Mess Hall (PX Galore)

[Maintenance Administrator]

Mess Hall (PX Galore)

A place where simmers can come eat and mingle, etc...

(Note: These posts are 'out of sync' with the timeline of the Main Story. Thus, if in the Main Story the Starship is being boarded or under attack, on these boards it's just a normal day. Remember - the Cold Harbor is a living ship, so many things can occur at once; please Simm freely!)

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[Samuel J. Grant]

Samuel walked into the PX, and nodded to the bar tender, then headed over to the corner table in the back, where he found several chairs set out for him. He pulled the chairs back, looked at the center of the table, and placed a small oak chest he had brought with him on it. He thanked the wait staffer that brought him his drink, sipped the synthol whiskey, unbuttoned his top to buttons of his Uniform tunic, and took a deep breath. He opened the chest and smiled, it’d been a while since he’d gotten to use this, so the old memories ran back to him, and his smile broadened.

Inside the container were a ‘Starfleet’ deck of cards, all 52 of them (plus both Presidents [jokers]), and several varying quantities of multiple color chips; it was his personal poker set. Each chip had an engraving of a Starship and The Federation Flag, all were ships with Legacies behind them. Each had a story, each had a history, and not all of them still existed. The chips could be used for a specific game, which resulted in different values for each chip ship, or they could be used by colors for standard betting chips.

He’d sent out a general invitation to all his Senior Officers informing them of his wish to play cards with everyone who wanted to join him, but no RSVP was necessary. If nobody showed up, aside from Beaks which was certain would come and try and take as many pride points away from him as possible, he’d set and dust off all the chips and clean the kit; something he needed to do anyway. Waiting for any of the guests to arrive, he sat down and started going through the chips, and sipping on his drink.

[Capt. Zek'dyn]

Zek had a bit of a spring in his step as he walked down to the PX, Sam had invited the Senior Officers over for a game of poker. Zek loved the game, ever since Sam taught him how to play back at the academy. Bear had mentioned that Zek had an ‘excellent poker face’, Zek found it very natural not to show any emotion and took great pleasure at being able to stare down his opponents like they were dinner, or at the very least that they were going to lose. Zek chuckled inwardly at the thought.

Zek walked into the PX and walked up to the bar, ordered a red wine, and sipped it before he walked over to Sam’s table, “Tisk tisk, such a beautiful poker set, and you let it get so dusty? Were you and I the last to use it?” Zek chuckled and sat down, he picked up a cleaning cloth and started to wipe down one of the pieces, admiring the ship on it as it started to shine, “I have always loved this set, such beautiful detail, and I never asked where you got it?” Zek listened, worked the grime off of a few more pieces, and sipped his wine. He didn’t mind cleaning, it was nice to be able to relax with his old friend and talk of old times. Plus a poker game wasn’t much with just two players.

[Dr. Sabina Jackson]

Sabina had been settling in for a night of reading when she got a communication about an officer’s card game in the mess hall. That sounded a lot more interesting than spending the evening in her quarters, she thinks to herself as she puts her PADD down. She makes her way to the mess hall and smiles at Colonel Grant and Zek. It was amazing to think of how much they’d all been through together in such a short amount of time. “How are you two doing? Off the record, of course. I’m not a doctor tonight.”

She sees that they had each ordered a drink and decides to do the same. With a mug of tea in hand, she joins them at the table. Finally, she notices the poker chips and looks a little more worried. “I’ll confess a weakness of mine… I don’t really know how to play poker. ” She blushes scarlet then sips her tea. She knew some of the basic rules, but not the finer points of the game.

[Capt. Zek'dyn]

Zek smiles as Sabina walks up “How are you two doing? Off the record, of course. I’m not a doctor tonight.” Zek chuckled, “Doing great, I’ll be doing better when I take all of ol’ Bear’s chips.” Zek shot Sam an evil look just before he flicked one of the chips that he just cleaned at Sam’s head, then turned back to Sabina “And yourself?”

Sabina joined them at the table, she seemed a bit worried, “I’ll confess a weakness of mine… I don’t really know how to play poker. ” She blushes scarlet then sips her tea. Zek smiled “Nothing to be ashamed of, I knew nothing of cards before I came to the academy, most of the games back home have more durable pieces, something that our talons wont tear to shreds. I have to be careful with these, or Sam might just maul me to death. Or try to anyway…” Zek gave Sam a ‘bring it on’ look. “Once you have the suits down it’s simple enough, took me forever to get those down, I still don’t know why they call the cards that resemble an earth clover ‘clubs’, if your going to call it a club, make it look like one.” Zek shrugged. “Sam is a better teacher then I am. He taught me when I first came to the academy, and we got stuck together as roommates.” Zek smiled as he remembered all the late night poker games, the time that should have been spent studying; maybe they would have gotten better grades, eh?

