Food, Glorious Non-Replicated Food
Posted on 31 Aug 2017 @ 11:44pm by Commander Marisa Wyatt & Commander Aren Ban
3,093 words; about a 15 minute read
Mission:
Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: San Francisco - Earth
Timeline: MD 29 - 0800
[ON]
The inquiry was over, which was a sigh of relief for Aren. While not particularly worried that anything would go wrong, Aren was glad that everything was over. He knew that he had made mistakes and that there would be some sort of reprimand in his file at some point, but it wouldn’t prevent him from getting a command one day, at least he didn’t think so. But for the moment, Aren wanted to just get away, he wanted to something fun. He remembered a trip that he had been a part of during his time at the academy. It was a backpacking trip in the Pacific Northwest, near a mountain called Mount Hood. He had fallen in love with the spot, and it was a place that he enjoyed going to when he had time.
Aren had heard about some of the crew’s inquiries and how hard some of them had had it. While he hadn’t asked for any details, nor would he have wanted them, he did care about those he served with. Many were crew members out of necessity, but they also became friends. He had heard that Sandoval had had it a little rough and he wanted to check up on her before he left. He messaged her, asking her if she wanted to join him for a cup of coffee at a small café near Torpedo Warf that looked up at the Golden Gate Bridge.
Aren sat at a table looking up at the bridge which was shrouded in the marine layer. It was very serene and quiet this time of morning, set down the coffee cup, and picked up his PADD, checking the time before returning to his book.
Marisa wasn't sure if she expected to hear from any of the Galileo crew or not, so she was both surprised and pleased that Commander Ban wanted to know how she was doing. She'd taken to dressing comfortably while she waited for a decision from Starfleet, so today she was wearing a pair of black jeans and a sapphire blue blouse. It helped her feel anonymous and right now, that helped. She walked into the café and saw him at a table near a window looking out over the Golden Gate bridge. It was a spectacular site. "I see why you like this place," she said when she arrived at the table. "I spent most of my time in the Academy studying so I missed this."
Aren looked up at the sound of Sandoval's voice. He put down his PADD and standing as he moved towards the open seat at the table and pulling it out. "Good Morning, Lieutenant. Please have a seat." He let go of the chair and returned to his seat. "I used to study here all the time, something about the fresh air and the coffee." He said with a smile.
Marisa smiled her thanks as she sat down. "I'd spend more time looking out the window than studying." She looked out the window again, watching the traffic around the bridge. Then she turned her attention back to Ban. "How are you doing?"
Aren smiled in return. "Back on Trill, there was place not to far from where I lived that had scenery similar to this." He motioned to the bay and the slowly receding marine layer. "I just really enjoy the breeze. Though it helps that I seldom used real paper," he said with laugh, "It just really helped me think sometimes." He said as reached for his coffee taking a sip. "I am doing well. Better than some it seems. How are you?" He asked, with a tone that seemed to let on that he had an idea.
"Can we move on to the next question?" Marisa asked, half joking. Then she shook her head. He'd find out soon enough. "I've been relieved of duty until Starfleet decides what to do with me. I'll probably be reassigned to science, but I can't go back to counseling until I get some help."
Aren nodded. He hadn't been expecting Marisa to be so abrupt. But the more he thought about it did seem like her personality. He sat quietly for a moment, absorbing her words. "I am sorry to hear that." A look of genuine concern crossing his face. "What sort of help does Starfleet want you to get?"
"They didn't specify other than I have to deal with my anger issues. My mother would be appalled at my lack of self discipline." She smiled apologetically. "I'm still dealing with Kreanus. Once I do, I'll be fine." Or she hoped so. "I'm sorry for being so brusque. I am...processing what happened." That was a lie. She was processing Starfleet's decision. SHe was not ready to deal with Kreanus yet.
To change the subject, she asked, "How did you fare with the inquiry?"
Again Aren couldn't help but nod. He didn't know Marisa very well and while there friendship was is in its infancy he still couldn't quite read her, though there seemed that there was something that was still unsaid. He didn't want to press it, it was best left to her to reveal. "I can understand that. And there is no need to apologize, there is a lot going on...that we have to process and confront. Things that we would otherwise wouldn't like addressing." He said, hoping that he wasn't sound patronizing. "If you need to talk about, I am here for you as a friend, and as superior if you need that too." He said before taking a sip of coffee.
"But to answer your question about the inquiry, I believe I fared pretty well, but we will see in the coming weeks. If you asked that question two weeks ago, I would say that I would be headed to the brig soon." He said shaking his head.
