A Call for Help

Posted on Wed Jul 2nd, 2025 @ 12:16am by Commander Rhupert Tyree & Commander Daynah Ral & Lieutenant Commander Richard Dalziel & Lieutenant Commander Zuub & Lieutenant Katya Davi & Lieutenant Amy Gordon

2,629 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: On the Trail
Location: Ship's Lounge, SS. Adelaide
Timeline: MD001, after Mayday.

Walking into the lounge, Rhu moved toward one of the ovens. Opening it, he waived away the steam that escaped then grabbed mitts and deposited the casserole on the counter. He ducked back into the oven, pulling out a round casserole sitting it next to the other.

Eyeing the latter, he took a knife, cutting the asparagus mushroom strata in pie slices before her turned to what had been labeled a Tater Tot bacon casserole, which he cut into squares. Taking two squares of the latter (previously the former) he made way to the, communal table. Balancing his plate, he straddled a chair and sat.

Katya came in carrying a large pan of warm apple crisp, a tub of vanilla ice cream hung in a bag on her arm. She was dressed in a form-fitting olive tank top and pair of black distressed hemp pants. "I've been experimenting with some old equipment I ordered," she said, setting the pan on the table before taking the ice cream out of the bag and putting it in the freezer for after the main meal. "It's not breakfast, but it's what I was craving." She went back to where Rhu stood. "Anything I can do to help?"

Eyeing a tater tot, Rhu nodded and said, "Yeah. Grab a plate and maybe explain what ketchup is? It was referenced as tomato condiment that's loaded with sugar...I'm not really sure it belongs on a shredded tuber formed into a lump. Baked with cheese, smoked and cured meat in a cheese. It has onions and a sweet pepper diced in as well. But I don't know about ketchup.."

"It's something you see a lot on Earth," Kat explained. "I guess a sweetened tomato sauce is the best way to describe it. They dip things like tater tots and french fries in it. You can also bake it over the top of meatloaf. Some people use barbecue sauce instead. But if you cook something right, I don't think you need anything to hide or accent the flavor." She grabbed a plate and went over to the casserole. "Try it first. If the casserole tastes good, you're fine. If it needs a bit of something, you can have some ketchup for people to add if they want."

"It smells great in here." Richard said entering the Lounge. "If I knew it was a pot luck, I would have made some pork pies, Yorkshire pudding with gravy and a side of mushy peas." He smiled. "Best I can do is a few bottles of Imperial Yorkshire stout, I can go and fetch them if ya wish?"

Walking into the kitchen area Amy caught the discussion about, ketchup. "I can take it or leave it. I barely touch the stuff anyway. I prefer tasting the food that was put together, and not have it overpowered." She walked over to where the food was and dished herself up some, inhaling deeply of the delicious aroma. She made her way to the table after getting a drink and sat down, then took a forkful of the tater tot concoction. As she quietly ate, Amy took stock of the kitchen setup. A larder had been put in to store the dry goods that were brought onto the ship, she'll have to go explore and see what sort of spices had been acquired.

With a plate full of food, Kat took a seat at the table. "We have the basics, plus a couple just for fun. I added a few items for variety, like fondue pots and skewers. I also got an old-fashioned ice cream maker and something called a one pot."

The casserole smelled amazing. Kat took a bite and closed her eyes, savoring the combination of flavors. "This is excellent," she said to Rhu.

A tall, lanky Andorian walked into the room. She looked around curiously, her antennae twittering.

Amy looked towards the Andorian, "Hello, Zuub." She'd read up on who had joined the Valiant as well as the Adelaide. "Grab some food and pull up a chair."

In a soft, wispy voice, the Andorian responded, as she pulled up a chair and sat down, "And you are...?" Her antennae wobbled uncertainly.

"My name is Amy Gordon." She responded. "Chief Intelligence." Digging into her food, she was hungry. very hungry. After a few more bites she looked at Rhu. "This is really good."

Kat nodded a greeting to the new doctor. She hadn't met the Andorian, but she'd read her profile in the computer.

