Hands Full with a Handfull (Part 6 of 6)

Posted on 17 Oct 2023 @ 3:24pm by Commander Morgan Tarin & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius & Lieutenant JG Zara Ghemora & Lieutenant JG Montgomery Vala & Ensign S'Ers-a M'Lyr'Zor & Laeon Wylde
Edited on on 17 Oct 2023 @ 3:25pm

4,370 words; about a 22 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: Regula I - Level 16, Mess Hall 1
Timeline: MD 18, 2052 hrs

Previously, on Hands Full with a Handfull (Part 5)...

"Good evening, ma'am." He kept a respectful distance. He knew vulcans were not typically ones to favour their distant kin. "I'm Lieutenant Vala." Too formal! "Uh... Montgomery I should say. This is a party after all." He gave a very small, somewhat awkward smile.

Sera regretfully placed her utensil down to give Lieutenant Vala the appropriate attention. "Greetings, Lieutenant Vala." She studied him closely. There was something...ah. Her brows moved slightly in Vulcan measure of surprise.

"You are not Vulcan."

And Now, the Conclusion...

[ON]

Vala couldn't help but notice the tiny change to her facial expression. He'd spent enough time around vulcans to know this to be quite a strong emotional response. To be expected whenever these particular long estranged kin met, he supposed. "What gave it away?" He said maintaining his small smile. "And Montgomery is fine, given the festive surrounds."

He gave his name so...freely. It was most unusual. Her upbringing bristled at the thought of calling a stranger by his given name. Scandalous.

"Very well...Montgomery." Sera responded, acceding to his request to use first name and in doing so acting in a most un-Vulcan-like manner. Sweet Surak, what was she doing?!

Vala cleared his throat a little. "So... uhm..." Normally people introduced themselves in return when getting acquainted. Typical Vulcan behaviour. It had wrong-footed him terribly. "How... may I... what is your preferred form of address?" He almost grimaced.

Sera blinked. He was correct. She had not introduced herself. He appeared emotional about that. Fascinating.

"I am called Sera. I am an engineering officer." She was unused to having to offer things up about herself - however that WAS a requirement of conversation, and it was a necessity in order to create connections between others.

She motioned with her hand to a seat at the table as she was about to return to her Pok tar regardless of whether it would be considered inappropriate to carry on a discussion while eating. Such a treat should not be squandered.

Taking a seat, Vala attempted to regain some composure. "Good to be acquainted with you, Sera." He glanced at her plate, slightly envious that there had been Vulcan fare at the buffet, then looked back to her. "Have you just come aboard? Commander Tarin mentioned a new engineer was joining."

Sera tilted her head slightly. Ah yes, the scuttlebutt. That had not taken very long. "Likewise." His glance did not go unnoticed. The words were out of her mouth before she even had a chance to censor them. "Pok tar - made in the Southern manner. It is quite...spicy. Would you care to try?" SWEET. SURAK. She was offering food to a Romulan Male. The meditation that was going to be required for all of this was going to be quite comprehensive.

Vala stared at the food. He wanted to glance up to look at Sera but felt it might lead to an existential crisis for one or both of them. His mother had told him never to accept food from a Klingon, but... his brain was blank of advice for what to do when a Vulcan offered food. It was highly irregular. Highly irregular indeed.

"Its very kind of you to offer..." He slowly reached forward with a utensil, feeling that it was probably on balance politest to accept. "... I have never tried Vulcan food I must admit." He took a small amount from her plate, wondering what this tableaux must look like to an outsider. He took a bite. It was incredibly good. He closed his eyes as he ate. It was oddly reminiscent of a dish he had eaten back home on Dhaelthra IV. The awkwardness and strange nostalgia fought it out for a moment and the latter came out on top. Vala relaxed a little. "This is wonderful. Reminds me of a dish my mother used to make."

It was gratifying to hear Montgomery praise her favorite dish. She at least had the control to not let him know that. Instead Sera dipped her head slightly in an amiable nod.

"It would be fascinating to see the variations and potential commonalities between Vuhlkansu and Rihannsu quisines."

Sera realized she was attempting to engage in something that was utterly alien to her...'tiny talk.'

