Cooking for the boss

Posted on 03 Sep 2018 @ 3:15pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeysa Zeror & Nesh Saalm
Edited on on 04 Sep 2018 @ 1:42pm

2,918 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Rigel II, Avondale Production Facility Administrative Complex - Saalm's Quarters
Timeline: MD 111 - 2000 hrs

[ON]

Jeysa trundled down the corridor towards Captain Saalms quarters; a bag full of food to cook slung across her back, she was a little nervous after practically throwing herself in at the deep end with her new boss and she hoped that shee'd not make any mistakes and potentially give both Lirha and her sister food poisoning.

Reaching the door she took a breath and tapped the chime.

Nesh was sprawled on a sofa, thumbing through a review of various paint formulas whil Lirha was busy doing captainy things that bored her silly. "It's open!" she shouted through the door, not bothering to get up.

Stepping through Jeysa looked around marvelling at the luxurious quarters Lirha had for herself. A good view out the windows, well furnished and luckily a very well equipped kitchen.

"Good evening Captain." Jeysa said then turned to look at the other Orion in the room. "You must be Nesh? nice to meet you."

Lirha stood from the couch and set her PADD down on the coffee table when she saw her new yeoman enter her quarters. "Hello Jeysa," she casually greeted. "Yes, this is Nesh. My sister by birth," she teased the younger Orion.

"The DNA tests are lies," Nesh said amiably. "She's not my sister. She came out of pod." Nesh got off the sofa, noted the bag, and Jeysa's rank pips, "You know she's an officer right? They get working replicators. You didn't need to pack for the weekend."

Jeysa laughed. "I know." She said. "I made a.... discreet comment about my culinary skills and she decided to sample them, so here I am."

"Oooh," Nesh said, mouth watering at the treat. "Fresh cooked food! What's on the menu?"

"Haven't completely decided yet just how I'm going to cook what I've bought." Jeysa replied. "But I've a traditional Orion dish with a Trillian twist for a starter."

Lirha's stomach grumbled almost on cue. "I can't wait." She motioned toward the small kitchen area attached to the living room of her quarters. It was cramped but provided a full cooking suite for culinary needs. "Help yourself."

Jeysa nodded and headed for the kitchen, she slipped the bag off her shoulder and started to pull out its contents; a number of sealed containers of various foods and condiments.

"I thought I wouldn't miss cooking for myself," Lirha began to muse to Nesh, "but I might have to steal her recipe if it's good," she said, referring to the yeoman's ingredients.

"Given you're about to go swanning off to the arse end of the galaxy, I'd say you've already gone better than that. You're about to steal the cook." Nesh investigated one of the containers. A warm woody aroma floated out of it, something marinating, or maybe a salad dressing. "Which is probably a very good idea, based on the smell. Its probably going to taste amazing."

The distant sound of soft-trodding hooves emanated from the bedroom and quickly became louder and louder. Snuffles the Targ trotted out into the living room to inspect the visitor and the new aromas, his short tail swishing from side to side with curiosity. He'd grown quite a bit over the last three months and was now close to his full adult size -- tusks included. He looked up at Lirha then to Nesh with his small beady eyes, then grunted to say hello before walking over to where the tall Trill was standing.

Jeysa felt something touch the back of her leg, turning around she looked down and nearly jumped out of her skin sending several utensils skittering across the work top when she saw an almost adult targ nuzzling around her legs.

Nesh caught a spinning spatula and handed it back, nudging the snuffling targ away from the food bag with her thigh. "Snuffles! No! No you don't. This is people food, not targ food. Bad targ!" She reached down and scratched behind his ears. "Smelly beast," she said fondly.

The semi-domesticated Klingon boar squealed when the tall green woman denied him access to the delicious scent. He lowered his head and butted Nesh in the leg in retaliation, then pushed past her back to the counter. Targs were muscular and stocky; he was low-built and had trouble jumping more than a foot at a time. Yet despite his handicap, Snuffles reared up on his hind legs and poked his snout over the counter.

"Ooof," Nesh grunted as the nearly full grown targ shoved her. "Damn you're getting strong." She recovered her balance. "You better behave, or I'll turn you into a handbag and a set of nice paint brushes. Do you hear me?"

"Interesting choice of pet you have there." Jeysa said, with Snuffles a safer distance away now she turned back to her cooking.

Snuffles was well-trained for a juvenile targ of his age and it didn't take much shooing for him to eventually retreat from the countertop where the bipedals were preparing their food. He trotted back over into the living room where Lirha was, then butted her leg with his wet snout. She reached down and scratched in between his ears with her sharp nails, then gave him a couple hefty slaps on the side of his belly for encouragement.

"He's a lowland targ from the equatorial region on Qo'noS," the captain explained to her yeoman. "He's shorter. Stockier with more fur than other targ sub-species. But isn't he adorable?" she smiled, now letting him lick and slobber all over her open palm as she knelt down to pet him.

