Alexander Espersen’s Journey Home, Chapter 2: Just Another One of the Misfits
Posted on Thu Nov 5th, 2026 @ 2:38pm by Commander Alexander Espersen & Petty Officer 3rd Class Fulvia Benvenuto & Crewman Apprentice T'Vel
Edited on on Thu Nov 5th, 2026 @ 2:45pm
1,351 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
The Next Interim
Location: Pearl of Sirius
Timeline: Cruise Day 1 and 2 (of 5)
The Pearl of Sirius glided through space at many times the speed of light, balancing speed with comfort. Deep Space 16 was nearly three weeks from the Sol System at a civilian ship’s best speed. Too long a journey for many, especially the businesspeople who despite the Federation’s post-scarcity economy still sought out power and influence through wealth, who needed to get from one side of the Federation to another in days instead of weeks. The owners of Federation Transit had therefore funded the installation of quantum slipstream drives in most of their cruise fleet, which could run for six to eight hours daily without difficulty. Running on slipstream while passengers slept let them drop the trip from a long three weeks to a leisurely five days, during which the passengers could enjoy varying degrees of luxury.
And Alexander Espersen had the highest degree available. One of only ten on the entire ship.
He’d examined the itinerary very closely. There were performances every night in the main theatre by multiple on-staff troupes. The casino had games of all kinds. The fitness rooms were as well equipped as his gym aboard Chimera. The spa featured every service he could think of and quite a few he’d never heard of. One of the bars had activities three times daily. Indeed, there was karaoke on the fourth night of their journey; Fulvia had invited him to join her and T’Vel to watch, which he’d accepted.
There were five separate pool decks, and the forwardmost one was reserved exclusively for the Platinum customers. It was always quiet, and on the first night at 2330 he’d found it completely empty except for the hostess providing poolside drinks and the holographic lifeguard. Like his room, one entire bulkhead—this time the forward-facing one—was transparent. As he swam, the vastness of the universe was his view.
I’ll need to come back here. What a perfect way to end the day.
The second day had been spent making extensive use of the pool and the gym. But after dinner, it was time for drinks with his colleagues.
One might say, despite the odds, his friends.
“So, Mister E, how’ve you found the trip so far?” Fulvia asked, sitting comfortably on one side of a booth.
“I’ll be honest with you,” he answered from the other seat, “I’ve not felt this relaxed in a long time.”
“Ever since we started exploring near Dashian space, it feels like it’s been one crisis after another, amirite?” As Fulvia asked her rhetorical question, T’Vel returned to their table with three drinks in hand, a pale ale for Alex and a pair of neon pink cocktails for the two ladies. Their third round of the evening. “Thanks, Ears.”
“May I ask you something?” T’Vel said as she settled into the booth next to Fulvia.
“Seems like you just did,” he answered with a chuckle.
“Our Boss Man, with the jokes,” Fulvia said with a laugh.
“Yes, ask away,” Alex said, interrupting what he thought might be more requests for permission. “Skål,” he added, raising his pint glass to them.
“Cheers,” Fulvia said, doing the same.
“Dif-tor,” T’Vel responded. “Have you redeemed your free service?”
The First Officer smirked. “Tomorrow night,” he answered. “So don’t expect me for drinks with you.” Indeed, that very morning, he’d sent a message through his terminal to the ship’s courtesan office, formally requesting to redeem his included Tier 2 service. Sharis responded by visiting his room within ten minutes so they could hash out the details. She agreed with enthusiasm, and scheduled him in for the evening of his third day aboard.
“Tomorrow then,” he’d said.
“I look forward to it, Commander,” Sharis had replied, smiling and giving him a gentle kiss on the cheek.
“Attaboy, Alex,” Fulvia said teasingly, but then she scrunched her face. “Feels weird callin’ you that.”
“That’s fair,” he said. “Really I don’t care what you call me while we’re here, as long as we agree there’s no orders being given or obeyed.” He took a long sip of the beer T’Vel had brought him from the bar. Hoppy and flavourful. Exactly what he wanted on a night like this. “You know,” he continued, “we don’t always get along on duty. Sometimes you two and the rest of the team give me a hell of a headache.”
“Guilty!” Fulvia said with a grin.
“But you do work hard,” Alex had to admit. “You deserve this treat as much as anyone. And you deserve not to have a superior officer underfoot, ruining your fun.”
“Sir,” T’Vel said, before reassessing. “Alex. We understand. And we would not have asked you here if we thought you were, as you say, ruining our fun.”
“You want us to call you Alex?” Fulvia said. “That works both ways. This week, you’re just another one of us Misfits!” she declared.
He laughed and raised his glass again. “To the Misfits!” A toast which the other two repeated before drinking. “What else do we drink to?”
“To the Chimera!” Fulvia proposed, which they all toasted.
“To the adventure!” T’Vel suggested, resulting in another drink.
“To Calypso Skyie!” Alex added. “The best Captain any of us has had the pleasure to serve under!”
That prompted T’Vel’s cheeks to go flush and Fulvia to giggle. “Truer words, Mister E,” she said, raising her glass.
Alex could recognize the mirth in Fulvia’s eyes and what seemed like excitement behind T’Vel’s. He smiled, nodded, and clinked his glass to hers. “Respect.” After drinking, it was his turn for a question. “So have you redeemed your Tier Two service?”
“This afternoon,” Fulvia answered. “Ears here couldn’t wait,” she added, grinning and rubbing T’Vel’s thigh.
“Neither of us have engaged the Guild before,” T’Vel stammered. “Not even Miss Erilin, though we had discussed it. I was most curious about what the experience might be like.”
“She made it quite the experience, didn’t she?” Fulvia asked.
“That she did,” T’Vel agreed. “Perhaps Alex would like to hear the story?”
Now it was Fulvia’s turn to blush. “Eh. If we’re havin’ drinks and sharin’ stories, sure. If he promises to reciprocate. And that he knows neither of us are likely to skip details,” she added with a smirk.
With a nod of agreement from Alex, T’Vel began. “You saw the hostess that brought us to our room?”
“Yes,” he replied. “The Orion with—”
“—with her jugs out, yeah,” Fulvia interrupted. “She was real kind during the tour and seemed eager so we looked at her profile. Apparently she specialized in couples so we thought ‘hey, we’re a couple’ and had her over for a chat…”
Continue Reading on Chimera: After Dark
“When we awoke the next morning,” T’Vel said as she finished her cocktail, “there was a note from Nissa in our mail system. It contains replicator codes for everything we used, as well as a document containing written instructions for the massages.”
“In case we forget!” Fulvia said cheerily. “Isn’t that sweet of her?”
“I will not forget,” T’Vel said firmly.
“I won’t either, but still, good to have notes. So whaddaya think of our story, Mister E?”
Alex drained the last of his ale, his eyes out of focus. “That was a little more detail than I expected,” he admitted. “But I’m glad you two had fun. Now, if you’ll excuse me… I’ll be in my bunk.”
Fulvia giggled as she watched him get up and leave. “G’night, Mister E.” She looked to Fulvia, who wore a quizzical expression. “I’ll tell ya when you’re older.”
TO BE CONTINUED…
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