Meals on Wheels part 2

Posted on 14 Sep 2016 @ 9:37am by Commander Terry Walsh

1,272 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Click Three Times
Location: Flight Deck
Timeline: MD7

Selah pulled her little wagon along the flight deck. She was getting exhausted continually going back up to Talons for more food, but at least she didn't have to do ALL of it alone. The other bartender had conscripted a couple of other civilians to help and together, they had nearly everyone fed. After this, she still had to go to Sick Bay and the Engineering and hopefully, they would be done.

And just in time; the food was running very low.

She waltzed right onto the flight deck and was nearly run over. Luckily, she was able to plaster herself against the wall in time to avoid death. It looked like all the pilots were busy fixing things, just like everyone else on the ship, so she picked the little office off to the side and decided to see if whoever was there wanted to help her pass out food. She pressed her thumb to the little panel next to the door and waited.

Amaya was in the smaller, Deck-side office that Commander Walsh had been using so as not to have to keep going back up a deck. Usually, the Flight Deck Commander was in there, but since things were completely out of sorts, Commander Walsh had commandeered it for the time being. At the moment, though, he was out on the Deck. Amaya looked up when the chime rang and cocked her head to the side. "Interesting," she said. "Please come in."

Selah entered, towing her little wagon after her. "Hi!" she said cheerfully. "Talons is about to lose everything in the stasis chambers, so I thought, why not see if everyone would like something other than those ration bars? So..." she gestured to the food on the wagon. "Here I am."

Amaya smiled at the woman she recognized. She had been to Talon's several times, but had not yet conversed with it's proprietor. "That makes sense to me," she said. "supplying food that is about to go bad to those who have been working long hours with only rations. What do you have available?"

"Stuff for sandwiches- including seven types of bread and so many cheeses I lost count- and raw veggies and lots of fruit," answered Selah. "I didn't bring any water. I thought about it, but water is heavy and anyway, most people seem to have gotten their hands on water, so.... But! I DO have a thermos of coffee! It's nearly gone, but there might be a cup or two left."

Amaya nodded. "That sounds like it would be good. Just a moment." She tapped her commbadge, "Commander Walsh, your presence is requested in your office, sir."

Terry was standing outside the Flight Deck, leaning against the bulkhead with a container of water in his hand. He was taking a break from moving parts containter back and forth from Valkyrie to Valkyrie. And now, the administration part of the job was calling. Terry tapped his commbadge in response, "Acknowledged, I'm on my way. Walsh out." Terry pushed himself up off the bulkhead and started slowly moving towards his office.

Amaya looked at Selena. "He'll be here momentarily. In the meantime, you may have a seat. I'm certain that you need some rest, if you've been doing this all day."

"Nah, if I sit down now, I'll never get back up," Selah answered. "Best to just keep moving until I drop. Do you want anything, though, while we wait?"

She walked over to the cart. "I believe I will," said Amaya. She looked everything over. It all looked good, but she was instantly drawn to the chipped beef and provolone. "I think I'll have a chipped beef on wheat with a slice of provolone, please," replied the petite Asian.

"Absolutely," said Selah, going to work immediately. "Any toppings? I've got all kinds of veggies a lot of different condiments."

Amaya thought for a second as she looked at the containers of veggies. "Tomatoes, please...and some sliced cucumbers. As far as condiments, do you have a horseradish sauce?" Everything looked good and she was certain the Commander was a little hungry.

"I sure do," answered Selah, plucking the bottle from the mess and squirting some onto the bread. "Does that look good?" she asked, adding a couple of tomatoes and cucumber slices to the sandwich.

The petite Aide nodded her head. "Yes, that looks very good," she said. She was looking forward to digging in to the delectable sandwich. She looked up though, as the office doors parted and Commander Walsh entered.

Terry looked at his Aide. "Petty Officer? And Selah, isn't it?" He was a bit confused as to what was happening.

"That's correct!" sang Selah cheerfully as she handed over the completed sandwich to Amaya. "We've got all this food in Talons that's going to go bad in a couple of days, so I thought everyone would like something fresh rather than those wonky ration bars they try to pass off as food. Seriously? They taste like cardboard. Anyway, can I make you a sandwich?"

"Huh, okay. I'll have some corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing on rye bread," Terry said. "I mean, if you have all that stuff. I love a good reuben sandwich."

"Well, I've definitely got corned beef, Swiss and sauerkraut, but I'm not sure about Russian dressing," answered Selah, searching her wagon. "And rye bread is no trouble at all. Oh!" she exclaimed, pulling out a small bottle. "Look at that! Russian dressing! All right, now we're in business!" She began assembling the sandwich.

Terry walked around the desk and flopped down in his chair. He looked over at Amaya, who was daintily eating her sandwich. "Hey, make sure you get the crumbs off the desk, okay?" he said, smiling.

The little woman nearly choked as she giggled. "Sir, with everything else that's still fallen over and in pieces in here, I don't think a few bread crumbs are going to get noticed." She smiled at the Commander. "But, I will ensure that there are none on the desk after we both are finished."

Terry chuckled. He was much too tired to laugh. "I was only joking, Miss Mori. But you're right about this place still being in shambles. I'll get to it when the squadron is up and running." He turned his attention to Selah. "How's it going?"

"Almost... got it!" declared Selah, finishing the sandwich and presenting it to Walsh on a napkin. "Sorry, I didn't bring plates because they weigh too much and I have to crawl through jefferies tubes because not all of the turbolifts are working right and- well, anyway, here you go!"

Terry took the proffered reuben and napkin and put it on the desk. A few crumbs of rye fell out and he eyed his Aide, smiling. The Commander picked it up and took a bite, savoring it. He swallowed it a minute later and nodded. "Really good, Selah. A lot better than anything replicated and there's no comparison to the rations. Nice job."

Selah beamed. "Is there anything else I can get you before I go?" she asked.

Terry, mouth full of reuben, shook his head and looked at Amaya.

"No thank you, Selah," replied the Petty Officer. "I think this will be sufficient." She took another bite of her sandwich, enjoying every morsel.

Selah grinned as she wheeled her wagon back onto the flight deck. "Okay, listen up!" she called loudly. "Form a line over here only if you want the most delicious sandwiches in the entire galaxy! Right here, don't push, there's plenty to go around...."

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