Marisa hadn't heard anything about how the others fared, but she'd been worried. "I hope you don't end up in the brig. From what I saw, I don't believe you did anything to deserve that; but I guess none of us can say for sure where we'll be a month from now." She wasn't quite ready to talk about what happened on Kreanus, but it was nice to know she had a friendly ear if she needed one. "And if you need a friend to talk to, I'm here, too." Even if she couldn't do it professionally, she would gladly talk to any of the crew who needed someone to listen. What was the old saying? Shared pain lessened, shared joy is increased, thus we refute entropy. "I need to take my own advise," she muttered to herself.
The corners of his mouth upturned into a slight smile, one of the first that had been genuine since their return to Earth. "I second that notion. I do not envy the flag officers that had to conduct the inquires. There is a lot of information, both in the form of testimony and actual data to go through, and there are going to be some really tough calls that will have to be made." Aren said, as he turned his gaze out to the bay for a moment. "In my limited experience, usually it is easier to give advice than to act on it, especially when one knows that they need to follow it." He said before looking back to Marisa. "And I do appreciate it. I have felt that I really haven't had anyone to talk to since we came back to Earth, that really means something to me."
"Any time," Marisa assured him. "Just let me know when and where." She wished she could hug everyone who'd come through the inquiries and let them know it was okay, but she wasn't sure if it would be appreciated. The thought made her smile.
Aren smiled a little bigger at her comment. "I most certainly will." He said as he took a final sip of his coffee, looking at the Golden Gate bridge, slowly begin to take form as a the marine layer burned away. "Are you hungry? They cafe makes a mean egg white and spinach omelette, they use real eggs, and there coffee is real coffee beans." He said. While food that was replicated was infinitely preferable to survival rations, there something about real food, that a replicator just didn't quite get right.
"That sounds heavenly. I haven't had a real omelette in ages," she said, smiling broadly. She always preferred home-cooked food to replicated food when she had a choice.
Aren flagged down one of the wait staff. He had been coming here for a number of years, both when he was a student and a teacher, and had gotten to know the staff. "Good Morning Stephanie, can I please have menu for my friend please?" He asked her. The young human women smiled and nodded, and spoke with a bit of twang. "Sure thing!" She said happily, as she reached into her apron and pulled out a small 8.5" x 11" piece of semi-plastic paper. She handed it to Marissa and smiled. "I'll be back in a few minutes, can I get you started with some water or something?"
"Orange juice, extra pulp, if you have it," Marisa said, taking the menu. "Thank you." She scanned it, looking for omelettes. There was a nice list of options.
When the waitress returned, she was ready. "I'll have an omelette with mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, and cheese, please. And salsa on the side."
"The Chef special for me please." Aren said, without having to look at the menu. "And thank you Stephanie." She smiled and nodded, before turning and leaving to place the order.
"Are there any places in San Francisco that you liked to visit? I know you said you didn't get out much when you were at the academy, but was there a favorite spot that you had?" Aren asked.
"The Museum of Antiquities and the Museum of the Americas. I used to visit them at least once a month." Marisa knew every room in both museums, she visited them so often. "And when I had several days, I'd go north into the mountains."
Aren nodded. "I will say that Earth that some spectacular mountain ranges. The cascades north of here are beautiful as are the Himalaya's. For me, the best time to see the mountain's are during sunrise." He said with a slight smile. "I can't recall ever being to either of the those museums. What are the main exhibits?" He asked with genuine interest.
"The Museum of Antiquities is trying to collect artifacts from all the ancient civilizations on Earth, although they have a room for traveling exhibits from other planets. They had one on ancient Vulcan when I was in my third year that was fascinating. There's a room that shows the earliest dynasties in Asia and Africa that is also fascinating. If you go downstairs, the entire outer wall is a timeline comparing all the known cultures from the earliest recorded history to World War III."
Marisa's eyes were sparkling as she spoke. "The Museum of the Americas covers the Americas from pole to pole. While I spent some time in the North American rooms, most of my time was spent in the Central and South American rooms. I wish there was more information, but what they have at least gives you a basic overview."
Aren nodded. "That sounds pretty interesting. Was -" Aren started when Stephanie came by there food. "For you the Chef's Special, and for lady, we have a mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, and cheese omelette with salsa on the side." She said with a smile. "Is there anything else I can get you two?" She asked.
"No, thank you. This looks great," Marisa said. The omelette looked amazing and smelled even better.
"Very, just let me know if there is anything I can get you!" Stephanie said before turning to leave.
Aren took a bite of his own omelette. "Nothing can beat the real thing." He said in-between bites. "I can't remember the last time I had a none synthesized meal."
