The Cherry on Top
Posted on Sun Sep 29th, 2024 @ 11:49am by Captain Min Seong & Lieutenant Commander Sofia Nikedoros
1,538 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Crossed Wires
Location: Command Center, Diplomatic Conference Room
The spread Min had put out for the Lee-Zurian Captain was not simply for him. Indeed, she made a point of determining what kind of food Sofia preferred and had the chefs incorporate that into the meal in front of them. Not that any of them knew what Lee-Zurians ate. It was evident by the look the leader and his security chief gave the food in front of them, both tilting their heads curiously. Naturally, the Lee-Zurian Captain did not even wait for a go-ahead from his Security chief, opting to pick out an item and give it a healthy bite.
But he only did this when Min urged them both to try some of the food in front of them. There would be time to learn about cultures and food preferences, but that time was not current. "I have to admit, you gave us quite a scare when you first appeared," she said, once she was sure everyone was satisfied with the food in front of them, "It is not every day we meet people of other areas of space in such a... vivid manner."
The Lee-Zurian Captain, mid-eyeballing of an apple in his claws, looked up to Min. "I... apologize for that mix-up. We were fortunate that Sofia is as understanding as she is." His head bobbled side to side a couple times as he looked to the counselor in question. "And I thank you much for your patience."
Sofia inclined her head in polite acknowledgement. "It is what I am trained for. Though approaching us for assistance could have ...left less room for doubts about your motives," she added with a wry but gentle smile. Then, moving on from an awkward topic, she took a serving of salad - one mixed with pieces of fruit and sunflower seeds, as it was Gunnar's best guess of what would be healthy, and hopefully also tasty, for Lee-Zur based on his medical scans - to prompt more of the guests to eat. "But there is a human saying: 'All is well that ends well' and I think it has all worked out for the best."
Ignoring the gruff noise from his security chief, the Lee-zurian Captain gave a singular nod of his head. "Of that we are grateful. We did let our presumptions get in the way of a smoother meeting. Most races who come equipped with such weaponry as yourselves tend to shoot first, in our experience. Either to hunt, kill, or ward us off. Perhaps once we learn more about the region we are in, we will be capable of more traditional diplomacy." Despite his kind nature, the Captain seemed to narrow an eye. "Are all races here as kind as you are? Your Federation - we heard of it through stories, but this is the first we have encountered any of your ... Kind? Race?" He looked to his chief at that point, who shrugged.
"Kind would probably fit best. The Federation is composed of many races, but we share the same principles, which makes us in spirit of the same kind. As to whether all races in this part of the galaxy are kind, as in helpful and considerate, no, not all," Sofia replied with a rueful sigh. "That is the reason we have the weaponry that we do."
"That makes sense," chimed in the silent Lee-zurian, who gave the Captain a look.
The Captain perked up despite the disdain he was receiving from his crew member. "We are lucky to have stumbled upon you as opposed to others, then." He said with a trill of glee. "We have heard of the Federation, but without having met any members, we thought it a legend. But we also did not expect to make it out farther than our navigational systems and maps could really compensate for."
"Something we will be happy to help accommodate, if you desire," Min chimed in with a polite smile. She had elected to spend most of this luncheon silent. They seemed more comfortable with Sofia, who was at least more known than she was. "And anything else you have discussed amongst the Lieutenant Commander and the team you met, we will facilitate in any way we can."
The red-clad officer nodded a head toward Sofia. They would have to talk after all of this. It was not every day she met someone as well-versed as the counselor was, especially one that took on duties of chaplain. "You are also welcome to stay here as long as you need. But I had reports that you were ... Fleeing your home?"
The Lee-Zurian Captain's jovial mannerisms toned down as his head sunk. "This... Is true. We did not used to stray far from our home world, nor did we really make trade with anyone outside of our system. But we found ourselves visited one day by more and more people further out of our reaches, and soon..."
"We did not leave to retrieve help," explained the other Lee-Zurian. "We left to preserve what we could of our species and culture. There are many that still remain, and that was longer than we actually intended to go without contact."
The Captain nodded solemnly. "We have not been able to contact them, and we feared the worst, but our hope now is that we were too far out to do so."
Sofia bowed her head momentarily, praying for the welfare of those left behind, and comfort for their fellows here. "Unfortunately, I don't think our communications can reach that far. Though I wouldn't put it past our engineers to find some way to send a message, or at least something to let them know not to fear the worst for you," she responded sympathetically. "For now, we have extensive biological science capabilities that we can offer to help find an environment most suitable for you, and adapt what's here to your needs until you are ready to depart."
"For that, we would be grateful." Said the Captain. "We will reach out once our people have reconvened from their... tour? But I feel we will be learning lots from each other. And I am admittedly more excited than some of the rest of my crew."
The thought was not shared with his security officer, who merely looked away from the conversation, now annoyed with the whole affair.
Min tilted her head to one side in curiosity. "I believe if I reported it to the right Admiralty, there may be more that can be offered, but that will unfortunately take much more time."
The Leader tilted his head back and forth in acknowledgement. "Of course. Any help in that matter will be appreciated. And we-" he looked toward his security officer, "Will all be cooperative with your people as well. No more mysterious abductions... unless it is of this."
He picked up a sesame-seeded sub, full of slices of deli-meat vegetable-type ingredients with olive oil, vinegar, and mustard dripping down the sides. "We may abduct many of these. The flavor is very similar to that of a popular fruit on our planet, and the fact that this has been deconstructed between two slices of ... edible sponge? Delicious."
"Abduct away!" Sofia laughed. "We have plenty. That 'edible sponge' is called bread and putting it on either side of other edibles makes what we call a 'sandwich'. I believe there are several thousand types programmed into our replicators, but this one is my favorite," she said, taking one layered with thin slices of gyro meat, feta cheese crumbles, tomato, red onion, olive tapenade and drizzled with tzatziki, and smiling. "Food is one of my favorite aspects of cultural exchange."
"We have never seen such a thing." The Leader craned his long neck over to peer at Sofia's 'sandwich.' "Or many of your other foods. We may prolong our stay a little, just to absorb the culture. Ah, which reminds me! Names. They are not normal in our culture. We know each other through body language. Everyone is different. But I noticed names were prominent in the culture, and I would like to at least accommodate to that."
Sofia wondered what 'name' her body language suggested, and the parameters that went into kind of recognition. Also how did you refer to another person by only body language markers? It was a fascinating topic ...and a discussion likely to derail the current meeting, and so better to bring up at a later time. "Yes, we tend to use word-names and you may of course pick whatever name you prefer for yourself. It can be anything, really, a word in your language or ours. Naming is very flexible. Some of us have multiple names, in fact, both those chosen by family and others we pick, or friends pick for us, based on our characteristics or things we enjoy."
"I think ..." He looked down at the sandwich in front of him, before offering the pair of Starfleet officers a smile. "Sandwich does sound appropriate."
She bit back a laugh, but nodded with a smile. "It is a fine name, and the food was named after it's inventor, who if I recall correctly, also served as a ship's commander."
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