A drink after a long shift

Posted on Wed Feb 16th, 2011 @ 2:37am by Lieutenant JG Tramira Kyt & Lieutenant JG Talri

1,529 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: The Forests of Mythraeli
Location: Mess hall
Timeline: After "Where'd they go?"

Kyt more or less stumbled in to the mess-hall, rubbing her head.

She looked at the replicator.

"Food." She instructed it.

"Please specify a genre type for recommendations." The computer replied.

"Soup. Bajorberry Soup." Kyt noted.

"Recipe not found."

"Tomato soup. With the letters in it." Kyt said, after punching it.

Standing behind her in the line was Talri, whose own main concern was what she intended to order if the replicator couldn't give her decent Vulcan food. From the look of it, it appeared this might be likely.

'It does the replicator no harm to hit it,' she said quietly, wondering what the woman thought to accomplish by that.

Kyt scowled. "I'm a security officer. It's how I fix everything."

'That,' said Talri, 'is highly illogical. It is only yourself that you are-' she stopped suddenly, realizing that her comments might be unwelcome. She waited until the other woman had taken the tomato soup, before requesting her own.

'Plomeek soup,' she stated. The replicator complied, and Talri picked up her own bowl. 'I hope I did not offend you,' she said then. Non-Vulcans were so difficult for her to predict in their reactions.

Kyt looked at Talri, and laughed. "You know, after that bridge shift, with... someone I don't agree with... I didn't even notice." Kyt said. I almost said with Major Pain.

She shook her head. "I was hoping to find a few bajoran dishes in that thing. The Replicator's cooking skills are still not up to par."

Her laughter startled Talri, unexpected as it was, but she nodded her agreement. 'Fortunately for me, it seems to have a better recognition of Vulcan dishes, although whether or not they will taste anything like they are meant to remains to be seen.'

Kyt looked at the bowl of soup. She scowled. "Not my cup of soup, but luck to you on that."

'Thank you,' said Talri quietly. This woman was far more distressed than a bowl of soup merited, and it was clear to her that it had much to do with whatever had happened during her previous shift. It would do no good for Talri, who did not know her, to try to solve such a problem.

The smaller one, however... 'If you have the time,' she said then, 'you might try replicating the individual ingredients for the soup you want, and then making it yourself. The replicator is more likely to have the ingredients stored in its databanks than the recipe.'

"The replicator doesn't know what Bajorberries are. They are pretty hard to come across. They only grow in a specific point, during a specific season, and they are in high demand." Kyt said.

'That is unfortunate,' was Talri's reply. It seemed as if the only way to acquire the berries would be to visit Bajor, and that was hardly a practical idea. 'If you will excuse me...' she lifted her bowl slightly, and then stepped away, towards a table.

Kyt shook her head, and looked back at the replicator. She tossed the soup into the disposal slot. "Bajorberry Soup."

"Recipe not found."

A bajoran curse came from her mouth. "Strawberry soup!"

"Recipe not found."

Kyt shook her head again. "Berry soup!"

"There are three thousand, two hundred and eighty four types of berry soup available." The computer noted.

"Number 42. That's always worked for me." Kyt said.

A bowl of a strange looking substance replicated. She looked at it, and shook her head. "Why, I wonder, is Duck soup under berry soup?" She asked, as she sat down at the table with Kalri.

Talri, meanwhile, had tasted the soup from her own bowl. It wasn't quite like the plomeek soup she was accustomed to at home, but neither was it bad, particularly, so she kept eating. When Kyt joined her, she looked up. 'You have found something satisfactory?'

Kyt shook her head. "Apparently ducks are berries, but it'll do."

Ducks? What a strange thing to want to eat, thought Talri, but she ascribed the oddity to cultural difference, and just nodded, before taking another spoonful of her own soup. It was then that she realized she had neglected to introduce herself to the woman who was now her dining companion.

'My name is Talri,' she told her. 'I work in stellar cartography.'

