Guess Who's Coming To Dinner... (Part 2 of 4)

Posted on 13 Feb 2023 @ 6:26pm by Commander Morgan Tarin & Lieutenant Aria Rice & Ensign Mimi & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Alexion Wylde & Chief Petty Officer Afthinam Naime & Petty Officer 1st Class T'Lin & Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeysa Zeror & Laeon Wylde & Nesh Saalm
Edited on on 13 Feb 2023 @ 6:36pm

3,246 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 5, Observation Lounge
Timeline: MD 10, 2028 hrs

Previously, on Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (Part 1)...

"To continued peace and prosperity. For both the Klingon Empire and the Federation," toasted Commander Tarin at one head of the table. She raised her glass and briefly caught the scent of the beverage. It was not traditional bloodwine and the Klingons would soon find out. But it was the best the Nova-class' skeleton crew could do under such circumstances. Morgan presented a rare smile to her side of the table and then to the Klingons. As diplomacy required. She brought the glass to her lips then tilted it back, secretly realizing that their collective fates were somehow now in the hands of Lirha Saalm's younger sister and her mixology proficiency.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

Captain KehG gripped his wine-device tightly with one hand and offered a stoic glance to his Starfleet counterparts. "To you, captain, and your vessel for helping deliver us the criminal Ferengi and his dishonorable crew." His three fellow officers all mimicked his gesture and grunted with acknowledgement. Together, the Klingon delegation downed their booze within a matter of seconds then paused to determine what sort of alcohol they'd just consumed. Whereas Commander Kuran's eyes were visibly watering yet maintaining composure, Torn and Brin't'a said nothing and appeared to accept the offering. KehG coughed then licked his teeth before speaking again.

"Which of your crew prepared this?" he queried. "I demand to speak with them!"

Before Aria had the chance to say anything, Nesh stepped forward to KehG's left, a pleasant smile on her face. "I did," she said, looking up at the Klingon. "It has a surprisingly smooth finish, doesn't it?" After it felt like it ripped your throat out, but Nesh had enjoyed trying the balance to get it just right.

The robust Klingon commander absorbed the entirety of the young Orion's appearance when she arrived and spoke. The youthful features of her olive-toned face and her tall, lean physique were typical of many of her kind. Yet the Starfleet civilian garments she wore were...a betrayal of all Orions, in his opinion. A tragedy -- a further example of what the Federation's assimilation could do to a once-proud race of starfarers. But despite his personal opinions, Captain KehG bared his sharp and crooked teeth. Creases tugged at the corners of his lips and across his cheeks as a rare smile graced his face. "The flavor is bold...like a Klingon warrior!" was his compliment as he took another gulp then coughed. "You have done well. For an Orion."

"It really is pretty great, Nesh." Naime added her own compliment to that of the Klingon's, the admiration she had for Nesh's skills audible in her voice. She meant it genuinely, perhaps this exercise in diplomacy would not be quite as fraught as she had anticipated.

T'Lin continued to observe. She could not help but wonder what it was about potent drink which dulled the senses and ensued bad decisions. It was so utterly illogical.

Nesh gave a small, almost seductive smile to KehG, glancing at Naime. She liked Naime and had to make a note of asking her what her favourite dish was...so it could be added to a future menu. She took a quick breath before bowing her head. "Your compliments flatter a poor Orion," she said, but with a playfulness. "I wrote down the recipe, in case you wanted it. I call it...Ferengi Despair." Seriously, she had. Although at the fourth attempt of making something drinkable, there was a certain amount of Nesh Saalm's rage in it as well.

"Ferengi Despair..." repeated the Klingon captain. His less-hostile facial expression progressed into a throaty, bass-filled chuckle. "It is true!" he expanded his arms in a gesture to all those present, "that we have now put these Ferengi baktag in their place. Together..." he surreptitiously glanced across his officers then back to the Galileo, "as allies."

