Star Trek: Fortitude
Season Four, Episode Six - “First Date”
By Jack D. Elmlinger
PROLOGUE
He wasn’t quite sure how it had happened…
It had been another normal day. Fortitude was at high warp, cutting through space while sensors looked for interesting things to explore. There was nothing special about the day. Nothing unusual. Nothing critical even happened… which, even he had to admit, made a nice change. When he leaned over the operations console and asked Jason if anything was coming up in the next few lightyears, the answer was a resounding no. Engineering was running at peak efficiency and Sickbay was satisfyingly empty…
It was just another normal day. Nothing more and nothing less.
Then it happened. It had happened and he wasn’t sure how.
“What are your plans for tomorrow night?,” she asked him.
“Tomorrow night?,” he repeated. “Uh… status reports and paperwork, I think.”
“I’ve got the holodeck booked for two hours.”
“That’ll be nice. What are you planning to do?”
“I think I’m all golfed out at the moment. Maybe something new… I don’t know…”
“I know an Ensign with a library of 21st-century action adventures,” he said with a smile.
“Hmm…,” she pondered playfully. “That doesn’t sound very date-like.”
There was a pause. Had she just said that she was going on a date? He blinked his eyes, letting the word sink in a little before he considered giving her a reply. Well, good for her, he felt like saying but maybe that would be too obvious… Damn, and they had been getting so close! Was it his fault? Had he waited too long? Wasn’t he supposed to make the first move? No, this was the 24th century. Those rules had been long since forgotten.
“Oh,” he finally settled upon,” a date? Then you’ll want something calmer?”
“What do you fancy?”
“Pardon me…?”
“What do you fancy doing on the holodeck for two hours?”
“You mean… for a date?”
“Yeah… I wouldn’t want you to get bored after all.”
Ewan Llewellyn was speechless.
“Give it some thought,” Valerie Archer grinned. “You can pick me up at seven.”
ACT ONE
The Mess Hall echoed with laughter. Katherine Pulaski rarely let herself go in such public displays of extreme mirth, but there was just something about the story being told to her that removed her inhibitions and forced the laughter out. Sitting across the table from her, Valerie Archer was responsible for the effect and she was laughing along with the Chief Medical Officer, her drink shaking in her hand. Only after a few choice expressions were directed towards their table did they finally manage to breathe.
“I would have loved to seen his face,” she eventually smiled.
“We shouldn’t laugh, really,” Valerie replied, nevertheless wiping a tear away from her cheek with her right index finger. “I sprung it on him rather suddenly… but still, I knew that actually talking to him about a possible date would have been awkward. I guess the element of surprise worked in my favor!”
“It’s funny that you should say that,” Pulaski observed,” but I always thought that the Captain was a rather straightforward guy.”
“On most things, sure… but you know men and their feelings…”
“Three ex-husbands can confirm that for you.”
The two friends finished their drinks and moved from the Mess Hall into the maze of corridors deep within Fortitude. Valerie felt comfortable talking to Kate about all of this. They had found each other to have much in common away from their vastly different shipboard positions. While one of them spent their days shuffling duty shifts and the other one healed wounds, both of them had roughly the same sense of humor. Over the occasional drink, they had found an openness and honesty that was refreshing. It wasn’t professional practice to ask the Captain out on a date and then brag about it to a member of the senior staff but Pulaski could be trusted.
Besides, Valerie had to tell somebody!
“So what do you expect he’ll decide to do?”
“I have no idea,” admitted the First Officer. “Thinking about it, he is the perfect gentleman. Maybe some old-fashioned dinner and dancing? Of course, that is if I can dance after having shot myself in the foot with this approach.”
“Oh, how so?”
“I have no idea what I should be wearing!”
Pulaski felt another laugh bubbling to the surface as she entered the turbolift for her quarters and held her arm out, stopping the door before it could cut her off from her friend and the conversation. Archer paused, about to turn away and bid the Doctor farewell for the time being but she saw that there was more to be said.
Her expression suitable, giving the day’s change in tone from the regular crisis and chaos that surrounded Fortitude, Pulaski had an offer to make.
“I’m at your disposal for the next two days,” she beamed.
“Nothing better to do…?”
“On the contrary, I’ve always been interested in the social sciences.”
