| A Night At The Movies © Xeen july 2003 Chef POV G this is the sixth instalment of the series 'The Enterprise Incident' (a sequel to Bedtime For Chameleons). Thanks to Kat for her kind guidance! * PART 6 * Don't get me wrong. I'm really into movies. Some could call me a romance movie die-hard fan. I know that most of the crew would call them chick flicks, but I don't care. I am a healthy man in his thirties, proud of his opinions and standing for them every time I have to! But when it comes to movies, it's always ice-cream cones, pop-corn and sodas. So much for cuisine… I have been a Chef in Geneva and Paris, even in the Disney resorts in New Berlin, but I would never have thought that I would be chosen from the most prestigious cooks of the world to be on the first Earth flagship ever. Think of it: we were four when Starfleet finally made their decision. Just like the musketeers. That guy from Oz, what was his name? Anyway, he was not even in our league. But I was certain 300% that Lixan-nan, the most famous chef in Beijing would be their first choice. They rejected him instead and left the both of us, Georges Duval, Paris Le Grand Véfour prestigious chef and me competing for the position. Nope. In fact Duval was honoured but did not want to leave Earth since he had been working on Titan for half his life and was happy to be back in his home town. Needless to say, they did me the greatest favour of all to take me on that journey. I was not familiar with Vulcan cuisine since I was never near a Vulcan compound when I was on Earth. And, honestly, can you picture a Vulcan on a tour to the moon Disney resorts? Come on! Give me a break. Working on that ship is the best thing that ever happened to me –so far! Something I'll be happy to tell my grand children if we ever come back from the Delphic Expanse. But you asked me about the… err.. incident, didn't you? OK. First of all, the galley had been a mess since the Captain greenlighted Hoshi Sato's cooking cessions. The girl is a cutie and she's really cool to be around but not in my place! And then, as if it was not enough, there have been the movie nights. "Couldn't you improvise something for us Chef?" Hoshi was the first to ask me. She prefers to be called Hoshi, you know. Well, difficult to resist her. Then came Mr Tucker. "Chef, ya won't regret it, ya bet. Pop-corn and ice-cream sodas? Jes like in the fifties…" What fifties, for crying out loud? The guy is a fine engineer but pretty retarded when it comes to movies. The last time I was in a theatre, I was like 5 years old and the people on the screen were something between the interbreeding of nanotechnology and computer glitch. I mean, face the facts: there are no actors any more! Who would risk one's life on screen to entertain people nowadays? I have always enjoy the diversity offered by the CGI industry myself. I even used to watch the Academy Awards on channel KMP5002.5 when I was a kid. It was in Los Angeles, before the great tide… Anyway. Now the whole crew started to demand pop corn and pretend to watch films they did not even know of before Mr Tucker downloaded them into the database. I fail to understand why the crew is so fascinated by two century old crappy black and white horror shows but never mind. The fact is that I am stuck with making pop corn and ice cream bars for a bunch of maniacs. If they are so into old flicks, why not some romance I asked… It seems that nobody ever thought of taking one's film library onboard. Guess it's too late now to get my pals from Earth send some real stuff for the movie nights! So I made the usual 40 gallons of pop-corn that night and I wish I had had disposable barrels. It's impossible to replicate pop corn, you see, you have to make it the old fashioned way. Absolutely. And Sub-Commander T'Pol was at the movies with the captain. I was told he asked her on a date because she wouldn't comply with the commander's whining. Sub-Commander T'Pol was never there. Except that one time in the catwalk. But she was almost sleeping in the Captain's arms during these three days. Well… Nobody notices me you know: I'm the Captain's cook. And I see things. Lots of things. You simply cannot imagine what angst and passion I can spot over a plate of pasta or a goulash. People are oblivious of the cook when they are eating. And even on a ship like Enterprise, there is romance and…. Well, you know what I mean. No. I'm not saying that I imagine things. I SEE things. With my very own eyes. I don't hear them from the grapevine. *I* am the grapevine. Let me tell you that Captain Archer is not always at his best