Sam noted the open bottle of wine and made a mental note to buy the XO a new bottle of wine the  next chance he got. He tugged at his tunic, forgetting he wasn't wearing a dress uniform to a formal Captain's mess dinner in as long as he could remember. "I've got the Captain's Mess all ready, the chef's prepared something special. Not that we were expecting company on this milk run," he joked. He looked down at himself, "and I do apologies for my lack of proper mess dress. I didn't have time to change."<br/><br/>The rules of the ship's 'loophole' commission meant the senior officers and a certain percentage of the ship's company had to be reservists or forced-retirement career officers and PO's, with the ship's drills taking the place of any formal exercises. It was the GSN's way of complying with the need to downsize while keeping a fighting force ready in case the excrement hit the impeller. hardware, the GSN knew, was easier to replace than trained personnel, after all. It meant, at least, that any Officer could wear their uniform aboard ship. Sam relaxed the rules save for formal occasions, as he was one of the few who<i>liked</i>his dress uniforms.<br/><br/>Mika got to her feet and offered a hand to Tahlia, "well?" she asked, "shall we?"