“Great,” Valerie joked,” I’m a lab rat!”
“Oh, absolutely, and I expect regular reports, please,” Pulaski shot back at her through a grin.
“You’ve got it, Kate.”
* * * *
In the meantime, the shockwaves of Valerie Archer’s bombshell were still being felt.
A date?
And she had asked?
Had he made a huge mistake? Wasn’t it supposed to be considered gentlemanly to ask the lady on a date? Oh, sure, he had been in a few relationships before. One of them had been at the Academy but those were different. Those had been because he was young and adventurous, nothing else. No, this was Valerie Archer, a commander in Starfleet and First Officer of a starship.
His starship!
There was so much emotion tied up in their relationship already. What if he blew it? What if he made a mistake? What if in taking the next time with her, he, Ewan Llewellyn realized that he wasn’t really cut out for dating a fellow officer?
What if?
What if?
All of these internal questions were putting a permanent frown on his forehead. It was just visible through the gaps in his dark hair. Loaded with self-doubt, he was heading through the bowels of Fortitude when a curious Jason Armstrong noticed him and, also noticing the frown, stopped to offer him his assistance.
“Captain,” the Kentuckian called out along the otherwise-empty corridor,” are you…?”
Llewellyn stopped and turned around. Was this a subject that one shared? Of course, there was nobody else aboard that was more qualified to share it with.
“Ensign, uh,” his stilted reply finally emerged,” I think so… Have you got a minute?”
“Honestly, sir, you decide whether I’ve got a minute or not. Do I?”
“You do now. Follow me.”
As they walked towards Llewellyn’s quarters, the situation was explained. Despite trying to keep his professionalism intact, Ensign Armstrong couldn’t stop himself from displaying his perfect white teeth for the entire journey. He found it sweet in a way and when the Captain finally ushered him into his quarters and ordered two cups of coffee from the replicator, he was deeply flattered at the request put forward.
“I need your help, Jason. I understand that I’m probably way out of line here…”
“Captain,” the young man interrupted him,” permission to speak freely?”
“I think that’s a given today, Ensign.”
“The past is the past, and I have no regrets. I would be honored to help.”
“Thanks… So, what do you think?”
“Well, for starters, I think I never expected this to be part of my job!”
Ewan chuckled at the joke. His stomach, which had been feeling as if it were full of live gagh all day, had settled down. It was true, after all. Nowhere in the Starfleet Officer’s Handbook did it ever mention and Captains asking the rank of file for dating advice. There was no regulation for the occurrence and no rules to follow. When Zefram Cochrane talked about ‘strange new worlds’, he wasn’t just talking about the Galaxy, was he? It was funny, though. For all of the irregularity of this moment, he didn’t feel uncomfortable at all, and clearly, neither did Jason. The reason was clear.
“This isn’t part of your job, Jason,” the Welshman said, smiling. “This crew is a family and we’re good friends. I’m asking in that capacity today.”
“In that case,” Jason replied,” may I say that it’s about freakin’ time?”
“I’m sure you may… but why?”
“Captain, I’m not the only person aboard who has noticed. Commander Archer is crazy about you and so are you! The biggest shock, for me, is that it’s taken all of this time, dodging alien attacks and surviving nefarious plots for somebody to make a move. Trust me on this when I say that you’ve got to seize these moments.”
Bless him. Jason had grown up.
“Oh, believe me,” Ewan nodded. “I trust you on that.”
ACT TWO
All of the angles were analyzed with methodical precision.
Placing the fourth pair of empty coffee cups back into the replicator and ordering them to be refilled, Ewan Llewellyn stretched his arm muscles in a desperate attempt to inject some life into them. The conversation between the Captain and his Operations Officer had been bouncing back and forth for almost two hours now. They talked in a frank manner unbecoming of the usual male stereotypes. Stereotypes that both men shattered. The age gap was much shorter than it would have been otherwise, given Ewan’s relative youth in his important position as Commanding Officer of an Intrepid-class starship. They could relate. They could laugh, and above all, they could share.
“I really appreciate this, Jason,” Ewan told him. “Normally, I would be in Rear Admiral Blackmore’s office right now, discussing and panicking over this subject with him. Alas, that conversation will have to wait.”
