Of clumsy humans and funny Vulcans

Posted on Thu Mar 5th, 2020 @ 1:54am by Lieutenant Tavana Kolan, Daughter of Kretorg & Lieutenant JG T'Pel

1,326 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Aftermath and Downtime
Location: Mess Hall

After a good work out session at the gym, Tavana, even though she was not particularly hungry, knew she needed protein. The food selection seemed fresh, maybe because they were still docked. She chose an omelette filled with mince, but asked for extra chilli. Then she added some sausages, bacon and strong coffee. Oh, and she needed some fruit too. The fruit were quite unfamiliar to her. She knew most fruit from earth and Betazed, but her hand hovered undecided over the display.

T'Pel kept to a strict meal regimen. It had very little deviation on the set times she ate barring her duties interfering of course. If she missed a meal, she simply supplemented it with meditation. Entering the mess hall with PADD in hand as she typed away she walked over to the replicator next to the other officer, "Ulan soup with T'marik rice," she said to the replicator which materialized her Vulcan dish.

Glancing at the officer's order display, she seem to have a physical discomfort to one, the amount of food, the amount of calories and the meat selections. Looking at the officer and her hesitation she finally spoke, "Perhaps...grapefruit. To balance out the large protein intake," she suggested as she took hold of her tray from the replicator.

"Grape fruit..." Tavana responded, pulling in her cheeks. She found a banana and smiled broadly. "Has loads of potassium, aids my digestion, and gives me energy...but see, one small grape fruit too...." she added, pulling her face. It was a ruby grape fruit though, and that was generally sweeter. "It's all in the balance," she grinned as she achieved something. "By the way I am Tavana Kolan, CDO," she introduced herself to the Vulcan.

"Lieutenant T'Pel," she responded and gave a nod of her head as she went and sat down at one of the tables. She took a moment of meditation and then lifted her spoon and dipped it into the sharply spiced soup and purple colored rice and took her first bite chewing a set mount of chews before swallowing. She then took a drink of water before looking to Tavana, "You may sit if you wish," she said to Tavana, "I have never met a Klingon diplomat before. In some circles, they would call such a thing a contradiction in terms. Such as... a bald man named Harry."

"Thank you," Tavana said as she lowered herself into the seat. "True, many people would think so. Though my grandfather said that diplomacy is war, you are still fighting for the interests of what you stand for. Just in a different way," she mused. She started on the very spicy omelette and then waved her hand in front of her mouth. "Hot... " she breathed. "I love it... but oh... ha... Vulcans don't eat very spicy food right?" she asked, still recovering but already put another delicious helping in her mouth.

T'Pel gave a nod as she ate another bite, "My father is a member of the Vulcan Diplomatic Corps. His metaphor was that diplomacy is knowing what is already in your opponent's pocket and offering him more to fit in his other pocket," she said to her taking another drink of water, "Vulcans maintain an even diet. While we do use spices, we are not indulgent in them," she added before taking another bite as she watched the other woman eat with such vigor compared to her measured approach, "I am the new Assistant Chief of Operations. I believe I did not make that aware to you when we exchanged names." she added.

"Oh," Tavana said between bites. "I am sharing a room with your boss, Lieutenant Day Smith," she commented. "I hope it won't be too difficult for her. I am quite happy to share with her, but I think she was used to being alone...".

T'Pel raised an eyebrow, "Boss?" She said curious, "I do not believe I have ever heard this term before," she said typed the word into her PADD and read the definition, "Ah, my superior officer, department head, direct supervisor. Yes, she is my Boss," she said matter-of-factly and took another bite, "It is my understanding through research that all Borg whether active or removed from the Collective are ever alone again. Logic would state your presence to be more agreeable to her than isolation."

"That is good to hear, thank you for your insight. I will bear it in mind." Tavana decided to still be very conscious to not invade the ex-Borg's space. "Tell me about how you ended up on the Valiant?" Tavana asked.

"I served in the Vulcan Defense and Expeditionary Fleets for thirty-four years. I was an Operations expert and retired my commission as a Reserve Captain. The super-majority of my time in space has been amongst the Vulcan fleet," she began her story, "I then returned home to marry, but my soon to be husband passed away," she said matter-of-factly, "I then took a position as an instructor at the Vulcan Music Conservatory for four years. However, my curiousity to return to space eventually was to great to ignore and I applied to Starfleet Academy. I completed the Accelerated Course and was assigned to Starbase One for the last six years. I was then given orders to the Valiant. It is a welcome change from Starbase duties," she said and took her last bite leaving her bowl remarkably clean, "Might I inquire on your history as well?"

Tavana used the time she was still chewing. It was expected that such questions would come and painful as it, she would have to face talking about her past. "I qualified at the academy but convinced that no one would want a half Klingon diplomat," she said with a half smile. "I saw a post advertized on a Klingon vessel, so I applied and got it. The ship was destroyed in a battle and we were transferred to a Negh'Var class ship. It was like serving on a small city. Our mission took us to the Beta Quadrant, but a few of us were on an away mission, the VaQ'bach disappeared. They searched for months, but... yeah, no one knows how, or why, but no trace was found..." she said and dug into her food. "So now I am here...."

T'Pel nodded her head, "Exploration of space is inherently dangerous. Serving on a Klingon ship I would think would increase that danger exponentially," she added finishing her water, "Still, I can sense your feelings of guilt and or anger given your sentences and tone trailed to a minimum volume. You have my condolences," she offered to her. "As I am told by humans, it's is not the fall to remember, but how hard you work to get back up. I'm assuming of course that most humans are clumsy given the phrase is so prevalent in their history."

The last sentence made Tavana chuckle and struggling to keep her food in her mouth. When she managed to swallow everything before it went in the opposite direction, she laughed. The irony that a Vulcan made her laugh for the first time in a long while, made her giggle more. When she ws able to speak, she shook her head. "My apologies... but that was really funny... " she said. "Thank you...."

T'Pel raised an eyebrow and then her face went back to neutral, "Humor. It is a difficult concept," she said to Tavana and then picked up her tray rose to her feet, "I should return to my duties. May your experience aboard this ship be worthwhile, Lieutenant," she offered her and went to place her tray in the replicator. She tapped the button to recycle the tray.

"Thank you, and to you too," Tavana said as she sipped her coffee. Suddenly she realized she still needed to report in!

Lieutenant Tavana Kolan, daughter of Kretorg
CDO
USS Valiant

&

Lt JG T'Pel
ACOO
USS Valiant

 

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