Posted by Fleet Captain Ghubari Koraia (Captain) in Holosuite Two- A Dinner

Posted by Commander Luka (Executive Officer) in Holosuite Two- A Dinner

Posted by Fleet Captain Ghubari Koraia (Captain) in Holosuite Two- A Dinner
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

“Oh, I’m wondering,” Koraia said with a slight grin. “But I need to stir my curry too.” She rose and moved back around into the kitchen to the stove.

Lifting the lid, the heady spices infiltrated the room that much more deeply and Ghubari took a moment to inhale what had become a deep sense memory. Many a day had been spent in her childhood home helping gather ingredients or peel vegetables. Os sometimes this scent took her back to her mother’s friend Annikiya and her restaurant in Mtwara. It was there in that small beachside cafe where Gazali had burned the stew from inattention and she had thought her mother was upset about it. But Akeela had not been expressing her frustration outwardly, so how could Ghubari have known about it? It was an inexorable moment where her mother looked at her and knew that yes, her child was empathic like her father. The subsequent questioning had left Ghubari bewildered until Akeela explained. And that was that. There was no more to be learned. There was certainly no one back in Kitangari that would help her cope and adapt. It had been her task, her burden, to figure out.

Ghubari mentally shook off the memory and focused back on Luka. “Tell me about your family and what family units are like for the Laleri.”

Fl. Captain Koraia, CO

“I’m the youngest of three children. My father, Hiru, is a structural Engineer. I’ve been in several of the buildings he designed, it’s quite exciting,” she grinned slightly. “My mother, Hikazi, is a teacher. She was my teacher in my level five math class. My brother, Rishu, is a professional athlete - he is a sprinter - and when he’s not running for money, he works with the Wilderness Foundation to make sure Galdor’s natural wildlife is maintained. That’s where he met his wife, Bala. They have two pups, Kiri and Sol. My sister, Suzki, is a Midwife. Her husband, Kusho, is a Priest of Lu’ne. They have two pups, Tavi and Naru. Tavi is quite interested in Starfleet, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d already sent in her application.”

Luka leaned back and took another sip of her wine while she considered the second half of that question. “I believe the human term is that of a Nuclear Family. Generally a family unit for the Laleri consists of one’s parents and siblings, then one’s spouse and children. Grandparents pop in occasionally, as do aunts and uncles and cousins, but one will live with their closest relatives,” she explained. “It’s very different for the other races of Galdor, but that’s to be expected when we all have different cultural backgrounds…” she reflected. “The Hatriku structure it so that those raising the young are those who are not their biological parents. The Arwan live with three generations in a single household. The Pipini do not track anything, and simply live carefree. The Raka have many-child families, but only a few couples have any children at all.”

Luka, XO

“Interesting,” Ghuabri said sincerely with a slight nod. She stirred the curry well as it bubbled and then began to peel the green bananas, slice them lengthwise and then in in large chunks on the diagonal. She dropped them in the pot after each banana half was sliced, continuing with her questions. “So… having a mother for a teacher. What was it like to be in her class? Are you close?” She imagined for a moment what having Akeela as her own school room teacher and it basically wanted to make her run away screaming. She loved her mother dearly, but that situation would have ended badly for both of them!

Fl. Captain Koraia, CO

“It was fine,” Luka said with a smile. “I mean, I had a lot of teachers, and I only had her for a few hours a week. It wasn’t really a big deal. I enjoyed learning Math in particular that year because when we went home I could ask for further clarification on anything I was confused about. Although I wasn’t often confused, my mother is a skilled teacher.”

“Which is fortunate,” Koraia said with a light smile as she gently stirred their curry.

“And yes, my mother and I are close. I’m quite close with my whole family, to be honest. A part of me wishes I had stayed home instead of going into Starfleet and maybe today I would be a mother of my own children, but this life has been a blessing in a whole other way. I don’t know if my adventurous spirit would have allowed me to stay at home long enough to fall in love and marry,” she chuckled. “But still… sometimes.”

Luka, XO

Ghubari nodded in understanding as she went about rinsing some rice that needed to cook. “To be honest, I never really saw myself getting married. I came close to it once, but I’m not it would have actually happened, even if circumstances hadn’t changed things entirely.”

“Do you think you’ll return home for at some point? There are lots of people who still have Starfleet careers and have a family. It just sometimes takes some creative planning, if that’s what you want.”

Fl. Captain Koraia, CO

“No,” Luka answered almost immediately, with no hesitation. “It has been experimented on, and it is psychologically impossible for a Laleri within a committed relationship to spend time off planet without a lot of emotional problems ensuing. It’s a complicated set of reasons to explain, but the short of it is that Galdori people have a mild telepathic field which allows us to communicate emotions of love and caring without physically showing them. For individuals who leave Galdor to join Starfleet, we must contend with losing that field of emotions we would otherwise be surrounded by.”

She paused for a few moments to take a sip of wine. “For those within a relationship, there is a psychic bond created between them which amplifies this signal. Extended periods of absense from one another causes symptoms similar to depression, and causes general unhealth for both individuals unless they sever their psychic link, which is essentially the same as divorce in my culture.”

Luka hoped she had explained it in a way the captain would understand.

Luka, XO