FOOTNOTE THREE

Whilst the Fantasy’s replicator systems were being restored by Leonard’s men and women with the help of Bel’s crew, the Captain had agreed with the Commodore that the ship’s community urgently required someone to coordinate the (re-)creation of quality foodstuffs to meet all their needs, providing the crew with much needed satiation and the decent fuel it so needed to function well.

As water supplies were being managed by Lt Cmmdr Narli’s Cargo & Supplies department, and the technical side of the replication network was shared between Engineering and Operations, Medical seemed the obvious choice. However, both senior staff agreed that Lt O’Hara and her small team were better suited to both the more immediate physical and emotional needs of the crew, and urgently training up her volunteer staff to be the best they could. They agreed that the role of Nutrition Head could therefore fall to a capable civilian volunteer crewmember; though O’Hara should have some nutritional and medical input in her capacity as the ship’s CMO.

Being a revered chef and owner of an interstellar farming and catering supplies empire, Verakov was quickly identified by Lirik as the prime candidate. Long term she would work with senior staff on a project to turn a portion of ship space on the Passenger Section over to hydroponic farming, and building upon and working with the existing flock of Crep utilised by the Helan in a Command Section cargo bay for their staple milk, eggs and meat. Ongoing, the role would involve working with Narli’s staff in the sourcing and storage of real foods wherever possible, the monitoring and if necessary rationing of all ingredients, and the provision of emergency ration stocks throughout the vessel and all its various shelters, lifeboats and vehicles. But her initial charge was to supervise the overhaul of the existing replicator system, utilising waste and other available materials via the newly re-activating transporter-based recycling processors.

CLICK PREVIOUS TO RETURN TO STORY