The Nova-class commander, Tarin, had been watching. Observing. Judging and evaluating the entirety of the foreign delegation since they'd arrived on her starship. They were obviously Klingon. But more importantly, very Klingon. Her previous observations of their motives and conduct aboard their own vessel lent credence to her working hypothesis that there were active factions within the Klingon Empire who did not fully embrace the present alliance between the Federation and the Empire. Captain KehG was a difficult individual to read but his officers were more transparent. Morgan suspected there was more to their sudden appearance in the Pleiades Cluster than met the eye.

"Let us raise our glasses to you, captain. And your crew. For your assistance today in battle," said Tarin as she held her glass to face height. Her hazel eyes shifted across her own officers and to Nesh. "And to my own crew, who fought valiantly to afford us both this opportunity."

Mimi took an experimental swig of the bloodwine regretting it instantly as she almost spat it back out choking on its potency. "Keelah, taa lie cojuga"

Alexion finally took a mouthful, drinking it back with surprise at how close it was to the real thing. He let out a breath of satisfaction, partial to the stronger drink that reminded him of his well spent youth as a man of leisure.

T'Lin ignored the drink, for Vulcans avoided such things. Instead she just lifted her water glass instead. She did not want to get into a discussion of cultural differences for she knew that would come down to proving who was better in a physical way.

Aria took a small sip of her drink, judging the alcohol level to be...oh, three tequilas in that single mouthful. But she was practiced and smiled easily as she swallowed it down. And hey, she needed to keep her head clear so that was going to be enough.

"And to you," T'lin spoke up. "We are all stronger together than separate."

Glasses rose and more makeshift bloodwine was consumed, eliciting similar grunts of pleasure from the Klingons. Torn, the tactical officer, wiped his chin with the back of his hand. "I demand more of this...concoction," His eyes turned toward the young Orion before shifting back to his captain. "We should trade for her. Five of the Ferengi in exchange." It was a fair deal.

A single chuckle emanated from Captain KehG's throat. He barely entertained his junior officer's proposal except to enlighten the young warrior. "Do you not know who she is?" He turned his head and all of the Klingons now stared at Nesh and her distinctive, revealing Orion facial features. "Look closely at her face...the eyes...this is the sister of Admiral Lirha Saalm! The first Orion to command a Starfleet vessel. She is Federation royalty." Judgemental scowls suddenly spread across Torn and Brin't'a's faces. Kuran, on the other hand, neutrally observed the young sous chef.

"Didn't know you were that famous." Jeysa said quietly to Nesh in Orion with a slight chuckle.

"Then she should fetch a better price," Alexion said lightly, with humour so dry that a spark could set it alight.

Nesh looked at Jeysa and then Alexion, a small smile pulling at her lips before she clearly made an effort to school her features into something innocent. "Depends on who you ask, not everyone approved of an Orion female commanding a starship."

Tarin's hazel eyes narrowed and swept the table in a calculated manner. She tried her best to suppress the anxiety she and her fellow shipmates were feeling and used the awkward pause of silence to impart a compliment to the Orion. "Miss Saalm is an accomplished chef and bartender. And a Starfleet cadet," she slightly embellished. The half-truth was enough to not be seen through by the Klingon cadre. "In fact, she not only prepared this bloodwine, but also our meals. You are guests aboard my vessel, so don't disrespect a member of my crew or mistake her for a concubine..." was the commander's diligent warning to protect those who served under her command.

The message was apparently received as intended. Torn and Brin't'a silently scowled while KehG leaned back in his chair and raised his chin with proud concedence. "I am excited to taste your young Saalm's offering," replied the Klingon captain. The challenge was accepted. He raised his mostly-empty glass. "And to drink more of this!"

"Well then, we should drink and eat..." Nesh said and went to pour the wine, liberally refilling KehG's glass, her hand lightly touching his as she kept the glass steady, before she walked to refill the other empty glasses. She did not refill the glasses of her shipmates, because she had noticed most were barely tasting it. She put the bottle on the table, motioning to poor Laeon who had been dragged into helping as well. She went to fetch the food, the hot dishes first, then the cold ones, putting them on the table. There were some Klingon standards, but only the ones she was confident she would get right. There was also some Federation standards, from other planets, some pure protein, others pure carb with liberal amounts of spice, like the jollof rice. She always did think rice reminded her of little larvae so maybe the Klingons liked the look of that.

