Posted by Lieutenant Commander Janusz Korczak (Counselor) in Mess Hall - Open Thread

Posted by Commander Maxwell Harkness (Executive Officer) in Mess Hall - Open Thread

Posted by Cadet Simon Starr (Security Officer) in Mess Hall - Open Thread
Posted by… suppressed (9) by the Post Ghost! 👻

[Snip]

Catt smiled she was at least in part correct so far. That was pleasing. She had a theory as to how it was possible to get hot home made food made by the councilors mothers own hand out here near the Klingon and Romulan borders. But it would be impolite to render another guesd before all of the others had tried. So she instead turned to face the XO.
“I have as my baggage sir brought seeds and soil for the continuation of my research if that was permitted. While half the soil is contaminated the soil for the control group is perfectly viable for a small vegtable garden. I also have a small hydroponics setup I intended to use as a further platform for both control and testing. Between them I may be able to provide some relief from routine replicated dietary substances. Asking for permission to bring that aboard was part of my intention at my meeting with Lietenant T’Kam tomorrow. But as you are both here and the requrst would need to be relayed to You anyways sir. It seems logi al to catcj two flyiers with one cast rock. Thougj why cadting tocks at flyers is used for such situations escapes me.”

Cadet Catt Bennet. Sciences. USS Challenger.

“I brought some seeds, too. Perhaps we should build a hydroponics bay, Bennet!” Rhese suggested.

Starr had to admit he was intrigued by the idea that Catt had. It reminded him of his days back in England on the farm with his parents. “To be fair, I’m not the scientist here” he said with a chuckle. “Though I have to admit, I do have a soft spot for vegetables, and well, these ones are delicous, and they’re on par with the ones my family grow on the family farm,” he said as he tucked into a carrot on his plate from the counselor’s banquet.

Simon smiled at the caitain’s expression “We actually have a similar expression on earth. Two birds with one stone, though again, where that comes from I have no idea,” he said with a slight chuckle. “Well, not officially at least,” he continued “there are a few theories, however.”

Cadet Simon Starr, Security

Catt swiveled an ear to face Cadet Starr. Her head turned to look at the security officer as was polite in human culture.
“My experiance of Galactic standards earth idioms is limited. Thank you for correcting my usage. My first language Caitan uses body language heavily. And my second language uses tonal variances to modify meanings. So Galactic Standard can often be confusing in it’s monotones. Also unlike most Caitans. I have a bad ear for linguistics.

Cadet Catt Bennet. Sciences. USS Challenger.

Max had not joined the group in the mess hall. It wasn’t for lack of being social. It was a combination of him only grabbing a cup of soup and heading back to his quarters to do some reading before catching some sleep before his next shift in sickbay and that he had the vague sense that the ship’s counselor was trying to trick him into a confession of some sort. No good could come of this sort of casual interaction, as far as Max was concerned. He walked past the table holding his soup in both hands as he caught a piece of the conversation, notably Starr’s reference to killing two birds with one stone.

Max stopped for a moment, weighing as to whether he should interrupt, then finally chimed in. “Sorry to eavesdrop, Starr” he said, having met Simon previously in the lounge. “But I believe one of the earliest sources for the expression is from the Christian bible. One of the epistles, I believe.” Max then paused, taking a sip of his soup.

Cadet Max Woolley (Medical)

“That is indeed one possible origin, though it has also been made in reference to greek mythology, which would then predate the bible. It could have also originated from a chinese saying” Starr replied. “Of course, all of these predate the theory that it was an expression from the early 17th Century, but that’s history for you. All of them are possible, but as to which one is correct - there is no evidence necessarily pointing to that.” he added, making it clear that he reserved his own opinion and was only providing facts. He knew theories were important, especially to the scientists - but Starr was into law - and he knew that evidence was key for each of these. There was none to say exactly which was the case in this instance, so he left all of them as open possibilities.

“Of course, this is unrelated to our counselor’s question. How did he get the food here - I probably have to go with Rhese’s theory - however how it would have got here from Earth and remained warm, even in insulation - is beyond me - unless it had been reheated somehow, which would have affected the taste,” he said, finishing off the fresh chicken on his own plate.

Cadet Simon Starr, Security

“Ah, but he didn’t say they lived on Earth. My hypothesis presumes they must live nearby,” Bowman added, looking to the counselor for confirmation.

Cadet Rhese Bowman (Scientist)

Korczak listened with interest as the Cadets made their suppositions and hypothesis known. All in all, they were very logical and well thought out. At Bowman’s look, Korczak sat his fork down and dabbed the corner of his mouth with a napkin. He then took a sip of tea, and sat the cup back down. Looking at the XO, he chuckled.

