STF

COO Encounter

Posted June 23, 2021, 1:14 a.m. by Civilian Marishka (Lounge Host) (Catt Bennett)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Daggum Hammor (Chief Operations Officer) in COO Encounter

Posted by Civilian Marishka (Lounge Host) in COO Encounter

Posted by Commander Stark Nightstalker (Chief Intelligence Officer) in COO Encounter
Posted by… suppressed (27) by the Post Ghost! 👻
The following message was sent to Hammor.

‘I have the following times available for a meeting tomorrow. 0930, 1045, or, if it pleases you, we could make it a working lunch. Let me know what works for you. - Marishka’

  • Marishka

A reply arrived several minutes later. ‘A working lunch would be perfect. I’ll see you at 1100, if that fits your schedule. Thank you.

Lt. Cmdr. Hammor

Hammor, Ops

=^=You do understand I was suggesting we meet at The Parthenon correct? 1100 fits my schedule nicely. I will have our best table laid for us.=^=

  • Marishka

=/\= Of course. And thank you. =/\=

At 1100 exactly, Hammor walked into the Parthenon and scanned the room, looking for the hostess and silently wondering if this was some kind of trap or something.

Hammor, Ops

The best table was laid for two and as soon as Ann, server of the morning, saw Hammor walk through the door, she made her way to him.

“Good morning Lieutenant Commander. The boss is on the way from the back with Coffee and your paperwork. If you’ll please follow me.” she said, just as she had been instructed.

  • Marishka

Hammor smiled and said “Thank you very much. I appreciate it.” and followed her to the table and took a seat.

He looked around. The Parthenon really was a nice place. He had stayed clear most of the time since his and Marishka’s… exchanges… had been a bit on the negative side. He hoped, but was wary, that this was going to be a better dialogue than the past.

He looked back and saw Mariska approaching so he stood and nodded. “Thank you for the invitation.” he said sincerely.

Hammor, Ops Chief

Marishka approached at a bit of a hurried pace. Gone was the Grecian garb or the serpentine outfit he had seen her in before. She hadn’t had time to change from her personally fitted version of Klingon armor so had decided to just go to lunch as she was.

“You’re very welcome.” she said setting down PaDDs and a tray laden with coffee.

“Forgive me, I am running a bit late I guess you would say. I’m teaching classes in the morning several days a week and today seems to be about the only time that I can have this meeting for the next two weeks.” she said sliding the first PaDD across the table to him. There he would see everything in order and much more to his liking. Any deviations would be minor and there was only one unusual request.

  • Marishka

He nodded and began reading. What is you teach, if I may ask?” he said as a way to make sure the conversation didn’t falter while he reviewed the orders. They looked good… really good.

Marishka shifted positions. Even though the armor she’d made was quite supple for Klingon armor it certainly wasn’t meant for being sat in for a business lunch.

“A few weeks after I came aboard, a lot of the crew realized I wasn’t really going anywhere and they wanted to learn advanced self defense from a more Klingon perspective. Some of them are quite good and that has lead to all kinds of weapons training.”

He nodded in approval of the orders, and then his eyes fell on an oddity. He highlighted it and slid the PaDD back to Marishka. “Pardon, I don’t mean to interrupt. Can we discuss this?” he asked politely.

Hammor, Ops

Marishka looked at what he had indicated.

“Nutmeg. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? It began as a Teran spice but it doesn’t replicate well, at least on the Athena, and I simply must have it. Finding a good vendor has been quite problematic until now. This is the best I can do. Believe me, I will keep looking.”

Marishka hoped her explanation would do for the moment. Glancing up she noticed Anne standing quietly and raised an eyebrow.

“I’m just here to take your orders, Anne said, “shall I start with coffee?”

  • Marishka

In a nearby Jeffries tube one dark ear flicked at the mention of the word “nutmeg”.

Stark Nightstalker CIO

Hammor nodded and said “Coffee would be lovely, thank you very much.” and then he leaned back and thought for a moment. “Terran spice, huh? Hmmm… do you need a lot of those regularly? If so, I have a vendor I could connect you to if you like. He handles spices and herbs from all over the Alpha Quadrant. Good guy, but I wouldn’t trust any of his ‘specials’.”

Hammor, Ops

Marishka glanced at Ann.

