Ames was surprised to find Stella, the communications officer answering the door. But figured it made sense, as they were friends for longer than Ames had been on board and Ktak probably confided in her.

What he wasn’t prepared for was “She’s innocent as they come, so don’t push it too far or I will cut it off!” hissed at him in English. The shock on his face must have proven his honorable intent because it was followed by “Other than that, have fun!” and a smile.

He did not get much time to collect himself, because Stella stepped out of the way revealing his breathtaking date.

Ktak was being led by her hand. Ames was taking her somewhere surprising for their dinner… Being lead was something new for her. All her life, she had been trained to do the leading. It felt… Odd, but in a good way. They were on the maintenance deck above the officers’ floor but she had no clue where they were going.

The halls were empty. Nobody came here unless something needed fixing. When they reached a small elevator Ames asked her to close her eyes and keep them closed until he asked to open them. She did so hesitantly. All her training was telling her not to. The part of her that was a human woman however was quite excited to comply. He took both of her hands to carefully lead her out of the elevator when the doors opened. She could hear the elevator leave and hatch above it close.

Then he asked her to open her eyes. She had been aware that this old watchtower existed, she had seen it on the blueprints, but had assumed it was sealed off, like they usually were when they got damaged. The view was magnificent and there was a low table surrounded by pillows set in the middle of the room. The food on it was not the usual mess hall fare. It smelled so delicious. She wondered how Ames got his hands on it. Maybe some day he would tell… And there were a few interesting bottles too… Ames was opening one of them. The label was in old earth script.

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“What is it?” she could not resist asking.

“Wine,” Ames responded pouring it into a glass.

Ktak had heard of wine. It was an old earth drink made of grapes, a plant that only grew on Earth. Alcohol was in it too as a byproduct. She was not new to drinking – the human hybrids all indulged sometimes, but wine was something out of myths. She looked at Ames with open admiration.

“Where did you get it!?” she gasped.

Ames shrugged. “I have relatives on Earth.”

This was a conversation for another time. Not something he wanted to go into right now. He was out here repairing coolant leaks mostly to forget about what was back on Earth.

He handed her a glass. “Try it” he said with a smile.

She did. It was good.

Ames watched her sample her drink taking a zip from his own. She was magnificent. Strong. Confident. Ames had the hardest time understanding what she saw in him. And perhaps, after a bit more wine, he would have the confidence to ask… But now it was time for dinner.

When Ames had told Sarah, the cook, about needing something special for a date she had gotten all excited and pulled out all the stops making something extra good, including throwing in a few things from her private stash of spices. Sarah was married and felt sorry for anyone who was single. Especially Ames. The engineer was a polite quiet man that she was convinced would be quite a catch if a woman would look past his nerdy and quiet disposition. The only downside was that by lunch most of the human population would know Ames had a date and speculation with whom would begin.

That was also a worry for another day. The curry was delicious. As was dessert. Ames kept topping up their glasses and worried about his next move. He did not consider that on a date with a Commander, he may not get to make one.