, sounds like she knows her limitations! Why set yourself up to fail? Let the expert bakers handle meringue, a tricky, tricky, recipe.

 

Watson and Holmes that had me smiling.
And all love meringues
A great new set

 

Week Fifteen

71. Scarlet
Nyota was never scarlet with mortification whenever she spoke her opinion in classes, even when it differed from the instructor's. She always presented her view with candor and respect, but there was never a modicum of doubt that she could be reasoned with but she would never go along with a crazy idea just because it was popular.

The teacher in question might contact Nyota's parents with no small degree of frustration. In so many words, the message was clear: "Your daughter needs to learn some manners!"

Fadhili and Akilah would exchange looks and respond in no uncertain terms. "The matter of courtesy is not at issue. We have been teaching our daughters to think for themselves and not just go along to get along. It seems Nyota has absorbed that lesson successfully."

Upon receipt of this pointed reply, it was more often than not the instructor who became "scarlet."

72. Mirage

Seeking excitement and discovery through exploration was no mirage. Having a crew you could depend on in a pinch just made things that much better, and the likelihood of success and coming back in one piece all the more certain.

"I'm blessed to have the crew I do," Jim wrote home. "With each mission we wrap up, that becomes more evident."

73. Armor

Sarek was armored against further encroachments of loss, or so he thought.

In keeping aloof, he also denied himself the joys of connecting.

This he realized, fortunately, so when he encountered Nyota, he was receptive to her genuine friendship.

A later surprise was that he was more than ready to embrace the progression of a professional relationship (with T'Mai, his assistant/colleague) into something deeper.

74. Warpath

"It strikes me as intriguing how often the instinctive response of cultures is to go on the literal warpath to secure what they consider their property or entitlement," Sherralyn observed to Tristan. "What they don't learn from history, their own or anyone's, is that once you embark on a war, there are no true victors. Everyone loses, especially the innocent."

"I agree, Sherra," Tristan said, "but when heightened emotion is combined with unrestrained greed, sanity departs."



75. Mastermind

"I guess this latest despot considers himself the mastermind of some great plot," McCoy observed ironically after a mission involving a sector-grabbing wannabe.

Sulu remarked: "But they always make one fatal step, because of their overconfidence."

Nyota chimed in, "You see that all the time in classic mystery novels. the criminal thinks he's outsmarted everyone, but then someone like Poirot, Miss Marple, or Holmes trips them up!"

 

love how Nyota reacts in scarlet. Jim has a great crew to come home with. Sarek's armor could be pierced. warpath is so true and mastermind is fun

 

Week 16, listed in order of appearance in this set.

Epoch
Ancient
Descendant
Ephemeral [momentary, fleeting]
Lasting

Note: Khio'ri is Nyota's oldest daughter; Jenessa is younger.

---

Thanks to @earlybird-obi-wan for pointing out that my copy and paste didn't work.

Khio'ri enjoyed studying Vulcan history, the epochs of time and ancient legends. It had a special poignancy and personal relevance. The descendants of all those revered and much-cherished philosophies had to be kept or discarded with a brand new start.

Her parents and grandparents taught and demonstrated what was ephemeral and what was truly lasting.

"Family closeness, that's the true treasure," Nyota told her kids.

Jenessa was inspired and made a sketch of the family for her box of keepsakes.

 

Prompts are for Week 17:

81: adventure

82: booby-trap

83: sidekick

84: love-interest

85: hero

-----

"I don't want to be known as a hero. Being known as a hero isn't all glitz and glam." Jim told Leonard McCoy. "I enjoy the adventure and excitement of discovery, but at the end of the day, I only do the reckless thing if it leads to a positive outcome, not for its own sake."

"Like the time we sprung the booby-trap on Velga 5 after the ion storm and in the middle of the delicate negotiations over biomedical equipment," McCoy added.

"The lead negotiator and her sidekick were so intractable that even Nyota was losing patience," Sulu chimed in. "And Officers Bradley and Vance had to put extra security around all the exits."

"As it turned out, the fancy long-wave scanners actually picked up the danger the normal tricorders missed."

"And because of that those scanners are standard issue." Sulu said.

"Yolette Boudreaux was all too happy to learn the ins and outs of those, as was Audrey," Jim concluded the stroll down memory lane.

-----

Areel Shaw was Jim's most serious love-interest before Audrey. She was compassionate and intelligent and lovely, as Audrey was. Sometimes it was daunting to realize that the only thing that had derailed their relationship from progressing was divergent career paths. Could that strictly speaking be called a coincidence, merely?

Jim didn't think so. When it got right down to it, divergent career paths might have just been the first thing that stopped his romance with Areel.

The road not taken, Jim thought, with no regrets.

 

love how you make four of them in just one story and the comparison between the women in the love-interest.

 

and love the two sisters in set 16

 

Week 18

86-90:

Days

Days in childhood stretched on forever: spring days full of blossoms and birdsong; summer, full of lazy afternoons by a lake with a large picnic hamper; autumn days crisp with a welcome bite to the breeze and autumnal colors to the trees; winter, a crackling fire and hot cocoa with extra marshmallows.

These were sweet and tangible memories cherished as one grew older, and they formed the basis for what one wanted to give to one's own children someday.


Sulu came from a vantage point of having experienced many of these things, Yolette not so many, which made her wish to have their younglings have an abundance.

~

Future

The future stretched out long and vibrant as they exchanged vows.

Not ones to be sappily romantic, the couple still basked in the sincerity of the other's love expressions.

When it came time to "kiss the bride," Jim obliged and took Audrey's breath away.

He capped off their first couple dance with another warm kiss, and she smiled.

