“I can’t believe it!”

A man in a green, houndstooth-patterned jumpsuit stood behind a bar. A glass was in his hand, but it was empty. A rag was in his other hand, but it was not being used. His sepia skin appeared darker in the recessed lighting of Ten Forward, but his narrowed eyes made their dark brown seem almost black. “Your first day on the bridge and you already got assigned to an away mission?” 

“Sure did,” the young man idly brushed the shoulder of his red and black uniform. “And it’s to go to a poker tournament.”

“A poker tournament??” The man leaned over the bar with a sneer. “So all those ads really were true: Starfleet can help you fulfill your wildest dreams.”

“You can take the entrance exam again, you know.”

“Pff,” the waiter turned aside. “Flunking it once was enough.”

“Aw, come on, Elliot,” Ace ribbed him.

“You know I’ll never be able to pass the psych test.” Elliot said somewhat dully. “Besides–I was lucky enough to get assigned to the same ship as you even as a civilian. I’ve been a waiter and a barkeep all my life–might as well do it in space, too.”

“And isn’t he doing an incredible job,” a woman with a large, disc-like hat and matching purple dress was suddenly standing at Elliot’s side–effectively startling him as she clasped his shoulders.

“Hi, Ms. Guinan,” Ace grinned as Elliot rolled his eyes and exhaled.

“Hello, Mr. Gallagher. And congratulations on your first away mission,” she released Elliot and scooted around him. “Who’s going with you?”

“Just Gemini. She’s going to fly the shuttle and wait for me since we won’t have comms.”

“Oh, that will be fun: a little Aravasti bonding time,” her smile widened.

“I can learn more about the heritage I now have,” he smirked.

“It’s a shame Starfleet wouldn’t let you go back to your home planet,” she laid her arms on the bar, “but I suppose that has allowed us all to get to know you.”

“Yeah, as much as I still want to be annoyed at the council’s decision… I am grateful to be here.”

“Still–you’ll never really have closure,” Elliot leaned backward. “You’ll never know what your friends and family think happened to you, and they’ll never know you’re alive and well out here. Meanwhile, they were going to let me go back to Barea, but I have zero interest and not a single person left who’d care if I never went back.”

“Not to mention they’d probably pick you up for treason since you were helping me,” Ace offered dully.

“I suppose that was why you were listed as a resident of Starbase 1 on your application,” Guinan mused.

“Yes, ma’am; I was living there while Ace was at the Academy–and before I got this job,” Elliot was still frowning when he turned back to Ace. “It’s dumb they won’t even let you go back to see them or tell them goodbye.”

“That’s the beauty, and the curse, of the Prime Directive,” Guinan offered wistfully, “It’s supposed to protect lesser-developed civilizations from interacting with technology they’ve not yet discovered, but if it is ever exploited to this degree… someone has to uphold it.”

“And that someone might as well be Starfleet,” Ace shrugged. “I’m here now, and that’s what matters.” He turned to Elliott. “And now I get to go on an away mission to play poker.”

“Yeah, rub it in,” Elliot scooted past Guinan and met Geordi at the other side of the bar. “Can I help you, Commander?”

“I wanted to order a round for our table,” he threw back a thumb to the center-most table where Gemini, Hudson, and Data were waiting. “The usual, if you please.”

“Absolutely; I’ll be right over.” The waiter turned to one of the replicators on the back wall behind the bar and adeptly explained each drink with its own unique blend. In a matter of moments, he had all three drinks–and one empty glass for Data so he wouldn’t feel left out–on a tray.

“Hey, let me bring it over,” Ace tried to intercept him.

Elliot narrowed his eyes again. “You trying to take my job?”

“No–but I want to borrow it to bother to Gemini!”

“Can’t you just… bother Gemini without commandeering my tray?”

“I need a good reason to initiate the bothering!”

“Initiate the–you know what, nevermind–here you go.”

The waiter rolled his eyes and handed over the tray, and Ace bounded off toward their table.

“Just don’t spill them!”

Guinan was grinning with her eyebrows peaked when Elliot turned around.

“What?” He crouched in defense, “I choose which battles to fight with him.”