"I imagine many of our respective people would suggest there are few commonalities." He had met many Vulcans in his time and none had ever posed such a statement to him. Sera seemed to be unusually curious. "But I think there must be more than a few. Having worked with many Vulcans in the past I would say that both they and my people are... repressed." He looked at her closely to gauge her reaction. "My people enjoy wearing emotion on their sleeve, but it is a society where decorum, politics and duty are the defining characteristics. True expression is not permitted. Your people, if you do not mind me saying, are exceptional at regulating and repressing emotion through rationality, meditation and logic. As distant kin I suppose we have found ways to calm the inner core in one way or another."

"Yes, no doubt." Sera agreed. "It would appear irrational stubbornness is another commonality left-over from The Sundering. You speak of decorum, politics, and duty, but you leave out the most important aspect, at least that I have determined...secrecy." She chose at that moment to take another bite of the most agreeable Pok tar. Eating while carrying on a conversation could be quite useful, especially when requiring time to consider responses.

"It is logical, Montgomery. Neither side desired a return to the past. It was a world filled with aggressive passions and violence and almost destroyed Vulcan civilization...however...how exactly, I have no details. Much data pre-sundering has been heavily censored." Her brows bunched, a visual sign of turmoil. She had never engaged in such a conversation with an off-worlder before.

Secrets. They were certainly a hallmark of the Romulans. No people were more famous for them. He carried the burden of a few himself, not to mention the sense that certain thoughts and memories were best left unexplored. "I have never gotten on with the purity of logic. Emotions can be channeled in other ways. My people had many unhealthy outlets but the art, music, food and... creativity of spirit were not amongst them." Every sword has its beautiful hilt. "I know little of the time when our peoples were one. If it is censored on Vulcan you can only imagine what it was like within the Star Empire." He shook his head a little. "Another similarity perhaps - a fear of shocking, culture shattering revelations. My people denied their kinship with yours for a time but now we accept it but both Rihannsu and Vulcans fear to imagine a time when everyone might have lived in harmony together."

"Hence the Sundering." Sera replied, referring to his comment on not understanding Vulcan's wholesale adoption of Surak's teachings. "It IS rather...authoritarian."

Sera's eyes widened imperceptibly. This was the second time she had revealed something that should have remained private. What was going on with her control?

Vala raised an eyebrow and allowed a smile to creep over his lips. "Another fine similarity between our peoples." He couldn't resist a small chuckle - two peoples split asunder and still oddly living under the same authoritarian yolk. "Perhaps we should write a paper on it together. 'Ear-Resistible Similarities: From Vulcan Brows to Romulan Ridges: A Sociological Study'." He laughed. He was oddly giddy all of a sudden. He eyed his drink but it wasn't strong enough to be the cause of it. What a strange Vulcan she was...

Sera raised a brow in response and halted the motion of the fork to her mouth.

"Sciences are not my forte. I am...uncertain how much of a benefit I would be to your research." A deflection? You betcha. Because his suggestion, which she presumed was somewhat made in jest, was it a request to have further interaction(s) with her? He found her...interesting? No one found her interesting, not even Viruk.

Oh. Jokes did not land with Vulcans. Oddly easy to forget. Vala regained a little composure but remained amused by the absurdity of it all. It had been a long, trying day and this interaction had crumbled his defenses. "Well perhaps we could continue some... informal discussion of it. This will surely not be our last encounter. I hope not at least. You are the first acquaintance I have made who is not my superior." He smiled again. "We could share some of our peoples food in the future for example, and see how similar it is."

"I would find that...agreeable, Lieutenant Vala." Sera said after a brief moment of consideration. Actually she found the suggestion far more than just agreeable, but she did not want to appear over eager. Ah, the perpetual internal struggle within the Vulcan mind.

Sharing food...this was going into a strange territory of conflicting societal/species rules. It was going to take more than one meditative session to further parse out the inconsistent behavior she had exhibited towards Montgomery. Or she could just ignore it. Sacrilege. And, yet...

"You can call me Montgomery, Sera." He'd got too far down the conversational road to allow things to slip back to formalities. "I am sure we can find a good time for both of us once we've settled in. Sharing food would be very pleasing to me - it is a common way of eating amongst my people. Even on starships." He gestured around. "This 'banquet' is close to it I suppose but usually people will sit around a table with dishes of some variety in the middle." He indicated their plates. "I have always found this fixation on small plates of individual food very... alien."