"Tramira. If you follow human naming traditions, ensign Kyt Tramira, but most people call me Ensign Kyt anyways. I'm the acting Chief of Security." Kyt said with a nod.

Talri raised an eyebrow. 'I do not follow human tradition, Ensign Tramira,' she said. 'It is not so difficult to take into account the cultural variations of others. Indeed, I should say that in Starfleet it is quite necessary.'

Kyt shrugged. "I haven't bothered correcting anyone who addresses me as Ensign Kyt. It's just hard not to call everyone else by their rank and first name, that's all."

'Why do you refrain from correcting them?' Talri asked.

Kyt shrugged. "It seems that I'm not liked enough, as it is."

Talri thought for a moment, taking another spoonful of soup as she did so. 'That is not quite logical,' she told Kyt quietly. 'If they knew how to properly address you, yet refused to do so, that might be attributed to their personal opinion of you. However, you have not corrected them. It is likely that they are simply ignorant of the fact.'

"And, believe it or not, lady, some Security Officers actually don't like open confrontation. The Marine CO hates me already, and I know the Captain looks down her nose at me, and takes every suggestion I offer with a grain of salt or seven."

'With salt?' Talri blinked. 'It is not confrontation to inform someone that they are in error, and if anyone here hates you as you say, then they are the one at fault. To allow oneself such an emotional response to a co-worker is simply not rational.'

"With Captain York, or Major Raine, it seems that way, today." Kyt mumbled. "And I'm a Bajoran. Being Irrational is a racial prerogative."

'I have met very few Bajorans,' replied Talri. 'Even if it is as you say, that does not mean you will never benefit from an alternate perspective. I was merely trying to offer one.'

Kyt shrugged her shoulders. "Life is feeling a bit odd today. New job, new coworkers. Bridge shifts." She sighed. "Might be a bit more than I can handle. Not sure."

'You are new to this also?' New understanding dawned on Talri, and she nodded. 'I arrived yesterday,' she told Kyt. 'In some ways it is-' how had the counselor put it? '-a trial.'

Kyt chuckled. "Yeah, that pretty much describes my job description too, at the moment."

'It seems so,' Talri agreed. 'And yet you are here, and I am here. Through challenging ourselves in this way, we will grow in wisdom.'

Kyt shrugged. "I'm not here to grow in wisdom. I'm here to help the federation stop others from doing bad things to other people."

'Maybe so. An action can have consequences other than those directly intended, can it not?' She tilted her head fractionally. 'To prevent harm to others, however, is in itself a worthy aim. Is that why you elected to become a security officer?'

Kyt shook her head. "That's why I became a Marine. I've only been a security officer for about 24 hours."

Kyt's statement proved a few of Talri's prior assumptions wrong, but she gave no indication of surprise at this. 'I see,' she said slowly. 'Then I am asking the wrong question. As a Marine, you would have been fulfilling your need to protect others. What, then, prompted your career move to Starfleet?'

Kyt's face paled, and darkened, at the same time, and a rather uncomfortable expression hit her face. "That is not of your concern."

That was a curious response to a simple question, thought Talri, but it would have been discourteous to press the matter further. 'It was not my intention to be intrusive,' she told her. 'Forgive me. I shall not raise the matter again.'

"Greatly appreciated." Kyt said. She ate a spoonful of soup, and stared into it.

Talri too fell silent. She wasn't used to dealing with people who thought in ways she didn't understand, who broadcast their emotions so readily. She finished off her soup, setting the bowl down in front of her.

Kyt looked up. "Nice meeting you, I guess. Sorry I'm not that sociable today."

Shaking her head, Talri said, 'Do not apologize. I think it fortunate that we met as we did. I know very few people here, and I valued our conversation.' She stood. 'May we meet again in better circumstances, Ensign Tramira.'

"Likewise." Kyt mumbled.

:OFF:

Lieutenant JG Talri
Stellar Cartographer
USS Calypso

Ensign Tramira Kyt
Acting Chief Security and Tactical Officer
USS Calypso

 

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