"Dangerous Stuff"
(Continued from the yummy "There Are Certain Things In This Universe You Just Cannot Hide From")
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Stardate: 60313.1150
Setting: NEW ALEXANDRIA, Cafeteria
Susan laughed at Pravat's face as he beheld the chocolate mountain that the waiter placed on the table with a knowing smile. She saw that Talia had also noticed the rather nervous expression as the child grinned from ear to ear.
Pravat seemed to notice that the attention of the whole table was upon him and he eyed the ice-cream as if it was about to attack. "Maya... I don't think this is such a good idea..."
"Come on Prav," Susan urged, "it won't hurt you." As she said this, she took a napkin and began removing the traces of chocolate from her face and hands. She was glad to see that Prav and Maya had arrived together... maybe this meant that they had patched things up?
The eyes of the four-years old girl had grown wide and she spoke to Prav in the kind of confident tone brought about by lots of sugar, the only problem had been that the language used had not been recognized by the universal translater making everyone at the table look at the child with puzzlement.
"It was Romulan," the hybrid Chief of Operations said through a half grin before turning to look at the Marine, "and roughly translated it asks if you ever had ice-cream before?"
Prav looked indignant. "Of course I have."
Talia giggled, mumbling something in the same language that for some reason had been ignored by the universal translator, the only clue as to what had been said having been the expression of amusement on the face of the Chief of Operations as she looked at Pravat. "You are right Talia, he does look a little funny. Maybe Enarans have a natural distaste for chocolate."
At that the whole table laughed and Prav, not at all certain that it was the right choice but wanting to prove that he was not afraid of the sugary concoction (and not wanting the group's attention focused on him any longer than it had to be), dug his spoon into the gooey dessert, scooped up a heap and put it into his mouth.
He was quite obviously unprepared for the coldness and the expression on his face when he felt it caused the whole table to burst out laughing again.
As they all laughed, Susan watched the little Talia who was now leaning across the table and attempting to show Prav how to eat ice-cream properly. Remembering the conversation with Rikar a few days ago, Susan was glad to see Talia so happy. However, she was still concerned about the commander. A new mission meant that there would be double the workload that she had been dealing with and if her partner - the ships ILO - didn't return before the mission... how long would Talia continue to be so happy? Ice-cream could work wonders... but only so many times.
As a large spoon of ice-cream fell off Prav's spoon (being held by Talia) and onto his lap (much to his horror), he announced that he had had enough and pushed the bowl over to Talia (who looked at it gleefully, making Susan wonder briefly what her true intentions in showing Prav how to eat ice-cream had been). The ship's Operation's Officer, Serenna, looked doubtful about this development but wisely did not take up this argument with the little girl.
Talia now immersed in her new acquisition, the adults (or should-be-adults) around the table could return to conversation.
"So," Susan asked, "anyone has any idea about this new mission that we are likely going to be briefed upon during the meeting?"
Ready and more than willing to push the chocolate incident out of the thoughts of those gathered at the table, the Enaran Marine quickly reported what he had overheard some of the other Marines talk about while he had been on NEW ALEXANDRIA. "I heard that there had been a coup against the imperial palace on OSHALLON PRIME and that the source of this uprising had been considered to be questionable, maybe we will be sent to investigate."
"An interesting possibility," the Shililan scientist said, "but why would Starfleet Intelligence be interested in investigating the internal matters of a world with a civilization that has yet to achieve space flight, let along warp capability. I mean there might be some tactical advantage to the location of that planet or maybe some unknown mineral deposit that would make OSHALLON PRIME a desirable planet in the eyes of other more advanced cultures, but I do not see why Admiral Koneki would send the ANUBIS to investigate this particular incident. If I recall my interstellar sociology charts accurately, that world has more than a dozen governments fighting for supremacy, so it is easily conceivable that any one of the other could have been responsible for this coup. That said though, maybe Starfleet Intelligence has an invested interest in seeing that particular government remain an active player in the battle for control, but what would imply that we are interfering with a civilization in a way that is completely against the guidelines set by the Prime Directive."
"In other words," Serenna said rubbing the back of her neck, "OSHALLON is not a valid possibility. TROY on the other hand is a much higher possibility as recent Intel indicates that the anti-Federation movement, that had been gaining in support, might be influenced by an off world source."
"My money is on the Romulans," Lea said without thinking first. "That kind of behind the scenes political manipulation is right up their alley." It was only after the table became completely silent that the Assistant Chief Medical Officer realised that she had set herself to be on the opposite end of a possibly very dangerous argument with the Chief of Operations of the USS ANUBIS.
"You are correct," Serenna said in a passive tone making everyone resume their normal breathing. "I would not be surprised to learn that the Romulans were involved in the affairs of the Troyians. The only objection I can offer is that TROY, being on the border of the Federation and what used to be the Klingon Empire, is too deep within Federation space for the Romulans to try something that would have at best only a limited impact on the stability of the United Federation of Planets."
"I hope that you are right Lieutenant, because I would hate to see what would happen if the Romulans managed to establish a presence that deep inside our space," the Marine Commanding Officer said with a sigh.
Not at all ready to have the Marine Commanding Officer and Operations Officer continue this possibly volatile discussion, Susan tried her best to redirect the conversation. "With OSHALLON PRIME and TROY off our list of possibilities, we are left with a few thousand other possibilities to investigate."
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Jessica Solarik { maya_992003@yahoo.com }
Lieutenant Maya
Chief Science Officer
USS ANUBIS
And
--- 2005 post #110
Tallulah Habib {thabib@eject.co.za}
Ensign Susan Mei
Head Counselor
USS ANUBIS
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"Life is mostly froth and bubble,
Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in your own." - Adam Lindsay Gordon