At the head of the table, Commander Tarin grabbed her utensil roll-up then began to unpack its contents using basic Human knowledge of dining cutlery practices. The audible clinking sounds of silverware falling onto the table suddenly ensued when the Klingons attempted to also unroll their utensils, replicating her actions without the same learned precision. A joint collimination of forks, knives and spoons dropping to the table and then to the floor echoed throughout the room. Several of KehG's crew looked at their feeble dining instruments then simply disregarded them, keeping only the napkins near their plates.

Mimi had caught the scent of the Klingon food long before it was bought out, it heavily overpowered the other foods around it. The smell and the look of it made her unconsciously but visible turn her nose up. "These look bad enough to put me off meat, and I am a carnivore." She idly remarked.

Nesh gave a mock offended look to Mimi, but there was a hint of a smile. The dishes she had put out was soy and garlic poached chicken, bregit lung with grapok sauce on the side, jollof rice with enough spice in it to re-activate a dying star, gladst in a rich black sauce, pipius claw, rokeg blood pie and everyone's favourite...fresh Gagh. She also put down a kimchi, Orion wing-slugs, a large bowl filled with sauteed fresh vegetables, Bolian cured meat stew, tempeh with satay sauce and spiced green beans, as well as, and even Nesh had giggled as she had put it together, Swedish Sandwich cake.

T'Lin only raised an eyebrow and decided the tea was the best course. Though there was vegetarian dish, who knew what spices had been added. She could detect them quite well. Perhaps the Smorgastarta might be worth a try. She couldn't help but quip to Ensign Mimi, "Perhaps we should have sold her."

The collective Klingon delegation began to eat -- with their hands, as was tradition. Within a matter of seconds, their conversation had completely ceased and only the chewing, slurping, and ripping sounds of various meats and side dishes were audible. Chicken, lung, gladst, and gagh were consumed by the mouthful while rice was scooped up into their digits and shoveled into their mouths. It was an impressive display which slowly unfolded over the course of many minutes. The Klingon appetite was living up to its renown, and there were frequent pauses in chewing to consume more of the Orion mixologist's makeshift bloodwine.

Halfway through his second portion, Torn raised his eyes to view the others at the table surrounding him. His own people were equally enjoying the food yet some of the Starfleet counterparts were deliberately avoiding the cuisine. His dark brown eyes shifted between the Vulcan science officer and the furry Operations deputy. "Is this food not good enough for you?" he bluntly asked between chews.

"Most Vulcans are vegetarians." Mimi began, she hadn't needed to look at Torn to realise his words were aimed partly in her direction. "I am required to eat meat and have a very strong sense of smell, I prefer my food to smell as good as it tastes. Klingon food....." Mimi stopped for an instant thinking of an appropriate but also diplomatic word but none came to mind quickly enough "..offends all of my senses."

Commander Torn quickly slowed his chewing then stopped. An amalgamation of various protein and carbs fell from his half-open bottom lip back down to the table while he stared with disdain at the defiant alien defying his culture. He swallowed the remains of the tasteful food in his mouth then spoke with sharp words. "You offend my senses, alien," he retorted. "Do not think because I choose not to reply, that I -" he looked across his side of the table, "-we, have not heard your previous disdain when you were aboard our vessel." Grunts of acknowledgement emanated from Brin't'a and Kuran.

The Klingon security officer scowled again at Mimi. "Are you a racist, ensign? All of us can see you hate our kind. It is in your body language. Your posture and your eyes. Your...tail."

Mimi's ears twitched, "I am not a racist," She turned to Tarin. "Permission to speak freely Sir?"

The short tense silence that followed the ensign's refutation was punctuated by a quiet clatter as Chief Naime dropped her cutlery to her plate and moved her chair slightly back from the table. As with the room as a whole, the chief was starting to wind up like a spring and the small movement put her in a better position to leap up to defend her people if things were to turn ugly.