“Keep the coffee coming, strong and black, with just a hint of that dark chocolate. If Bobby’s on the grill, tell him that he owes me a steak from last night. I’m sure I’m low on protein by now.”

She paused and refocused her attention on Hammor.

“As you can see, a fair number of the crew are Terran and, even though most of them have become very adventurous with their cuisine, comfort food will always be king. A lot of things can be grown in arboretums and hydroponics but nutmeg doesn’t seem to be one of them. At least not to my standards. I have a passing relationship with my vendor so I would appreciate if you tried working with him but, if he leaves a bad taste in your mouth, go through yours’. As long as it gets here.”

  • Marishka

Hammor shrugged and said “Why don’t we do both? You work with mine to see what you think. I’ll work with yours. We’ll compare finished goods as it were, and who delivers the best product with the least hassle? That way we vette the best source for you, and you get your nutmeg.”

Hammor, Ops

Marishka was pleased. His solution was surprising and quite a compromise.

“Yes. I think that would be a very interesting idea.” she said as Ann waited to take Hammor’s order.

  • Marishka

Hammor looked at Ann and said “Two double bacon cheeseburgers with everything, Deltan clam chowder, and a chef salad. Thank you very much.” He looked back at Marishka and said “Are you having issues finding anything else?”

Hammor, Ops

Anna scurried away with their orders and sent someone out with the coffee straight away.

Truthfully Marishka was surprised with how smooth everything was going so far and wondered if it was because they weren’t in a room alone together.

‘Perhaps we should keep it that way.’ she thought.

Sighing, she took out another PaDD, brought up something, and slid it over to him.

“So the best way to describe these are ‘edible gems’. There’s a small festival I’m holding in two months and they should really be a part of it. They’re not illegal by Federation standards but they are frowned upon and fairly well regulated. Some incident with a diplomat’s daughter fifty years ago or something.”

She paused and looked at Hammor.

“Honestly. Do I look old enough to be held responsible for such a thing? I’m just a business woman trying to run this place.”

As Marishka finished speaking, their coffee arrived as well as Hammor’s clam chowder.

  • Marishka

Hammor looked at the server and thanked them, and then at the PaDD. “Hmmm… well at the front it looks like there are considered scheduled and restricted items; so while not illegal, they are so locked down they might as well be.” He then looked at Marishka and said “Tell me about this festival. Anything you can.” He then picked up his spoon and took a bite of chowder.

Hammor, Ops Chief

Marsihka took a few long drinks of her coffee then retrieved the PaDD she had given Hammor. She brought up a picture of the race mostly involved in the festival. They were reptilian and semi aquatic. Nine of them happened to be stationed aboard the Athena in the various sciences.

“Apparently this has something to do with binding them to their ancestors on the home world. This group aren’t from the same family but they have formed some spiritual family connections and wish to seek a formal binding. These gems will be ingested as part of it. They don’t really affect this race anymore than a good Orion ale would affect you or I but, other races, Humans, Vulcans, etcetera have had terrible effects. Medical intervention was definitely required. Like in the case of the diplomat’s daughter.” Marishka explained.

  • Marishka

Daggum chuckled while looking at the PaDD. “Sounds like she was stupid and got more than she bargained for, and daddy made a scene to deflect being embarrassed. Why that should hinder…” and he tapped away furiously at the PaDD for a few moments before smiling and spinning it around to her, “… the Religious Festival of Ancestorsiscka is beyond me. Have you been to one of those festivals? Oh, I hear they are quite moving indeed.” There in the PaDD, was a completed and signed application for religious exemption status for the items in question for a two week period, along with a brief description of the ‘festival’ and the key component the gems played.

Hammor, OPs Chief

Marishka read it over several times.

‘Oh yes, he was definitely good.’ she thought. And why shouldn’t he be? It didn’t matter what clothing he wore or what he was trying to prove or run away from, he was Orion after all.

As she looked up to thank him his salad arrived and one for Marishka, which she hadn’t actually ordered but would accept none the less. The crew knew about her metabolism.

“Yes. That should definitely cover it. I haven’t been to this particular ceremony though an invitation was issued for me. I’m thinking that I might actually attend. It would seem dishonorable not to. I believe I can take the rest of it from here. I will be certain to have extra medical staff alerted just in case though.” she said diving into her salad.