“Hopefully not for long,” Jason asked, taking his fresh cup of coffee and raising it gently skyward. “Here’s to the Rear Admiral, and his speedy recovery.”
“Good man,” Ewan smiled, appreciating the gesture. “Now, where were we?”
“Talking about your plan of attack…”
It had been decided, in the two hours and in between all of the meandering topics of discussion that had been touched upon, that he needed to take back the initiative of the date concept and have some input of his own. Valerie had given him the perfect angle too, asking him to give the holodeck destination some thought.
Well, even better, Ewan was going to access her booked holodeck time and pre-prepare a program to start as soon as they arrived. With any luck, it would be a nice surprise. Now all that was required was an actual venue.
Having been part of the scheme’s foundation, Jason was prepared to undertake the technical legwork himself, leaving the Captain fire to distract his date for the evening. If it was left up to his imagination, the couple would be dodging bullets in a terrorist shootout all night.
No, Llewellyn needed to issue the orders here.
“Class,” the Welshman muttered slowly. “Class and good food and … hmmm… I don’t know. If I got over the top with a romantic venue, will it look like I’m overcompensating? I mean, Valerie and I have occupied my Ready Room and the Bridge for nearly four years and developed these feelings. Would candles kill them?”
“I’m not sure,” the Kentuckian admitted to him. “I would guess that the Commander doesn’t care about what’s around you. As long as you can hear yourselves talk because… Well, that’s what a first date is all about, isn’t it? Besides, you two can talk up a storm.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“I would as it was meant to be one. Okay, so… let’s think about this…”
Several PADDs started to clutter the glass-topped coffee table in the center of the living area. There were numerous holographic programs on each of them. Many of them were a running theme and some of them just thrown in for good measure. Placing one of the more unusual options, a concert of Klingon opera, outside of Jason’s field of vision, Ewan found something of interest and raised an eyebrow accordingly. The little noise that played alongside his discovery made the operations officer sitting opposite of him look up.
“Got something?”
“I man have… Do you think that this will be easy to replicate?”
The PADD was turned around and Jason glanced down at the data on the screen. He had to grin.
“Maybe not,” was his response,” but it’ll definitely be worth it!”
“I think I’ve just found our destination…”
* * * *
He encountered her in the doorway to the Gymnasium.
As Lieutenant Arden Vuro provided an impressive backdrop, hauling weight far above and beyond the normal limits up to his toned blue chest, Valerie Archer couldn’t stop the smile that she enjoyed. She didn’t even care that she was dressed in her slacks. Nor did she give a second’s thought to the layer of glistening perspiration on her forehead. She was standing in front of Ewan Llewellyn and that made her happy.
Fortitude had been a peaceful, quiet place for several weeks and she was starting to get used to it. With nothing to fight, nothing to dodge or pursue, she was getting used to her feelings and letting them run free. Hence the dastardly, yet brilliant, fun date proposal.
Llewellyn was about to enter the Gymnasium. With this run-in with his First Officer seemed harmless enough, the Captain had engineered everything. Casually casting his towel over his shoulder, a boyish grin answered Valerie’s smile.
“Commander,” he played.
“Captain,” she played back.
“Good workout today?”
“I’d say so. I hope you get one too.”
“Thanks,” Ewan said before he finally stepped aside. “Oh, one other thing, check your messages.”
A flicker of excitement crossed Valerie’s face. She knew what it would be. “Will do. See you tomorrow, sir.”
“Always a pleasure, Commander,” Ewan nodded, bowing professionally.
It was all that he could keep from laughing.
Walking away from the Gymnasium, Valerie let Ewan enter and explain to the confused Vuro what had just transpired. Besides, she had a message to read! Nearly jogging back to her quarters, she underwent the fastest sonic shower in the history of Starfleet and threw on the red undershirt of her uniform as the replicator worked to provide her with a cup of coffee. As soon as her combadge was back on her chest, she tapped it eagerly.
“Archer to Pulaski.”
“Go ahead, Commander,” came the Chief Medical Officer’s reply.
“Report to my quarters at once, please.”
“Medical emergency or personal visit?”
“Whichever gets you here quickest, Kate!” Valerie chuckled, her tone indicating the absence of any danger. Pulaski immediately understood and she soon found herself ringing the door chimes outside.
