Home Cooking

Posted on 06 Nov 2013 @ 11:44am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Ensign Natalie Chevalier

3,066 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Episode 04 - Exodus
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2, Captain's Quarters
Timeline: MD 02 - 1820 hrs

[ON]

Lirha opened her oven and delicately pulled out a large, steaming roast chicken, then plated it on a serving dish and walked it over to her dining room table where she set it down and drizzled a final layer of lemon juice on top of the tender cut of meat. Accompanied by a few dashes of exotic peppers, the main course was finally finished after a couple hours of slow-roasting, and she smiled to herself with satisfaction at her work. It wasn't often that she cooked Earth foods, but with her guest -- Galileo's new ecologist -- about to arrive, Lirha thought it respectful to attempt to cook something with which the young officer would be familiar. And just for good measure, she had steamed two large plates of vegetables and tossed them in a medley, as well as selected a batch of ripe fruits to go along with the salad she had also prepared. Finally, a small plate of baked potatoes and some French baguettes accompanied the rest of the meal, and Lirha pulled off her cooking apron and tossed it to the side as she prepared to receive her guest any minute now.

Nat's wardrobe choice had been a matter of some agonizing: she didn't want to wear her dirty, soil stained uniform and it felt wasteful to replicate a new one, but she also didn't want to overdress for what was just dinner. After a couple of different iterations, neither of them satisfactory, she settled on a plain blouse and dark jeans: in any case, clothing herself was the least of concerns, concentrating most of her time on sonic showering and removing various bits of detritus from her hair, which she diligently combed into order and tied up into a loose bun. All of that made her a little late by the time she arrived at the Captain's quarters, for which she apologised in a confused rush of words as she bumbled in through the door: "SosorryI'mlatenicetoseeyouagainCaptain!"

Her nose pricked at the smell and a glance at the table confirmed. She laughed nervously. "I, um, I guess I didn't mention I'm a vegetarian..."

The captain looked up as the ecologist rushed into her quarters and announced herself in a rather flustered manner. "Hello, Natalie." Lirha said with a warm smile, taking note of her casual and well-kept attire. She shook her head at the mention of being a vegetarian, and a wry grin spread across her lips. "You know, I suspected you might have been...so I also cooked and marinated a vegetable medley just in case. I also have some fresh fruits and salad, if that will suffice?" she proposed with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah, that sounds wonderful. I am sorry, though, if I've put you out at all: I do hate to see food go to waste." Growing up on a colony that did not always have access to matter recyclers, Nat had developed an aversion to food wastage that many of her Starfleet colleagues from core worlds found perplexing.

She rounded the table and pulled out a chair, but waited on Saalm before taking a seat. "It was nice to meet you earlier. How are the flowers you picked doing?"

"They are doing very well, from what I have been told." Lirha answered as she procured a bottle of wine from the cabinet and brought it back to the table. "I gave them to my friend. She adores them. Thank you again for helping me pick them." she smiled at the dark-haired ensign, then poured both of them a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and gestured for Natalie to have a seat. "How was your shift today?" she then asked.

Nat took the glass and swirled it: of the few New French stereotypes she embodied, an appreciation was one. "My shift...well, it was my first time on the Bridge. I wish it had come under happier circumstances," she said, not sure how mention of the Venture might sour the mood of the dinner. "But it was still exciting to get out of the arboretum for a while and test some of my other skills."

"It was not an ideal discovery," the Orion agreed solemnly as she sat down. "Unfortunately, not all of what we do out here in space has a happy ending. I can only hope that our investigation reveals what happened to the missing crew members." She declined to comment on some of the situations she and her crew had found themselves in during their first mission out of drydock, for fear of scaring the poor young officer.

"But, I think you did a very good job for your first bridge shift." she smiled to try and lighten the mood, then help up her wine glass to toast. "To the crew of USS Venture. She was a fine ship."

Nat raised her glass too. "To the crew of the Venture," she agreed. "Sant." She took a sip of the wine - it wasn't bad, for replicated wine anyway.

Lirha took a small swig of the white then pursed her lips while she savored the aroma and distinctive taste. Setting her glass down, she motioned towards the large dishes of food which were present on the table. "Help yourself." she said, then unfolded her napkin and set it delicately in her lap while she waited for her guest to sample some of the food.

Nat didn't need a second invitation: working around the clock in the Arboretum and pulling a full Bridge shift was more than enough to work up an appetite. She forked some vegetable medley onto her plate, forked up a sizeable helping of salad, and took a couple of pieces of bread. She felt a little embarrassed about what came next, but she always mumbled a few words of thanks to the ground before eating. She wasn't at all spiritually inclined, but she believed that giving thanks for food was a good discipline.

