Aqua Vitae

[Hilee 0]

Aqua Vitae

 

Personal log: Hilee Richard,B. Lt.Cmdr.,Aeng,U.S.S. Manticore

 

The trip here to Risa had been long overdue. The crew of Manticore once slotted and granted shore leave seemed to scatter to the winds like a covey of Quails once startled and take to flight.

 

Donning a casual dress blue attire and packing his ditty bag with the additional wardrobe and beach essentials including his famous Hawaiian tropics shirts, shorts,and certainly last but least the all important sandal's.

 

I wonder how long Chief Garnoopy will stay onboard before he joins us all on Risa if at all indeed. I am quite sure he needs the R&R as much as the rest of the crew does and deserves...Well to each their own private pursuits.

 

I find myself reflecting over the preceding months since his arrival on Manticore...or has it been,yes it has been going on two years since I first stepped into the Main engineering section. The time has flown by literally, Very little time to devote to personal endeavors other than that time between shifts which usually are a welcome rest for a exhausted mind and body.

 

The crew overall has to be one of the finest it has been my pleasure to work and serve with in my career in the fleet. Taking another sip of the scotch he had poured for himself before showering and changing clothes...I have seen as well the numbers of crew gone literally snuffed out in the very prime of their lives all in the line of duty and those faces are forever etched in my mind, Their names have long since vacated my memory though they remain as ghostly visages.

 

Taking another moment to pour another Scotch from the 100 year old bottle of whisky all the while thinking of friends and fellow crew past and present. I must remember to garner a suitable wedding present for Faldek and his lovely bride to be and some of my fellow officers if nothing else a token to remember our time here and now together and a reminder of just how short our time is in the grander scheme of things.

 

I certainly do hope the old spirits shop is still in operation off from the main square down by the beach, it has been years since I had last visited Risa and that place has the very best source of rare and aged Scotch Whisky in the quadrant as well as other various exotic beverages from throughout the Galaxy as the sign hanging from the small chains over the door implies.

 

My friend and fellow officer Faldek has at last found love and happiness and is quite deserving...suppose that means a probable end to our floating poker games, Well all is not lost as he stands as an example that love really does exist in this universe and can find you when you least expect it.

 

I will of course seek out the others when on Risa including Precip...as memory serves we were all about to meet at the bar on the space station when a recall order was given and we left on our now present destination. I look forward to proposing a toast to Faldek and the others of course...present and past officers and crew of this fine ship.

 

I must look for and findout if the local marina still has available sea craft for rental...and excellent time to go out on the bays and sea to relax watching as the Dolphins playfully escort the vessel cutting close across the bow and frolicking in and out of the vessels wake as it glides along silently through the water with only the occasional splashing sound and spray as it cruises along.

 

Watching the Sunrise and Sunset over the sea is an awesome sight indeed on Risa either with your toes buried in the sand,on a sea vessel...or in the company of friends at an impromptu beach party. I look forward to it indeed for it has been far too long and is much needed. Perhaps an impromptu beach party may be arranged with the others once we are in contact with each other...relaxing perhaps beside a campfire on the beach roasting and cooking up the aquatic delicacies of this planet while sipping on some excellent Scotch or Brandy the true "Water of Life".

 

Finishing his drink and gathering his ditty bag....Computer secure quarters and activate quarters monitor...Computer end log:...Beep..! :)