Love And War Bk. 01

"That's wonderful! It's nice to meet you, Ryan", she said, shaking the blonde man's hand.

"Good to meet you too, Colonel", he said with a smile.

"Nerys, these are the Commanding Officer and Executive Officer of Skull Squadron; Lieutenant Commander Jason 'Cobalt' MacKenzie, and his wife, Lieutenant Commander Delaara 'Demoness' MacKenzie. Their story is almost too fantastic to be believed," she said with a huge grin.

Jason grinned and blushed a bit as he squeezed his wife's hand. She smiled at him and kissed his cheek. "Go ahead and tell them, baby", she said.

"Well, it all started above NZ8-257, along the Romulan Neutral Zone back during the war..."

Garak listened in fascination as Jason, Delaara, and even Ryan added to the tale of adventure and romance on a tropical paradise. He laughed and was also touched by the sincerity of their love for each other.

When Delaara told of their encounter with the Orion crew, Garak whistled quietly. "Excellent tactic, if I may say so", he nodded to Delaara and Jason.

Jason and Delaara smiled their thanks, but were looking at him quizzically. He shrugged and said "Well, it's exactly what I would have done."

"Elim is former Obsidian Order", Kira said by way of explanation. "He now works for Starfleet Intelligence, as well as owning his own clothing shop."

Delaara smiled. "Well, I'm glad we're all on the same side, here. I know there's distrust between Romulans and Cardassians, but I believe we can find common ground. By the way, Garak, you have a perfect combat stance," she winked.

Kira laughed. "I knew that little trick of yours would get noticed sooner or later, Elim."

Garak smiled sheepishly. "I commend your powers of observation, Commander," he said with a bow to Delaara.

They all chuckled. If anything, Garak always gave credit where credit was due.

"Nerys," said Rachael, "My pilots are here to welcome the newest member of Skull Squadron. Is Ensign Alexander Rozhenko around?"

"I'll check. Worf arrived yesterday with Ezri, so I'll call them as well," said Kira with a smile.

She placed the calls for all three to come to her office. They arrived in due course and Worf was surprised at the turnout. Jason shook Alexander's hand. "Ensign Rozhenko, you are hereby promoted to rank of Lieutenant(J.G.) and assigned to Bravo Flight under the command of Lieutenant Rasher. Welcome to the 155th Interceptors: Skull Squadron." He smiled at his newest pilot. Alexander grinned and saluted. Worf stood proud, watching his son shake hands with Jason.

Worf had finally seen the humor in the situation on NZ8-257 when he and the other Enterprise crewmembers had found them nude on the beach, and had laughed long and loud when Ezri explained it to him. Jason and Delaara moved forward and shook his hand. "You have a great son, Worf," said Delaara with a smile. He had come to like and respect the Romulan fighter pilot.

"Thank you, my friends", he said stoically. "He is my son, and he is Klingon. He knows his duty."

"Dad, I'm right here!" Alexander was exasperated yet again by his father.

"Son, you have made me proud." Worf said as he turned to his son and smiled.

Alexander was surprised. "Wow. Thanks, dad!" He hugged his father.

"Now THAT's out of the way, why don't you all go get acquainted while Nerys here tells me more about your station. Shoo, kids!" Rachael said. As they all filed out, Garak bowed and turned to go. "Oh, don't go anywhere, Garak. I need to speak with both of you." He thought he detected the beginnings of a smile on her face.

When the door had closed, Rachael said "Ok, how long have you two been going out?"

Kira and Garak were both caught offguard by her bluntness. "Rachael, Elim and I are just friends," Kira said with a smile.

Rachael smiled back knowingly. "Then why is your lipstick on his lips, Nerys?"

Both gawked at the implication, and Garak quickly grabbed his handkerchief to wipe his mouth.

"Really, even if you're taking it slow, I'm happy for you both." Rachael said with a warm smile.

"Well, Elim and I have been going out now for a couple of years. Mostly just to dinner with friends at Quark's, but I admit I like him a lot better now than when we first met," Kira said.

Garak blushed at that. "The feeling is mutual, Colonel. I must confess that I find you beautiful as well as intelligent."

"Sometimes, the best relationships start off as friends, and develop from there," said Rachael with a grin. "I hope you two don't give up on each other."

Kira felt warm, and Rachael was right. She did have feelings for Elim, and she suspected that he'd figured it out. Garak was observant of everything around him, and knew sometimes what people were thinking before they said a word. However, he was content to take it slow and let things develop naturally.