Pleased to see Natalie piling some food on her plate, the captain followed suit and sliced off a generous portion of roasted chicken for herself accompanied by bread, salad, and a rather large baked potato. She began to munch away at her meal while enjoying the plethora of flavors. "So...tell me about New France. I read in your service record that is where you are from?" she said as she nibbled on a small piece of bread.

Nat picked up her fork and began picking through her salad. "New France, yes. It started out as an Earth colony, named after one of the regions there, but it's an independent state now. I remember Lundi de Federation, when we became members: I was like 15, and we had a big party." She smiled around a slice of crisp vegetable at the memory of more innocent days. "It's a fairly busy world, but more of a trans hub than anything. A lot of people passing through. Which was good for my parents' hotel - but made me want to travel." She cocked her head and grinned.

"Oh?" Lirha raised her eyebrows with curiosity while she took another sip of wine. "Your parents work in the hospitality industry?" It was always fun to meet and hear stories of fellow entrepreneurs, and now the captain was intrigued.

Nat found it less thrilling: she pulled a face as years of arguments about her parents' business bubbled just beneath the surface. "Yes, at the main spaceport. Obviously, there's a lot of through traffic, so it was a good living. And it was interesting meeting so many different species: I had friends at school who'd never met anyone but humans, who didn't believe me when I said we had special rooms for insectoids and avians and even a sleeping pool for the aquatics." Her face darkened, and she shook her head. "But business always seeks more business. There was a plan by the city council to raze a local forest for expansion. Hundreds of years old, trees that had seen the first colonists arrive." She stabbed a potato with her fork rather angrily: she did not need to spell out her opposition.

Lirha was no telepath but she could nonetheless sense her guest's dissatisfaction with the state of affairs which had occurred on her homeworld. In some way, Lirha could relate, but most of her own early life had been spent in space aboard her parents' civilian vessel dealing with the monotonous grind of the trader life.

Forking a mouthful of more chicken between her lips, Lirha slowly chewed and contemplated Natalie's comments. "Business is a lifestyle...a very demanding one." she remarked after swallowing and wiping her mouth. "My parents were traders and my older sister runs a hotel on Rigel VII, just like your parents." she smiled in a polite manner then grinned. "I am not sure if you have ever been to an Orion colony but they are a bit more exotic than the average space port." she winked, then gave a bit of insight into business administration.

"Business does seek more business, absolutely...but that is the nature of the trade. Just as explorers like us seek more adventure, those who profit will always seek more opportunity to profit. We may not always agree with such ways of life. I understand." The last thing she wanted to do at the moment was to lecture one of her junior officers or give an economics lesson, but she hoped that Natalie didn't harbor any ill feelings towards her parents simply for their choice of lifestyle.

Nat gave Lirha a concerned look. She was talking to her as though she were an infant that did not understand basic concepts, and wasn't entirely sure what she had to make the Captain think she was so stupid and dull as to merit this treatment. Her issues with her parents were her own, and as far as she was concerned lay outside the prerogative of the Starfleet chain of command - and it took a lot of willpower to summon up an unresponsive, "Uh huh," feigning accord. She hid her disquiet by shovelling more food into her mouth for a moment.

Washing it down with wine and took a beat. She was starting to get something of a headache, which she did not think could be from the wine: it was a disquieting sensation that she tried to put away by concentrating on the implied question. "No, I've never been to an Orion colony. I would imagine it's fairly different from human colonies?"

"Yes, quite." the captain answered with a hint of amusement. She took notice of the look which the young woman had given her but paid it no mind. "They are much more recreational in nature...many resemble smaller versions of Risa, although there is certainly a large business and trade center located within each major cities. Not being an chartered member of the UFP, the colonies are able to produce and deal in all sorts of exotic merchandise." she explained, then took another forkful of chicken to her lips. "They are quite fascinating."

Merchandise interested Nat less than the social interactions underlying the transactions. Orions were a subject of persistent fascination for humans, but decidedly more so for human males. She didn't herself have a terribly positive impression of Orion society, Lirha's politeness notwithstanding, regarding it as a heteronormative, gendered cauldron of repression. "So, if I may ask Captain, how did you come to join Starfleet if you grew up in such a place? it doesn't exactly sound like a breeding ground for future recruits."

Taking a long sip of wine, Lirha shook her head, her dark hair bobbing gracefully across the tops of her shoulders. "Actually, I did not not grow up on of the colonies. I was born on Vajripam but grew up in space aboard my parent's trade vessel. I lived the life of a trader throughout most of my youth and it was not until the outbreak of the Dominion War when my family decided to relocate to Earth for security reasons. As you can imagine, the Alpha quadrant was not a very safe place in the mid-seventies." she ripped off another piece of bread and nibbled on it again.

