Posted by Lieutenant Dagen Thor (CE) in Away Team Two

Posted by Ensign Reia Shandy (CIO) in Away Team Two

Posted by Lieutenant Dagen Thor (CE) in Away Team Two
Posted by… suppressed (17) by the Post Ghost! 👻
<snip>
“Sorry,” he said, face turning slightly red. “I don’t suppose you included a spot of lunch on that itinerary?” he asked the Pallasians.

COS

Reia smiled amiably at Thomas. Luckily her stomach hadn’t betrayed her yet.

“What my colleague is saying about his trips sounds like Walkabout where I’m from, except for all the manly stuff.” she explained to Shou.

• Reia, CIO

“My apologies,” said Shou, who sounded embarrassed. “I was supposed to let you see the facility and bring you to our nutrition centre where we hope you could sample some of the food we eat.” He pointed to the door at the far side of the room. “Let’s go through there.”

They were led through another corridor and reached a large hall. There were several Pallasians already there seated and speaking to one another. When they entered the room, the chatter carried on, but as soon as one of them spotted the Starfleet officers, the room quietened down until no one spoke but looked intently on the group that had just walked into the door.

“Please continue as you are,” said Shou. “We just have special visitors,” he explained. He led the team through the stares and reached a counter.

“We believe that we should have a balanced nutrition. We have the foods here that provide energy,” Shou pointed to a selection of roots and grain. “Here we have the foods that provide the building blocks of the body.” The selection was that of what looked like animal produce. “We also need trace nutrition for body functions.” The next group of foods looked like fruits and leaves from plants.

GM

“Another area in which we’re very similar,” Thomas commented, looking over the food on offer to try and spot comparisons to foods common to Earth, or any other Federation world. Hell, as hungry as he was in that moment, he’d even try the Pallasian version of plomeek soup.

COS

Reia was curious if these foods would be compatible with the team’s biology and made choices carefully.

• Reia

Despite being close to the food, the Starfleet officers noticed that the foods did not have a very strong smell. Even what would be considered ‘cheese’ on Earth had a very mild smell.

GM

Thomas took note, but this did track with the biology they’d observed of the Pallasians. With tiny noses, they probably scented things another way. Besides, as he well knew, the smell (or lack thereof) of a food dish didn’t necessary translate to how it would taste.

Bearing that in mind, he selected a single serving of the chicken-est looking protein, some grains and fruits, then looked around for a station dispensing drinks.

He found that there was a counter of cylindrical containers; each with an attached ‘drinking straw’. The person at the counter asked, “Would you like savoury or sweet?”

GM

=^=Away team, see if you can get any information on their colony and the moon around it. We’ve picked up some ships there and want to know how much they know about them.=^=

Marius CO

‘Well, that has the strong probability of ruining lunch,’ Thomas thought, looking to Reia and Dagen for their thoughts on the order.

COS

Reia had chosen something that looked like fish and leafy greens. Rolling her eyes she nodded at Thomas.

Yes, lunch will probably be ruined. she thought.

“Valid points don’t you think? I would be curious to know the answers to that as well.” she said quietly and indicated to the woman behind the counter that she would like a savory beverage.

• Reia, CIO

“We have been through some of that already which only raised more questions that they couldn’t answer. I’ll reply back to the ship,” he said after collecting food. He was hungry after all their travels.

“Sweet please,” Dagen replied, smiling at Reia who took the savory. His own plate was heaped with a selection of various things; he was not a picky eater when it came to alien food. Anything off Trill was alien to him and he had had a great deal of it since leaving there. Hesitation around food was not his hangup. Having taken the call, and the food, he moved to the side and replied.

=^= Thor here. We did ask about the colony. Our hosts gave indication that they did colonize the world though had an issue with pirates. That fostered an increase in their space military to help deal with them. However, as they said, after a time they stopped receiving signals from the colony itself and following up was either not done or is not on public record. It does raise the question of why they weren’t concerned enough about their colony to send a well armed force there to see what happened to it. =^=
- Thor, CE

=^=Even if they aren’t concerned, I am… I’m going to move the Genesis off to take a peek at the colony. That will pull out out of transporter range. Don’t get yourself in to too much trouble while we are away.+6=

Marius.

=^= Captain, what shall we say if they ask why you are leaving? A system survey to avoid any unexpected asteroids or other hazards? =^= Dagen inquired. He wasn’t too concerned, though the ‘safety net’ was slipping out from under them. Their hosts were very genial. He hoped they stayed that way.

Moving back to the others, he said in a soft voice behind a bite of food that was in dire need of some salt, “Genny is going on a walkabout in the system.”
- Dagen, CE

Reia nodded and gave a slight smile at Dagen’s use of the Aussie term.

• Reia, CIO

The cooked food could have been more tasty. However, it was not bland or unpalatable. Even the sweet drink was not as sweet as the sodas one found on Earth.