Commander Tarin's ears would have fluttered if they were the same as the Nekomi's. Instead, they flushed at the accusation -- at the notion that one of her own was violating the very sanctity of the Federation and its core principles. That she, as the acting commanding officer, already knew about Mimi's requests to avoid the dinner and had forced her to attend anyway. It had seemed like a wise choice at the time -- to force her crew into uncomfortable situations for the sake of cultural exposure and to present a unified front in the face of the unknown. Yet within twenty minutes of dining, it had now turned into a liability. Morgan's eyes became severe when she looked to Mimi in order to convey her subtle message of caution and the ramifications. "Explain," she granted.

Mimi took a deep breath as she laid her cutlery down, some of the people around the table already knew the tale she was about to relay. "Your people killed an entirely colony of my people just because we would not let you force us to give you dilithium we would have happily sold you. You slaughtered them, I am the only Nekomi I know of that survived. We do not like violence but I would not hesitate to kill any one of you if I found out you were there." Involuntarily Mimi's claws came out slightly. "I am at this dinner because I am a Starfleet officer and was ordered to and am trying to restrain myself, the same as on your vessel. An order I protested heavily for these reasons."

"Peace, sir," T'Lin spoke up. "Due to cultural differences, I do not partake of the cuisine either. That is to say that I do not appreciate the time and effort nor deny our guests what they find delicious. I understand there have been problems in the past. We are attempting to set aside some of those grievances and celebrate we came together to handle a situation."

Most of the Klingon delegation resumed chewing their replicated gagh, but ever so slowly. Their collective gazes shifted with noted readiness between their commander and the outspoken gold-collared ensign. There was an audible crinkling sound from KehG's leather uniform when he leaned back in his soft chair and ceased his food consumption. Thus far, he'd silently observed the verbal parlay and had declined to comment; it wasn't his place to speak for his officers. But now...at the one named 'Mimi's' revelation...it was time to set the histories straight.

"I remember the time...after my campaigns during the Dominion War," prefaced the battlecruiser's captain, "after the Federation had already promised us new territory and worlds to govern if we fought the Jem'Hadar by their side. Which we did, to great success!" His deep voice was proud and boisterous. "But then, the negotiations between your people and mine became strained after the war. We always knew the Federation could never be trusted to fulfill their obligations, but after the Treaty of Bajor, your leaders stripped our rewards from us. Our rights to what your government had promised! Cardassia and its colonies; the Breen; even the colonies beyond the wormhole..."

KehG's slimy fingers interlocked in front of his chest while he continued to speak. "It became necessary for the Empire to look toward new worlds to expand and replenish our resources; new planets outside the Federation while we rebuilt our fleet and infrastructure. I remember...such a new world I visited while commanding the Bird of Prey Nercha. A planet we named Ra'chal'ka. A habitable world full of feline humanoids!" He pointed to Mimi, "Just like yourself! Athletic and pacifists, with substantial dilithium deposits under their lands. And with no warships capable of matching our firepower."

The Klingon commander's eyes narrowed with precision, now entirely focused at Mimi. "I remember your people. Your leader, Hikay. I was the commander who ordered your people to surrender your mines and refineries. Then, I watched the slaughter when your kind proudly chose to sacrifice your lives instead of sharing your resources."

KehG leaned forward, his elbows and forearms resting on the table before spreading wide. "I am the one responsible for your colony's fate. Will you kill me, now? Here, as you declared? To avenge your family?" challenged KehG.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CMDR Morgan Tarin
Acting Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Saalm]

ENS Mimi
Deputy Operations Manager
USS Galileo-A

LT Aria Rice
Chief Security Officer/Acting First Officer
USS Galileo-A

PO1 T'Lin
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Warraquim]

CWO3 Alexion Wylde
Medical Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Blake]

CPO Afthinam Naime
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Ullswater]

Nesh Saalm
Sous Chef
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Rice]

Laeon Wylde
Child
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Blake]

PO3 Jeysa Zeror
Yeoman
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Mimi]

Captain KehG
Commanding Officer
IKS Praxis
[PNPC Saalm]

Commander Kuran
First Officer
IKS Praxis
[PNPC Saalm]

Commander Torn
Chief Tactical Officer
IKS Praxis
[PNPC Saalm]

Lieutenant Commander Brin't'a
Chief Security Officer
IKS Praxis
[PNPC Saalm]

RSS Feed