Tall Drink Of Water

Posted on Mon Jan 19th, 2026 @ 5:39pm by Commodore Tyler Malbrooke & Lieutenant Commander Alyssa Maren & Lieutenant Commander Rowena McGowen & Lieutenant Ja'sol H'ros & Lieutenant Kolok & Lieutenant Junior Grade Galen Trellis & Lieutenant Junior Grade Jack Hunter & Petty Officer 2nd Class Sofia Cipriani & Lieutenant Commander Hermia O'Rourke & Lieutenant Vura & Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius Tremble & Major Edmund Merrick & Lieutenant Commander Katherine Malbrooke & Lieutenant Mira Jayna & Helena Moreno

3,752 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: Episode 17 - Going Home
Location: The Malbrooke Ranch - Pawhuska Oklahoma - Earth
Timeline: MD025 1800 hrs

Tyler had just come from the kitchen. Gator never ceased to amaze with his cooking abilities, his food was perhaps the thing he looked forward to most about this gathering. At the moment Gator had food going in the kitchen and outside on the smoker, and grills.

Kat, who looked every bit as radiant as a very pregnant woman should look, bustled around in the dining room. "You know this was a great idea you had to get everyone together at the ole homestead. But we have people for that. You should rest, elevate the feet, take a load off."

"I'll have plenty of time to do that now," she countered, kissing Ty on the cheek. "Right now, I want to feel useful. I can't do that when I'm sitting like a beached whale waiting for someone to toss her a fish."

"Just so long as all the usefulness doesn't make you pop." Tyler chuckled and kissed his wife back. The one thing I will be a stickler on though is getting on a horse. I will have one of the cowboys hitch the cart when we go out for the ride. This way you can come with and not be in danger. If you're lucky I will even drive it." The last was his joke as he would rather be on horseback than driving the wagon.

Kat sighed. She would prefer to be on horseback, but knew it wasn't good for the baby. "You don't want to drive a cart. Neither do I, but a well-sprung buggy pulled by a horse would be great. I could have food and water with me in case I need a snack." At this stage, she wasn't suffering from morning sickness, but she did need to eat or snack more often.

The shuttle rolled to a stop in a cloud of warm, red dust, its engine ticking softly as it powered down. Sofia took a moment before moving, fingers still curled around the strap of her bag as she looked out at the ranch. It wasn’t loud or showy. It was just… there. Wide land, long fences, a house that looked like it had grown out of the earth rather than been built on it.

It reminded her, unexpectedly, of home.

Not the villages themselves, with their narrow streets and voices carrying from window to window—but the land just beyond. The olive groves where the air went still in the evenings, where the only sounds were insects and wind through leaves, where time felt slower if you let it. This place had that same quiet confidence to it.

She stepped down onto the packed earth, adjusted the light summer dress she’d chosen, and slung her bag more securely over her shoulder. From inside it, wrapped carefully, was a small box of biscotti from her mamma’s kitchen and a bottle of olive oil pressed near their village—nothing extravagant, just something real, something from home. You didn’t show up empty-handed. That was simply how she’d been raised.

The scent of smoke and cooking meat drifted on the breeze, warm and comforting, and Sofia smiled despite herself.

“Che bel posto…” (What a beautiful place…) she murmured, mostly to herself.

Then, with one last glance at the open land stretching away into dusk, she headed toward the house—ready to trade duty rosters and sickbay alarms for laughter, food, and an evening that felt, for once, blessedly grounded.

Tag entrances

The transport touched down outside The Malbrooke Ranch. Hermia and Helena stepped off it and onto the rich red dirt.

"Mum, are you sure, its alright for me to come?" Helena asked. "The invitation was addressed to you."

"I'm sure it will be alright." Hermia said a bag over her shoulder and an Irish Apple Pie in her arms.

"Okay, I just don't want to annoy the Commodore." Helena said.

The pair made their way up the path to the main house. A beautiful building made of local stone and wood.

"Oh, my." Helena said. "It’s larger than father's house. I can't wait to see inside." Her father's home in Florence, Italy had be a beautiful cage. The Rauch seemed more comforting.

"Well, try not to run ahead, we'll be there in no time." Hermia replied.