~

Past

"Learning from the past is important," Jim told Skylar, "but becoming stuck in it is unhealthy. You have to take what you can learn from and discard the rest."

Skylar found this to be valuable advice overall and for himself personally.

Being part of a loving, lively family made it easy to concentrate on the present and future, anyhow.

~


Death


Watching worlds suffer ecological death was never easy, but realizing there was something that could have been done in early stages to forestall the disaster made it even harder.

This was what made visiting worlds of verdancy and optimism so much more priceless.

~

Resurrection

Helping worlds resurrect their cultures was a very rewarding thing as a diplomat.

It made all the struggles worthwhile as you saw the lessons and strategies take hold.

Another world saved from the brink, you think with profound relief.

 

days; sweet with Sulu and Yolette
future; the big moment
past; a great lesson for Skylar
death; so true
resurrection; saving is rewarding
A great set

 

Week 14: Lovely! The books, the shoes, the costumes - I loved it all.

Oooh! You can't go wrong with either of those.

Week 15: And another great set! Love Nyota's outspokenness in "Scarlet" and the discussions in "Warpath" and "Mastermind".

And this line really struck me on a personal level.

Week 16: So sweet!

Awww! I just love that image.

Week 17: Great job again! I really liked "Love-interest".

Week 18: These have all been great, but I really, REALLY loved this set!

Gorgeous! You captured the beauty of all the seasons so perfectly in these few words.

"Future" - Awww! So soft and lovely! My favorite kind of story!

And "Past", "Death", and "Resurrection" - lots of wisdom and valuable advice in these three indeed!

Fantastic job on all of these!

 

Thanks amidalachick for the detailed commentary. These prompts have lent themselves to so many moods and contexts.

---

Week 19, in order of appearance:

Hereafter

All the Starfleet and Federation regulations with heretofores and wherins and hereafters made Jim's eyes cross when he was promoted to Starfleet Brass.

He hired a team of secretaries and legal aides to "translate" for him.

He confided in Audrey that such things was one of the perks of being promoted.

"I don't have to wade through all that ridiculous verbiage."

Audrey laughed. "I knew there had to be a silver lining somewhere."

~

Helper

When Kashore and Nyota were growing up, they wanted to "help" out in the kitchen when their Mom was making desserts.

The helping consisted of eating raw cookie dough more often than not and eating the marshmallows before stuffing them into the s'mores.

"You girls are incorrigible," their mom said, trying to sound stern, but the laugh in her voice gave away her amusement.

"You know, Mom, the preparation is more than half the fun," Nyota said in pure innocence.

~

Heal

Christine Chapel always loved healing; even as a young girl, she would soothe the discomforts of her playmates and bandage the wings of butterflies and hummingbirds.

Her compassionate nature and gentle disposition made her career path all but inevitable.

"You're the best nurse I could ever have worked with," McCoy told her on more than one occasion.

"Thank you!" Christine replied, feeling aglow with pleasure at the sincere compliment.

~

Haven & Home

The Enterprise felt like a haven and home to her crew. They forged connections amongst themselves of loyalty and caring.

So, even when they dispersed after the end of their 5-year tour, the bonds of affection still remained.

They reinforced these with periodic get-togethers and frequent comm-calls.

Some were more conscientious about this kind of thing than others, Nyota primarily so.

 

loved them all
helper brought a big smile on my face. All love to eat dough
heal was sweet

 

Another sweet set!

That is a good perk indeed!

"Helper" was sweet (in every sense of the word ) and I love the warmth and affection in "Heal", "Haven", and "Home". Great work on these!

 

Week 20:

96. Archeology

When finds of a scientific nature were made, Kimiko Akihara had a different reaction from her colleague, Svetlana Janovich.

Kimiko was exuberant and couldn't wait to publish her discoveries or if she passed them along was crushed if she only got a "footnote."

Svetlana's intensity and curiosity were less obviously displayed, but once the article was published, her crewmates could tell she felt a professional satisfaction for having contributed to the discovery of xenocultural significance.

After the mission briefing, Shannon McManus knew to ask Kimiko, whose enthusiasm would lead her to share more details.

~

97. Museum

Christopher Pike did not want to be enshrined in a figurative "museum," as a mentor to the legendary next generation of command.

He carved out a niche for himself as Captain of the Venture, a first-contact vessel.

His many missions went down in the records as well as those of the Enterprise.

"Although I am honored indeed to be your mentor of sorts," he told Jim. "Frankly, though, you blew right past all the rest of the Fleet brass!"

~

98. Dog

Gwen and Elspeth and Sherralyn grew up with low-maintenance pets, a quiet and easy-going Golden Retriever dog named Sugar, a pair of colorful guppies named Burt & Ernie.

"No cats for this family," their parents had insisted. "Before you know it, the cats will be 'bossing' us around!"

"No snakes or ferrets, either!" the girls replied. "Yuck!"


~

99. Junior

McCoy had a half-teasing regret surrounding the swift commissioning of the Enterprise.

"Can't call you Junior anymore, Jim," he quipped.

"Not that I would've let you get away with that for long, at any rate," Jim rejoined, and McCoy laughed.

McCoy had a thought. "If you're Han Solo's double, does that make me Lando?"

"You wish!"

~

100. Scar

Nyota's loving empathy helped any lingering scars from devastating losses to be minimized. Her joy and devotion filled a void and created sweet memories.

Her welcoming attitude allowed for the sharing of gentle memories, when it felt the right time to share.

++++

 

great ending for 100 drabbles. Loved them all but Jim and McCoy with Junior is great

 

What a lovely final set!

These were all wonderful but "Dog" and "Scar" stood out for me.

Awww! So cute!

And I really loved the peacefulness of "Scar".

Awesome job on these, and congratulations on finishing!