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For Doc, dressing casual was alien. To him, it was his old west gamblers attire. The Diamond Ridge was a fine restaurant off the edge of Port Canaria near the edge of the mountains. The cuisine was from all over Sirius and Gallia and the extra cost was well worth it. He came in wearing his black slacks and a white shirt that looked like something of the French musketeer days. Would casual work? He would find out soon enough.

"Good evening, Doctor," greeted the host with a hand shake. "It's been awhile. A date tonight I assume?"
"Yes it is," he answered as he released his hand, "Miss Karin Holt will be joining me. She is a young Gaian lady."
"Very well, Doctor. I saved the far table for you. Scotch I assume?"
"You assume well, Sir," replied Doc, "Just send her to my table when she arrives."
"Consider it done, Doctor," replied the host. Doc then sat at the table and a glass of Scotch arrived. As he sat and took the first sip, he stared out over the mountains.

Canaria was getting colder but it was still beautiful in it's own way. While many were leaving, Doc remained at his old estate. As he looked out, he could understand why Karin saw beauty in it. The meeting itself was a result of a chat a few days earlier regarding medical marijuana. Med Force Enterprises was still using it as a pain reliever for cancer patients. Perhaps she knew more. While he waited, he took out his datapad and began reviewing some notes and files. He was at a disadvantage as he had no idea what she looked like. After all, it's hard to tell someone from a suit in a fighter cockpit. What he did know of Gaians is that they were very free loving people but would fight anyone anywhere for what they believed in. The late Moira Waverly came to mind in this light.

The crowd was light and the atmosphere pleasant. A light music over the intercom of a string quartet was at a low volume as there was no live piano player tonight. With a light crowd, no one approached Doc to play as they so often would ask. For the time, he relaxed and quietly reviewed his files.

Karin arrived about 15 minutes later, having lost her way twice trying to navigate the public transit network to get to the restaurant. She had not had the time to dress up too fancy, so instead she had chosen to go with a white blouse, along with a black skirt that reached down to just above her knees. Her sleeves were rolled up to halfway about her forearms, and she had some redundant wraps and bands around her right wrist. She came in with slightly flushed cheeks from running, but with a smile on her face. She approached the host.

"Hey there. I am Karin Holt. I was looking for Mr Holliday, has he arrived yet? He should be since I am like... 15 minutes late." She chuckled nervously.
"He is here miss. I'll show you to your table. If you would follow me, please?" The host led them to their table. Just before arriving there, he asked her what drink she wanted.
"I would like a Dublin Scotch please." She replied. "Sure, coming right up. Your table is here." The waiter extended his arm pointing at a table with a man sitting at it, dressed up in a fancy western style. "I'll be right back with your drink." He walked off to fetch her drink.

"So, you must be the notorious Doc. I am Karin, nice to meet you in person." She extended her hand.

Doc came to his feet and took her hand. "It is a pleasure, Miss Holt." His accent was slight but not of anyplace or even time that she would know of. He was very much a gentleman as well, seating her before he took his own.

About this time, her drink arrived. "Your Dublin Scotch, Miss," stated the waiter as he set the drink in front of her. He took a slight bow and walked away.
"A fine choice," responded Doc. He held up his glass. "Dublin Scotch. It seems we have the same taste although admittedly I do not keep near enough of it at my home."

Quietly, Doc admired her dress. Of course, he was a man who appreciated a pretty woman but for now, he kept it to himself.
He looked at the mountains outside of the window. "There was a time where I could ride horseback through those mountains. As it got colder, it became more and more difficult." He then looked at her and softly smiled. "Something tells me that you would have enjoyed that. Maybe one day I can do that on Gaia itself."

He then asked, "Shall we do some dinner?"

"The moment you see me getting on top of a animal is the moment heaven and hell become one and freeze over. Adding to that, I don't even know what a horse is. Never seen one or heard of them before. As for doing such things on Gaia, I doubt the GG are really open to letting people walk the surface nowadays, not to mention the many animals there that love pieces of raw meat fresh off of a corpse." She chuckles and grabbed the menu. "Food does sound nice. I cannot say I am starving, but I am starving." She took a moment to look over the menu, quickly managing to find a couple of things she would most likely enjoy, then closed the menu. "Any idea what you'd want?"

Doc just nodded about her feelings of a horse. "Well, where I came from, it was called a horse." He then showed a picture of one of his own.

