Post 416: Cheers Part One

Stardate:70826.13
Title: Cheers, Part One
Authors: TC Blane and Zanh Liis
Scene: Various/Seven
Time: Prior to and concurrent with "Surprise, Surprise."
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Getting Lily T'Ana and TC Blane into the same room these days was a trick in itself, as busy as they were. Keeping a surprise party from them, a trick worthy of Houdini.

Zanh had simply told them that she needed to speak with them- and that the two officers needed to be available to her at 1900 hours this evening, uniform dress not mandatory. That in itself had tipped TC off to the fact that perhaps Zanh was up to something- but he'd learned that it was usually a waste of time to try to predetermine what was going on in her singular brain.

"Any idea what the deal is with this?" Lily asked as the two met up at the turbolift. They had been instructed to meet Zanh outside her quarters.

"I was hoping maybe you'd be able to tell me."

"Well it's already been a weird day," T'Ana replied, "I haven't been able to get a hold of Bru and things are just. . .off, somehow."

"Hm." At the mention of Bru's name, TC thought back on his experiences during the zhian'tara and shook his head. "That ritual thing was quite something. I'd imagine she has a lot to think about."

"Yeah." Lily offered no more.

The doors opened and they saw Zanh approaching. "Put your smile back on, here comes Miss America."

"Evening, lieutenants. I appreciate your freeing up your schedule for me." Zanh remarked. "There's a situation I need to advise the two of you of, would you please take a walk with me while we talk?"

"You didn't want do to this in a conference room, Captain?" TC raised an eyebrow, "Or at the next staff meeting? If it's ship's business,"

"Oh, punch out for a moment, will you Mr. Blane?" Zanh poked his arm playfully. He just stared at her index fin ger as she withdrew it from his sizable bicep. "I didn't want to wait for the next meeting. Besides, I have a dinner date, a rare occurrence. This was the only time I could fit you into my schedule, so please, humor me."

TC restrained a sigh, and nodded.

"Seven Forward." Zanh commanded the lift, and they began to move again.

"So, we've got a new and unexpected addition to our permanent crew. Mr. Reece will be staying on with us."

"Oh," Lily's face clouded. *He outranks me- there goes my Chief of Science promotion-*

"Turn that frown upside down, Lilybelle." Zanh replied, "He'll be working for you now."

"Sir?"

"Unfortunately, the head that Starfleet demanded roll for the Grace debacle was Reece's. He's been seriously and summarily demoted."

"Ouch." TC hated to see a good officer (which he believed Reece to be) penalized for doing the right thing. He also appreciated the fact that Reece must've been willing to 'take one for the team' so to speak, because the rest of them had escaped punishment.

"He's handling it well. But I want you both to remember, while he may only wear two pips for the moment, he's experienced, he's brilliant, and you can learn a lot from the hundreds of years of experience riding around in his symbiont. So if you are on any Away missions with him- or even just working with him around here, remember to give his opinions due weight. No matter how much smart-ass you may hear in his voice."

Both officers nodded back to her as they all moved through the hall outside Seven. Zanh clapped her hands once with satisfaction.

"Well, good. Now that's out of the way, let's eat."

"Captain?" Blane was confused. "You said you had a dinner date."

"I didn't say with whom." Zanh sported a lopsided grin. "Each CO, acting or otherwise, develops their own traditions for marking the promotions of their senior staff. I haven't heard of any that I particularly liked enough to adopt myself," Lily was about comment on the fact that the lights were lower than usual in Seven and the place seemed deserted when Zanh finished her sentence,

"So I figured, it was high time we started some special traditions of our own around here."

Suddenly the lights came up to full and to TC’s surprise a good amount of the ship's crew shouted in unison “SURPRISE!”

* Holy Crap!* Was TC’s first thought. * They are having a party for Lily and no one told me! *

He began to clap and smile uncomfortably, feeling truly left out.

It took several moments for him to realize that he was also one of the honorees of the gathering. A fact that made him feel even more uncomfortable.

When Trick passed by with the glasses of bubbling fluid TC gladly accepted one and downed it in one long swig. He turned and liberated another from Jeaq’s tray as he passed on the other side. This one he held and sipped slowly from as he tried to look honorable for the speech that he just knew was coming.

"I'll make this quick, because no one likes speeches at parties," Zanh said and everyone laughed. "To T'Ana and Blane, our new Chief of Sciences and Chief Operations Officer, respectively. Congratulations on your promotions. I'm going to see to it personally that you work your tails off." Zanh said and again the audience chuckled.

"But seriously, I couldn't ask for two more capable and able officers to run departments on this, the finest ship in the fleet. It is my honor to serve with you all. I salute you.."

He held up his glass and accepted the compliment stoically. “CHEERS.”

After the toast was over he began to look around for an escape route but could not find a path though the numerous well wishers and congratulatory handshakes.

The exit doors looked so close but seemed so far away. Before he know it he was seated at a table with Zanh. T’Ana had joined Simon and the band on the stage.
* It is only a blasted promotion! * He thought to himself as he forced a smile onto his face. * Oh well. Might as well make the best of it. *

Captain Zanh looked at TC with a grin. “You look uncomfortable.” She leaned in closer. “You hate this attention, don’t you.”

TC took a sip from his glass and smiled. “Oh be quiet,” he smiled again, “Sir.”

Zanh laughed and turned her attention back to the stage as TC shook another hand. He found himself having the morbid fantasy of breaking the next hand that he had to shake, but he simply grinned and accepted his fate of stardom for this one night.
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Lt. (sg) TC Blane
Chief of Operations
USS Independence NCC-90791

~and~

=/\= Zanh Liis
Acting CO
USS Independence NCC-90791