Garak said "Thank you, Captain" with a smile of genuine warmth.

"Nerys, I have a special favor to ask you, if possible?" Rachael asked with a smile.

*****

"To Razor! The newest member of Skull Squadron!" Rash toasted his newest pilot in Bravo Flight.

The pilots all sat in Quark's drinking and getting to know Alexander better. Rash had come up with the callsign already, since 'Razor Rozhenko' sounded cool.

"To Razor," said Jason and Delaara. They all downed their Romulan Ale, since Delaara had picked the beverage of the night.

"Thanks, guys," said Alexander, smiling as Ezri and Worf came and sat down with them. "Guys, this is my step-mom, Ezri Dax."

Delaara smiled. "Good to meet you, Ezri. Jason, Ryan, and I will make sure Alexander gets all the training he needs to survive and return home in one piece."

Ezri smiled at the Romulan pilot. "Good to meet you too, Delaara. Worf has already told me much about you two." She winked impishly.

Jason and Delaara blushed. "Well, considering how he first met us, I'd say he told you more than we would have liked," Jason said with a chuckle.

Ezri and Worf laughed. "After I explained to Worf the situation as he described it, he knew there was nothing wrong with two cast-aways finding comfort with each other the way you were," she said.

"Yeah, since we had no idea we were about to get rescued, they really caught us with our pants down," said Jason with a grin. They laughed again at the analogy.

"And your cum dripping from my pussy, love." Delaara whispered in his ear.

Jason's combadge beeped. "Ok, it looks like Enterprise and Excalibur are here. And there's Gryphon and Harbinger. Nice!"

"The Eisenhower is on its way too, honey," said Delaara.

"Two carriers are better than one, sweetheart", said Jason with a grin. "If we do our jobs right, the capital ships won't even have to fire a shot."

"After reviewing that mission above Belaeus IX, I agree. The Enterprise never had to fire at the Ferengi cruisers," said Alexander. He'd been studying starfighter tactics and missions, and knew that what the Skulls and Stilettos had pulled off that day was unprecedented.

"That was my wedding gift to Delaara. A perfect mission for her first time out with me," Jason squeezed her hand, and Worf laughed heartily.

"Well, drinking without me already?" asked a familiar voice from the entrance to Quark's.

"Jean-Luc! Come on over and sit! Jason, grab a chair for him!" Delaara had slipped into her former role as Wing commander for the RIF, ordering him around. He stood and grabbed an empty chair, placing it at the table for the Captain.

"Better make it two chairs, Commander," said another voice as Captain Mac Calhoun entered the bar with a smile on his face.

"Roger that, Mac", said Jason, grabbing a second chair for their friend.

Calhoun looked around. "Where's Rachael?"

"She's talking to Colonel Kira and Garak," said Ryan. "Good to see you, sir." He smiled at his friend and drinking buddy. Calhoun ran the Excalibur like Rachael ran the Nimitz. Disciplined, yet informal.

"Elizabeth should be here soon," he said. "She just took command of the Gryphon a week ago, and I believe I saw her pulling into dock."

Jason, in anticipation, grabbed several more chairs to set around the rather large table.

"Jason, you always think ahead," grinned Calhoun.

"I try, Mac", said Jason with an answering grin.

"Hey, Mac. Rachael and I went public in front of Admiral Nelson," said Rash with a grin, and Captain Calhoun just laughed. Captain Picard was momentarily surprised, then laughed along with everyone else.

"Yeah, Admiral Nelson found a loophole for us, and I'm glad I proposed to her the night before Jason and Delaara got married," he said with a chuckle.

"Just hope you both don't make Captain together, son," said Mac. "Elizabeth and I almost never get to see each other."

"We're actually planning to settle down in a couple years after this tour is up," said Ryan. "Well, after this new war, at the very least."

"Where would you retire?" asked Jean-Luc. Rumor had it that Captain Picard was finally looking seriously at retirement.

"Jason gave us the idea to retire to Santa Barbara, where he's from." Rash slugged Jason in the shoulder at that, and Jason raised his glass of Ale with a grin.

"I like Jason and Delaara's idea to stay on Earth after the war's over." Rash continued. "If we can all get spots as instructors at Starfleet Academy, we could live relatively stable lives." He finished with a wistful look in his eyes.

"We want to start a family," said Jason as Delaara grinned and squeezed his hand. "Life on a starship as combat necessary as the Nimitz wouldn't help that."