The matron of Ten Forward laughed. “Understood.”

The two turned and surveyed the Enterprise’s popular gathering place; groups of friends huddled together, couples lounging in corners, and a few individuals settling in with a tablet near the windows. Pieces of conversations blended into a dull blanket of sound, interspersed with clinking glasses or silverware and the occasional bout of laughter. And beyond it all, the wide windows looked out into the glittering starfield of space.

“Not a bad place to work, is it,” Guinan’s lips were pulled in a taught smile.

“Not at all, ma’am.”

“Hm,” she tilted her head after a moment. “Is that Ensign Davis sitting with Maddox?”

“Maddox,” Elliot leaned back to join her line of sight. “He was in here just last night with a blond… Officer Hawthorne, I thought.”

“Oh,” the woman beside him hummed again. “Well, it’s best to stay out of crewmember relationships. It never ends well.”

Elliot’s troubled expression remained on his face as Guinan turned around. “Understood.”

–

Across the room, Ace approached the table with the tray of drinks adeptly balanced on his palm.

“And, I actually got to sit in his chair,” Gemini was starry-eyed as she spoke, half leaning on Hudson beside her. “I was literally commander of the bridge for that moment. If anything happened…”

“You were there for five minutes tops.”

The four pulled back as Ace lowered the tray of drinks into the middle of the table, and Gemini found herself face to face with the sarcasm in his cockeyed expression.

The Aravasti narrowed her eyes. “And I was still in command of the bridge for those five minutes.”

“That’s still mighty impressive!” Hudson, on the other hand, was beaming at the news. “I’m so proud of how far you’re gettin’ in your service.”

Despite her usual defenses, Gemini melted under the warmth of his smile and laid her head on his chest. “Thanks, love,” she said softly.

“I’d say ‘get a room,’ but I’ve seen worse in here,” Ace chuckled and sat Hudson’s juice in front of him.

Hudson simply shook his head as Gemini returned to her own chair. “Thank you, sir.”

“Good evening, Ace,” Data accepted his empty glass as the ensign handed the rest out. “I see you got our orders correct.”

“He hangs out with Elliot enough,” Geordi laughed and tipped his glass toward him. “So, what brings you over to the cool table?”

“He’s just here to bother me,” Gemini returned the sarcastic expression as she accepted her multi-colored lemonade from Ace’s fingers.

“I had a good excuse.”

“And what’s that?”

“Keeping you humble.” He grinned.

She rolled her eyes and went to drink from her empty glass. She sighed and looked up to find her lemonade now floating overhead. “Yeah, and one of these days I’ll find a way to keep you and your water powers humble,” she sneered.

The visible veins in Ace’s hands and neck were glowing with blue-white light as he summoned his Aravasti power. With a wave of his hand, he returned the drink to Gemini’s glass. “I’m sorry; I know you don’t get to use your powers as freely as I do,” he offered a mild apology.

She cocked an eyebrow and took a sip.

“How come, you think, the captain set you as commandin’ officer this time?” Hudson asked his wife. “You think it has somethin’ to do with your promotion?”

“Promotion?” Geordi straightened up.

“Worf and I have been discussing it,” Gemini fingered the edge of her glass. “He wants to set me as the Deputy Chief of Security, and he thinks promoting me to Lieutenant Commander will help with that. He was going to discuss it with Riker soon.”

“That could be a very good reason as to why the captain chose you as the commanding officer,” Data commented, “though, admittedly, you and Counselor Troi were the highest ranking officers present once he called the meeting. He could have chosen either of you for temporary command.”

“The second option makes way more sense,” Ace shrugged.

Gemini leaned around Hudson. “You’re still here?”

“Well, I think you’re a shoe-in for Lieutenant Commander,” Geordi regained her attention. “You’ve more than proven yourself in other command situations, and I can only imagine you’ll pass the bridge officer tests with flying colors.”

“There’s tests?” Gemini winced.

“There’s always tests; it’s Starfleet,” Ace glanced at the ceiling.

“And the hardest one is Commander Riker’s holodeck simulation.” Geordi lifted his glass.