Alien. Yes. Vulcans did not eat in such a manner. In fact just about everything about this current exchange would be completely frowned upon. Was she irrationally playing into some version of a game? Was he being sincere? Did it matter? a small part of her whispered. Never before had she been so affected by an exchange with another. It was most unusual for her...but she did not wish to do anything to jeopardize this exchange...or future opportunities.

"Vulcans do not speak during meals." She all but blurted out. "It is considered a time of silent reflection of the days events. What you speak of is quite...unusual. I would find the experience no doubt, elucidating."

What, on Vulcan, was she doing?!

"I am unsurprised by that facet of Vulcan culture." He had eaten in the vicinity of Vulcans many times - each in silence. "I must admit, though, that I was surprised to find your food so full of flavour. I confess I had thought that Vulcans would eat bland, nutritious food which met the exact calorific needs of a mealtime. So there is more to your culinary culture than I had imagined."

Vala's eyes then moved from Sera's to her plate, then back again. He continued to smile. "You are speaking now. This is, I would say, a meal. How are you finding the experience?"

"There are many facets of Vulcan culture that off-worlders are not aware of." Sera began. "And this experience is..."

Fascinating

"Agreeable. A most unexpected interaction."

Agreeable. Strong words. "Well I would love to learn more. Particularly about the culinary side of things. Food can be a fuel of course but it can also be prepared with intense emotion." He gestured to her plate. "How can one prepare such a dish if they are fixated on the logical ratios of ingredients. I'm sure it requires some... gut feeling to get the flavours correct. Perhaps this is a secret outlet that we non-Vulcans don't hear about."

Sera scrunched her brows slightly in furious consideration. "I cannot contribute logically to your assumption about food preparation. I..." Sera exhaled slowly, considering.

"Outside of preparing tea for guests I have never cooked a meal. However, prior to this exchange I had considered that it would likely be a process of mixing pre-set ratios of ingredients, and applying a particular source of heat to vibrate molecules and denature appropriate proteins, fats, and carbohydrates and hasten chemical reactions which would lead to an appropriate outcome."

Vala watched her closely. The topic was clearly testing her internal logic. "Well I am no expert, beyond fiddling with replicator programs to produce better Viinerine at least. But I do occasionally dabble. Enough to know there is a certain... ineffability to doing it well." He wondered what Vulcans would call it, because surely deep down a Vulcan chef would know what he spoke of. "Perhaps, if time can be found, you could try your hand at some cooking and see how good the outcome is if you calculate every part of it down to the molecule. You may be surprised that it doesn't taste like this." He gestured to her plate.

"A recipe is simply a diagram. I do not see any insurmountable challenges involved in...following directions, Montgomery." Oh pride goeth before the fall, perhaps?

She took another bite of the Pok tar as a punctuation on the end of her declaration.

"A diagram huh? Perhaps we should both cook something and share it for a meal in that case. I can taste the logical masterpiece you create and you can be aghast at the emotional mess I produce." He smiled.
Montgomery's offer, as self-deprecating as it was, sounded like a challenge. Sera was not a coward. She did not back away from challenges. It was not logical perhaps...but it was her modus operandi.

"Perhaps we should." Sera responded boldly. She was getting over her head here. She knew it, and although supposition, she intuited that Montgomery knew it too. Fvadt.

"It's settled then." He continued eye contact, biting the inside of his mouth to quell the urge to smile widely. His compulsion to peel the layers of logic away from this Vulcan was strong. There was something unusual about her. Almost like she was... questioning the orthodoxy of it all. "We can add the results to our... informal study."

Sera knew without a doubt that she had lost this round in a game beyond her understanding. She had committed a number of violations, and all within ONE conversation. Too many...not enough.

She quickly stood, grabbing her now empty plate, and stood there looking incredibly uncomfortable. "I must go."

Right. Go. Go before she said anything else, did anything else. It was a strategic retreat. No one had ever effected her logic in such a manner. And what was worse, she WANTED to stay, to continue. Irrational. She was irrational.

"Oh... goodbye." Vala said, the farewell falling into the mass of people who were already between them. He sat for a moment, trying to process the unusual conversation he had just had. Had he just witnessed an... emotional outburst? He scratched the back of his head quizzically then stood up. It had been an... unpredictable day. One thing remained on his mind - he really needed to try more of that Pok Tar.

