First Meal In One Hundread And Fifty... Years

Posted on Fri Mar 9th, 2018 @ 4:40pm by Reessem Nubohn KIA (*) & Ka'see 'Cassie' Anderson (*) & Jasper Offermans & Johnathen Anderson Jr

Mission: Mission 5 - Liberation
Location: Deck 3 - Mess Hall
Timeline: MD 05 10:00
2612 words - 5.2 OF Standard Post Measure

:ON

Jasper stopped and stared at the sliding door that he thought from the plaque led out into the corridor. He hadn't had anything to eat for like what 200 years and although he had been trapped in the transporter loop his stomach growled as if it had actually been that long since his last. From what he gathered the ship was no longer under the control of Starfleet, it was in civilian hands now although both the Federation and Starfleet were still very much in existence.

He drew in a deep breath and looked over at his friends, "you read?"

Johnathen was currently standing over Cassie, holding her gently while she sat in front of him. "Read what, Jasper?" He still couldn't completely wrap his brain around how long they had been gone. So much time had gone by. Several wars, new allies, new enemies. Most of all, he was still feeling the sting of the realization that he was the only member of his family still alive. Having no siblings or cousins, once his parents passed away, he was all that remained of his particular branch of the Anderson family tree.

"Maps," Jasper answered taking a step towards the pair of survivors, "I don't think it's right, it says the mess is on deck four, I know it was on deck six.

Shrugging and shaking his head, Johnathen replied. "Maybe things got moved around during a refit or something?" He looked down at Cassie. "Do you want some more tea, honey?"

Cassie looked at Johnathen and smiled. In the last few hours, they hadn't made any acknowledgement of their relationship, still thinking in terms of Starfleet and the fraternization rules that were in place whilst on duty.

Nodding at the unspoken answer, Johnathen moved to what the crewman who had deposited them here had called a replicator. It certainly looked vastly different from the units of their time. The first main difference was that there was no order card reader. "How the heck do you get a cup of tea?"

Suddenly, a cup of tea materialized in the replicator alcove.

"Whoa!" Johnathen exclaimed quietly to himself. He picked up the cup and tasted the liquid. While good, it was just basic breakfast tea. Putting the cup back down in the alcove, he asked for a mug of Cassie's favorite tea. The first selection vanished in a flash of blue light, and then the new request materialized in its place. Picking up the new offering, Johnathen tasted it, and was suprised that it tasted exactly like Cassie made it. Smiling, he carried the mug over and handed it to her. "I'll tell you one thing," he said aloud. "If the rest of the tech improved as much as that replicator did, I wouldn't be suprised if Starfleet has ships flying to other galaxies by now."

"Thank you." The woman said, holding the mug in her hands as she tried to process all the differences around her. This was their ship but not their ship at the same time. It was scary and exciting and the woman just didn't know what to do.

Johnathen replied with a smile and a gentle squeeze of her left shoulder, as he positioned himself by her side again.

Hal was sitting off to the side. Still reeling from the effects of what he'd just been through with his friends. Normally he'd be the "press forward." type, but that was then. He got up and walked around to get his blood flowing when he heard Jasper. "It was on Deck six last patrol I made." he offered. "Best as I can remember."

"I believe it got moved around after they found the ship floating twenty years after we went missing." Cassie said thinking it sad that they hadn't checked the computer properly. Twenty years would have been better than 150 years. They were lucky, to say the least.

Jasper found a chair and sat down heavily, "Yah I know, a hundred and fifty years in a transporter data file." he shook his head, "don't think anyone will know me except you guys now." He caught himself rambling on and took a breath trying to relax. "So what do we do now? Are, are we still in Starfleet?"

Johnathen spoke up. "Don't see why not. We are alive. Of course, the real question is, do we still want to be in Starfleet? We are waaay behind the learning curve right now."

"True. All the stuff that was going to be explored...already has." Hal said. "Cross that bridge when we come to it?" He walked up to that thing that dispensed the tea. "Can you do hot chocolate?" he asked it. To his delight a cup materialized. "Isn't that something?" he said, taking a sip.