in the morning. But he's always a happy camper when the Sub-Commander happens to have breakfast with him. And when they were in the catwalk, they could have been honeymooners, I swear. Anyway… On that movie night, Commander Tucker decided for some Frankenstein and I made the pop-corn and all. And the Sub-Commander T'Pol even tasted it. I saw her put her hand inside the bowl and pick some. I swear! Honest! And they tell you Vulcan don't eat that and don't drink that and don't touch the food. Bla bla bla… My point is that if you give a Vulcan the chance to taste proper cuisine, they like it just like anyone of us. You should have seen the Captain's face when she ate the pop corn out of his own bowl. It was priceless! Well the day after, she was back to her usual plomeek soup and steamed vegetables. That's when I heard them talking about Travis's birthday. I mean Mr Mayweather's. Come on! The guy could be in Senior High! But a damned good pilot he is, oh yes! The Captain was upset because he didn't get the kid a present yet and T'Pol asked him whether he liked that book she gave him for his leave on Risa because she was planning to offer Mr Mayweather a copy. I could clearly see that the Captain was offended. I mean, no… let's say…hurt. She noticed it, I guess, because she said that she was seeking for his advice. She had always had trouble to find presents for people on Enterprise since the birthday-present-celebration-party thing was not a Vulcan dish. If you ask me, she sold him the excuse pretty good. In the end, they decided to give him one present coming from them both. Pretty neat, huh? After what I would call an awkward silence and some glances from each party, the Captain asked me about the cake I was supposed to make for the occasion. I made it, though I was not 100% sure that there will even be a party since… you know… with the Sub-Commander being *ill* in decon and Mr Reed thinking he is a Vulcan. Being a Vulcan? I wonder what she did to him but if what I heard from Cutler is right, I bet I wouldn't have turned HER down. No Sir. So much for the Captain's privilege, facing such a lethal threat you know what to do don't you? Her life was at stake there, man! Come on! Anyway. Mr Reed was in sickbay, from what I know he'd been sedated for the last couple of days and Phlox was expecting him to heal by himself and get back to normal after…. The incident? OK. Sorry. But there's so much I can tell you about… The incident, right. It was a pretty fancy party. Hoshi and the girls had spent the last weeks fixing everything right and it was extraordinary. You wouldn't have recognized the mess hall! Everyone was just enjoying being there and the kid was shining like a beacon. I saw Hoshi and the sub-commander in the middle of a girl talk and I swear that the sub-commander had at least one glass of champagne. I made sure that it was the bottle the captain wanted me to open for the senior staff and she was drinking it like water. However, she was not to keen on the cake. She took a bite or two but I can see what people think when they eat. She was not displeased but she didn't like it that much. She was merely being polite to the girls and the kid. I offered a second round of champagne and I must admit I was surprised when she said yes. I suggested that she tasted some fresh strawberries from the hydroponic gardens with her drink and she gladly accepted. She was very interested when I explained the reason why strawberries enhance the flavour of the wine. She even asked for more. You should have seen her biting in the juicy fruit. Well, everybody knows that she is the Captain's girl but one must admit she's some kind of a woman! She took the strawberries with her and the next time I looked for her, she was gone. So was the captain. Probably a coincidence. Dr. Phlox was experimenting cha cha, paso dobles and tango with every member of the crew. I guess he must have asked the captain for a dance. I'm not saying that the captain left the party because of Phlox but Commander Tucker sure did! He looked really pissed. Hoshi was with him so she might have healed his male ego… It is not until the next morning that I heard of the incident. That happened on the bridge as you already know. Just after the party was over. Not sure of the shift though. I should never have told her to try those strawberries. She's a Vulcan for Christ's sake! Maybe she was allergic or something… If the captain asks me to resign, I'll be happy to do the dishes until we're back to Earth. to be continued in Cheese Sticks |
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