I came to offer my services

Posted on 05 Sep 2013 @ 1:22am by Alexander Iella & Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm

2,252 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 04 - Exodus
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 1, Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: MD1 1520hrs

[ON]

As the turbolift slowed to a halt, Alex took a few seconds to school his features. Tugging at the bottom of his jacket, Alex straightened it out before dusting off the front of his pants. His final act was to run a hand through his hair in an attempt to tame it, even a little; satisfied with his looks, Alex stepped out onto the bridge.

Teeming with activity as the Crew investigated the drive section of the Venture, the same place they had rescued him from, Alex stared at the viewscreen for a minute looking at part of what used to be his home. With a sigh, Alex shook his head and looked around for his target. Not seeing the captain on the bridge, Alex headed over to the ready room door and hit the call button.

"Enter." Lirha called out from behind her desk in her ready room. The all-too-familiar stacks of PADDs were neatly arranged on her desk as she attempted to sort through them in a reasonable order, but she paused briefly to look up towards the door and discern who her visitor was going to be.

"Captain," Alex said as he entered the small Ready Room, "Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Alexander Iella." He walked over to her desk and offered her his hand. "And you seem to be quite overloaded with stacks of PADDs, planning on building a fort out of them?" He offered with a chuckle.

Lirha watched the tallish Trill as he entered her ready room, and took note of his exotic and attractive features which included spots, red hair, gray eyes, and a slim build. Most noticeably, he was not wearing the standard Starfleet uniform. Instead, his jeans and leather jacket betrayed his civilian nature...or so she assumed.

Pushing a stack of PADDs to the side and rising from her seat, she reached up with her green hand and tucked a stray lock of her dark hair away from her eyes and behind her ear while offering the man a polite smile. "Hello, Mister Iella." she replied, then reached out and shook his hand with a firm female grip. "Yes...you would be surprised how these PADDs seem to replicate themselves and appear on my desk every morning." she added with a smirk. "Please, have a seat. What can I do for you?" she motioned towards the vacant chair across from her desk.

"Yes, I know quite well how they can appear out of nowhere, I used to be a Captain myself." Alex said before hesitating a moment, "Correction, my last host was a Captain." He finished as he dropped into the seat across from the Orion woman. "First off, I'd like to thank you for rescuing us, I know not alot of us made it, but those that did are thankful. Secondly... On Venture, I ran one of the lounges which was more turned into a bar really.. and now that I've been on Galileo for a few hours, I've heard a few rumors of a bar opening up soon on your ship and well, since I don't really have a home now, I figured I'd offer my services."

Returning to her seat and doing her best to suppress a visible cringe, Lirha listened to the man and realized that he had been one of the survivors aboard USS Venture which her crew had helped rescue several hours ago. There had been so many of them...almost two hundred, and her small Nova Class ship was ill equipped to deal with such an influx of personnel. Nevertheless, she had informed her Operations department to make room and accommodations for all of them, and she privately shared their trauma which had resulted from their ship's destruction.

"I am very sorry about Venture," she began in a solemn voice. "I am grateful that we were able to assist your ship and that we found you in time...in case the Borg reappeared." she forced a small smile on her gold lips, then crossed her legs beneath the desk and leaned back in her chair. "I also appreciate the offer to help. We do indeed have a new recreational facility being planned, and we are in need of a proper lounge manager when the time comes. Can you tell me a little about yourself? You Starfleet experience as well as that on Venture?" she asked.

Alex shrugged, "Captain, I've died 3 times, while losing the Venture is a horrible thing for everyone doesnt seem so bad for someone like me. It's a sad day when so many people lose their lives in such a terrible incident, though I'm sure I can speak for all the survivors when I say thank you for showing up before the Borg did."

Clasping his hands together and leaning forward Alex looked at the Orion Captain across from him, "My last host was the one in Starfleet, Captain Helena Iella of the USS James. She was the Iella host until just over 3 years ago when she was crushed by a falling bulkhead when her ship was in combat with a bunch of Pirates they were trying to kick out of the Mencah sector." Leaning back in his seat Alex continued, "She graduated from the Academy about 5 years before the Dominion War broke out, worked her way up through Security and Tactical before moving over to Command. I do remember one time when I... or rather she was so bored she DID make a fort out of all the PADDs on her desk." Alex finished off with a chuckle.

"As for my current host, or myself really, I spent the early part of my life in Paris before moving back to Trill. Since then I spent alot of time working towards getting a symbiont. I specialized in Engineering, by physical and theoretical and pretty much was an introvert and stayed in all the time. After I was joined, I was told I had one of the biggest personality changes they had ever seen when I became a extrovert and a huge people person, I stopped doing engineering and went off the Culinary school back on Earth on a whim. Since then I had been on the Venture running a bar/lounge thingy until we reach now."

Lirha listened to the man's brief life story as well as that of his symbiote. It was always interesting to hear the dynamic between the host body and its occupier, and she had often wondered what it must be like to have a second consciousness living inside of her.