Reesesm watched the group from the doorway before she walked over. “Hi I’m Rees. I’m the Captain's secretary. I’ve sorted out quarters for you all," she said kindly, thinking of how much they had been through to get to just being seated in the mess deck.

Johnathen looked over at the new arrival and asked, "Any news from Starfleet?"

"I don't know what the Captain is going to do about that I am afraid." The woman suspected that the Captain would contact Starfleet somehow once they got to the Trill Homeworld. "I think he is waiting until we get to a United Federation planet to make the call but I also think it all comes down to you and what you want to do." She soothed softly looking at the group as a whole. Maybe they didn't want to go back to Starfleet.

Jasper's head tilted as he heard the reply, "You mean we may not be Starfleet Officers anymore?" he looked over at Johnathan and chuckled, "They might say we're retired now and spent our career in a transporter. I wonder what our retirement plans look like now."

Hal chuckled. He shrugged his shoulders. "Be a good story to tell the future grandkids though." Hal grinned as he sipped. Sense of humor out in full force.

"What," Jasper said letting a grin cross his face, "the how I survived by hiding in a transport file story? Not exactly heroic. Now, what our captain did, that was heroic."

Johnathen was quiet as he remembered the last thing he saw before dematerializing. The Captain, manning the transporter controls as the Cloud began to seep in through the closed door to the corridor. "He saved all of our lives, at the expense of his own." He looked at he fellow survivors. "If nothing else, we owe it to him, and to our fallen shipmates, to live life to the fullest. E en if it means we don't return to Starfleet service." He looked down at Cassie, looking to gain strength from her love.

Cassie sighed into her tea as she thought about the Captain. It was heartbreaking to remember what had been hours ago for them had been years and years for everyone else. “That is a lovely way to think about it.” The teenager said awkwardly as she watched them.

The ops officer nodded as he listened to their words. He drew in a deep breath and looked over at the Captain's secretary, "I'm sorry miss but for us it's only been a little while since we were aboard this same ship as officers. the last thing we saw was our captain before we dematerialized and it's going to take some time to get over."

"I know. Just take some time to rest and stuff. Can I show you guys to your quarters or would you like me to come back in a little bit?" Reessem offered with a small smile. She had found their personal files and none of them was above Lieutenant Junior Rate apart from the man in the coma still in Sickbay.

"Quarters," Jasper questioned, "you have a place for us?" His brow furrowed as he looked around at the others. "What do you all think about staying here a bit while we figure things out, I mean on, what's the name of the ship now, Rose Marry?" He chuckled and blushed, "I know that's not right. It's from a song right. The man shook his head, no named after an old battle ship Mary Rose. I'll get things sorted out yet."

"Um.. you guys don't have a choice we aren't anywhere near somewhere where we can drop you off for a few days." The French woman smiled softly and made Cassie laughed a little. It was hysteria she was sure of it but she had to put her best foot forward and carry on.

Johnathen nodded slowly. Jasper was right, they had a lot to think about. What better place to do that then in familiar (sort of) settings? Looking down at Cassie, he asked, "What do you think?"

"I think we need sleep. I need sleep I know." She slowly rose from the table her sweet tea finished. She needed a moment alone from everyone just to think through everything that happened. One day ago they were in 2246 and now they were in 2294. "Can you show me my room please?" She wondered cooly.

"Actually a good rest does sound good right about now." Hal said, echoing the group. "Just to gather thoughts and to decompress more than anything else." He stretched his back a little bit as he spoke. "It's got my vote."

With a sigh, Jasper conceded with a nod to the idea that sleep was a good thing, "actually I've been fighting it." The admittance was more than just words he had been and he was well aware of it, "I'm not sure what will happen."

Cassie frowned at the men seeming like they were following what she was doing when she was the lowest rate amoung them due to her LOA. "You guys don't have to follow my example. You can stay up and meet this times crew. I am just tired. I was tired before we were caught up in the transporter." She revealed softly rubbing her face that was pale and slightly green tinted.

"Perhaps their doctor will have something for that," Jaspers said trying to sound reassuring, "What I'd really like to do is find out where they want to stash me and get something to eat." He chuckled, "I really want to get my hands on their LCARS."

