Aryanna walked out onto the veranda, which had been full of the hustle and bustle of cooking and dinner prep just a couple of hours ago. Now, it was a beautifully set-out receiving area for those attending the dinner.

“Welcome to the veranda, ma’am.” A white jacketed Bajoran male, whom she recognized as one of the farm workers, “Please wait here till the other guests have arrived and dinner has been called for.”

Aryanna nodded as she walked towards the table he stood behind. Noticing an array of filled glasses of various shapes and sizes arranged on it.

“We have an array of some of the locally produced wines and spirits,” he smiled as he took in her mid-thigh length dress and tall black leather boots. “I think the captain would enjoy this one,” handing her a glass shaped much like a champagne flute, filled with a slightly pink bubbly drink. “From what I understand, this is similar to what humans call a Rose’ but with a slightly sweeter taste.”

Aryanna accepted the glass with a smile and a thank-you as she made her way to a small standing table on the veranda’s edge that overlooked the fields below.

Maze had spent the better part of an hour setting up the light show on the outskirts of the farm. He had to roll his white button-up sleeves up to his elbows, as there was soot and gunpowder residue on them from the labor, but that only made his dark slacks and vest combo look that more distinguished.

The veranda had physically transformed from what he remembered when he arrived. He had only spent a short while on the farm when he was delivering some of the supplies he had brought, but someone had cooked here. And speaking of cooking, he could smell the aroma in the air coming from the kitchen, which made his mouth water just a little.

“Good evening, Commander.” A Bajoran male in a white jacket announced as Maze entered. Smiling, Maze instinctively shook the man’s hand, “Evening, sir!” he studied the man’s face for a moment, not recognizing it from his dossier of Task Force Captains. “Sorry, I’m not quite familiar, what station are you from?” he lightly inquired, hoping the man would not take offence.

The Maître d’ did not react much to Maze’s advance and respectfully withdrew his hand. “Dinner service staff, sir.” He replied warmly. Not letting the sting set in too much, he continued, “Drinks are available at the table; guests are asked to wait here on the veranda until dinner is served.” And with that, the Bajoran quickly moved on, looking for something else to attend to and leaving Maze to his moment of awkwardness.

As he focused on the table, he took note of a stunning Trill who probably saw his whole embarrassment unfold. “Oh, good, someone did see that!” he admitted aloud, his face blushing a bit. He crossed over to the table and took a glass of what looked to be a Bajoran Moscato. Looking back at the woman, he pondered a bit; this time, he did recognize her from his studying of the guest list. ‘Captain Rigras?’ he began, but held a finger up as if still thinking, ‘USS Cha-walla? Sagan Class?’ he asked, more as if he was trying to recite it from memory as he approached to properly introduce himself.

Aryanna chuckled to herself as she saw what could best be described as an awkward moment between someone she presumed was Starfleet and the farmhand. Quickly realizing that they were the only two on the veranda who were not staff, as she saw him lift a glass from the table, glance around, notice her, and start to head her way.

‘Well, Aryanna, how do we want to play this?’ She asked herself as she took another sip from her glass and placed it back on the table in front of her.

With a swig of liquid courage, Maze mustered the nerve and crossed over, “Evening!” he called out. “You’re either early enough to scope the place, or fashionably late for the attention.” He smirked, holding out his hand. “Maze Heinz.” He introduced. “At least we will have the tactical advantage of picking the best seats at the table.” He joked.

Aryanna quickly gave the approaching man a once-over, noticing a couple of black smudges on his hands and one that he tried to hide on his white shirt. She ignored the first part of his introduction as a failed attempt. “Maze?” as she quizzically raised an eyebrow, extending a hand as she turned to face him. “Arayanna Rigras, Captain, USS Chawla”

“Commander, USS Typhon, Chief Logistics Officer.” Maze followed up, shaking her hand with a slight bow, “A pleasure to meet you, Ma’am.” He took his place at a standing table next to her and took another sip of his drink, looking off towards the door. He glanced over at her drink of choice, “There should be a few bottles of Lidashk here, should you be interested. I tried to coordinate some ‘homeworld’ delicacies for everyone to enjoy. Not much of a cook myself, so it was my way to contribute to the evening.” He proclaimed.