Shou had been also taking some food. He had taken one serving of each category of food.

“I hope that you find our food good enough for you,” he remarked. “More and more of our food is processed here in the cities because of the pace of life. I prefer the simply cooked food that is found in the country. We get the original taste of the food.”

GM

Thomas took a sip of his sweet drink, pondering that statement.

“On Earth, there’s a large portion of the population with similar preferences. Especially in the areas close to where the food is grown, but even in the urban areas there are restaurants that source their supplies directly from the farms, or even cultivate their own vegetables and herbs in nearby gardens,” he said. “It’s called farm-to-table.”

COS

Shou turned to Thomas with a puzzled look. “What are restaurants?” he asked.

GM

Dagen had been eating and listening and, honestly, waiting for the shoe to fall regarding the Genesis taking their scanning trip. He swallowed and replied, “If for example one doesn’t wish to prepare a meal at home, there are places where they specialize in making meals and where one can go, join friends or family, and share the meal together. Often they are specialized in a particular food type. For instance should you join the Federation someone may begin a restaurant somewhere that serves Pallasian food and recipes and where people can come in and enjoy them. It is a .. business employing cooks and servers.” He thought it might be a stretch to have a Pallasian restaurant but there were many people about in the Federation with a wide range of tastes.
- Dagen, CE

“So,” said Shou with a smile, “this food providing location could be called a restaurant?” He said it as he looked round the place where they were eating.

GM

“Well, in the loosest definition of the term. Since it’s a part of a building with a different overall purpose, we would call it a ‘cafeteria’ or ‘canteen’. A food-providing location specifically for employees, or guests, of the building. A restaurant would be its own building, providing food for anybody who walks in and wants what’s on offer,” Thomas replied.

COS

“We don’t have those,” said Shou. “Most of us would prefer to eat at home. For those of us who have left our families and live alone, we make use of the ‘canteen’. When families do not have the time to cook for themselves, they would pay another to cook their food, who would cook in their own homes, and then deliver it to the family who requested for the food.”

GM

That was different, but then they were different. “We would get the same type of service from a restaurant. Call them to deliver the food rather than eating in the restaurant.” He smiled and added. “But your way would have a more personal touch to it. Would you know those cooks then?” he asked. Home made food. Wow, Dagen thought. That would be a novelty, and was. It was usually something a Starfleeter would know growing up but not once they joined on. At that point it would be replicated food or restaurants while on leave. He did sound a bit envious in his tone.
- Dagen, CE

Reia had picked through parts of her meal and found it satisfactory, but not stellar. Picking up her savory beverage, she hoped for something along the lines of coffee or unsweetened hot tea.

• Reia, CIO

The savoury beverage was like chicken soup in cup.

“What an interesting concept,” observed Shou in response to the CE. “The usual arrangements are usually private. Sometimes, the people who ordered the food would pick it up at the cook’s home.”

When they had finished their meal, Shou said, “We’ve seen the therapeutic recreational facilities and our nourishment centre, I believe that we would have to go back to meet up with Ms Yeeker.” He stood up to lead them away.

GM

And the power plant, Dagen thought, not to mention their high speed trains and a little on their environment and what they were trying to do to clean things up more. It would take some time to get back and give them time to think and put all of this together. Dagen found that he was developing a small headache, just a pain at the back of his head. He was not a diplomat. Oh he could schmooze but he was a doer, a helper. he’d always wanted to just fix things or better things. This dance around the diplomatic side and not overstep his bounds was a stretch for him. He chuckled inwardly in that a few years ago he was a contract engineer on an outpost and about as opposite to this job that he was doing now. Fortunes turned. It all went down to choices. And opportunities.

“Thank you for your tour and your openness, Shou,” Dagen said, setting down the cup he had in hand. So far they had not met any opposition or hostility, though he was certain that not everyone on the world would be happy about their presence. People were people and with that came a myriad of opinions. The other team would have their own stories to tell of different areas. “Lead the way,” he gestured to him and then to Reia and Thomas.
- Dagen CE

The beverage reminded Reia of something her Gran would fix when she was feeling ill but the pang for home didn’t last for very long as she stood and prepared to leave with Dagen, Thomas, and the others.

• Reia, CIO

“Tom, wanna let the ship know we’re heading back please,” he asked the security chief. As they moved along, now one of the bunch returning the way they came, Dagen leaned in to Reia. Since first meeting her he had come to realize that she had more than a little Orion in her and her natural pheromones were like a sweet perfume that had a heady feel to it. It was not disagreeable to him. “What do you think?” he asked softly.
- Dagen, CE

Reia smiled up at Dagen. She considered him a very competent colleague and an interesting friend.

“I think there’s probably more to all of this than they’d like to tell us upon a first meeting. Put out the good China for the guests ad my gran would say.” she explained thoughtfully.

• Reia, CIO