"He is the first targ I have seen that close." Jeysa said as she upended one of the containers into a frying pan, soon the smell of a traditional Orion food started to fill the room.

It didn't take long for the fresh scent of Lirha's native food to reach her nose. "Are those wing slugs?" she asked. Snuffles smelled it too and started to trot back over to the counter.

"I thought you'd notice that." Jeysa smirked. "A nice traditional appetizer for you."

Lirha frowned and turned to face the taller Trill. "What is that supposed to mean?" She then glanced at Nesh and gave her a hidden wink before looking back to Jeysa. "Did you assume that because I'm an Orion, I like wing slugs?" The captain's light green eyes narrowed at the racist comment.

"In my years with the ambassador I found the majority of Orions do like wing slugs." Jeysa replied a little concerned she had offended both Lirha and Nesh. "If I am mistaken then I apologise."

"Well..." the Captain shrugged lightheartedly and knew she couldn't argue with the Trill's assessment. Her people did love wing slugs, and they were considered a delicacy on the outer colonies. "That depends. Do you like them?"

"I tried them within about a week of arriving, if they are cooked just right they are nice but cooked a little too long or too little they tasted horrible." Jeysa said as she turned the slugs around in the pan. "I spent a good time trying out different ways to cook them and seasonings and such."

"I've changed my mind." Nesh said, pouring out some large glasses of wine. "Anyone who puts that much work into wing slugs is far too good to be banished to the butt end of the quadrant. I'm keeping her."

Quickly searching the cupboards for a bowl Jeysa carefully pulled each wing slug out of the pan and into the bowl, she gave them a light dusting of seasoning before putting the bowl down on the table. "Here we are."

Lirha didn't wait long to snatch one of the plump and sizzling pan-fried insects with her fingers and pop the thorax into her mouth. When she bit down, the lightly-crisped shell cracked and the warm and flavorful insides seeped out onto her palate. She chewed and closed her eyes, while inhaling to savor the delightful delicacy. "..Mm.." she mumbled with approval.

Nesh munched her own with quiet appreciation. "Oh yeah. What do I have to bribe you with to get you to stay here and be my cook?"

Lirha took a seat and grabbed another, then motioned for the yeoman to sit. "Join us." She wanted to see for herself how much the Trill really loved wing slugs. The final test, of sorts, to prove her culinary worthiness by enjoying the same delicacy she just created.

"Just a moment Captain." Jeysa said, she had a couple of little bits more to do. Having already heated up the oven she undid another couple of boxx and dropped its contents onto a pan in the oven.

While her yeoman continued to prepare food, the older Saalm looked at her younger sister and decided now was as good a time as any to pitch Starfleet life to her for yet another time. "You know, if you want to join us again," she said casually in between chews, "Starfleet perks include unlimited wing slugs." It was as good an offer as she could muster, albeit with a warm grin. "Artists need to be well-fed to find their motivation, after all."

"Ugh, no!" Nesh said, squeezing another slug between her teeth until the crispy batter popped. She had no intention of letting her sister know she now did have plans to be on the new Galileo. Lirha would only tell her mother, and then the plan to dodge her arranged marriage (arranged marriage? What was her mother thinking! this was not the twenty fourth century, not the fourteenth) would be blown to Kronos and back. "The uniform is hideous, the beds are hard, and all your crew is gay. I'd be bored and lonely in a week."

"I have to admit, you are right about the uniform." Jeysa said finally joining them at the table while she waited for the main course to cook. "I'm glad I didn't have to wear one all the time when I was at the embassy."

Lirha glanced up to the tall Trill and frowned ever-so-slightly. "Aboard a starship, we are properly dressed for duty every day." She eyed the petty officer with more scrutiny now, for she still didn't know her quirks and personality. "There is a reason we all wear it; you should both know," she muttered to her sister and the yeoman before taking another crunchy bite of her wing slug.

"I think I just need to get used to wearing it again, after a while it will be more comfortable." Jeysa said, she picked up a couple of the wing slugs and bit a chunk off.

"I'm never wearing it again." Nesh said with satisfaction. "I'm going to have mine ritually burnt. I swear they must give the designers instructions to make them as uncomfortable and as horrible as possible."

"I gathered that they are designed to be comfortable to wear for extended periods of time, I'll be fine after a few days but I might have to make a couple of adjustments" Jeysa stood to go check on the food. "It's a little baggy at the back."

"Keep eating this stuff, that won't be a problem." Nesh said happily from around another mouthful. "It's fabulous."

"Thank you Nesh, that is just the starter though." Jeysa said, she opened the oven and a smell similar to beef wafted across the room. "Nearly done." She pulled open another bag. "I had to cheat on the salad, it was hard to get fresh ingredients on short notice."