A slight smile crossed Arayanna’s face at the mention of Lidashk, not her drink of choice but one she enjoyed over a good meal. “Maze, Maze.. Ahhh, I’ve heard your name a time or two or three when a command slot has opened.” she raised a finger on the hand lightly holding her half-empty glass. “You know they have a way of catching you, you know. When the right one opens you’ll hear the call of the seat. Believe me.” as she took another sip of her drink.

“So commander, here alone?” as she looked around the veranda.

“Yeah…” He mused mournfully. “My partner is finishing up coursework on DS9, so their close, just unable to break away for tonight’s occasion.” He said, taking a sip and chuckling to himself, “And I think the push towards a command is why Captain Thompson sent me here in his stead, to force the pawn across the board to promote.” He raised his glass to his commanding officer’s honor. “Any of your senior staff making it in tonight?”

Aryanna pointed towards the kitchen behind them. “My exec and CTO are in there, actually they should have left by now to freshen up for dinner. The rest are here, somewhere. We probably won’t be seeing them tonight.” Her head tilted as if listening for something, shaking her head and letting out a slight sigh/chuckle Aryanna set her eyes on Maze. “So, Maze? Besides being a pawn on the board, what else should someone know about you?” as she sat back in her chair, moving a stray piece of hair from her face.

“Humm…” Maze pondered on the question, “I can do this.”

Maze looked up, almost as if to look out towards the stars. His face scrunched for a moment, like he was trying to remember something before smirking and raising a finger. At the wag of his finger, light music began to play along the veranda. It was a low-key, Bajoran jazz song, but it was something that most definitely wasn’t there a moment ago. He turned his face triumphantly to the Captain.

“I have a Bynar Synaptic processor in my parietal lobe. I can’t access the Master Computer like they can, but so far, I have found that I can scan for, read, and somewhat command remote-accessible devices within about 5 meters.” He explained, pointing off towards the entryway where the environmental control PADD sat propped up against a table.

He looked back at the PADD and concentrated once more, dimming the lights on the Veranda, which caused the Bajoran attendant to come scrambling out with apologies to check the PADD and restore the light levels. Maze chuckled at this, “No worries. You can keep the music on!” he said, as the Maître d’ looked to shut off the audio.

Aryanna chuckled at the Maitre d’s look of confusion as he looked over at the two of them sitting at the table. “Wasn’t expecting that. Is there a reason for the implant, if I may ask?” As she held up her other hand normally gloved but tonight she decided against it, showing the metal and black prosthetic hand that started a couple of inches below her elbow. “We all have our stories.”

As she looked over at the maitre d’ once again catching his attention, she pointed at their two glasses.

He reached out carefully at the display of her prosthetic hand, marveling at its craftsmanship. “Very nice.” He complimented. “You wear it well, Captain.” He teased, taking a drink.

“Four years ago, I was serving on the USS Maui. A Bynar expedition had gone wrong; they were doing some geological research on a Class E Planet and made a subterranean base that was compromised. Anyway, I went down with the away team to help coordinate search and rescue when one of the tunnels collapsed and dropped a 7-ton boulder on my head.” He rolled his eyes as he finished his drink, allowing the server to replenish their drink choices.

“Well, it ‘grazed me’ but either way, it was not good for my noggin. They managed to get me back to the ship, but I ended up in a perpetual coma. One of the Bynar we rescued was a Doctor and had just lost their partner in the same collapse. They were able to restore the damage to my brain by installing the processor from their fallen companion.”

Aryanna and Maze failed to notice as others appeared on the veranda nor did they hear the call for dinner, as they sat talking, enjoying each other’s company and the drinks that the maître d’ would replace with fresh ones every so often.