Never Skip Breakfast

Posted on Wed Mar 27th, 2024 @ 4:04am by Captain Rylan Gray & Lieutenant Commander Harrison Knox

1,563 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Opening Moves
Location: Deck 2 | Captain's Dining Room
Timeline: MD002 - 0700

Careful yet quick on his feet, Lieutenant Commander Harrison Knox balanced a large circular tray of plates and glasses as he entered the Captain's Dining Room. The Centaur class Ark Royal did not have a dedicated space for the Captain to dine and entertain a small gathering of guests in such a intimate setting. He sat the tray down on the table and started placing the plates, carafes, and mugs down in their predetermined spots where he had already placed utensils tucked neatly in napkins. He was expecting Captain Gray's presence at any moment. The First Officer just got everything set and removed the tray in time for Rylan Gray to walk through the parting doorway.

"I hope you brought a bit if an appetite," he prefaced gesturing to the spread before them. "A good hearty breakfast before we get into business reviewing ship matters" explained Knox. There were pancakes, waffles, an assortment of fruit, syrup, juice, coffee, and toast. "Oh and good morning, Sunshine. I hope you slept like a log in a bog because damn that's one comfortable bed in my quarters. For a bit of a warship if I dare call it that, she's plush."

Rylan, hid a yawn behind his hand, and murmured, "Coffee first. Then, you know," he waved his hand vaguely, "everything else."

Grabbing the mug from Rylan's placement, Knox reached out to hand it to his friend. Though his friend was also his Captain. "Just how you like it" he proclaimed and it was. Possum knew Rylan's preferences coffee and teas.

Rylan took a long sip and sighed dramatically.

"Heavy is the head that wears the crown" quipped Knox. He smirked. "Rough night or are you having second thoughts about this whole command of your own things? he asked. He knew his friend was drained mentally, emotionally, and probably physically. "Use your words."

"Sort of a hamster wheel in my head," Rylan said, with a sheepish grin, "so many things to do. You are right about the bed though. Long enough to fit, unlike the Port Royal. When I finally forced myself to lay down, I dropped off straightaway."

"Don't mind me" stated Possum. "First meal of the day, but I cheated and got a head start on the coffee. This is me having been up since zero four hundred, and three mugs of raktajino later."

Rylan looked at his friend in surprise, coffee cup poised before his lips, and shook his head slightly. "That's about when I fell asleep." He took another sip and set the cup down gently. "What have you been doing all this time?"

Knox gestured to everyone on the table. "What? You though I replicated all of this?" He laughed. "It helped me think. I just spent time getting acquainted with the galley down in the mess hall."

"Thank you," Rylan said. As a bit of a cooking enthusiast himself, he could appreciate the work that went into making the meal and resolved to return the favor at his earliest opportunity. As he put a plate together, a waffle with strawberries and blueberries over the top, he thought about the idea of a galley. "Do we have an actual chef on board? I was under the impression that all of meals were to come from the replicator?"

"We have a galley and cold storage for special occasions and for diplomatic functions" replied Knox. "Also, necessary to have in the event of a system wide problem with replicators," Possum explained. "We may not be much of an exploration vessel, but sometimes hostilities are best quelled by breaking bread."

"Which means we'll also have a Chef on board," Rylan said. "I have thought about hosting dinners now and again. Good way to get to know the department heads without the entire 'best behavior' attitude they bring to formal meetings." He took a forkful of waffle, placed the fork back on the plate, and chewed, nodding in appreciation as he did so. "Well done this."

"Sweet potato pecan waffles," replied Knox. Something from his own home. "I'm just glad you aren't one of those born and raised by the book Betazoid types. I don't think I could handle listening to bells, chimes, and gongs during every meal." Knox kind of liked that Rylan was not like the other Betazoids he'd met.

Rylan laughed around a forkful of waffle. "I'm from London though I went to school in Kent. You know, I did spend time on Betazed." He shook his head. "Between the bloody bells and the intrusive nature of the average Betazoid, had a permanent headache for the whole two months I was there." He grinned. "Never so glad to step onto a transport in my life. How about you? You ever been?"

"Yes," a simple reply from Knox. "A few times though not much to write home about. Each time I left with a splitting headache and smelling like I was doused in perfume."

Knox shook his head "We've served together for a while, Ry. I know your life story about as well as I do my own. At least the surface level stuff. What was it like though? Being Betazoid but not quite?"

"You know, they're only a few years away from the hundred-year anniversary of joining the Federation," Rylan said. "One of those show-the-flag events and I sincerely hope we're not invited. Oh, not that its a bad place. Quite delightful in some respects." He took another sip of coffee and as before, set the cup down at once. "Over a billion telepaths on one world. Privacy is not a word that's easily understood there. Male half-breed much less so."

"I doubt we will have to worry about that, Ry," Knox said with a smile. "We aren't the Romulan Star Empire. I would surely think the optics of having a starship built for combat wouldn't be on the Admiralty's short list to give the Thunderbird as an assignment."

He took a sip of coffee. "That's some fancy Captain's assignment for a starship like the Enterprise, or some older Ambassador class - large and full of civilians, posh."

"Absolutely," Rylan said, "as long as we don't engage in any thrilling heroics to up our visibility with the admiralty, I think we're safe. Rather, I was expressing my own personal reluctance to return. Betazed is a peaceful planet but it's a far cry from Utopia."

"Even Ferenginar is Utopia to somebody" countered Knox. He looked for the right expression. "They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, ya know. So, Betazed is perfect in its own way for certain people...probably nudists who enjoy a good gong jam."

"Is it though," Rylan answered. "I suspect that you can find moments that make it seem as though you've found Utopia but I rather think that its not how things usually are. Take your gong-loving nudists, comes a day when they aren't particularly happy for whatever reason. Only now, you have all the intrusive telepaths in your area to deal with as well as your bad mood. Is it still Utopia when you're annoyed and just want to find an isolated mountain top where you can scream it out?"

Knox smiled. "You know, they have starships with counselors" he teased Rylan. "I can make sure we get one if you want to work through your Betazed trauma" added the First Officer. Truth was Knox did actually see the benefit of counselors aboard especially with the whole Cardassian situation.

Rylan shuddered. "Talk about intrusive," he said. "Remember the one on the Ark Royal. The one that transferred off? Forever walking about identifying everyone's emotions for them."

"It was convenient that we never got around to finding a replacement for them," Knox said looking suspiciously at Rylan. "I wonder how that happened," teased Knox. "Interesting how that turned out."

"Not my doing," Rylan said holding up his hands in mock surrender. "Though I suspect that the Captain 'encouraged' personnel to slow walk the notion of a replacement. You know him, he never admitted it openly, but there was always this rather smug expression on his face when I brought up that particular 'hole' in the crew complement." Rylan chuckled. "If I dislike counselors, the Captain, well, he was much, much worse."

Knox nodded. "He did seem to have a bit of discomfort around them" acknowledged the First Officer. "Perhaps it was just the case of of an old guy like the Captain who has been through enough, and didn't want to keep having scars prodded by a Counselor."

"Could be," Rylan said as he reached for his coffee cup. "Or that he was an intensely private individual who didn't give up his secrets easily, if at all." He finished his coffee and set the cup back down on its saucer. "You know how he was. Expound for hours when he thought you might learn something but when it came to the things that mattered to him the most, he'd just shut down. I could almost see the barrier slamming down."

We all have our secrets, thought Knox. He was sure Rylan had them too. Though it was a good point. "That was our Captain" said Knox. "Now we just have to use what he taught us to run this starship together."

"And we will," Rylan said. "Now, what's on the schedule for today?"

 

RSS Feed