A tall and well-built dark-skinned man casually approached the new science officer with a beer in his hand. "Tell me I didn't just see a Romulan and a Vulcan actually doing...conversation?" he jested to the unknown Galileo crewman.

Vala snapped out of his thoughts and looked to the new arrival. "Something akin to that, yes." He gave a slightly awkward smile. "Quite a refreshing back and forth compared to most of my previous encounters with Vulcans. The Galileo clearly attracts... unique individuals." He stood and extended a hand. "Lieutenant Vala. Montgomery."

"Chief Warrant Officer Lamar Darius. Conn," he greeted, shaking the taller man's hand with a hearty grip while offering his own small smile in return. "Are you...did we get a new representative from the Romulan government?" He innocently shrugged then held out an open palm. "Because I don't know anything about the Romulan ale rumors. Well, something about a freighter captain who was doing business here earlier in the week, but I didn't ask any questions."

"Nothing so grand. I am just a science officer." Vala smiled. "Though I am always interested in rumours of Romulan Ale." He winked.

"Oh." Lamar relaxed a bit then took a swig of his beer. "Well there's a lot of your type here on the ship. Science officers, I mean." He didn't want to ask what a Romulan was doing serving in Starfleet, at least not yet. He'd let the rumor mill propagate for a few days then get the juicy second-hand version of the story. The conn officer then glanced over to the food station where a young green-skinned woman was tending to the various chafers and serving crew members. "See that Orion there? That's Nesh Saalm, our former captain's younger sister. If you want the good stuff, she's the one to talk to." Then he lowered his voice and leaned in to whisper, "..I heard she's an artist...paints people's portraits while seducing them to get information out of them.."

Vala looked towards the indicated person. "That is useful information to know, thank you Lamar. I will keep it in mind." He did not respond to the talk of seduction and portraits, though it was interesting. It piqued a certain Romulan instinct within him that someone might be covertly gathering info. "I must admit I would love a cool glass of Ale. Though I have heard the captain runs a dry vessel?"

The conn officer nodded while sipping his beer again. "She does. Well, she did." He scratched the stubble in his goatee before softly shrugging. "A couple weeks ago we had an officer fall asleep at their bridge station after a night of drinking. That's the rumor, at least. I don't know Commander Tarin too well but honestly? Can't say I blame her for coming down hard."

Eyes widening, Vala was slightly taken aback. "That is shocking. Quite the rumour indeed." Most peoples of the Federation could not handle their drink, he internally mused. He'd always been mildly entertained when a human had ordered a Kali-fal out of pure machismo. They always ended up under the table after a sip or two. "A shame that the actions of an individual means we cannot enjoy libations aboard. Though as you say, its understandable that the captain would tighten regulations after such an episode." Vala made a mental note to investigate the incident further when he had time. "So, Lamar, what brought you to the Galileo?"

Another hearty swig from his beer almost emptied the pint glass. "Change of career," Darius casually answered. "I spent eight years in the marines before transferring to Fleet. I was a platoon sergeant in the 88th Orbital Drop Battalion. There wasn't much for us to do after the war ended so after a couple years of enlisted training, I joined Galileo in '89 as the chief of the boat. Got selected for a chief warrant officer billet a year later then transferred to conn in '91...the same year Starfleet disbanded the Marine Corps." Lamar finished his drink with a final gulp. "You?"

The famed and now defunct Marine Corps. Vala had often met members when it was active and now a whole raft of talented soldiers had needed to adjust to life in other roles. It couldn't have been easy. "Well since arriving in the Federation in '73," How time flies, "I have been between deep space assignments and the Daystrom Institute. This is probably the furthest I've been towards the edge of the Galaxy I'd say." He took a sip of his drink. "How have you found the Pleiades?"

Daystrom Institute, Lamar quickly recalled before musing to himself, Yeah, he's definitely an egghead. It was the place where the best scientists and academics in the Federation went to debate - for days - and write about - for years - all the new shiny asteroids recently discovered. Or maybe the genetic freaks from an alternate dimension they recently encountered in the cold station. He wasn't quite sure. "It's okay," he impartially answered. "Pretty far from home but there's a lot to study out here. Might be right up your alley." Motioning back to the food service area of the mess hall, he offered to procure another drink for the man. "Want another? I can talk to Nesh and see what I can do about the...'good stuff'?"

Vala raised an eyebrow. "I certainly would." He smiled.