[Dr. Sabina Jackson]

“Doing great, I’ll be doing better when I take all of ol’ Bear’s chips.” Zek shot Sam an evil look just before he flicked one of the chips that he just cleaned at Sam’s head, then turned back to Sabina “And yourself?”


She laughs at Zek's antics. "Oh, I'm ok. This sounded like fun, and I need some fun." She picks up some chips and helps clean them. She listens to Zek describe the game and how he learned, nodding that she understood.


“Sam is a better teacher then I am. He taught me when I first came to the academy, and we got stuck together as roommates.”


"I guess that would also explain why he lets you get away with stuff." She chuckles, thinking it was nice that they could always count on each other. She looks at the colonel with a smile, "Well, how about it sir? Will you teach me to play poker? We can get in a practice game while we wait for the others."

[Samuel J. Grant]

Samuel smiled as Zek entered the PX, and nodded slightly as he approached. “I knew you wouldn’t stay away… You have a few serious vices Zek’dyn; women, cards and duty…” He smirked “And I actually think they’re in that order…” He motioned for his friend to have a seat, which he did. “Tisk tisk, such a beautiful poker set, and you let it get so dusty? Were you and I the last to use it?” “No.” he said softly; not all memories attributed to the set were pleasant. “The last time I used it was just before the Bull Run was ambushed just after The Dominion War; haven’t touched it sense.” “I have always loved this set, such beautiful detail, and I never asked where you got it?” Smiling again, he leaned back and put down a chip which showed the USS Jefferson, a light cruiser “No, you never did; a poker game actually.” He found himself remembering his last minute inclusion in the Starfleet Poker Tournament almost 5 years back; just before he boarded the Bull Run.

“I was waiting for The Bull Run to return to Jupiter Docks and I got a notice that there was a last minute opening in the station poker tournament, which I quickly signed up for. I ended up winning, barely, and this was my prize; it’s a duel purpose set.” He heard the PX doors open again, and old habits always dying hard, instinctively looked in their direction, happily finding Sabina walking towards them. “Doct… Errr… Sabina, welcome. Please…” he motioned towards an open seat. “How are you two doing? Off the record, of course. I’m not a doctor tonight.” “Doing great, I’ll be doing better when I take all of ol’ Bear’s chips.” He nodded as his friend replied, and Samuel nodded afterwards; his wrist snapping quickly catching the flung chip just before it struck his forehead “Still a bit stiff, but nothing good company and a good nights sleep won’t fix.” He placed the chip back onto the table; the Galaxy Class shinning off of it due to its recent cleaning.

“I’ll confess a weakness of mine… I don’t really know how to play poker. ” Samuel smiled, “It’s a game of chance and tactics; right down our alley. It’s a good lesson in sociology was well, if you want a real life ‘application’ to be learned from it; that being how you read and deal with other people.” “Nothing to be ashamed of, I knew nothing of cards before I came to the academy,” Not being able to help it, Samuel remarked “nor has much changed, I’m sure…” with a evil grin back, Zek continued “most of the games back home have more durable pieces, something that our talons wont tear to shreds. I have to be careful with these, or Sam might just maul me to death. Or try to anyway…” Zek gave Sam a ‘bring it on’ look. Samuel nodded in return “Or just transport you out into space; Colonel’s progative…” that smirk of his itched at his lips "Oh, I'm ok. This sounded like fun, and I need some fun." “Once you have the suits down it’s simple enough, took me forever to get those down, I still don’t know why they call the cards that resemble an earth clover ‘clubs’, if your going to call it a club, make it look like one.” Zek shrugged. “Sam is a better teacher then I am. He taught me when I first came to the academy, and we got stuck together as roommates.”

He nodded, as he placed another chip down and drew the cards; expertly beginning to shuffle them. “How I not only graduated, let alone survived, is beyond me due to that fact…” “I guess that would also explain why he lets you get away with stuff." Samuel rolled his eyes and looked back at his Chief of Security “No; it’s just that for some reason his talents are useful… I just ‘tolerate’ him because I need those talents… otherwise I’d have locked him up in my brig…”

"Well, how about it sir? Will you teach me to play poker? We can get in a practice game while we wait for the others." He flipped over a dozen cards on the table, so that Sabin could look a them. “Simply, the goal is to collect a ‘set’ of some sort, to which there are several, and have your hand, which is the cards that you hold in your hand and only you can see…” he eyes Beaks carefully, with a ‘I know you…’ look “be better, or stronger, then that of the other players. Depending on the card game, you may discard or draw cards, bet chips and such… Best way to learn is doing it, and it takes practice.”

Collecting the cards up, he shuffled them again and looked at the two “Basic Five Card Draw; always a good warm up.” He slid her over a ‘card’ that came with the deck. At the top, it had The Federation Flag and a picture of the USS Enterprise NCC 1701-E, as it was/is Starfleet’s Flagship; on it showed all the different ‘hands’ that one could get, from the Royal Fleet (Flush) down to the basic ‘high card’. With that, and a finial sip of this drink, he started dealing the cards for a quick few training hands.