Daynah had felt somewhat as a fish out of water since the Valiant had been assigned to Starfleet Intelligence. However, she made the decision to stay aboard and she would stick with that decision. Her feelings did make her feel somewhat distant from the crew. As such, she disliked the Captain's idea for family dinners. But, she was the XO and unified front from Command is always best. So, she glided into the Lounge and stepped toward the back wall. There was a small amount of etherealness with the way she moved. It was the way all joined Trill moved as if every twitch on their body had purpose. She decided it best to observe the crew's interactions and see how things develop from there.

Rhu shifted into his own seat, picking up a fork as he addressed his crew. "Richard, that beer sounds good but probably a little later. Off shift though I think they'd go well."

"Kat," he said with a grin, "Thanks for the dessert. It sounds great, but I think we're set. I appreciate the additions to the galley. I think everyone will."

"I was experimenting. It was either bring it here or eat it myself." Kat grinned. "I followed the recipe without considering how much it would make." She wasn't going to mention that she was also looking at unusual places to cook the food--just in case it became necessary. Besides, she was having fun with her new project while she worked on repairs and upgrades.

Stabbing at his food, he glanced up to see Daynah hovering and he let it go. She was obviously uncomfortable with the way he was running the Adelaide's crew dynamic, but an Officer's Mess wasn't too far off the mark either. He'd let her feel her way around.

For now.

Picking up a bottle from the table, he put a test squirt of the ketchup onto his plate and sampled it. "I like the tomato, but too sweet for me I think," he commented. "How's everyone settling in?"

Kat glanced at the ketchup, then turned to smile at Daynah.

Amy looked towards Daynah. "Good to see you, Commander Ral."

Amy rose from the table having finished her slice of food. "So-Katya, you brought fresh apple crisp and vanilla ice cream, and the crisp is still warm? I would like some if you please. Can't beat that to add to a meal. And my mouth is watering."

"Help yourself." Which is what Kat planned to do after she finished her tater tot casserole.

Zuub continued to watch as everyone was eating, her antennae twirling as she observed. However, Kat got her attention when she mentioned experimenting. Zuub's antennae continued to twirl but they were leaning towards Kat. She asked Kat, "What kind of experimenting do you like to do?"

"I'm looking for places I can use as a hot plate for cooking. I've heard of engineers using power conduits, so I wanted to test some of these theories. I also found a place to use the new ice cream maker. But now that I know it works, I'll be leaving it in here for everyone to use."

Zuub's antennae wilted slightly upon Kat's answer. Of course, food could be used for fun. Perhaps Zuub could teach Kat about that, even though she seemed rather narrowly focused at the moment. "Well, may none of your experimentations require medical care."

Kat smiled. "Thanks, but I'm being careful, so that shouldn't be a problem."

The Andorian's antennae drooped slightly, as she started grabbing some food for breakfast.

Richard returned to the Lounge with a crate containing several bottles of Brown liquid and began handing them out. "Imperial Yorskshire Stout." He said. "It'll put hair on your chest."

Amy looked over towards Richard. "I do not want to have hair on my chest, no thank you," passing on the offer of stout. She instead went to get some water, before she went to raid the apple crisp and ice cream.

Daynah smiled softly at Amy by way of greeting and then continued to observe the crew's interactions. It seemed to her that this crew had not quite arrived at the honeymoon phase, and was still in the getting to know each other phase. However, there did not seem to be any major rifts or disputes, at least not yet. The Captain seemed to be in good spirits as he interacted with his crew. She took note that Rhu was the type of leader who led from the front, and wanted to know those that would be in the trenches with him.

Zuub looked over at Amy and inquired, "Not even a male's hair on your chest?"

"Just exactly do you mean? Are you referring to...hair on a man's head nestled upon my chest?" Amy wasn't certain if she should have asked that, but there it was.

Zuub's antennae twittered then writhed. "That is certainly one option. Actually two. Which head do you prefer?"

Rhu eyed his officers as he spooned some of the casserole into his mouth, then tried the ketchup independently.

Reaching for the hot sauce next, he eyed his medical officer and said, "Well. Anatomy considerations non-withstanding, I prefer not to have innuendo and flirting at family meal." Testing out his amended casserole, he found he liked it and took the pause in conversation.

"While on bridge duty I received a general distress call and have diverted course. It's two days out and best I can figure, some sort of industrial accident. That's why I didn't call a general alert. We still may not be needed, but," he shrugged. "A distress call is a distress call."