Marisa nodded in agreement. She was too busy enjoying the taste of a real omelette to say more. It had been far too long. Maybe on her next assignment she'd invest in an omelette maker and find a way to get some real eggs once in a while to make her own. She was pretty sure she could grow the herbs she'd want, and stock up on others when they ship docked somewhere.
Mushrooms and cheese would be more problematic. Maybe she'd have to work out a deal with the chef or quartermaster?
Aren took a sip of coffee. "I wish that I had grown up with food like this." He said motioning to the coffee. "They didn't have anything like this on Trill. Not only that, but the this is the real thing, it is amazing. So is there fresh squeezed orange juice!" He said shaking his head in amazement. "I wonder if we could grow something like these in a hydroponics bay, or I wonder if we could also set up a minor Aquaponics station for some fresh fish too!" He said with a small smile.
"It's possible. You'd have to talk to the head of science on your next ship. As long as you can cross-pollinate the fruit trees, you should be able to grow them in a controlled environment. You couldn't grow enough for the entire ship, but you could get a dozen trees or so. It honestly depends on what you want to put in your arboretum and hydroponics. Same with fish. It's possible, but you have to deal with space and filtration for the water." Marisa grinned as an image came to her. "It would be fascinating to have a fish tank that fills an entire wall of an observation lounge or other large room." She didn't realize how much she missed non-replicated food until now. Many things just didn't taste the same on a starship. "I could get spoiled with food like this." She focused her attention on her meal, adding a generous amount of salsa to her omelette before she bean to eat.
"As long as the there is a well established system, for the aquaponics, we would really only need to worry about feeding the fish and filling it with water. WE would just need to be careful to balance the amount of fish so they provide enough nutrients to the plants." Aren said thoughtfully, before taking a bite. While he chewed he pondered the idea for a moment longer before swallowing. "You know, if you have time, it might be helpful to design a prototype. Supplemented with Hydroponic's you could get a far amount of fresh food stuffs, if not daily, at least weekly." He said with a continued smile.
Marisa considered that for several moments and smiled. "I'm surprised it's not being done already. I guess it's because replicators are easier to deal with. If there isn't some paper about it somewhere, I'm sure I could work something up. It's more a matter of weight, space, and consumption." It was an interesting challenge that would take her mind off recent events. A little research and a holodeck should be sufficient.
"I am sure that there are some working systems around Starfleet, though I haven't seen any that are labeled as standard. I think one of the biggest challenges is scale. For smaller Nova or even intrepid class ships, I don't think it is much of a problem, as long as there is space dedicated to the system. But for Galaxy and Sovereign Classes, I think they are just too big for the space required for fresh produce and fish." Aren said with a shrug. "Though finding the right fish that is both good to eat, robust, doesn't spawn too quickly or to slowly, and produces enough nutrients for plants I think will be one of the biggest challenges." He said with a laugh.
"Yes. A smaller ship would be better equipped for such a venture." Marisa pulled a small PADD out of a pocket and began to make notes. "Colony ships would be the best place to start looking. There are hybrid plants specifically designed for long trips in space. Surely someone thought of fish, too." Hadn't she read something for some class about krill? Something else to check out. It might lead somewhere useful.
Aren nodded. "There might be something in a database about it. I am sure there have been small scale tests before. But I don't think it was really ever full implemented, again as Starfleet has full access to replicators and are usually not THAT far from Federation space. Though now that I think of it, I know the Voyager mission had an extensive use of a hydroponics bay out of a converted cargo hold. Taking what they learned there, we might be able to apply that to an Aquaponics system...." He said, taking a bite from his meal which was nearly done by this point.
Marisa nodded. There were some good records from Voyager. The crew had to make do with whatever they could manage for most of their journey. She swallowed the last of her omelette. "I'll definitely look into it." She smiled at Aren. "The idea has merit. I'll let you know what I come up with."
Aren nodded. "I look forward to seeing what you can come up with." He said with a soft smile, before taking the the last bite of his meal and gently pushing the plate away, patting his belly for a moment. "Real food would be nice every once in awhile ever since I was joined, I crave real food far to often." He said remembering the first few months after joining.
"This was a great idea. Thank you." She didn't realize how much she'd missed real food until this meal. And Aren's idea had real merit. She was excited to see what she could find. It gave her something to look forward to while she waited for Starfleet to decide what to do with her.
Aren smiled as they continued to discuss the various aspects of Hydro and Aquaponics, even going as far as to discussing certain recipes that could or would work best...
[OFF]
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Commander Aren Ban
Executive Officer
Lieutenant JG Marisa Sandoval
Former Chief Counselor
USS Galileo