BILLIARDS: Kicking It at Kruegers

Posted on Wed Sep 15th, 2021 @ 1:35pm by Lieutenant Sineade Darnel & Lieutenant Commander Cameron Langley

1,859 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Where No One Has Gone Before
Location: Aldrin Lounge

Kruegers was beginning to pick up speed. It was 20:47 and it appeared the gang was all there. Word had circulated quickly that engineering was going to pack the place. The drinks were flowing, music filling the spacious lounge. Langley had decided that the Chief should make an appearance and stoke morale. The repairs were progressing; the engineering department was at last seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Much needed time to blow off steam had arrived at last.

Sineade was finally finished with repairs and had heard that most of the department was going to be celebrating while they had the chance. She had gone to her quarters and showered and was now dressed in something other than her uniform. A simple dress of light green and a pair of silver sandals she’d gotten on her last trip home. She entered Kruegers and was amazed that so many of her crewmates were already there. The place was definitely hopping’ tonight! She headed for the bar to get herself a pint of ale.

Clagen smiled upon seeing Darnell enter the lounge, at last someone with both beauty and brains joins the growing mob of engineers. Lifting his tankard, he took a long pull, letting out a contented sigh as a follow-up. By his count, there were now twenty-some engineering officers in attendance. Morgan and Lienfield were battling each other at the foosball table. Gordine and Youa were dominating in an impromptu ice-hockey tournament. The game area also had seven old school video games, nothing holographic. Ms. Pac Man, Galaxia, Super Mario Brothers and Dig Dug were all being played.

Sineade managed to slide her way in through the crowded bar and finally ordered her ale. Once it was placed in front of her, she took the old-fashioned tankard and raised it up in the air and shouted, “Sláinte!” She lowered it to her lips and took a long satisfying drink. “Ahh, that hits the spot,” she said to herself as she turned to look around. She smiled when she saw there was an open pool table and grabbed her drink and proceeded to the table. Selecting a cue from the rack she then racked the balls. She looked over at those still seated at the bar,” Anyone care to play?”

“I’ll take that invite.” Langley started, “but I must warn you…” He paused briefly for effect, “I’m a horrible player. If you really want to be challenged…” He motioned to Ensign Tundi. “He’s your man.”

“Ah, Chief.” Tundi drawled, his cheeks burning; thankfully the dim lighting in the lounge helped to disguise them. “You’re no slouch yourself.” Tundi’s comment was more flattering than it was truthful.

“Alright then.” Langley stood up. Grabbing a cue and a chalk cube, he grinned at Darnell. “Let’s go lieutenant.”

Sineade chuckled at Tundi, “You can play the winner if you like. Which will most likely not be me.” She shrugged a little and smiled at Langley, “I haven’t played in a while, so I’ll probably be a bit rusty. You can have a break, Sir.” She stepped back to allow him room to shoot and gave a quick flip of her head to move her hair from her face, since she had it out of the regulation bun for the night.

With a determined grin, Langley hit the cue ball with as much controlled power his arm could muster. A loud knock rang out when the cue ball struck its mark. Fifteen billiard balls left their static formation in an explosion of color, direction and motion. Softer knocks sounded as the balls kissed each other in a frenzy of travel about the green table top, and momentarily all coming to rest. Not one ball dropped.

Sineade watched as the balls swirled about the table before finally stopping. “Nice Break, Lt. Commander,” she said as she surveyed the table for the best options. She moved around the table to where the cue ball was resting and eyed her choices for a moment. “Hmm, looks like it’ll be the seven.” She lined up her shot, leaning down and then hit the cue ball solidly. The white ball tapped the seven ball and sent it towards the corner, only for the ball to bounce back and hit the en ball. Sineade sighed, “Yep, rusty as an old spanner!” She stepped back and smiled, “Choice is still open, Sir!”

“You can drop the ‘sir’, Darnell.” Langley chuckled. “Never mind the rank as well. In here, we’re all equals… just a gang of engineers hanging out.” C.J. was surveying the lay of the table as he spoke. The yellow number ball was perched in front of the left-side pocket; it was asking for a gentle tap to push it into the pocket. Aligning the cue ball with the one ball, Langley took his shot. The pocket swallowed the yellow ball; the cue ball rolled back just a touch.

Sineade smiled as the ball dropped, “That was a very nice shot, Sir.um... I mean C.J.” She managed to blush slightly as she corrected herself. “You are better than you let on,” She said, “Must be all that practice shoeing us all about in engineering.” She giggled slightly at her own joke and then looked over to see a few of the others were starting to gather around them to watch.