Jean-Luc laughed warmly. "How true. I'm happy to see you both looking to the future."

Mac raised his glass. "With you two teaching the new Cadets, we'll have the best pilots the galaxy has ever seen," and drank, as did everyone else at the table. "Hey, sweetie, can you bring us another round, and run it on my tab? Thanks." Mac said to the waitress. "Drinks are on me tonight, boys and girls. My way of congratulating you all and my apology for missing the wedding." He smiled finally.

"Thanks, Mac," said Delaara, smiling. She was used to rubbing elbows with command rank officers, and nobody here really stood that much on rank to correct her... or anyone else for that matter. They all knew that until barely six months ago, she held the same rank they did, even if it had been in an enemy military.

"Is this a private party, or can anyone join?" asked Captain Elizabeth Shelby-Calhoun as she sat down in the empty chair next to her husband.

"Hey, Captain Shelby", said Rash with a grin at the statuesque blonde. "Welcome to our little party to welcome Razor here into Skull Squadron!"

"Well hell, I'll drink to that!" And she did as the waitress handed her a glass of Romulan Ale.

Worf turned to his son. "Razor. I like it," said Worf finally.

"To Lieutenant Razor Rozhenko!" Rash toasted, downed his drink, and promptly passed out. His head hit the table with an audible thump, just as Rachael, Kira, and Garak walked up.

"Oh bloody hell. Not again!" said Rachael with a warm chuckle.

"Give him ten minutes" came the synchronized chorus from around the table. They all laughed, knowing how Rash was when he drank himself into a powercoma that somehow burned all the alcohol out of his system.

"I still wonder how he does it," said Jean-Luc, wondering out loud.

"It's a talent," said Jason, shrugging.

"He's done this a grand total of five times since I've known him," said Delaara. "Once was at the reception where he passed out, yet still woke up in time to dance a romantic slow dance with Rachael."

Mac smiled at her. "He did it about five times when I first met him. That was one wild night", he grinned at the memory.

"Well, as soon as he wakes up, I have some news for him," said Rachael with a wicked glint in her eyes.

Everyone raised their eyebrows at that.

"Patience, friends. You'll find out the same as everyone else here", they noticed that Colonel Kira and Garak were also smiling widely. Garak shook Worf's hand as he sat down. They'd earned each other's respect years ago, and had become friends since.

They talked about their ships, crews, and how bad this war was going to look. Rachael shared her views on Orions and how the Ferengi would probably use them as front line fighters. Everyone nodded at that, and she said she had Delaara prepare briefings on Orion battle tactics for Starfleet Command.

"Wha.. wha'd I miss?" said Rash, suddenly awake a stone cold sober.

"You nearly missed me with my news about our impending wedding", said Rachael, giving her fiancee a kiss.

"Impending?" He asked with wide eyes.

"As in tomorrow. It will take time for all the ships in the fleet to get here, so Nerys is going to perform the ceremony for us," she grinned widely.

"Then as Best Man, this has just become the Bachelor and Bachelorette party! Mac, I got the tab from here on out," said Jason, grinning ear to ear.

"Yay, I get to keep my money!" Mac joked.

"I studied the bachelor and bachelorette party custom while going through my defection debriefings", Delaara said. "So I propose we get a holosuite and have the bride and groom dance for each other," she grinned wickedly.

"Ok, I've got this one," said Mac. "Here, sweetie. One holosuite for two hours, party of 11. Thanks." He said as he gave the money to the waitress.

*****

As more ships arrived, and more captains and crews came aboard, it was all the shops could do to handle all the new business. Quark had gone into protective custody, as had Rom. They were grateful to Odo, and had left Leeta in charge of the bar.

The next morning was full of fun, and as the wedding between Ryan and Rachael was held in the chapel with just their friends there. It was a small ceremony, as time was of the essence with the first battles of the war looming. Jason and Delaara were Best Man and Maid of Honor, and Colonel Kira Nerys, as commanding officer of Deep Space Nine, performed the ceremony.

As Ryan carried Rachael across the threshold into her quarters onboard Nimitz, he kissed her lovingly and set her down. They'd been married in dress uniform, but he thought she looked more beautiful than any wedding dress could have made her. They made love long into the night, and awoke refreshed the next morning. Well, after Rash had his morning double espresso.

As they boarded their ships with the arrival of Admiral Nelson, who placed his flag aboard the USS Enterprise, the battle group had formed, and the march to glory had begun.

End of Book 1.

To Be Continued in Book 2.