Steel Beach, Starfleet Style! (Part 3)

Posted on Sat Nov 29th, 2025 @ 1:59am by Captain Patricia Cooke & Lieutenant Charlotte E. "Charlie" Yeager & Senior Chief Petty Officer Karen Jinryo & I-402 & Commander Katrina Chance & Lieutenant Commander Andrew Star & Lieutenant Akira Kogami & Lieutenant Alice Penrose & Lieutenant Mezan Boone & Captain Jacob Rye & Ensign Toran Vos
Edited on on Sat Nov 29th, 2025 @ 2:00am

1,941 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Ghost Starship
Location: Main Shuttlebay, Deck 10
Timeline: After Part 2

Previously, on Star Trek: Missouri:

Akira glanced over at Patty, then back over at the Bolian. "Uh... how do the Americans typically like it?"

The Bolian started blankly back at Akira.

"You tell me, boss." He finally answered. "I grew up on Bolarus IX. I don't know how Earthlings like their food."

"Well, I guess that makes two of us..." Akira sighed.

And now, the continuation:

Food wasn't on Andrew's mind; having a good time was! He began to gather up people to play volleyball—officers vs enlisted or whatever.

"Count me in..." Toran jogged casually over towards the net, undoing his cuffs to roll his black sleeves up to his elbow. He'd take volleyball over small talk any day of the week.

While a new volleyball game was about to start, Patricia had made her way down from the stage to speak to Karen:

"Hey, girl, good to see you again." Patricia said once she found her quartermaster.

"Hey, Pat." Karen greeted in return.

"Hey, uh, thanks for donating all that meat, by the way." Patricia said. "I'm sure the crew will greatly appreciate that not everything being served today is replicated."

"You're lucky we had some animals to spare." Karen responded. "Anyhow, I thought I saw Kogami getting some food earlier."

"Yeah, hard to miss that salmon hairstyle." Patricia said, understanding what Karen was implying. "Though, I do warn you, she's a bit of an acquired taste."

"How so?" Karen asked as they walked. "Evidently, you and she got along enough to form the original Soul Sisters."

"Yeah, but she doesn't know that I revived the band without her." Patricia sighed. "In fact, most of those old guys like Sh'alkins don't know."

Having advised her quartermaster to not immediately jump to the subject of the Soul Sisters and the revival act, Patricia and Karen approached the table where Akira was eating.

"Hey there, Akira:" Patricia greeted, making note of the food. "Enjoying the brisket?"

"How is it in the four years I was attending the Academy, you never introduced this to me?" Akira remarked as she enthusiastically hankered down on her sandwich (eventually chosen at random because she was beginning to hold the line up). "I would've killed for some A5 Wagyu done up like this!"

"You know, it might help that the cut of meat you're eating from isn't replicated." Karen observed.

Akira glanced up. "You mean, it's authentic?"

"Yep, that's genuine Schumacher III beef you're eating there, Lieutenant." Karen proudly announced with a smile.

Akira laughed. "Ever the showboating type, Patty?"

"Oh, that wasn't me, Akira:" Patricia clarified, indicating Karen. "This would have all been replicated if it weren't for Senior Chief Jinryo's generous meat donation."

"Should've figured," Akira chuckled as she stood up and pulled Karen into a bear hug. "Anyways, good to see you again, Karen; congrats on baby #3, and I hope JJ and the fam are doing alright back home?"

"Oh, for sure." Karen said. "They've certainly got their hands full, as it's just about getting time for the springtime harvest. Those seeds we planted back in the fall were growing like crazy when I left. I'm sure we'll get a good yield of crops this year and get a good few transports filled up."

"Well, that's Krazy Karen for you." Patricia said. "She helps us keep the Federation safe while her family back home keeps the Federation... Well, fed. Though I do miss JJ, the old bastard. Soul Sisters never had a better bassist than him."

"Well, he wasn't going to let his family be endangered by his line of work." Karen shrugged.

"Can you really blame him, now that he's got three kids and a farm to look after?" Akira was quick to point out.

"The farm, Admiral Soryuu helped us out in putting together." Karen said. "Given the life my husband lived beforehand, Soryuu understood his need to lie low."

Sitting across from Akira, Katrina couldn't help but watch with amusement as the other woman ate with such fervor. She turned slightly, lifting her hand to Patricia and her companion in greeting. "Talk about going all out!" She muses. "I've never seen a celebration... quite like this before."

The shuttlebay doors whispered open again — a little late, but no one seemed to mind.

Captain Jacob Rye stepped through, sunglasses tucked low on his nose and an unmistakably loud orange-and-creamsicle shirt open over a white undershirt — the same one he’d picked up years ago on some tropical paradise on a distant world.

He paused at the threshold, taking in the scene. His ship. His crew. Alive, loud, happy. A steel beach in the middle of the stars.

“Looks like you started without me,” he said, voice dry but warm as his lips quirked into a faint smile.

A few cheers rose up from the enlisted tables. Picking up a drink as he moved throgh the horde of people, he opened it and took a quiet sip as his gaze swept across the crowd.

Then, spotting Captain Patricia Cooke near the stage, he made his way over, weaving carefully through deck chairs and chatter.

“Apologies for being late, Captain,” he said when he reached her, tone even, friendly. “Hectic day - I blinked and somehow lost an hour. Smells worth it, though.”