Linguist stood off to the side and said, “You can take him, Darnell!”

Sineade laughed, “This is a friendly game, Lindquist, not a battle royale!” She turned back to C.J. “Still your shot, C.J.”

Langley grinned sheepishly and nodded. He had forgotten that the shooter continues until they miss a shot. The table was covered from one end to another with possible targets, however not many of them looked at all promising. Lining up, he took a shot at the purple four. By virtue of having sunk the yellow one ball, it was his objective to clear the table of solids before Darnell could clear the table of the striped balls. Kissing the four, the cue ball transferred enough energy and direction to the four to cause it to roll a short distance where a corner pocket gulped it with delight.

Sineade watched as a second ball dropped, much to her chagrin. Well, if this continued that was all she’d do… watch. The Chief Engineer was actually rather good. “Very nice,” she said as she leaned back against the table behind her where she’d placed her drink, “Tundi wasn’t lying!” She picked up her ale and took a drink, patiently waiting her turn, if it ever came.

Pleased with himself, an over-confident Langley lined up his third consecutive shot. Truth be known, Langley was an adequate player who occasionally got lucky. Even with nearly a minute of lining up several angles, C.J.’s shot did not produce. The intended ball nicked another, altering its intended trajectory enough to fumble the shot quite miserably.
“There you go…” Langley chuckled. “Lady Luck takes flight, leaving me at the mercies of my true skill.” He nodded at Sineade. “You’re up m’lady.” He ended with a waist bow.

Sineade chuckled, “Thank ye m’Lord,t’will be me honor!” She slowly walked around the table a few times to determine which shots would be her best. She would have loved to sink the green 14 ball, since it was so close to the side pocket, but it was blocked by two solids and she would have to be a master at trick shots to get the cue to hit it. She finally lined up her shot, the blue striped ten ball. Hitting the cue with just enough power to send the ten sideways into the pocket on the right-hand side. She smiled to herself, proud that she had made the shot, and then stood to survey the table once more. She sank two more in quick succession and then realized that the room had gone very quiet. She glanced up to see that almost everyone was now gathered around the table watching. Sineade took a calming breath before she lined up the next shot and sank it with a loud crack of the cue ball. She had three more to go before she could hit the Eight. Interestingly, they were grouped near the center of the table. She smiled to herself and cautiously lined up the shot. The Cue ball smacked into the group and each of the last three balls were soundly sent into a different pocket. Only the Eight was left for her to sink. But the cue ball hadn’t rolled into the best spot. She moved around the table before finally deciding on her shot. She gave a cue ball a good solid hit, banked it off the left side where it continued on its path to connect with the eight and sent the black ball into the corner pocket. The Cue ball followed the path of the eight and looked like it was going to drop too, but amazingly slowed and stopped less than an inch from dropping.

Sineade let out a deep breath as she stood up, “I really thought that was going in too!”

The jaws of both Linguist and Langley had dropped as, along with those of the crowd gathered around the pool table. All eyes had been glued on Darnell’s every move as she sunk shot after shot. Langley brought his eyes to his opponent’s. “Great shooting, Sineade.”

“Drinks are on me.” Langley shouted hoping all would be able to hear his declaration. “Congratulations.”

Sineade blushed deeper, “Thank you, C.J. It really felt great to be able to play with someone other than my brother. He’s not very good at humble when he wins and even worse at being gracious when he doesn’t”

Several of her crewmates gathered round them and congratulated her on the win. She merely nodded and thanked them before she grabbed her almost empty tankard. She placed the cue stick back on the rack and smiled, “Why don’t we all sit down and relax,” She pointed over to one of the larger tables, “And we can tell stories about … whatever makes us happy!” She smiled to C.J., “After you, m’Lord!”

Langley smirked and then chuckled. Being called m’Lord sounded much worse to him than being called by his full rank in a social setting such as this. The servers were nearly to table with their ware before the group of engineers got settled.

Here in a large and loud lounge, many found solace. Tonight, the officers of Engineering were experiencing another kind of friendship amongst their fellows. Some were on their way to shift and had consumed only synthetics. Some were recently off mid-shifts, most still in uniform. Others, like C.J., were due back on alpha shift in seven or so hours. Regardless of shift or station, the men and women of the Aldrin engineering department were having a bit of fun.

It was about time.

 

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