Beckoned in with excited haste, a cup of coffee was thrust into her hands and a seat was offered. When the monitor was turned around to face her, the Doctor found her curiosity satiated.
Valerie was grinning from ear to ear. “What did I tell you? He’s the perfect gentleman. This looks great!”
“How did he know to do this?,” Kate asked, wide-eyed.
“He knows me, Kate. That’s enough!”
“It looks like you’re getting exactly what you wanted.”
“That it does.”
Pulaski would have felt a pang of jealousy… if she were the jealous type.
“You’re a lucky girl…”
ACT THREE
Jason had been right. Replicating it had been tricky.
Adjusting the black tie wrapped around his neck, Ewan Llewellyn made a mental note to thank the designer of the simple Starfleet duty uniforms if he ever met them. Wearing a full 20th-century tuxedo, three layers building up to the ridiculously impressive image, he nevertheless had to admit that the end result did look rather nice. He was man enough to admit to the joy of dressing up.
It made him laugh, standing in front of his mirror. Reflecting not only on the reflection but on the past two days, the Captain made a mental note to remember his age. Ever since Valerie had proposed the date, he had been acting like a schoolboy. His head was filled with too much oxygen or so it felt. His thoughts were of the holodeck and of her, not of his ship or his crew. While that would do no good in the long run, it served a purpose here. It had rejuvenated him.
With the final adjustment made, Llewellyn took a second to admire the reflection staring back at him. The tuxedo fit perfectly, hugging his torso and broadening his shoulders to the right degree.
It wasn’t bad.
It wasn’t bad at all.
Of course, the face was a different matter. Almost four years had passed by and it looked as though it had aged ten. Stress was the culprit. Tiny lines had begun to form at the corners of his eyes that were deeper and held the sorrow of so many memories that they would rather forget.
The boyish grin was still there, still flashing to devastation effect from time to time, but it was a job to do. Before Starbase 499, Fortitude, and the Santrag system, it had been naturally easy. The smile planted on Ewan’s lips began to waver as his thoughts explored that avenue.
The difficult, the challenges, and not just professional either… Personal betrayal, personal loss, and personal sacrifice… Each of them had taken his toll on his appearance. Inwardly, he coped, dealing with them and trying to move on, but outwardly?
There was no escaping them.
Enough of them. Today wasn’t about this. Today was a new beginning.
It was time to pick up Valerie Archer.
* * * *
“You look… absolutely beautiful…”
She stood in the doorway to her quarters, a vision in a deep crimson velvet dress replicated exclusively for the evening. Her normally-neat hair cascaded over her bare shoulders, curling around one another to frame her perfect features. There were no rank pips and no combadges. Tonight, she was not the First Officer, but rather a gorgeous woman waiting for her handsome date. Naturally, she eyed him with just as much excitement and awe. The tuxedo was a nice surprise and not included in the message that he had sent her. It suited him, and for a moment, they just swam in the details.
“Quite the dashing figure, Ewan,” Valerie breathed. “I definitely approve!”
“Well,” Ewan replied,” dinner awaits. If you’ll do me the honor?”
An arm was extended. Valerie locked with it immediately.
“Lead on…!”
It took merely minutes before they were passing into the holodeck. The large sliding doors didn’t go unnoticed either. Valerie even directed a knowing smile at Ewan, her eyes sparkling with recognition.
It was far before them and soon, they were standing at another door, a smaller door that led to the evening’s setting. Punching in the unlock code, the Welshman waited for the familiar sight of his own quarters.
“Who did you give the two hours to?,” Valerie had to ask him.
“Jason,” came the answer as Ewan stepped inside and shielded the view with his tailored torso. “He was my sounding board for a while, and although the idea was mine to begin with, he ushered it along somewhat. Are you hungry?”
Valerie gasped with delight as he stepped aside.
The dining table in his quarters was laden with a service beyond anything that was reserved for admirals, ambassadors, or any kind of dignitary. Everything sparkled with the glow from the cluster of candles that formed the centerpiece. The lighting was otherwise low-key, helping to accentuate the flames, and soft jazz echoed from the computer. The whole arrangement was overseen by the largest window in his quarters, the stars outside being restful and motionless.