He gestured to the grill with his drink, that faint spark of humor in his eyes.

“Glad to see we’re keeping the old traditions alive. Permission to join the chaos?”

"Permission granted, Captain." Patricia responded. "Glad you could make it."

"New MCO?" Akira remarked as she craned her neck around Katrina to get a better look at the newcomer.

Rye glanced over at the voice, catching sight of the security chief through the haze of grill smoke and laughter.

“Lieutenant Kogami, I presume?” he said, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. “Figured I’d better meet the person who keeps the rest of us out of trouble.”

He raised his drink in a casual salute before adding, “Jacob Rye — Marines. I Imagine we’ll be working together a fair bit.”

A pause, friendly but steady.

“Though tonight,” he added, letting the humor return, “I promise to keep my detachment on their best behavior. At least until the second round starts.”

At this point, there was a tap on Patricia's shoulder. Patricia turned around to find the arm belonged to a civilian man whom she hadn't seen before now: Another new arrival perhaps?

"Captain Patricia Cooke?" He asked.

"Yeah, and you are?" Patricia asked.

"Oh, forgive me, where are my manners:" The man replied sheepishly. "Name's Dave; I'm an independent stellar cartographer- I study celestial phenomena and the sorts."

"So, a civilian..." Patricia muttered. "What are you doing on my ship then, Davy?"

"Funny you say that, I'm actually here at the request of Starfleet Command." Dave explained as he opened his jacket to dig into the inside pocket. "You see, I was recently tracking the movements of a comet passing through the Janus system when I came across this:"

Dave proceeded to hand over a PADD with an image loaded onto it. The lighting of the image impacted its quality, but Patricia could make out the form of a large Starfleet vessel. She couldn't be sure, but it certainly looked like a Galaxy class ship.

"Definitely Starfleet in design." Dave acknowledged. "Felt Starfleet should know that it seemed like one of their ships was floating derelict out in open space, so I stopped in here to Starbase 72, and... Well, now I'm here."

Several seconds passed without a response from Patricia:

"O...Kay, give us a second." She finally spoke, motioning for her XO to come over.

Once they'd boarded, Boone and Stovik made their way to the quartermaster to receive quarters assignments and then parted ways. While finding out what little piece of the ship each one of them would call home for the next few years, the officer on duty informed them about the Steel Beach party that was in full swing at that very moment.

Not really wanting to engage in endless chatter with people, Mezan was intrigued by the opportunity to see the crew, all at once, while off duty and in celebration. He simply couldn't pass up a chance like that. So, he approached the doors to the shuttle bay with some trepidation and a bit of excitement.

The noise that greeted him from inside was enough to make him pause in the entrance to settle himself with the onslaught. Looking around there was a lot going on and he was keen to immerse himself in the experience.

With no idea of what a beach barbque was, the doctor had dressed in a pair of black slacks and a deep blue, collared shirt. Spotting what looked like a place to get a drink, Mezan headed in that direction.

"Oh, look, I think there's another one," Akira remarked as she took another bite of her brisket.

Mezan kept looking around as he waited at the bar, leaning on one elbow. "What can I get you?" The voice surprised him because it was female.

Turning to her with a smile on his face, Boone replied. "Do you have a decent Scotch?"

The woman smiled back. "Yes we do. Tell me what you think of this one." She grabbed a nearby bottle and poured two fingers in a tumbler then passed it to Mezan. He took the glass from the bar and gave the brown liquid a subtle sniff. "Hmmm..." Taking a drink, he let it roll around on his tongue to pinpoint the flavors that were aged into it. Thirty seconds later, he swallowed and felt its smoothness as it slid down his throat. "Yes, that will do nicely. It's what? 15 or 16 years old? There's an oakiness to it with subtle hints of caramel and vanilla. I'd wager it's an Aberlour?"

The bartender, Abby, raised her eyebrows at his guess. "That's exactly right. You have a well trained pallet."

"For scotch, yes, among other things." Then he gave her a wink and turned back to observe the room but maintained his place at the bar.

The party went on for another few hours. After speaking with Katrina, Patricia had told Dave that they would discuss his discovery the following day with a senior staff briefing. Patricia was even willing to seal the deal by allowing Dave to stay in some unoccupied VIP quarters on Deck 3, right down the hall from Patricia if he needed anything more.

Patricia stuck around to supervise cleanup, the packing away of the activities and the packaging of the leftovers. They would be served to the crew of Charlie Shift in a special Midrats serving in the Harry F. Cooke Lounge. Patricia made a mental note that, once back in her office, she would send a memo to everyone scheduled for the night shift about the special Midrats serving in the lounge.

All in all, Patricia believed that the Steel Beach had been a success. Everybody seemed to enjoy themselves, and hopefully this would reflect on an improved crew morale.

Posting by

Captain Patricia Cooke
Commanding Officer

Commander Katrina Chance
Executive Officer

Lieutenant Akira Kogami
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
Second Officer

Lieutenant Commander Andrew Star
Chief Engineer

Lieutenant Alice Penrose
Chief Counselor

Lieutenant Mezan Boone
Chief Medical Officer

Captain Jacob Rye
Marine Commander

Lieutenant Charlotte E. "Charlie" Yeager
Assistant Chief Flight Control Officer

Ensign Toran Vos
Security Officer

Senior Chief Petty Officer Karen Jinryo
Quartermaster

I-402
Computer Interface

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