“Yeah? What do you have to do?”

Geordi swallowed a sip. “Stop the Enterprise from blowing up while you’re in command.”

Gemini frowned. “Oh.”

“Oh, bring it on!” Ace leaned heavily on the table.

An eyebrow raised high over Geordi’s VISOR. “You think you’re ready for command?”

“Heck, yeah!”

“One day on the bridge and you already think you can command everyone?” Gemini smirked.

“Five minutes in the captain’s chair and you think you can?” Ace’s grin stretched wide.

Her smile turned sarcastic. “I’m a lot closer to promotion than you are, doofus.”

“I think you’ll pass it easy,” Hudson offered gently from his place between the two Aravasti.

“I think you’ll be fine, too,” Geordi nodded as he set down his glass. “Just be prepared to make… some serious decisions.”

Gemini nodded and glanced at her lemonade. “Well, thank you–most of you,” she shot Ace a glance, “for your confidence in me.”

Ace playfully nudged her shoulder as he stepped around the table. “I have confidence in you, too,” he offered with a much more genuine tone. 

Her smirk dulled to a smile. “I know.”

He held out his fist toward her, and she reached out and bumped it with her own. “And I’ll leave you alone now.”

Geordi waved his hand. “Aw, just pull up a chair and stay with us!”

Gemini looked at him incredulously. “You’re going to let this kid sit with us?”

Ace, however, had already tugged a chair over beside Geordi. “Who was just telling me this morning I’m only two years younger than you?”

“Yeah, yeah,” she picked up her lemonade and took a sip.

Hudson was grinning the whole time. “I really like having another of Gemini’s kind on the ship,” he spoke through a laugh. “It sure makes things more entertainin’!”

---
Scene Notes

• Ace and Gem really are friends, they just often show it by bothering each other (and considering they're both "me" characters, they're also very similar)

“All right,” Jean-Luc was positioned at the head of the long table. “If we send someone to this tournament, our goal will be to gather information only. We want all the who, what, where, when, and why we can get on any of his past or future missions. The one we send must be discrete in their gathering so that no one catches on, and they must be able to engage Mickey long enough to gather said information.” He turned his eyes to Ace. “Are you up for this task?”

“Sure,” Ace nodded. 

“You would be completely cut off once you enter,” he continued, “as no mechanical devices, including our communicators, would be allowed inside.”

“Hopefully, there would be no need.”

“Indeed. And you attest to his skills at the game?” He turned to Data.

“I can. He has even bluffed me.”

Jean-Luc’s brows arched in surprise before he turned back to Ace. “While this shouldn’t be dangerous, you’ll still need to use caution when dealing with a man with the sort of history Mickey D has. If you’re found out, you may be thrown out–or worse.”

“Understood,” Ace nodded despite the twinge of anxiousness building in his chest.

“If you’re willing to accept that risk,” the captain gestured to the rest of the table, “I don’t see why we shouldn’t allow Mr. Gallagher to attend.”

“Should we attempt to capture Mickey while we’re at it?” Will asked. “Getting that close to such a notorious criminal and then turning our backs would seem like a wasted opportunity.”

“We’d be able to provide all the information I found out to Starfleet headquarters,” Ace offered, “and maybe then, they can trap him on a future mission.”

“If we can get any information on a future mission,” the commander didn’t seem convinced.

“I will not risk the lives of my crew in a game of cops and robbers,” the captain said bluntly. “Mr. Gallagher will be gathering information only–nothing more.” After a pause, a smirk began to tug on his lips, “Have some faith in your protege, Number One,” a smirk tugged on Jean-Luc’s lips. “I would place a bet that Mr. Gallagher will get exactly what we need.”

At last, the commander’s posture relaxed. “Noted, Captain.” He eyed Ace with a grin. “I was never doubting your skill, Gallagher.”

“I know,” the ensign smiled back, “um–Sir.”

“Well, if that’s settled, then all that’s left is to check with engineering. We would need to leave in a little over a day in order to reach Eta 115 on time for the tournament.”

“I can confirm that timeframe with Commander La Forge after this meeting,” Data offered.

“Make it so,” the captain stood. “Dismissed.”