"With the Starfleet suffering heavy losses to their fleet, they were unable to effectively patrol their own borders...as a result, piracy became rampant and my family was forced to relocate to Earth for the duration of war. It was considered the safest place, at the time." she declined to mention the traumatizing pirate attack which had killed her father in front of her eyes and was the main motivator for the decision.

"We settled in San Francisco where there was already a large Orion population, and so I spent the next four years of my life there before finally deciding to join Starfleet. I suppose I have always wanted to travel the stars, and Starfleet provided me with a more professional environment and more opportunity than the simple trade life would have."

"Ah, I see." Nat's voice was almost disappointed. San Francisco was one of the least interesting cities on one of the least interesting planets in the entire Quadrant, and she had practically gnawed through her desk in boredom at having to spend four years training there. She gestured to her plate. "I guess that's where you learnt Earth cooking. The food is really good, all of it."

It seemed the polite thing to say, but it was also true: she was enjoying her meal, her growing headache notwithstanding. "Kiri told me that your sister is on the ship, too, but I've never actually met her. That must be - nice?" She hesitated; she wasn't sure she would survive two days with her sister on board before they were trying to flush each other out of the airlock. But she could see the attraction to someone who'd been forced from their home to keeping a little family around.

Lirha was pleased to hear the compliment regarding her cooking, a skill in which took much personal pride and joy. The mention of Nesh, however, was a surprising yet welcome change of subject. Considering the small confines of Galileo's facilities and the fact her sister worked in the same department as Natalie, it was strange the two of them had not yet become acquainted. Lirha wouldn't exactly describe her presence on board the ship as nice -- which it was -- ...but more so, she was family, and their relationship superseded any feelings of pleasantry.

"Yes, it is nice to have her on board. It was my idea, actually, to bring her to Galileo for the remainder of our tour of duty." she answered. "Unlike myself, she has not traveled too much or been exposed to other cultures, and she is almost eighteen years old." she paused to take another long drink of wine. "I figured she could benefit from a lifestyle change and hopefully learn some new skills in the process."

Nat smiled warmly. She remembered what she had been like at 17, starstruck and so angsty with wanderlust she jumped at every chance for a little travel. She could certainly imagine the feelings only being amplified for the sibling of a Starfleet Captain.

"Well, I look forward to meeting her, in any case: the Science Department is quite large, but I'm still sure we'll have the opportunity to run into each other soon enough."

"I am sure you will. She is the only other green woman on the ship, after all." she winked at Natalie then paused to stroke her chin in thought. "Actually," an idea popped into Lirha's head which she felt was rather ingenious, "How would you feel about spending some time with her a few hours each week and introducing her to the nuances of ecology? Nesh is currently a scientist's mate and my goal is for her to learn as much as possible about all of the various scientific disciplines. Perhaps she would enjoy spending time in the arboretum with you?"

"I would be more than happy to," Nat enthused. She rarely got a chance to show the arboretum to others: few aboard shared her passion for the old fashioned pursuits of sloshing knee deep in a muddy pond or chasing wumzel flies through thick zumzot vines. "A ship's arboretum is no substitute for a real field posting, but there's still a lot that can be learned there about population genetics, functional morphology, microclimatology - yes, please, do tell your sister she's more than welcome to join me whenever she likes." She wanted to make it clear she saw this as a voluntary assignment: Nat had no desire to be deputised as a babysitter.

Lirha nodded in thanks then continued to eat more chicken and potatoes for a short while. It was good to know that Nesh had a new mentor, and she hoped her sister would behave herself even if she thought the duties to be boring. After wiping her mouth and looking back up at Natalie, she curiously inquired into the ecologist's life. "And you? What made you decide to join Starfleet?"

Nat pushed some vegetables around her plate as she considered an answer. Why had she joined Starfleet? There were days when she seemed totally at odds with the military regime; even the latest mission, surveying Rojar for resource extraction, had run contrary to her principles.

"It was definitely time to leave New France," she said. "And, I suppose my grades were good enough that I thought I might as well apply, just to see if I got in. In truth, I'm not really sure how much thought I'd put into it as an 18, 19 year old arriving on Earth."

"Understandable." Lirha agreed in between bites with another nod. "And now, several years later? What do you think of your time in the fleet?" the captain proceeded to ask while searching the woman's dark brown eyes for any insight. It was never as straight-forward a question as it seemed, and the captain looked forward to chatting with the ecologist and hearing about her experiences in the coming hour.

[TRUNCATED]

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CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

ENS Natalie Chevalier
Ecologist
USS Galileo

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