"His name is George and he has a mate I call Gracie. If ever you want to get close to nature, riding them is a sure fire way to do it. Wildlife smells the horse, not you, so you can walk right up on things and see something's natural beauty."
He put the picture away. "Here on Canaria, they were given the species title of caballa. My two now live on Planet Erie at my camp. They are quite happy there."

"Any idea what you'd want?"
"I am not sure," he said as he pondered the menu. He scratched his chin and chimed, "They make a great caribou steak here. I think I will have them cook it in a good Saurian Brandy. Add a side of fresh veggies and red potato and I should be in heaven."

He gave Karin the chance to order before he went into conversation. "It has been awhile since I went to Gaia. Has it really gotten that bad there? I am sure the Gallic advance did not help."

"Well, Gallia isn't exactly friendly to the Gaians, and their military presence in Edinburgh is extreme to say the least, especially with that massive new station they moved into the system. There is just no getting to Gaia now without running into a patrol or 10." She sighed. The waiter approached their table with a notebook, ready to take their order. "Have you made your decision sir, madam?"

"Erm, yes. I'd like to have the tomato soup as a starter, followed by the Big Canarian Steak with some boiled potatoes and some vegetables." She looked at the menu. "And that should cover me." The waiter turned to Doc. "How about you sir, have you made a decision?"

"Oh yes," replied Doc. He then turned to the waiter, "Your Caribou steak in Saurian brandy, red potatoes and your vegetable of the day."
He then took a look at Karin, the two glasses on the table and back to the waiter. "And please bring a bottle of Dublin Scotch to the table." He then smiled at Karin.
"I will get those orders in right away," he replied and quickly left for the kitchen. Within a few seconds, the bartender brought the bottle of Dublin Scotch and left it on the table. Doc then proceeded to top off her glass, then his before putting the bottle back down.

He then sighed, "I was heartbroken about the Gaians and the Gallic advance. I mean, you both had a common enemy and the Gallics treated you like everyone else. Sickening that small groups have suffered so much." He then smirked, "Maybe they should have a ground assault on Gaia. I am sure the plants would, um, love the sustenance or let me guess, they tried it and found out the hard way?"

He took a sip of his Scotch and nodded. "Good stuff. Not to dive into business to quickly but we have used marijuana on an experimental basis with cancer patients and those in extreme pain, like patients in the burn ward. I figured you might have some insight on that."

"To be fair, I am not medically trained. My experiences with that stuff are purely... recreational. It does make any experience a lot less painful, both physically and mentally. So using it on patients is definitely a good way to keep them from collapsing from the pain. As for Gallia, they only sent a few research parties to the surface, but with the war they are too busy to make any true planetfall efforts there." She took a small sip of her whiskey, circling her finger on the table. "But if they do, I bet the planet itself will have something to say about it."

"I never have used marijuana myself," replied Doc. "It is not that I have not had the chance but I just choose not too. I guess after receiving a double lung transplant, getting a second chance at life and giving up tobacco, I chose to live smoke free." He then looked at his glass of Scotch. With a smile, he quipped, "I guess I cannot give up all of my habits. I mean, I still love a good Scotch, an occasional round of poker and well,........" He stopped. He was going to finish with And a good woman but he didn't want to offend.

"But if they do, I bet the planet itself will have something to say about it."Of that I have no doubt," he replied. "My trip planetside was brief, to a place where I am guessing some of your people made a safe haven. No one was there but I did not want to test the stories or the plants themselves. I still have the hope of finding curative qualities from plants there one day."

Doc took a moment to look out the window. Talking about being planetside on Gaia made him think of his rides into the Canarian wild. He sighed when he thought of it. Him, George and provisions for the trip. On occasion, his daughter, Emiko, would join them but still, it was a memory that brought a smile to his face. He then looked back at Karin.
"So tell me more about Karin Holt," he inquired. "What is she about? What are her desires? Where is she from? I mean, I figured we could get to know each other more while we wait for dinner."

She scratched her head. "Describing myself has never been my strong suit, but i'll give it my best shot. You already mentioned my name, so there is no need to repeat that. I am from Edinburgh, born on one of the research stations planetside. I am 22 years old, so I was born far after the nomad war. Like, 803 AS. I had a privileged childhood, already getting to know much of biological and geological studies before I even went to a proper school. I joined the Gaian movement after seeing the amount of damage mankind has a tendency to cause to the nature when left unsupervised, and strife to combat this through majorly peaceful ways. As for my desires.... I think right now, its mostly for the war with Gallia to end to bring an end to the suffering of our people. So we can focus on the real, glowy, mushy threat from the Omicrons."