Vura was not a Deltan that took shuttles, especially when she was dressed for an occasion. Vura knew that Tyler was a self-described cowboy. However, Vura was not certain what an authentic cowboy looked like, so she asked the computer to do a search on cowgirls. Not knowing what might be authentic or not, she decided to pick whatever was cutest to her.

Consequently, when Vura beamed to the front door of the ranch, she was dressed in what might be described as a high class cowgirl costume. Immediately noticeable was Vura's knee high white, high heeled white cowboy boots. She also wore a short-sleeved, short black dress with a flared skirt with a white ruffle at the hem. It also had white piping detail on the collar and chest. The chest area of the dress also contained tasteful floral embroidery that blended into the black dress. Around her waist was a thin but decorative white belt. To top it off, she wore a black cowboy hat with a black bandana around her neck.

She hoped that she looked cute enough and was honoring Tyler's heritage.

The civilian transport settled onto the landing pad with a gentle thud, kicking up a small cloud of that distinctive red Montana dust. Galen Trellis gathered his bag and stepped out into the late afternoon light, pausing to take in his surroundings.

Earth. He hadn't been back since graduation.

The ranch stretched out before him—wide open land, long fences, a main house built from local stone and wood that looked like it had been standing for generations. The scent of cooking meat and wood smoke drifted on the breeze, and he could hear distant sounds of conversation.

Galen adjusted his grip on the bag containing a bottle of Trill spring wine—something respectable to bring to a commanding officer's home—and started up the path. He felt slightly out of place. He'd only been aboard the Pioneer for a handful of days, and this felt like walking into a family gathering where he was still very much the new guy.

The whole "cowboy" aesthetic was... perplexing. Galen had never quite understood humanity's romanticization of what was, historically speaking, a fairly brutal era. The memories of his previous host, Ryla, surfaced—she'd spent enough time on frontier colonies to recognize the appeal of self-sufficiency and open spaces—but even she'd found the nostalgia odd. People died from infections that any modern medkit could cure in minutes. Sanitation was primitive at best. The "frontier spirit" mostly meant being far enough from civilization that help wouldn't arrive in time if something went wrong.

And yet humans built entire cultural identities around it, Galen thought, shaking his head slightly. Hats, boots, and romanticizing an era where a broken leg could be a death sentence.

Still, as he approached the main house and saw other crew members arriving, some of the tension eased from his shoulders. This was a chance to get to know people outside of duty shifts and formal briefings. Cultural quirks aside, the Commodore clearly valued this place, and that meant something.

Galen climbed the steps to the entrance, the bottle of wine in hand, and prepared to introduce himself properly to the Pioneer family.
Even if he still couldn't quite wrap his head around why anyone would voluntarily celebrate an era of dysentery and dental problems.

As folks arrived to the porch of the Malbrooke Ranch, a rather tall man with black hair cut short, a black beard walked around the corner of the wrap around porch. He wore blue jeans, a black work shirt, a black work jack which bore a yellow M brand. Black cowboy hat, and boots. He smiled at everyone. "Folks my name is Rip and I am the ranch manager here. When Tyler is out saving the galaxy with you all I make sure he has a safe place to come home to. Now, he asked me to make sure you all were comfortable until everyone arrived. So, to start help yerself to the bar just over that way. Feel free to have a look at the horses and cattle. But most of all make yourself at home."

Vura answered Rip, "Thank you and to the Commodore for your hospitality. I would very much like to see the horses. Can you tell me more about them?"

"Me too." Helena said. "Stella, my nanny, took me to the local stables and learnt how to ride."

tag - Galen

Rip smiled broadly. The smile did cover up his thoughts. These are Mr Malbrooke's friends so I have to treat them like royalty. However, this is going to be no walk in the park. Dang city folk... "Right ladies and gentlemen follow me." He turned toward the barn and paddock.

Neil and Jayna materialized within the ranch proper, fifty meters off the main ranch house. He could feel the difference in temperatures between St. Johns bay and Oklahoma immediately. Not to mention the drier air. He peeled off the brown tweed, Chinese collared coat he'd been wearing over the long-sleeved cashmere turtleneck and olive corduroy pants and pushed up the sleeves on his shirt as he glanced at Jayna. "I think it might have been a mistake letting Renae dress me..." He'd asked his sister-in-law for western styled brown plain toe boots and ordered up a tight weave Carson styled straw hat when the barbecue had been announced.