As the group stood and began to return to the bridge, Data turned back to Ace. “Perhaps your first day on the bridge will be more uncommon than I assumed.”

“You can say that again!” Ace grinned wide.

Data blinked. “Perhaps your first day on the bridge will be more uncommon than I assumed.”

Ace broke into a laugh as the two returned to the bridge. “You got that right!”

---
Scene Notes

• A quick briefing and we're off to a poker tourney!

Captain’s Log, Stardate 46403.3:

The Enterprise’s engineering team is currently undergoing scans within the Hilcom sectors in order to study certain particles found in this area. It is believed these particles could offer some benefit to the advancement of particular beams, such as phasers, by making them more efficient–but also more powerful.

“We should be finished with our scans in a few hours,” Commander LaForge stood at Jean-Luc’s side on the bridge. “Once we gather this data, we can start processing it to see just how these ‘ephem’ particles could react under different pressures, temperatures, and so forth.”

“‘Ephem’ particles?” Will repeated the word.

“That’s what we're calling them so far,” Geordi smiled a bit. “They’re sort of ‘ephemeral,’ after all. Hard to find, difficult to process; but if these work like we think they could, we could revolutionize phaser technology.”

“Then, continue the work. Thank you, Commander.”

Geordi bowed as he turned and exited the bridge.

Ace’s eyes followed him as far as they could until he disappeared within the turbolift. When he turned back, he found Data’s yellow eyes gazing at him from the other side of the helm.

“It would appear your first day on the helm will be an easy one,” he commented. “There will be little movement as Engineering continues their scans.”

“That’s all right,” the ensign brushed the loose bangs from his face, “it’s enough to just… be here.”

A cautionary beep rang out from tactical.

Gemini crouched closed to the screen. “Captain, we’re receiving a message. Unknown source.”

“Are there any vessels in this area?”

“It appears to be coming from a beacon, sir.” Gemini glanced up.

“On screen,” the captain stood.

The viewscreen flashed to a scene of lavash furnishings, lamps, and lounges. A rotund man in a dark, pin-stripe suit sat in the center of the frame. Three women in varying positions–and in form-fitted clothing–sat beside or behind him with sultry expressions.

“To those receiving this message, I bid you greetings,” the man said, his olive skin warm in the lamplight surrounding him. His accent was thick, as if he was chewing his words.

“Wait a minute,” Commander Riker rose to his feet beside the captain. “That’s… that can’t be.”

“To those who may not have heard of me, I am Mickey D. I am the richest man in this sector, and–depending on who you ask–they may have a few more phrases to describe me.”

Will lowered his brows. “Try ‘criminal?’”

Mickey spread open his hands as one of the women ran her hand around his shoulder to his lapel. “No matter how you feel about me, I have decided it is time to share my wealth with others–but I will not be simply handing it out. No,” he waved one of his hands. He then tossed away the woman’s hand and leaned forward. “I will be hosting the most prestigious poker championship this sector has ever seen. Only the one who proves their worth by their skill–and their luck–will be awarded with the greatest prize.”

Ace glanced backward to see the entire bridge crew watching the message with curious interest.

“The coordinates, date, and time are encrypted within this message. If you show up with the entry fee–also included–you will be welcomed.”

“He’s not serious,” Will turned to Jean-Luc, “every Federation vessel–every bounty hunter–will be scrambling to get to this tournament for a chance to pick him up!”

“But I warn you,” Mickey pointed his thick finger toward the screen, “those arriving with ill intent will not be permitted. And I don’t believe you’d like to try that.”

Ace bit his lip as the women around him seemed to glare into the screen with similar smoldering expressions.

“I will have metal detectors and scanners at the door. Not a single item that’s metallic or electronic will be allowed inside,” the man sat back in his chair, “so, I suggest you leave all weapons, explosives, and communication devices at home. You’re here to play poker, after all.”

He wrapped his arms around his middle and tipped up his round chin. “I look forward to meeting my challengers.” He then nodded his head toward his chest. “A biatu.”

The feed was cut, and the starfield of space again returned to the viewscreen.