Fortitude had been ordered to a full stop for the evening, her Captain making a command decision that a warp-stretched starfield didn’t look as romantic as it could when it was viewed from a fixed point.
As Valerie gravitated towards it, the proverbial moth to the actual flames, Ewan just watched her.
“Of course,” he noted with a cheeky edge to his voice,” all of this is just like those holodeck hours if you think about it. We don’t really need it, not us, but I thought it went well with the outfit. Besides… you deserve it.”
Valerie felt her cheeks flush, flattered by his emotional freedom. “I don’t know what to say,” she whispered. “It’s perfect. Although I’m not sure you’re right. I’m not sure if I deserve perfection.”
Ewan shook his head. He had rehearsed this bit already.
Showtime…
“I can’t think of anybody more deserving, Valerie… seriously. Ever since I took command of Fortitude, you have gone above and beyond the call of duty to keep me from looking like the young, inexperienced captain that I was and that I still am to a degree. Not only that, but you’ve recognized the darker aspects of my personality, and yet, somehow, you’re still as supportive and as sympathetic as ever… if not more so, and that’s without being able to relate since there isn’t a dark bone in your body. You have the patience of a saint, the strength of a goddess, and despite that, you are the epitome of what makes Humanity… well, Human.”
Valerie opened her mouth to speak but Ewan was on a roll.
He had opened a gate that was not so easily closed.
Reason told him to stop talking but his heart wouldn’t let him.
“Why I’ve never told you this before,” he continued,” I have no idea. Damn it, there have been moments… moments that I came within inches of telling you. Moments that I didn’t think that we would make it. This life of ours, exploring the unknown, is hardly free of danger and there isn’t a day when I don’t wake up wondering if I’ll see it through or not. One hundred and forty of us sit on top of an antimatter reactor and throw ourselves at the stars and if I ever dare to take another feeling or emotion for granted, then I officially give you permission to hit me. I guess what all of this boils down to…”
Here it comes…
Inside his chest, his heart went into overdrive.
Ewan took a deep breath.
“Valerie Archer,” he said, smiling,” I love you.”
The response was a long time coming.
It was new ground for both of them. Admittance was the hardest thing.
However, she couldn’t keep the silence running.
“The hell with dinner,” she gasped, rushing forward and planting the most passionate kiss that either of them had ever experienced on his lips. Her hands ran through his black hair, destroying the carefully-prepared style.
Despite being caught off-guard, Ewan reacted quickly and gathered her velvet-clad body in his arms. Together, they kissed and embraced for what seemed like an eternity. Only upon parting did either one of them bother to remember to breathe. As they did, as they locked eyes once more, everything about their lives seemed to fit.
The Galaxy was just fine that night.
It owed it to Ewan Llewellyn and Valerie Archer.
EPILOGUE
“The time is oh-six hundred.”
The sound was familiar, but upon opening his eyes, Llewellyn found the sight that accompanied it to be new. Stirring beside him, trapping his left arm beneath her peaceful figure, was Valerie Archer. Cutting through the fog of morning, the Welshman felt his memory return to him in waves.
First that tuxedo, that was strewn across the floor in various discarded pieces, and then the dinner preparations, that had gones completely untouched, the candles burning themselves out long ago before finally the entirely unplanned yet meticulously rehearsed speech that he had given…
Which had led to…
Ewan closed his eyes and enjoyed the memory. The smell of the evening’s activities still lingered in the air. His free hand rubbed at his tired face, wondering if he could justify deactivating the alarm and returning to sleep.
“The time is oh-six hundred.”
Damn… Maybe not.
“Turn that stupid thing off, will you…?”
Valerie had opened her eyes and it was obvious that she was not a morning person. It didn’t matter. There was a smile on her lips, despite the complaint. Ewan grinned and touched the silencer control before touching her cheek and tenderly rolling into her.
“Morning,” he whispered to him.
“Morning,” she echoed.
“Duty calls, I’m afraid. The curse of being a starship captain.”
“The curse of being your First Officer,” she pointed out to him. “I have to brief you on the ship's status in one hour, get you up to speed on anything that happened overnight…” It took a second for the laughter to start. “Well, maybe there’s no need today.”
He nodded in agreement, holding her close. “Whatever happens,” he chuckled,” I’m going to need my arm back!”
The End.