Dinner on High
Posted on 19 Jun 2015 @ 1:09am by Commodore Da`nal of the House of Varal & Ensign Micah Flanigan
Edited on on 19 Jun 2015 @ 1:11am
1,144 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
M13-B: The Big Goodbye
Location: USS Achilles - Officer's Lounge
Timeline: En route to DS9
[Officer's Lounge]
Da`nal had arranged to have an area of the lounge reserved for his use as a 'Captain's Mess'. His table wasn't isolated from the rest of the lounge but just set aside enough to give his guest a bit of privacy.
Micah arrived a few minutes early to the mess hall, but stood outside the door first. The adrenaline rush of being picked first had subsided, but the thought of dining with a man of Commodore Da`nal's status was exciting enough. To be truthful, as the hour wore on throughout the day, his demeanor had changed from utter shock to actually looking forward to this meeting. He was still nervous as all get back, but he hoped that would help keep him on his toes.
Taking a deep breath, Micah walked up to the doors, which parted, revealing the Officers Lounge. He took notice of the slightly altered appearance of the lounge, which had been changed more than likely for this particular meeting. He walked over to the area and respectfully made his presence known.
Da`nal heard the approach and nervous breathing behind him as he inspected the Qagh that a steward had just left. There was a variety of dishes available of various races. Sucking some of the ghevI' sauce from his finger as he turned, "Good evening Ensign...I hope you are hungry. Please have a seat."
Looking down at the plethora of dishes on the table, Micah sat down at the table as instructed. Obviously, the Commodore had already begun, but Micah made sure to wait before he started. "Thank you sir," he said respectfully.
Taking his seat he leaned back, appraising the young officer across the table. "Well, I guess the obvious question is why. Why did you volunteer for a mission that would mean you might never see home again?"
Micah considered the question for a moment. "I suppose its because the thought of coming across something completely new and never seen before fascinates me. Everything we have seen is essentially a variation of something that we have seen before. I'm hoping that new puzzles and challenges will present themselves on this assignment."
Da`nal nodded. "As good a reason as any. How did you family take the news?"
"My family is full of Starfleet personnel, be they active or retired," Micah responded. "Most of them took it well, saying it was all part of the job." He paused. "My mother took it the hardest, but she rationalized under the banner of 'comes with the territory'."
Grinning as he poured. "Another words she isn't taking it well at all is she? Mothers, even Klingon, have a hard time letting go of their children regardless of their age or whatever position they may have achieved. While I don't believe we will be able to maintain communications with the satellites we will be deploying, there will be intermittent communications thanks to the reactivation of the Pathfinder Project. So you can let her know she can still keep in touch."
Micah nodded, realizing he hadn't yet taken his seat. "Thank you, sir," he said as he sat down. He relaxed a little bit after finally sitting. Since the others had already started, he took a look at the dishes to make his selection. He finally settled on something that looked like jambalaya, but he was certain was from somewhere far away from Earth.
As the young Ensign served himself, Da`nal lit the candle near the bowl of one of his favorites, qul DIr. Once lit, he skewered a piece of skin from the bowl of alcohol lighting the skin from the candle and popping the flaming morsel in his mouth. As he chewed he reached out and tore a claw of a large lobster-like crustacean. "You can drop the formalities here; this is a feast...not an inspection."
"Yes, sir." Micah said instinctively. He certainly loved Klingon culture, especially when it came to food. Feasts were literally one of the best things known to any culture. It also helped that his family was deeply rooted in food. As he took each bite he noticed his bites became a little more ferocious, at least as much as a human could make them ferocious.
Nodding slightly his guest got more into the feast. He gestured with a bone after picking it clean. "So tell me about yourself. What do you do in your spare time?"
Micah swallowed his bite and replied, "Recently I've been doing research on the works of Noonian Soong. I'm trying to re-create another viable positronic matrix."
Washing down his food he leaned back. "That is no small feet...something that many have tried and all have failed. Even Data himself was unable to recreate a stable matrix. What makes you think you can succeed?"
Micah replied, "I'm not necessarily so focused on success that it would drive me mad not to ever figure it out." Micah picked up his glass and took a swig. "I'm a realist, sir. I fully expect this to take my entire lifetime and even if I don't succeed, I'm certain I'll make advancements in the field that others can build off of."
Da`nal spun his drink on the tablet and he looked the young officer in the face as he listened, remaining silent for a moment after he had finished. Thinking to himself, ~He is ambitious yet aware he may never succeed...~. "Don't defeat yourself by entering the fight anticipating failure. Battle, be it on the field or in the lab, is often won before the battle ever begins. I will see that Data's schematics, his attempt to recreate himself, all the logs and numerous scans from his time aboard the Enterprise, even the information on Lore and Dr. Soong's previous models and Maddox's research will be made available to you. The answers are no doubt there waiting to be found."
Micah nodded. "I appreciate that, sir." He eyed something that look like an oversized shellfish. Not knowing what it was, he reached for it and put it on his plate. As he was cutting a piece off, he took a bite of it and was entirely surprised at the taste. It was exquisite! "What is this?"
Pausing as he cracked open a taspar egg, in his opinion one of the few contributions made to the galaxy by the Cardassians. "That is a Klingon shell squid. Grinning, as he decided to play with the Ensign, "I hope it was prepared properly, if not, most non-Klingons tend to get ill for days."
The look on the ensigns face was all that he had hoped for and Da`nal roared with laughter. When he stopped he took some himself. Not to worry...everything is replicated...only the Qagh is fresh.
Commodore Da`nal
CO
Ensign Micah Flanigan
Ops Officer
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