The morning’s events were beginning to catch up with her and her ravenous apatite had been awoken.

  • Marishka

“Then I’ll make sure that the requisition is sent to the desk of one of the more religious Special Request Officers at Starbase One, and I am sure they will sympathize with the need. You should have them sometime is the next four weeks, give or take. Depends on sourcing and transport, of course.” Then he too tucked into his salad and began to match her bite for bite.

Hammor, Ops

Marsihka took a few more bites then laid her fork aside.

“I am certain that we will both do our best in this situation but, the tricky part is the alignment of the stars which is not something either one of us can control. The ceremony has to take place when the constellations are just so according tot heir spiritual calendar. If they were on their home world, it wouldn’t be a problem but space travel brings it’s own set of complications as you can see.”

She sat quietly for a few more seconds thinking about how to explain the situation to her clients.

Just as she was about to tuck in again, Anne reappeared.

“Commander, how would you like those burgers? Rare? Medium?” she asked.

  • Marishka

“Oh, rare please. Err on the said of red. Thank you.” Daggum said with a smile. Turning back to Marishka he said “Well… why don’t you figure out when ‘the constellations are just so according to their spiritual calendar’, reserve a holodeck at that exact time, program in their homeworld and do the festival in there? That way it’s at the right time and they can see the right constellations.”

Hammor, Ops

Marsihka had see that Hammor had missed her point or, perhaps, it was her wording.

“I’ve already done that. I just need to make certain the items are here on time. That’s something you and I only have so much control over is what I meant to say.” she said picking up her full cup of coffee.

  • Marsihka

“Ah, gotcha. Sorry, misunderstood.” He looked at her thoughtfully and said “Well, we actually have a lot more say than most people realize. Supplies are distributed on a priority basis. Higher priority, faster arrival. The trick is being able to move things into a higher priority slot. Sometimes we can, most times not so much. But it never hurts to try, right?”

Hammor, Ops

Marishka nodded as she heard the kitchen doors opening.

“No. It certainly doesn’t. Of course I will attempt to discuss the intricacies of supply and demand to my clients as thoroughly as they have explained the intricacies of this ritual to me.”

Two waiters approached silently with their plates, set them down, and stepped back. Marishka knew that Bobbi was no slouch at the grill. She preferred her steaks about as rare as Hammor liked his burgers. Glancing across the table she saw the two enormous patties and figured they might actually satisfy the Orion’s metabolism. Looking down at her glistening steak, she thought it might be too pretty to cut into before picking up the knife and fork.

  • Marishka

Daggum nodded and smiled at the waiters and thanked them as they left. “Well, maybe I can assist with that explanation as well. Sometimes it helps to have someone else to direct frustrations at.” and he eyed the burger and his stomach growled. “Hm. Excuse me. But it does look really good.” and he gave her a half-smile.

Hammor, Ops

From the Jeffries tube, Stark turned off his equipment and moved on to his next assignment. He felt more confident now that his two “friends”, how hard was it to even think that word?!, would now be on a road to reconciliation. No doubt bumps in the road would occur but they were both special people and he would do all he could to help even if that meant staying the hell away and letting it happen. Besides, these two had the mark of destiny, Stark needed them, the universe needed them, the future needed them. As he slipped silently away he gave a rare smile. Moments like this were few and far between.

Stark Nightstalker CIO

Marishka took a few bites of her delightful steak before responding.

“Let me meet with the leader of this group and then I will let you know if further explanation is necessary. They work very well on the ship, in various departments, but prefer to be fairly isolated socially. I’m actually surprised they came to me with this so I wouldn’t want to upset them just yet.” she explained.

Marishka glanced around as if something had changed. Something that was there had just become absent. Perhaps it would come to her.

  • Marishka

Daggum nodded and said “You know them best, so I’ll defer to your judgement. But the offer stands.” and he took a bite of the burger and nodded in appreciation. After swallowing, he said “That is excellent. Best one I’ve had in some time. Compliments to the cook.” and took another bite.

Hammor, Ops

Marishka had to admit she was impressed with Bobbi’s efforts as well.

“I will be certain to keep you in the loop if anything becomes necessary and I will definitely convey your compliments to the chef.”

  • Marishka

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