“And now Cadets, you have witnessed first hand why it is so important to work together; not just in your sections, but with you crew as a whole. Well done, all of you. All of you, in one way or another, are correct… to a point. Yes, the food was not brought on by transporter. Yes, it was brought in by shuttle. No, it was not sent to the ship via the station we are currently docked at. No, they have not be reheated. No, my parent’s do not live near by. And while I did not say so, a correct observation from Cadet Bowman, they do live on Earth. So all of your suppositions have been fairly accurate, given that all the information you had to go on was I received perogis in a care package from my mother.” and he chuckled softly which seemed more like a odd kind of wheezing sound.

“And as I am sure the Executive Officer is also curious as to how these arrived on his ship, I will tell you this. There are certain advantages one encounters when they have familiar relationships with retired Rear Admirals.” and he laughed / wheezed again softly. “My mother, while an amazing cook and a wonderful woman in her own right, is retired Rear Admiral Miska Korczak. She prepared these and then flash-froze them uncooked and sent them to the ship with a supply transport before we left to come to the station. I simply kept them frozen until I had time to boil them. And she sent enough so that I could give some others a treat as well.” and he gestured to the remainder of the soft filled pastries to indicate everyone should take as much as they like.

Korczak, CNS

Max smiled at the pleasant conversation arising from his passing intrusion. No further commentary was really necessary. He had not, after all, been there for any of the discussion of the pierogi and lacked any context as to the significance of why these particular boiled carbs were anything special. Still, he was glad to have walked into an interesting discussion of history, however brief, and apparently a lesson in teamwork on top of it all.

“That is history, indeed” Max said simply with a smile, raising his cup of soup in a mock toast to Starr. He nodded to the others as a signal of his impending departure toward his original destination. His rack, a book and this cup of soup before hopefully a few hours of restful sleep to carry him through another shift in sickbay.

Cadet Max Woolley (Medical)

Rhese nodded in response to Woolley, who he’d met at his physical earlier in the day, as he was headed out. He smiled, then, to Korczak, at the simplicity of the matter he’d related; appreciating how “school” was most definitely not over. It had been a good exercise in learning to work together; and in the process, Rhese had appreciated also getting to know a little bit about his new crewmates. “You’re right, it was pretty simple, Counselor,” he said, still smiling, as he proceeded to finish off his last bit of salmon. He proceeded then to his replicated akutaq.

Cadet Rhese Bowman (Scientist)

Simon also returned the nod to Woolley before he took his leave. “A simple explanation, of course, the twist on being related to a retired Rear Admiral. It seems so many people have family connections in Star fleet” he said, thinking that he would be the first of his family to pick up the uniform. “Then again, there is the usual stigma that comes with that about living up to your family’s reputation - and that can sometimes mean it’s harder to succeed on one’s own merits, at least that’s what I found when I was working on my parent’s farm,” he said, thinking how everyone used to compare him to his parents.

He wasn’t exactly the best businessman or farmer, but he could move things, that was always a bonus. His experiences in the academy had developed that further, and it was there where he found his interests outside of being a farmhand.

Cadet Simon Starr, Security

“And that Cadets, is called cheating,” Max said laughing as he speared another potato with his fork. He took a bite between laughs. “As for living up to your family’s history, don’t let it stand in your way. You all got here on your own merits, no matter what your connections are.”

“Indeed.” Korczak agreed. “And Commander, it’s not cheating unless I don’t share.” he said with a slight nod and smile.

Max sat down his fork and looked over at Catt. “Now for your hydroponics set-up, I’d be happy to hear your proposal. I could definitely see the benefits for the rest of the crew as well.”

Cmdr. Harkness - XO

Korczak, CNS

Catt turned to face the XO. “The experiment in question is about soil recovery after a industrial disaster sir. So half of the output would be inedible at least at first. But the other half will be quite edible. My hydroponics consists of two small botanical units such as are used of old style generational colonization ships before the perfection of stasis units. Each unit can grow enough vegetable matter to feed around twenty people. They were mostly used to grow soy beans. Which was then processed into a food item called Tofu using partial fermentation of the soy. These types of units remain popular with mining colonies and space stations that do not want to dedicate a lot of time into food production. I am told this tofu can be flavored and textured to simulate any number of foods. Without the unique unpleasant variances caused by replicators.”,

And she played with her fork as she spoke, twirling it first clockwise then counterclockwise.

“The contaminated part of the experiment simulates contamination of the water table and soil by a old type 57 power generator suffering a catastrophic failure. The scenario specifically posits a lack of proper maintained leading to a loss of coolant pressure causing overheating and a meltdown that climaxed in a explosion.”,

And her ears quivered as her normal whisper took on a faint quavering.

“Many small colonies. Such as the one I was born on. Maintain such power systems in use long past the time they ought to be retired. The focus is on making the colony profitable, productive and expensive equipment replacement is avoided. Assuming it’s available at all. Most of these small colonies form when a segment of the population seeks independance from the Greater political entity. In my colony’s case the Federation.”,

“So it becomes needful to have a process that allows these colonies to recover independent of Interference from the government they are escaping from.”

Cadet Catt Bennet. Sciences. USS Challenger.