Having sampled the station's offerings earlier in the evening, Ghemora had arrived to yet another Galileo event late, and regrettably still in uniform thanks to her temporarily missing personal effects. As most ate and drank and spoke jubilantly to one another, the Cardassian took no food and only the mildest of drinks, since there was no Kanar in sight. Retreating to a tucked-away seat in the busy room, the security officer had watched and listened, seemingly 'on alert' though she knew she wasn't supposed to be on duty.

While her sightline was strategic, she'd spoken to none as of yet, not actually knowing anyone beyond what their 'Sec Jackets' had listed. Ghemora knew better than to attempt to approach the Klingons across the hall but had been making mental notes of the comings and goings from their banquet. While the warrior species was of interest to her, she'd quickly picked up on how…unique the crew of the Galileo was.

Sipping something that tasted foul and would certainly rout her gut later, the Cardassian kept to herself, searching for the right moment to slip away in search of her missing personal effects. The last thing Ghemora wanted was to be noticed, though her unique appearance and physiology made that a near impossibility… Though she had spotted that other Cardassian woman earlier, so, clearly, her species didn't number as few as she thought in this distant sector of the galaxy.

"Uttaberry crepe? Stardrifter?" Laeon held a tray out in front of Ghemora with a warm smile, offering over the small rolled crepes stuffed with green berries, and a collection of small glasses filled with a bold green cocktail. Seeing as his bar area was now suitably covered with filled drinks, Nesh had sent him out to the masses.

Having been staring in the direction of the Klingon banquet, it took Ghemora a moment to realize the Vaeron was speaking to her. Glancing up momentarily before blinking and looking up to meet his eyes, the Cardassian glanced briefly at the offerings, and replied, "What's in the…Stardrifter?" she asked trying not to act too awkward though it was clear Laeon's sudden attention had caught her flatfooted.

"Honestly? I have no idea, Nesh made it," Laeon motioned over to the young Orion who was currently laughing with a crew member while serving up a bowl. "But...I gather it's sweet and smooth but very, very strong," he had to shrug with his smile, because he was technically too young to drink out. "She said something about it being the right time..."

Pondering it for only a moment, Ghemora's head shook before she declined, "No, I'm good, but thank you," she offered with a slight smile and a raise of the almost empty glass clutched in her hand. While the Cardassian's attention wanted to return to her surveillance of the rowdy warriors reveling across the hall, she kept her eyes on the young man as she waited to see if she'd done enough to satisfy his interest in her.

"Yeah, it is a pretty bright green..." Laeon chuckled, looking to the vibrant drink in question as he agreed with the perceived doubt from the woman. He looked back to her, taking her features in before shaking his head lightly. "I don't think we've met, are you new to the crew?"

Glancing briefly towards the Klingon party, the Cardassian's eyes fixated on the young man, "...Yes. As of today, in fact. I've only reported in to Commanders Blake and Tarin," she answered, doing her best to provide just enough information to not cause question, but added, "I just stumbled in not long ago. Since it was for the Galileo crew…" She offered a shrug as opposed to saying anything further.

"Well you're most welcome," Laeon gave an easy smile, holding his tray out as another crew member walked past, catching hold of a shimmering glass. "Our stop over here has been too brief, but it's good to see new faces. I'm Laeon. Laeon Wylde. My father is one of the doctors."

"Lieutenant Ghemora," the Cardassian replied, naturally including her rank as if it were part of her name before adding, "the new Deputy Security Officer," for clarification. The woman's eyes appraised the young man for a moment, as if putting him and his visage to memory, before she offered him the slightest of smiles, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Laeon. I do imagine I will meet your father soon enough."

"Hopefully not for professional reasons though!" Laeon laughed softly, shaking his head quickly as if to chase the prospect away. "It's nice to meet you, Ghemora. If you want anything else, just come and find me, but my repertoire is...limited."

Nodding to the young man with a smile in response to his jest, the Cardassian seemed to relax into her drink as he finally moved on, allowing her to resume her surveillance of the Klingons next door.

[OFF]

--

ENS S'Ers-a M'Lyr'Zor
Deputy Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A

LTJG Montgomery Vala
Deputy Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

CWO3 Lamar Darius
Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Tarin]

LTJG Zara Ghemora
Deputy Security Officer
USS Galileo-A

Laeon Wylde
Crew Family
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Blake]

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