To Amy's relief Rhu interrupted what was happening. She wasn't going to venture any other response to Zuub. Such... innuendos. Not her cup of tea. Turning her attention to Rhu. "The distress signal, was there any indication of its origin? Perhaps I can track it down?"

"I can do that as comms fall under operations," Kat replied. It wasn't that she minded Amy offering, but it was her job--or one of them.

"What you say is true, though I'd like to work with you on that, especially since I would like some space away from the doctor, it's getting to be a bit much with her innuendos." She had a bit of a frown, Amy looked over towards Zuub then back at Kat.

Kat nodded, indicating that she'd be happy to have Amy work with her.

Richard liked the CMO's bluntness, it was refreshing.

Zuub answered, "You need not talk about me as if I am not here, Lieutenant Gordon." Her antennae started rapidly twittering. Could this be an Andorian's method of indicating anger? She then looked over at Commander Tyree, "Do we know the type of industrial that we are looking at? Perhaps I can start working on potential solutions to any problems that I could anticipate on the planet. Science could be helpful for that, too."

"Mining incident from what little was on the automated message," Rhu said as he monitored his people while trying not to be paying too much attention. "We'll need to develop a response as we get closer. As well as work on a plausible cover. This will not be a Federation mission or response. After that, we'll do what we can."

"Well, we have a doctor and two mechanics on board," Kat said. "We can start with that. Oh, and a Jack of All trades for a captain." She paused. "But it depends on the type of help, because it may need other specialists."

"Do you know what they were mining?" Zuub asked, her antennae leaning forward slightly.

Rhu kept an eye on Zuub's antennae out of the corner of his eyes as he said, "No. That might be part of the problem. We'll know more when we know more." Glancing at where Dayna lurked, he gestured toward a seat and said, "Grab a seat and share your thoughts number one."

Zuub's antennae wobbled unsteadily. She did not like the fact that Rhu did not know what was being mined. That spoke towards something secretive and likely illegal. Her antennae started to twitter and slowly turn circles as she thought.

Daynah took the last open seat at the table and smiled softly. There was always the etherealness about her, some said that it came with the joining. It was both welcome and disconcerting to Daynah to have this feeling and to have people react to that. Nevertheless it came with the territory. Responding to a distress signal was rather refreshing for her, a chance to return to everything she believed in. Everything that she felt was Starfleet. "I think investigating is not only what we should do, it is our duty to do so. When we are in range we should attempt to respond and let them know that we are responding to assist. Of course our cover as the SS Adelaide should remain in tact. So, if we are planet bound Starfleet issue anything would have to remain on the ship. Dr Zuub should be ready to receive any casualties that they may have." While in this public setting Daynah chose to ignore the childish remarks that had circulated the table. However, in private she would make sure that the Captain would have an ear full.

Grinning and adding more hot sauce, Rhu said, "Everything aboard the Adelaide should be washed and free for use. I made sure everything we pulled was listed as stolen or purchased through the Department of Operational Analysis through a few blind corporations." He could feel the mental buzz around the table starting to mesh. It would take time but they had a start.

"Number one," Rhu continued, "Once we're done with brunch, start studying that signal. Break it down and get us all the data we can. Go ahead and respond to the signal, let them know we're coming and establish a channel with them asap." Glancing around the table, he said, "Wrap up what you might be working on unless it's critical to the ships operation and prepare to help these people out."

"I'll check to see how many pallets will fit in the cargo bay in case we need to help evacuate," Kat said. She'd also make sure the larger replicator could handle that and any supplies that might be needed. At this point there was no telling what they might need, but she wanted to be prepared, just in case.

"I'll make sure this bucket of bolts stays together." Richard said finishing his food. "I have a few ideas about getting a bit more power, in a pinch, but they skirt Starfleet regs, Captain."

Rhu liked what he heard. They were all getting into the ship and getting to know one another. He finished his plate and sat back, addressing his CEO. "She's not a Fleet ship subject to regs, Richard. We just need to appear as miners subject to a tight budget, probably living hand to mouth. Make us look like that but I'll be happy to have surprises beyond that."

Standing up, Rhu went to fetch desert. He wasn't overly worried about the mayday call just yet.

They had time.

 

RSS Feed