Dinner and Drones - Part III

Posted on Fri Feb 6th, 2026 @ 5:49am by Lieutenant Rynna Csira & Lieutenant Commander Rafael Montoya

1,344 words; about a 7 minute read

[PREVIOUSLY]

Rynna looked around, fascinated by the underwater habitat. "Can you see outside from the promenade?" she asked.

[CONTINUED]

"No. We're too deep to see very far and there's nothing really to see anyway. Accept for a few lobsters now and then, It tends to be pretty murky out there...not like we're in the Caribbean or off a major reef."

She nodded her head. It made sense. "Thank you." Still, she was curious to see what they'd done with the arboretum. She'd never seen one that had shops and a bar.

Following the directions given they made their way through the facility. Every time they entered a new section, there was a pressure door ready to seal the section off, no doubt in the event of a breach.

Upon entering the habitat's promenade, it resembled the green space on a starbase only about a quarter of the size. Around the outer edge were shops and entrances to other corridors leading to office or residential areas.

"Looks familiar...wanna walk the ring and see if we find them?"

"Yes. That way we can get a good look around first." Ryn loved the way they utilized the space and wanted to see as much as she could, not knowing if she'd have a chance to come back.

Placing a hand on the small of her back he guided her past him as they turned to walk the walkway separating the green from the shops. Looking up the ceiling was a field of stars, "Looks like they have the ceiling set to mirror the sky."

She looked up. "It's beautiful." The green space was thoughtfully designed, with plenty of walkways and, from the sound of water, fountains, to give a feeling of being separated from the habitat areas. Even the wider walkway around the shopping and eating areas had flowers and bushes. That, combined with the night sky gave the illusion of space and privacy amid the plants and flowers.

Raf had stopped looking up and was looking at Ryn as she took in the view.

Stepping into the promenade Karmen stopped and a hand went into David's chest as she watched her brother. "Shhh...look."

Still looking at Ryn, "Yes, I...." his comment on the 'beautiful view' was cut off as he sensed a change in the air. He was picking up on the presence of another of his kind.

Looking to his right he saw his sister in the process of crossing her arms as she tapped her foot. Smiling, he shook his head. "Well, ya just gonna stand there?"

Closing the distance, he picked his sister up in a hug followed by the handshake/hug to his brother-in-law. "Karmen, David allow me to introduce Lieutenant Rynna Csira. Ryn, my sister Karmen and her husband, David Lawson."

Ryn was a step behind him, having paused to watch him greet his sister. She stopped beside him and smiled at the other two. "Hi. It's a pleasure to meet you both. Thank you for letting us take your boys for an afternoon." She didn't even consider how his sister might take that comment.

David smiled, "Oh it was no problem at all, we took full..."

Karmen slapped his arm, "Yeah taking them for a while wasn't the issue," turning to her brother, her eyes drilling into him. "...sending them back jacked up is another."

Raf shrugged, leaning in and scrunching his face to humorously return her stare, "Hey, Parent's raise, grandparents spoil, and uncles sabotage or corrupt."

David laughed and while Karmen smirked and replied, "Better remember that when the shoe is on the other foot."

"We only rewarded them a little for being so good," Ryn said with feigned innocence. "They were hyped up by getting a personal tour of the Vesta. We were incredibly fortunate that the pilot was impressed with your boys' knowledge of the ship." While what she said was true--if slightly exaggerated--she was also trying to deflect blame from Raf.

David leaned looked to Ryn, "Oh don't worry about it. They're always like this."

Raf chimed in. "Not always...well...maybe." Laughing he gestured to the pathway. "So where are we eating?"

Karmen, deciding to put their usual sibling banter on hold for the time being, clued their guests in on the operations of the promenade's "restaurants". They rotate the type of restaurants so we get a variety. "This month we have Sushi bar and Hibachi, Italian, Klingon, Brazilian Steakhouse, and Thai/Barbeque fusion. Which sounds good to you two?"

Ryn looked at Raf. "What strikes your fancy? Most of them sound good to me. Maybe Thai or Brazilian?"

Raf had been to a Brazilian steakhouse before. "Well, if we wanna get the meat sweats and have to carry our stomachs like a fireman carrying a baby, I'd say Brazilian. However, the Barbeque-Thai fusion thing sounds interesting, let's try that."

"Sounds great." She really didn't want to see Raf with a case of sweats...well, not meat sweats, anyway. Ryn turned to the other couple. "Does that work for you?"

"Works for me..." motioning to Dave and Karmen, "...lead on."

Instead of joining her husband Karmen cut past her brother and took Ryn by the arm. Looking back to the two men. "You two go get us a table, go on."

Having seen this before, Raf rolled his eye and turned David back to head down the pathway. "Come on, she always does this. Just wait till the boys start dating...". Looking back, he gave Ryn a smile as he shrugged.

She smiled back at Raf, then turned her attention to Karmen and raised an eyebrow. This was an excellent opportunity to learn more about the good doctor. Or at least hear what his sister had to say about him. With a mischievous twinkle in her eye, she asked, "So, do you hijack your brother's dates often?"

Releasing Raf's date, "When the opportunity presents itself, yes. I don't mean to be blunt, but, why do you like my brother?"

That made her laugh. She wasn't sure if Karmen was being protective or presumptuous. Either way, Rynna appreciated the bluntness. "He's a good man and I like spending time with him. He's intelligent, considerate, and, well... he makes me feel special. I know, he's probably like that with everyone, but...there's just something about him..."

Her eyes found Raf and she momentarily got distracted. "I've never met anyone like him." Then she shook her head. She wasn't sure she could put her growing feelings into words. "This is only our second date." If she could count going with Raf and his nephews to Utopia Planitia. And she really wasn't sure if either were dates.

Karmen's fears rose. She and her brothers were half Deltan and had to be careful about relationship. She had seen the damage that could be done before to friends and family and the 'I don't know', 'there's just something about him', or 'I've never met anyone like him' usually meant it was the pheromones. To be sure she pressed. "Nothing more than that?"

She stopped and turned to face Raf's sister. She had a good idea why she asked that question. "You do your brother a disservice. He's a wonderful man because of who he is. He's intelligent. He has a great sense of humor. He treats people kindly. He makes me feel like I'm special because that's who he is. Yes, I think he's handsome. But it's not because of his pheromones. It's because he IS attractive, inside and out. I've been with other attractive men, but he's different because he's Raf. I'm happier when I'm with him. That's not pheromones, either. I get that you're protective, but trust your brother to know if someone likes him for himself or not. And, for the record, this is only our second date." If they could even count the first time as a date. Nor was she sure this was, either.

(To be continued...)

Lieutenant Commander Rafael Montoya
Chief Medical Officer

Lieutenant Rynna Csira
Chief Operations Officer
USS Orcrist

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