Shore Leave: Cottage 114

Alira

Cassandra's eyes lose focus as she starts thinking. "So there was something wrong after all. Helena told me it was just some exercise." She walks off and gets the datapad that Helena was reading on when Alira arrived. "What can you tell me about that woman or the drug?"

Cass

I don't know how much Cass knows about plants but the garden is not that impressive in that regard. There are some flowers but they are chosen more for being robust than for being especially interesting.
After a short moment of being alone, Cass hears Max' voice beside her. "Your friend is odd. Has something happened between you two?"

"He's not like your other friends, is he?", Max asks. He's uncharacteristically quiet, not rambling like usually, but it doesn't seem like he's forcing himself to be like this. He is still holding the iced tea he got when he arrived with Moira but it's mostly gone now.

He waits for a moment to see if Cass is going to say anything more, then asks: "How do you feel about how you've changed?"

Cass

"Has anything else made you think you've changed or just Nic?", Max asks.

Alira

Cassandra types the information into her datapad. "Anything you can tell me can be helpful. I have some contacts I can ask and we can get to the bottom of this!", she says. She looks like she is enjoying this much more than she was enjoying the party so far. "Do you think there's any danger to the people on the planet?"

Cass

Max smiles. "I've been told you still need regular counseling. If you want, we can schedule an hour tomorrow." He drinks from his glass and almost finishes it. "And I can see that you could really use someone to talk to."

Moira

"We met when you arrived but we haven't talked yet, I think", Helena replies, directed at Nic. "You were at the academy? You don't look like spacefleet."
Moira notices that Nic is standing in a way that he can observe the rest of the party. His eyes keep wandering over to Cass. "I left the fleet and went private. Much better. What were you talking about? Dont let me interrupt you."

Alira

"It shouldn't have been possible to smuggle a phaser onto the planet. She must have had help.", Cassandra says as she's working on her datapad. "I wish I could join the investigation and help the search - it can't be easy with all the forests and terraforming stations on the island - but my sister would kill me if I tried to do that." She sighs and puts the datapad down. "I've never been much of a vacation person, not since I graduated from the academy."

Max nods. "That sounds nice. I've never actually had these before Moira recommended them at Stone's. They're really good, though. I'll mention them in my next communication to Erica. There's so much to tell her."

As Cass makes her way past Cassandra and Alira, she picks up enough of their conversation to understand that they're talking about the Learse situation

Moira

Helena smiles and says "Oh, I'm certain I could never understand it. Engines are just so confusing."
Nic rolls his eyes and opens his mouth to reply but before he can say anything, Helena interrupts him: "Oh, emergency! I'll be right back. Play nice"
She hurries off towards the house.

Cass, Alira

"Cassano, tell me everything they talked about at the briefing. My sister hasn't said anything about it.", Cassandra demands but before Cass can reply, Helena appears and grabs the datapad from Cassandra's hand. "Dont think I dont see what your doing here, Cass. No security work on your shore leave", she says with a smile. "You're running a party here. Refill people's drinks, put on some actual dance music or talk to your guests about anything not work related. It's honestly not that difficult."