"She meant well..." Jayna looked down at her own dress. It was an electric blue. At least complimented her green skin, but she felt like the two of them stood out a bit too much. At least her leather boots were in a darker shade of blue that she'd definitely wear again. Well, if she were honest, she'd wear the dress again, but maybe not to a barbecue. The matching cowboy hat, maybe not. "There's a chance we won't stand out here."

"You stand out wherever you go, which isn't necessarily a good thing for an intel operative," Neil teased, as he slid an arm around her shoulders and looked for a place to get rid of the coat.

"And that is why I tend to wear black," she teased back, leaning against him. "Then again, dressed like this, no one will expect me to be an intel operative." She looked him over and grinned. "I love you no matter what you wear, but maybe we could give your coat to a horse."

"Not a fan of the tweed?" Neil asked as they passed under the boughs of a large BlackJack oak onto a better beaten path. He hung the coat on a branch as they passed and his HUD picked up Tyler and Kat's bio-signatures. Others were about as well, but Neil shut down the program. "We should have brought that fish with..."

"Yeah, might have been a nice addition to the food, but I'm sure your family will put it to good use." She looked around as they walked. It was a nice place. "As for the coat, it's not really you, is it?"

Neil chuckled and shrugged, "Renae said, and I quote. I should grow up and stop letting my mom, meaning the corps, dress me all the time. So, I dunno, that coat though..nah."

"Wearing something other than Marine issue is one thing, but that coat...is not you." She gave him a slow once-over and smiled. "What you've got o now is good enough. Later, we can get more comfortable."

"Well, that sounds promising...comfortable as in nothing?" Neil asked near Jayna's ear as they approached the Malbrookes, he took a moment to pause and settle his leg under him, trying to smooth his gait, though he still found his balance slightly off.

"Later," she teased, but she was definitely looking forward to a private celebration later that night.

They approached Tyler and Kat, and Neil said, "Ho boss. Katherine. I know this is your happy space, but tell me where I can help?"

"I think everything's been taken care of, but thank you," she replied, smiling at Neil. Then she turned to Jayna. "Good to see you again. I haven't seen you in a while, even though we're on the same ship."

"We've both been busy with other things," Jayna replied. It had been a while since she and Kat worked on a project for the former XO. "And you have more important things to take care of right now," she added, nodding to the baby Kat was carrying.

Kat rubbed her stomach and chuckled. "That I do, but some days I would love to get my hands dirty with another project. Maybe after the baby's born."

"Whatever you choose, I hope your child is strong and healthy." Jayna glanced at Neil. They should move on and let others greet the couple. "

Kat looked over Neil and Jayna's shoulder, noting another arrival. "Thank you. We should get together later and talk over that project."

Jayna inclined her head in agreement and moved on with Neil.

"No bosses, sirs, or anything of that matter round these parts. I am simply Tyler. This is home, just as much if not more so than the Pioneer. You can stop being an officer and start being a person here. Have a drink. Get some food and enjoy yourself." You can hear the passion in Tyler's voice when he spoke. He meant every word, this place was simply his oasis in the sea of chaos that was the galaxy.

Alyssa was called in for an in-person meeting on the Pioneer's scientific achievements. She'd sent in her report--with the "official" story, but one or two of her superiors wanted to ask questions. And that led to talking about science in other parts of the galaxy. But she was finally here. At least coming in just behind Neil and Jayna meant she wasn't too late. "Thank you for inviting us here. The ranch is lovely."

"Glad to see you pulled your head away from the sensors." Tyler said with a smile as he motioned toward the bar and hors d'oeuvres.

Ja'sol had just beamed down to the ranch after finishing up taking care of a Snafu with a stubborn Tellarite low level desk jockey on a personal issue. He walked up to the house dressed in Eldorian casual clothing. Leather sandals, a light white silken vest with matching white Silken ( Arabic style puffy pants.) And a red sash belt. He greeted his host and presented them a bottle of a clear light blue liquid. " Thank you for having me here. " He handed Tyler the bottle. " It's called Kivvic, It has a sweet fruity flavor and packs a bit of a punch. It's a drink we share back home during celebrations and festivals, I hope you enjoy it."