Arranging some plates she dished out the salad and pulled the well cooked main course out of the oven and onto the plates. "Here we are, the first ever Orion meal I had when I came to the embassy."

Lirha eyed the assembled food with silent approval then caught a scent of what could only be rajah'os muni -- another delicacy found within the Orion colonies which loosely resembled Earth beef. Upon closer inspection, the steak looked properly cured and marinated, and she couldn't wait to see if it slid effortlessly off the bone.

Nesh had none of her sisters restraint, and was quickly taking the marinated stakes from the serving platter to her plate. It only took a little nudge with her fork to get the meat to separate from the bone. "Oh my goodness this looks good.!" She cut a small piece of and ate it daintily. Then she made a noise that shouldn't really be heard in polite company. "That's fantastic. Like. Totally perfect."

The older Saalm followed Nesh's lead and started to serve herself from the assembled dishes. Once she'd compiled a good portion, she procured her utensils and went to work. Lirha forked a hefty bite of the meat into her mouth then closed her eyes and hummed, finding the taste more than satisfactory.

Not having eaten yet herself and having cooked enough for all three of them Jeysa sat down and joined in. "The ambassador took me to dinner when I first arrived, this is what we had and it was incredible."

"What was his name?" Lirha asked before stuffing a large forkful of steak into her mouth. She wondered if she knew the representative.

"Ambassador J'kala." Jeysa replied after a mouthful of food. "He's been an ambassador here for the last... 10 years or so."

Nesh swalowed her mouthful. "That skeeze? Didn't he try something dodgy with Mama a couple of years ago?"

"Mmhmm..." Lirha verified while chewing, now with an unimpressed expression on her features. She knew who the ambassador was not only by name, but by personal reputation; and she'd also known that Jeysa had been assigned to work under him the moment she'd seen the yeoman's resume. She still had to ask, if for no other reason than to be polite before expressing her displeasure for the man.

"He's not the most reputable diplomat in the quadrant," the older Saalm added in a severe understatement. "But I suppose any Orion who has to negotiate with Starfleet on a daily basis is a bit...different from the others."

"Not that different," Nesh muttered under her breath, thinking of her mother's plans. She had a particularly low opinion of her own species just then. "He still a skeeze," she said with more volume. "I hope he didn't try anything?" The yeoman was only a bit older than Nesh, which meant the middle aged J'Kala would have considered her perfectly acceptable. Creep.

"He must have changed in the last few years." Jeysa replied. "He was always a gentleman around me, maybe he got.... scared straight by what happened to his last aide."

Nesh couldn't leave that one alone. "What happened to his last aide?"

"She got into a little trouble with the syndicate..." Jeysa stabbed her meat hard with her fork. "That kinda trouble."

"Thats a very wide pool of potential possiblities," Nesh pointed out. "come on, dish the dirt. All the gossip."

"She developed a problem, got too into the Orion lifestyle, wound up borrowing money off the syndicate, money she then lost and couldn't pay back." Jeysa explained. "They let her off with a broken arm and ribs at first. Then one morning J'kala found her in 3 peices with a note telling him to keep a better eye on his staff."

Lirha listened to the semi-plausible story with silent scrutiny. She knew better; Starfleet yeomen weren't just murdered to send a message. They were far more valuable on the slave market, especially the women. There must have been more to the story.

"What did she go into debt for, originally?" Lirha casually asked.

"Drugs, gambling, that sorta thing, too much of the good life." Jeysa replied.

Nesh was chewing enthusiastically through more of her steak. "Sounds like she was just dumb. And he was dumb to pick her. I think you're doing the right thing to get the hell out of there."

Slicing off a large chunk of rib meat, Lirha couldn't help but notice the irony in all this. "So..." she paused to stuff the fork into her mouth and then chew, "you've gone from serving one corrupt Orion politician to now serving a criminally-convicted Orion commanding officer." She closed her eyes and happily took a sip of her drink before looking up at the two of them with amusement tugging at the corner of her lips.

"Those charges were bullshit!" Nesh corrected. "It was a dodgy show trial and everyone who was there agrees with me."

The older sister looked down to her plate to eat in silence for a moment. As much as she wanted to openly agree with Nesh, she knew deep inside that she'd violated at least some level of trust and conduct as a commanding officer. She'd replayed her decisions thousands of times over the past nine months but it'd ultimately proven a fruitless endeavor.

"We heard a little about your trial back here, it caused quite a stir." Jeysa remarked.

"Really? What did they say?" Nesh asked as she cut another morsel.

Lirha glanced up to the yeoman and knew this would be good gossip. Thankfully for her, the captain was far enough removed from those past traumatic events that she could find levity in the ridiculousness of it all. "Yes... What did they say?" she asked Jeysa.

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A

PO3 Jeysa Zeror
Captains Yeoman
USS Galileo-A

Nesh Saalm
Civilian
[PNPC Derani]

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