The Loneliest Number

Posted on Thu Jan 23rd, 2025 @ 4:52am by Petty Officer 2nd Class Fhiri & Lieutenant Gale Deekros

1,478 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: A Long Hard Road Ahead
Location: USS Firebird ,Deck 5- Mess Hall
Timeline: (A few days before the Predators scenes)

[ON]

Gale sat down alone in the mess hall, yet again. Even if he wasn't a scientific prodigy, he would have surely realized that this logically followed from his lack of effort to get to know his crewmates on the Firebird.

True, he knew Lt. Solomon, but the man was his superior officer, and most of their conversation thus far had focused on the mission to bring back the wormhole and their fellow blue shirts. There was Owen - and Gale had rather enjoyed their unexpected adventure on the station - but their paths hadn't crossed much since.

If Gale was anyone else, he'd have just commed the man and asked to meet up but no, evidently that still wasn't the kind of person Gale was. The Trill sighed as he put down his plate of plomeek soup and hasperat, slid into the chair, and began to pull a small book - an actual paper book! - from a pocket.

Fhiri staggered into the mess hall. She was tired beyond all belief but too angry to sleep. It was a common combination for her. She made her way over to the replicator and ordered something she'd had before. "Open-faced turkey sandwich on rye with mashed potatoes and a hot chocolate," she said. The replicator hummed and a tray with her order appeared. She turned around and headed for the closest table, not caring that it was occupied. She slid into one of the seats and started eating and drinking at the same time. She eyed her table companion suspiciously. It was at that time she realized that her uniform was burned in three places and she still had some of the berlazik oil on her lobes, which made them sparkle. She kept eating.

The sound of Fhiri chewing and sipping simultaneously brought Gale's eyes over his book to his unexpected tablemate. A flustered look flickered across his spotted face. However alarming (if slightly distressing) the sound of her eating was, there was someone at the table with him, and the last thing he wanted to be was rude.

After all, why be rude when he could be both gracious and curious? "I hope this isn't terribly rude to ask but....is that rye bread in your sandwich?" Yes, her uniform may be a bit singed, and her lobes were glimmering? Shimmering? Her lobes were doing something in the light. But that distinctive herbal smell - or its replicated ghost, anyway - that got his attention as it tugged at his memory. He grinned, trying to at least be nosy and charming.

The question sank into Fhiri's mind. She heard it but she didn't hear it immediately. The word rattled around her lobes before it connected with the thinking part of her brain that had just spent the better part of two shifts sifting through a microplasma computer control board deep in the guts of the ship. She stopped eating, swallowed and finally looked at the person across from her.

"What?" She said and then looked down at the sandwich. "Yes. It's rye. I like the taste much better than other human bread. It has substance and flavor and it goes with the... turkey? Better. Lopt convinced me to eat it and while his engineering skills are often suspect, his taste in food is trustworthy." She realized the person she was talking to was an officer. "Sir." She added.

"Carum carvi," Gale said without thinking because if he was thinking, he'd have known it wasn't the best reply, at least not without context. "Sorry, that's the Terran scientific name for caraway, the seed that gives rye that incredible flavor. My mother is a botanist, so the first time I had a piece of rye - on a sandwich called a Reuben, if I remember correctly, at a deli near the Academy - I had to learn all I could about it."

The Trill cleared his throat, ducking his head as he tucked a lock of hair behind his ear. "Sorry, I'm something of a food enthusiast. And a plant enthusiast. A rock enthusiast by duty. And Lieutenant Gale Deekros by name," he added, almost dismissing the 'sir' with a slight nod of his head. "I am taking you're an engineer, Petty Officer....." He trailed off, allowing her to supply her name, as he went for his now entirely inadequate hasperat.

Fhiri took a long swig of her hot chocolate. She liked the way it swished around her pointed teeth. She swallowed and then answered. "I'm Petty Officer Second Class Fhiri. I'm the Computer Systems Specialist. But all that really means is that I fix the computer systems, get yelled at by Lieutenant Woodhouse because he thinks he knows more than me, which he doesn't, and then I fix all the other stuff too," Fhiri said and took another bite. "What's a Reuben?

"A pleasure to meet you," Gale replied, and he genuinely meant it. Fhiri had an utter lack of pretension. She reminded him, on first impression, of T'ara, who he realized more and more he missed terribly.

The sharp teeth also helped the comparison.

"Oh! I also had the pleasure of meeting Lt. Woodhouse, when we were exploring what turned out to be the secret casino on the station. I rather like the man, though that may be because I definitely know more about geology than him. Less so, however, when it comes to games of chance," he added, remembering his losses - and the two weeks of the delta shift he had to work to cover the latinum. "Oh! And a Reuben is a sandwich, like your own, but with a type of meat called corned beef, some sort of fermented cabbage, melted cheese which was quite wonderful even if Terran cheeses don't hold a candle to their equivalent on Trill, and this very interesting sauce the deli was rightfully proud of, all on rye bread." Gale chuckled. "I will give Terrans this. Their food can be quite delicious. So says the man having Vulcan soup and a Bajoran vegetable and salt...wrap."

Fhiri looked at Gale's food for the first time and made a disgusted face. "Vulcans are great engineers but their food is horrible. I had one give me something called tevmel and it was horrible. Hold on," she said. She stood up, grabbed her tray, reached over and grabbed Gale's food and then stomped back over to the replicator.

"Computer, dispose," she said and the tray with contents disappeared. "Computer, two Reuben sandwiches, traditional, on separate plates." The machine hummed and the new tray appeared with her order. She picked it up and marched back to the table. As she sat down she slid Gale's new plate to him.

"This does smell pretty great, doesn't it," she said with a smile. "This is the best thing that has happened to me today."

"I was - okay, I was eating that but maybe not enjoying it," Gale admitted as Fhiri snatched his tray away. Gods, why had he even ordered it in the first place? Some sort of dietary penance until he forced the asteroid samples to reveal the mystery of the Dominion technology that had stolen their science crew and the wormhole?

As Fhiri returned, and slid his plate over to him, he leaned in and took a deep breath. The herbal notes of the caraway, mingled with browned butter and toasted bread. The briny punch of the corned beef and the creamy warmth of the cheese, all against that almost impossible to describe dressing. "Great? This smells...fantastic."

And while it may not have been that cozy, ancient deli in the Presidio, it was something better. While the bread might have been replicated, the camaraderie settling into his bones certainly wasn't. "And I will say this sandwich - and this company - has been the best thing that's happened today. In quite a few days, even. Thank you."

Fhiri nodded as she dug into the Reuben. The two of them fell silent as they ate, simply enjoying the food. When she was almost finished, Fhiri's combadge chirped.

<=>Uhh...Lopt to Fhiri. Uhh, the thing that you said I shouldn't do... I did and now... uhh. Can you come down here?<=>

Fhiri sighed and stood up. "I'm on my way, Thomas," She said and tapped her combadge. She picked up her tray. "It was nice to meet you, Gale. I eat here at about this time every day. Feel free to crash my table anytime you have more excellent food recommendations. Just don't bring Woodhouse."

[OFF]

Lieutenant Gale Deekros
Science Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Petty Officer 2nd Class Fhiri (NPC by Llwyedd)
Computer Systems Specialist
USS Firebird NCC-88298

 

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