Posted by Lieutenant Commander Ethan Nash (Chief Engineer) in Academy Flashback - Time for Two
A week had gone by. On Arakis that was a week of hot, sandblasted days and relentless heat, that merged into each and every week on the planet that, on the surface, very little to endear it to anyone.

Emily’s soup kitchen had operated every day without fail, although the coffee machine that had been left by Nash when he had left the kitchen had raised more than a few eyebrows. Most loved the bean machine that turned water into black gold, but many distrusted anything that changed such a precious thing as water.

Today was no different as the evenings regular clientele pushed there way through the doors and began to take their seats. Dusty, smelly and dirty, dressed in linen wraps with hoods over their heads most of them couldn’t be told apart at first glance unless they had something specific about them. One of these men that sat at a table was clearly broad shouldered and muscular, but not overly so. His hood was pulled down over his eyes as he looked at the table, and toyed with something metallic in his fingers. Fingers wrapped in cloth and to protect them from the sun. For a time, he watched the goings on and the Cadets as they worked stirring pots and calling out for more of whatever they needed, and his eyes followed one woman in particular.

“Coffee?” He asked one of the Cadets quietly who was walking around serving tables with drinks and clearing bowls. In his fingers was a Starfleet Comm badge. “If you could ask the Soup Savior of Arakis to come with it, I have news for her. About her friend.” The mans voice was heavily accented, like the people of Arakis.

Nash

The man nodded and heard back to the small kitchen area. “Yo Soup savior,” the cadet called out to Emily. “Someone is asking for you. They say they have news or something and they want coffee.”

Emily wiped her hands on the rag that seemed attached to her shoulder and moved to the small machine Ethan had left a week ago. Glancing out into the room, she smiled seeing a dusty, cloth-covered individual. There was only one man it could be. No one asked for coffee that wasn’t part of the Federation. Approaching the table, Emily had a spring to her step. She had waited a week to hear anything about Nash. The problem was not all the desert cities communicated. When Nash disappeared into the desert, only the immediate people with him knew where they were going. Emily had asked but the only response she could get was the dog roams the desert at night. The response was poetic and the fact Ethan’s nickname was now his tribe name was comforting and problematic. Ethan was bound to be less than pleased to see the nickname Emily playfully gave him has been bestowed as an official one. For Emily however, it had meant Ethan, as she expected, had earned a place in the tribe. Being an outsider this was unheard of.

“So you have some news for me,” Emily said to the stranger setting the coffee down on the table.

Emily Fox