"You are very fortunate. I understand that only the smallest percentage of Trills are chosen to be hosts. That must have been quite an accomplishment for you." she replied with a friendly smile.

"Yes well, Like I said, I worked hard to get where I am and spent little time on anything but. It was after my joining that I decided I eneded to make up for lost time." Alex replied with a smile, "Thank you none the less, It is a huge accomplishment for anyone to reach their dream."

"Yes, indeed." Lirha mused. She still had a long ways to go to accomplish her own dreams, but nonetheless, felt that she was at least on the right track. Shifting her weight in her chair, she proceeded to ask him more questions.

"Can you tell me about your culinary experiences? How long have you been a chef, and what are your favorite dishes? Do you have any cooking strengths or weaknesses? Any foods which you absolutely love or hate?" she inquired.

Alex shrugged, "Since I finished the culinary school, I spent most of my time on the Venture, so most of my experience has been serving a rather large crew. Now if you're asking me about my favorite dish to cook or eat, that would be interesting." He said as he leaned back in his chair and intertwined his fingers, "I enjoy cooking a good dish of homemade Mac and Cheese the most, something about the smell of the cheese is awesome. To eat though, I'd probably have to say Chicken Stir-fry, with lots and lots of spices. As for cooking strengths or weaknesses... Im rather strong in Earth recipes and cooking, as well as Trill and a little Bajoran. You want some Klingon though, your shit out of luck, cant cook it to save my life. Though I guess it doesnt really need to be cooked." Alex said with a laugh, "I havent really found any foods I dont like as of yet, nor foods I hate, but a menu I have in mind for the new place would be a typical Earth Pub style menu, maybe something English based."

"I see." Lirha said matter-of-factly, not with disapproval, but rather with a hint of relief. Most of her crew was composed of Humans, and she, like them, was fond of Earth foods. Her years of living in San Francisco and then undergoing Academy training had made her quite attracted to the starchy and sugary foods which Earthlings enjoyed eating.

"I admit, I do enjoy mac and cheese...as well as all types of chicken." she added with a sideways grin. "Our current chef, Mister Pawlak, is of Polish descent, and tries to cook a wide variety of meals for our crew...but some of them do not turn out as well as the others." she admitted with a smirk. "Would you be willing to work with him to combine and teach your culinary skills? You have more experience than him so I would not mind delegating the head chef responsibilities to you."

"NO offense to Mister Pawlak, but I have always found Polish people to be a bit lacking in the culinary department." Alex said with a laugh, "I'd be happy to help him a long a bit and teach him a few more popular recipes. And as long as I get to create the menu my way in the bar, I'd be happy to help."

Lirha raised her eyebrows at the mention of a bar, which was not entirely the most accurate description of Galileo's current facilities. "Actually, we operate a mess hall -- three of them -- which we use for most of our recreational purposes. But a bar has been mentioned by some of the personnel and I will be looking into installing such a facility as soon as we return to port. In the meantime, you are free to add your own flavor to the menu." she replied, then paused to consider some of what she had just mentioned.

"Is this your first time serving aboard a Nova Class starship?" she proceeded to ask, changing the subject slightly.

"I guess I was just figuring that once I had taken over one of the places, it most likely would become bar themed." Alex said with a shrug and a small smile. "Yes, this is my first time on a Nova, though not the smallest ship I've been on."

The captain nodded to the man with understanding. "It is usually not a huge issue, however I find it important to remind our new arrivals that we lack many of the amenities of larger starships due to our compact size. Living quarters can be a bit cramped at times, and we have no dedicated gym or relaxation areas aside from our mess halls."

"My last host served on a Defiant before she got her own command. I can understand the sense of smallness. That's why you have to make the most of what you actually have." Alex replied as he ran a hand through his hand, "I guess thats why I wanted to run with that bar idea that was rumored on the ship."

"It is a good idea and I am happy to accommodate the crew," she reiterated, "We just have to wait until we have the available resources to replicate the materials. We are also a bit under-manned at the moment, but I promise to get the project approved as soon as we have the time." she paused to push some of her hair back behind her ear.

"In the meantime, I am happy to have you on board, and our mess halls will be your new home. Do you have any questions for me before I approve your transfer request?" she asked, affording the Trill man an opportunity to inquire about anything which might be on his mind.

"No, not really." Alex replied with a shake of his head, "I think I can figure most things out, and if I cant, I know where to go." Alex said as he flashed a smile. Standing up and brushing off his pants, Alex extended a hand, "I think this will work well for the both of us Captain."

Lirha rose from her seat and tugged on the front of her uniform to straighten it, then reached out and shook the man's hand. "I hope so as well, and I look forward to tasting your culinary skills. Welcome aboard Galileo, Mister Iella."

"Please, Call me Alex. Mister Iella was 2 hosts ago." Alex replied with a smirk as he turned and walked out of the room. He had to go scope out the mess halls and figure out what one would work best for the bar.

[OFF]

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CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Alexander Iella
Chef
USS Galileo

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