Kolok had done no research about what a human ranch would be like. In his mind, it wasn't important. He would adapt as necessary. He wore traditional Klingon clothing with his bat'leth on his back. He nodded to the transporter chief, and a moment later, he stood on a small transporter pad with nobody else in sight. He took in the landscape, appreciating the majestic views. It felt like someplace to hunt.

A path led the way to an impressive structure. He didn't hurry, taking deep breaths. There were unusual scents on the wind. By the time he reached the large door, he was in high spirits. He opened the door a little too strongly and it banged against the opposite wall. Kolok pause, uncharacteristically awkward.

"My apologies," he said.

Rowena had herself transported to the ranch as well. She was a bit weary being here. She was still feeling a bit undeserving. She rather stayed back and do some other stuff, but Vura and the commodore were quite insisting. So here she was. She was wearing jeans and white blouse. She figured that would do. She had tried her hand at her grandmother's apple pie recipe, as she couldn't come empty handed. And just replicating one, seemed inappropriate to her.

She walked up to the door and saw Kolok opening it a bit too hard. "Well, at least there's no hole in the wall, and the door is still in one piece," She commented. "But you made quite the entrance."

A shuttle brought Edmund to the Malbrooke Ranch, he took time to get a birds eyes view of the place, it was beautiful, seeing the rolling hills and the green pastures where the cattle were grazing. It reminded him of his parents and grandparents place which wasn't as large as the Malbrooke ranch.

The shuttle dropped Edmund off at his request a little ways down the road from the ranch. The sun was warm and the grass was green, heralding the arrival of spring. Right now at his home it would be winter. He breathed in deeply of the fresh clean air, enjoyed the breeze which moved the leaves upon the trees that were nearby. He smiled as he heard the cheery songs of the birds as they called to each other. The scent of the BBQ came to his nose, and his smile turned to a full on grin. The scent was good and filled with promise of some good eating.

When Edmund entered upon the property, he was glad of his choice of clothing, long sleeved black western style shirt, with turquoise blue embroidery upon the upper half of his shirt, the buttons with a pearl like sheen, with some stitching framing the line of snap buttons the same color as the embroidery. Upon the bottom of his sleeves had the same embroidery design, with some floral pattern which seemed to be included with western shirts. His favorite blue jeans, a simple leather belt with a pattern etched in the leather, which had a leaf pattern, completing the outfit were his comfortable boots.

Edmund took note of all who were there, giving a smile, and adjusting the black western hat. "Afternoon everyone." He tipped his hat to them.

Vura saw Edmund materialize and said, "Edmund darling! Rip is going to take us to take a look at the horses. Do you want to come?"

Edmund's eyes sought out Rip.

Rip, the foreman of Tyler's ranch. He recalled years ago Tyler having mentioned the man. The guy certainly carried himself like someone experienced. Edmund gave a nod towards him.

Edmund gave a bit of a chuckle. "Hi Vura, I will check them out in a bit, first though, I'd like to go say hi to Tyler and Kat."

He wove his way through the crew coming up to where Tyler and Kat were.

"Hi there, Tyler and Kat. Love the Ranch." smiling at the two of them. "Glad to actually see the ranch personally. The images you had shown me during academy didn't do justice to what I got to see. Thanks for inviting us here."

"Yeah, looking around these parts almost makes you wonder why anyone goes out to the stars when there is all this beauty. "Come Ed. Ja'sol brought this stuff from Eldar. It’s pretty strong and I am going to have drink Kat's share. Join us." Tyler held up the bottle and wrapped his arm around his security chief.

"It will be my pleasure." Edmund said with a smile. "Its been too long." as he walked with Tyler and Ja'sol to where Malbrooke was leading them.

Ja'sol looked around as he walked with the group. " I'm impressed with the size of your land out here. Back home people would be amazed with this much space, We would be able to grow plenty of crops and raise plenty of cattle. The largest island in our area is about two by two and a half kilometers. But there are plenty of smaller islands near by as well."

Tyler put his arm around his Security Chief as they walked away and spoke of the land that had been in the Malbrooke family for generations. As far as the Commodore was concerned the rest of the Malbrooke family had finally come home.

A Joint Post By

Commodore Tyler Malbrooke
Commanding Officer, USS Pioneer