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side-sim: Stowaways (Tag Cochrane)

Posted May 17, 2022, 11:23 a.m. by Commander Shedda Mal'athar (Executive Officer) (Jennifer Ward)

Posted by Fleet Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in side-sim: Stowaways (Tag Cochrane)

Posted by Commander Shedda Mal’athar (Executive Officer) in side-sim: Stowaways (Tag Cochrane)

Posted by Fleet Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in side-sim: Stowaways (Tag Cochrane)
Posted by… suppressed (8) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Alex watched her and was more than a bit surprised. Everyone… and he meant everyone… loved the Risean chowder. There had been people charged with breaches of Federation Security trying to get the recipe.

And then there was a laugh from the kitchen.

Shedda turned in her chair and glared at the kitchen and rolled her eyes.

Harv exited from inside and approached the table. “That’s what you get for not eating in here from time to time. Now here…” and he set a bowl of a different stew in front of her. This had a rich brown liquid suspending pieces of meat and vegetables. “Next time you come in, I won’t ‘doctor up’ the chowder so you can try it for real.” and he looked at Alex and winked. “You better make sure she’s coming in, Skipper.” and he turned and walked away. Alex shook his head and took a drink. “Leave it to Harv to punish people for not eating his food.” and he took a drink and smiled at Mal’athar.

“Told you he was a handful.”

Cochrane, CO

Shedda looked at the new stew, “If he’s trying to convince me to eat his food, telling me he ‘doctored it’ isn’t going to get me to eat it.” Then she smiled, it not quite reaching her eyes like it should. “Good thing I don’t need much food for my nutritional intake.” She did try the stew because, setting an example and all that. “He’s your handful, not mine, Alex. I’m just helping out once-in-awhile.” Shedda looked at the food in front of her - stew, a rather impressively large sandwich, and fries. The man was probably going to shove some desert or another 3 courses in front of them. Shedda couldn’t eat that much.

Mal’athar, XO

Alex gave her a knowing smile. “Nope. I am sorry to have to break it to you, but since you are now ‘in the club’, so to speak, you are now just as responsible for him as I am. His continued existence means we take all precautions to make sure he isn’t discovered. And we protect him from outside threats and, probably most headache-inducing, we protect him from himself. I’ve personally intercepted four separate communications he tried to send to people. Now, that usually is the result of his periodic depression. But I can’t fault a person who can’t ever go home again some dark days.”

Cochrane, CO

Shedda pinched the bridge of her nose. “Alex you need an intel team for that. I’m an archeologist, unless threats to him are hidden in the form of broken pottery that need to be pieced back together…” she held her hands out and shrugged. Shedda could use a phaser and was decent at hand-to-hand (mostly due to her increased Orion strength, which wasn’t something she could rely on to always be to her advantage), she most likely wouldn’t know a threat was coming till it arrived. That was Alex’s area of expertise, or at least more so than hers. But he was right, how could you fault a man for missing what he could never see again. It would be callous to just say he made his choices and live with it. That was, she supposed, was part of living with it. “I can monitor the ship’s communications. We do that anyway, all the way out here. Never know who is listening.” And information was often a premium item of trade.

Mal’athar, XO

“Archaeologist, yes… but also the Executive Officer of this ship.” Alex replied. “That means you have your eyes and ears open at all times. You should know before I do if something is off. Or at least at the same time I do.” He leaned back and drummed his fingers on the table for a moment. So… here we are. Yes, we will monitor comms. And yes, we will keep a surreptitious eye on Chef. Because that is what we are tasked with. It’s not ‘extra’… its part of the glory that comes with a chair on the bridge. And trust me… it only gets worse the higher you go, Commander.” and he chuckled slightly.

Cochrane, CO

Sometimes Shedda felt like there was a communication barrier she wasn’t aware of. “Didn’t say it was extra, Cpt., nor that I mind doing it. I would do it for anyone of our crew, Fleet or Civilian. If that was the case, I wouldn’t have come asking. It was the fact I couldn’t list him on the roster that prompted this conversation. If he isn’t listed and something happens, no one would go looking for him as a survivor, he’d be lost to his fate and no one the wiser, his family not informed if he went missing. No one deserves that, to be forgotten, no matter how tyrannical he is of his domain. Now, though I know the reason.” It didn’t sit right with her though that if something happened to ship and crew he wouldn’t even be over looked, he wouldn’t be looked for. Not her decision to make though.