The captain’s lips were parted, as if the effort to keep his mouth closed had been redirected to process thought. “Lieutenant Rowlett, begin decrypting the message.”

“Aye, sir,” she ducked down to the console.

“Commander Data, find the source of the beacon.”

“Aye, sir.” His fingers were already pattering away on the screen.

The captain returned to his chair. “What do you think, Number One?”

“I think this is incredibly risky–Mickey D is one of the most notorious criminals in Starfleet’s database. He’s got charges ranging from smuggling goods to manslaughter!” He shrugged exaggeratedly, “I don’t understand how he’s going to host an event like this and not get shot!”

“I’m sure that’s why he’s scanning everyone who enters,” Counselor Troi mentioned. “I’m more curious what the entry fee and prize could be considering the Federation no longer uses money.”

“Just because the Federation doesn’t use it doesn’t mean he has clients who won’t find it valuable.” Will narrowed his eyes.

“Could you read anything more out of the message, Counselor?”

The half-Betazoid laid her hands on her lap. “He seemed very laid back as he delivered his message. I couldn’t detect any deceit from his posture or tone.”

“Captain, I have decrypted the message,” Gemini’s fingers were on the screen before her. “The coordinates are for a Class M planet called Sette in the Eta 115 solar system. The championship itself is set for three days from now, and the entry fee is a… twenty-five units of dilithium.”

Jean-Luc blinked. “That’s a steep entry fee.”

“That’s going to cut a lot of people who get this message out of the running,” Deanna’s fingers were on her lips, “or at least limit it to those with warp capabilities.”

Data turned around in his chair. “Captain, I have verified the source of the probe was also Eta 115.”

Jean-Luc sat back and steepled his fingers. “Ensign Gallagher, determine a course.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Will cocked an eyebrow as he glanced at the Captain. “Are we going?”

“We happened upon this beacon and we have the entry fee,” Jean-Luc looked at him. “Do you see a benefit for us to attend?”

“Considering we wouldn’t be in it for the prize money,”  Deanna glanced between them, “what could we gain by being in the presence of such an infamous figure?”

“Capture him?” Will looked up at her as she shrugged.

“We could learn why he made the choices he made,” Gemini leaned over the console.

“Or, learn about past jobs–or where his next job is so we can stop him,” Will pointed at her. “There’s no telling how many innocents have been caught in his snares.”

“We would turn his tournament into a way to gather information,” Captain Picard rubbed his chin.

“And then we could catch him,” Commander Riker waved his finger.

“Captain,” Ace turned halfway, “From our current position, it would take fourteen hours at warp seven to reach Eta 115.”

“Thank you, Ensign,” Jean-Luc turned forward. “If we go, who do we send?”

“I’ll go,” Will straightened.

“I think it would make more sense to send Data, since he can use his logic to determine the best hands,” Deanna suggested.

“Nothing metallic or electronic will be allowed inside,” Gemini glanced at the android across the room, “and unfortunately, Data is both of those things.”

“What about Ensign Gallagher?” Data replied matter-of-factly.

The bridge crew turned to the newest member.

“Gallagher?” The captain repeated.

“He plays poker quite well and frequently wins in hands played with crewmembers–including myself.” Data turned toward his fellow helmsman. “Would you be willing to go?”

“I don’t see why not?” Ace half shrugged, turning to look at the captain behind him.

Jean-Luc nodded, his eyes unfocused. “Number One, I want you, Commander Data, and Ensign Gallagher in the bridge conference room.” He stood as the others began to rise. “Lieutenant Rowlett, you have the bridge.”

Gemini blinked. “Aye, sir.”

As Ace rose from his chair, he watched Gemini, wide-eyed, step around the tactical console while Jean-Luc and Will departed the bridge. Just before he turned around, Ace saw Gemini sit down on the edge of the Captain’s chair–hesitantly, yet eagerly.

• There is already a "Mickey D" in existence in Star Trek TNG; however, I needed a good boss name, and that was the first time I thought up. It's also what my Sicilian grandfather called McDonald's, so it's a bit of a nod to him. And it makes for a good plot - as you'll see as you keep reading. :D