"Well how about if I show Ka'see to her room, and then come back for all of you?” She offered, pointing to where the men could get a tray to get some food. Cassie froze as the Romulan used the Vulcan version of her name but said nothing of it. Not the time or the place to correct her.

Johnathen noticed both the pronunciation and Cassie freezing in place briefly. He almost said something, but decided to follow Cassie's example, and remain silent. At the mention of food, his stomach grumbled slightly. It had been a while since he had eaten anything of substance, not including the one hundred fifty years of stasis. During the attack by the Cloud, which lasted nearly four days, normal life had stopped. Now that things were peaceful and they were safe, he was suddenly starving.

"Sounds good," Jasper replied as he reached for a tray, "you mean I can get food, not just drink from the food Synth..., um replicator." He blushed and shook his head, "sorry it's going to take a while to get used to all this." With the tray in hand, he moved towards the unit and tilted his head, "fried chicken with coleslaw, corn and green beans." He chuckled and added, "can I get a beer with that?"

The replicator responded with a plate with two pieces of fried chicken, some corn and green beans. Jasper smiled and took the plate setting it on his tray, "amazing." His eyes narrowed as he saw the replicator kick in again and a frothy cold one appeared, "we can have alcohol on this ship?"

Hal perked up at the mention of food. He followed Jaspers lead. "Uh..Grilled Chicken sandwich. A side of fries. And sweet tea to drink?" he said to the device. To his delight, the stuff appeared before him. He grinned." He didn't care that it had just appeared from nowhere. Food was food.

"It won't be real." The French Woman spoke up as Jasper ordered a beer. "Next time you guys eat. It won't be food like that. We don't use the replicators really as we have fresh food when needed from the hydroponics bay."

"Not real," Jasper questioned, "sure it is synthesized just like the chicken and coleslaw." He studied the Captain's secretary for a moment or do you mean there isn't any alcohol, like near beer?" The ops man sat down his tray on a table and took a sip of the auburn liquid, "tastes like I remember real beer tasting."

"Enjoy guys. I'll see you later." Cassie said softly as she watched them all getting a little happy over food. It was nice that they had been delivered out of the chaos that they had to this ship, it just unnerved her than unlike them she might still have people alive who knew her thanks to her Vulcan side.

Johnathen moved over to Cassie, gently grabbing hold of her left elbow as he spoke just loud enough for her to hear. "Would you like me to bring you some food later? Or just leave you alone for now?" The tone of his voice and the look in his eyes both conveyed a feel of care and concern, included with a desire to take care of her.

Cassie had already taken a step when she felt the familiar warmth on her elbow. She turned and looked over her shoulder at the man. “I’m just going to go to sleep wherever they let me.” She told him gently. “You get some rest as well.”

Johnathen gave Cassie a soft smile. "Okay. But I'll come find you later, so we can talk. Okay?"

"If it pleases you." The woman said gently as she nodded at him. It was a strange feeling to be pulling away from someone when you wanted nothing more than to be close to them. She moved away from him, moving quickly to catch up with the who she could only think of as a child. The girl seemed barely old enough to be out in the universe let along have such a responsible job.

Johnathen stood there for a moment, watching Cassie moved away. There was a strong part of him that wanted to hold her in his arms, while the rest of him desperately craved food. Smelling the aromas that drifted out from the galley finally overrode all of his other desires. Moving back into the galley, he made his way back to the replicator, ordering one of his favorite meals: a cowboy steak, cooked medium rare, with a side of macaroni and cheese and a baked sweet potato, complete with brown sugar and whipped cream. He also asked for a bottle of steak sauce and a cold beer. He took the food over to the table that everyone else was sitting and joined them, quietly devouring his meal, like a man who hadn't eaten in about 150 years.

OFF::

Ensign Jasper Offerman
Operations
SS Mary Rose

Ensign Hal Detan
Brig Officer
SS Mary Rose

Ensign Cassie McAvoy
Science Officer - Biology
SS Mary Rose
(PNPC Gregnol)

Ensign Johnathen Anderson Jr
Helm Officer(formerly)
USS Ishimura
(PNPC Robertson)