Mal’athar, XO

“Good. I didn’t think so, but I wanted to make sure.” he said rolled his shoulders to loosen them up. “I swear… can we please make the next covert fugitive we hide on the ship a masseuse? So… much… stress…” Alex said with a grin. “Oh.. one other thing. I have no idea how he gets fresh food on board. None. But, I’ve learned that some things I simply can’t explain. They just are.”

Cochrane, CO

“Shouldn’t that be a medical position we need filled? Message therapist or something, incase of severe injury and rehab needed. We’re out here all alone. Shouldn’t we have someone like that on staff? Or maybe counseling, crew morale or something? Surely we could make some kind of logical request for it?” Shedda held up both hands, “Oh no! I don’t want to know. I’ve had enough secrets thrust on me tonight. As long as it doesn’t turn out to be one of those things that gets him in trouble.” Shedda pushed her plate away in the universal sign of ‘I’m done’, leaned back and contemplated him. “You know if you really need a masseuse, I’m sure there is a holodeck program you could use. Maybe you’ll get lucky and someone will open a shop on Event Horizon before we get back next.”

Mal’athar, XO

“I’ll tell Mrs. McKenzie to see if her husband can work something out. A full spa on Event Horizon would probably do really well.” and he chuckled. “I bet there is a Ferengi somewhere that already has floor plans drawn up.” and he laughed.

Cochrane, CO

“That will be interesting. I’ve heard the music he sends her every week. It doesn’t exactly promote the image of lotus flowers and calm meditation. Though based on the line outside her office every Wednesday, it does have a certain beneficial effect on the crew.” Shedda grinned as he chuckled. “You’re probably right about the Ferengi though. If there is an opportunity for new business ventures, a Ferengi has a thousand planned ideas to choose from.”

“You know though, we need to do this more often. If I am now under orders to eat in here, you have to come with me. I don’t like eating alone and neither do you.” It also meant Shedda didn’t have to deal with Harv on her own.

Mal’athar, XO

Alex thought for a moment and then said “Fair enough. You set the times, send it to my agenda. You hold me accountable, I’ll do the same for you. Together we might not actually starve ourselves to death.” and he raised his glass for a toast with a smile.

Cochrane, CO

Shedda chuckled, “The crew might appreciate that.” She raised her glass, touched it to his, and then took a sip. Gah, root beer was so sweet. His comment did bring up something. “Okay, so just between me and you, the idea of being alone, in charge, in the middle of a fire fight stresses me out like nothing else. I took all the ship to ship combat courses and did well, obviously, and we have the best tactical, security, pilots, ops Star Fleet has to offer.” Alex was one of the best tactical officers in Star Fleet. He had a reputation that was well earned. Of course his tactics weren’t just about fire power. One of the reasons Shedda was so excited to get the spot on Manhattan. “I don’t suppose I could convince you to step away from your work-acholic ways and give me some extra training?”

Mal’athar, XO

Alex looked at her for a moment and then nodded slowly. “I am willing… but you have to be willing to put in the extra work. The courses at the Academy are good, but they lack the stress of the real thing.” and he took a drink. “I have a some programs I have trained other officers with; planetary, ship, and station based. You should know all of them… how they work, what their strengths and limitations are… because if you know how to use them, you know how to work against them. So if that is what you want to learn, I am happy to teach you. But I look at this as serious training. Tactics and combat are where the line is drawn in the sand. Because once we start shooting, it’s rare that we get to turn back.”

Cochrane, CO

Shedda just gave him a look. “Cpt Cochrane if I didn’t intend to put in the work, I wouldn’t ask. I expect it to be hard, I expect to get to frustrated, I expect that at some point I will wonder if I’m cut out for this. If I don’t, then you aren’t pushing hard enough. You reputation is well known and well earned. No one doubts any order you give. I am not saying the crew doubts me, but if something were to happen to you, I would feel better knowing I had more training. I don’t want to get in a fire fight, but it does happen.” Their skill sets were complimentary, but as Alex said, the courses didn’t quite get the real application. It was true of most classes she had found, but this was one area she didn’t want to learn on the fly. Too many lives could be damaged or lost that way.

Mal’athar XO


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