[Dr. Sabina Jackson]

She nods at the explanation of what the hands were. "That makes sense." Picking up the cards she was dealt, she takes a look at them. She was confused as to how betting was involved with this... hopefully they'd take it easy on her.

"Hmmm..." She ponders what to discard, she didn't have a very good hand. Finally she decides upon two to get rid of. "I give these back and get two new ones, right?" She puts the two unwanted cards on the table, facedown.

(To make this more realistic, I'm dealing myself a hand. May the Prophets strike me down if I cheat. :-) )

[nick]

Nick walked briskly into the Mess Hall and stopped at the bar to order himself a beer, or at least what passed for one these days what with synthol and all. He leaned against the bar and eyed the group already sitting at the table in the corner as he waited for his drink. It appeared as though they were teaching Doctor Jackson the mechanics of the game. He watched with a bemused smile on his face until the bar tender gave him his drink. Nick carried it over to the table. Pulling out a chair, he asked, "Mind if I join you?"

[Samuel J. Grant]

Samuel nodded as Sabina responded "That makes sense.", looking back at Zek, then back toward Sabina he smiled, “If you need help understanding something, just ask; but be careful WHO you ask…” and with a grin, he dealt out the cards, five face down, to the three of them. He watched Zek pick his up, and look at them without emotion; it made no difference if this was just practice, Zek took it seriously. Then again, so did Samuel, but he was able to ‘relax’ more then his friend the majority of the time. Turning his cards up to look at them, he scanned them quickly and then folded them up in his hand (instead of them being spread out and showing that he had all five cards, he kept them ‘overlaid’ with each other so that it appeared he only held a single card; a ‘poker hold’ he’d learned from his father). Without making a sound, he looked to Sabina, who, for a rookie, was ‘up’ first.

"Hmmm..." came a noise from her, and Samuel smiled inwardly; to teach such devious tactics to such a pleasant person seemed wrong, but the idea was to have fun, and he had guessed that she’d help keep things interesting. "I give these back and get two new ones, right?" Sam nodded, “Yup.” and, as the dealer, grabbed the deck and dealt two off the top, he looked at Zek, and dealt his requested amount, then took three for himself. There was no betting at this time, as they wanted to make sure Sabina had the gist of it down before he complicated things. With his new cards in his hand, he reviewed his hand and laid them on the table as everyone had completed their turn. “Two Pair; 9’s over 4’s.” It wasn’t the best hand he’d ever had, but it wasn’t a bad one for 5 Card.

He smiled, counseled, and re-shuffled the cards to deal again.

[Dr. Sabina Jackson]

She smiles at Nick when he sits down to join them. "That's up to these two card sharks, but everyone was invited. I'm not sure if they'll play nice, though." Looking back at her hand, then at the table as the Colonel lays down his cards. She furrows her brow and puts her own hand face-up on the table. "I'm not sure what this is, but it looks good."

Her cards were an Ace of Clubs, a 2 of diamonds, a 3 of clubs and a 4 and 5 of diamonds. She takes a drink of her tea. "We can play a betting round next, or I could watch you 3 play for a round or two until I get the hang of it..."

[Samuel J. Grant]

"Mind if I join you?" Sam nodded as their newly acquired Helms Officer walked over and asked to sit down, which he nodded and pointed towards a seat. Nick was a member of the CRV, and a Starfleet Officer, but for some reason, Samuel had been on edge regarding him since they first met; something about him caused his ‘red flag’ meter to sound, so he always kept an extra on him. Samuel smirked at Sabina’s reference to him and Zek as ‘card sharks’, and suppressed a chuckle. "I'm not sure what this is, but it looks good." Samuel looked at what she’d laid down, and shook his head, then looked over at his friend “And she called us ‘sharks’…” he scoffed, and re-shuffled the cards.

"We can play a betting round next, or I could watch you 3 play for a round or two until I get the hang of it..." Samuel shook his head, and headed out ‘50’ credits in chips to everyone at the table. “Alright there Doc…” he started shuffling, “5 bits to the pot,” he tossed in 5 chips. “5 Card Draw, no wilds; everybody watch the Doc…” he smiled as the last card fell in front of. He picked them, looked at them quickly, then closed them group again; he looked to Zek who was up first.

[Dr. Sabina Jackson]

Sabina blushes, embarassed, when she wins the round. She returns her cards, gets her chips and waits for her new hand. "I guess I'll try another one."

When she gets them, she picks them up and looks at them. Frowning slightly from confusion, she puts her 5 chip in and looks at her cards some more, trying to decide what to get rid of until it's her turn. The first hand she attributed to luck.