Inspection: Talons

Posted on 07 May 2017 @ 10:49pm by Commodore Harvey Geisler

1,570 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: The Finnean Crisis
Location: Talons
Timeline: MD 2 || 1045 hours

Harvey entered Talons, pleased to see that in many ways it resembled the former facility. He'd been equally pleased to see that Selah had returned to manage the lounge. And, aside from it getting closer and closer to lunchtime, Harvey found that he could use a quick snack before finishing the inspection.

Selah, however, was only half happy to be back. To be perfectly honest, she'd already decided to see about returning to a Starfleet ship, but when her cousin- the queen- had basically ordered her to return, she'd very nearly refused.

But, she had to admit, Yegorah really didn't have much of a presence in the Gamma Quadrant and Selah, having no official duties, could switch rolls at the drop of a hat, if need be. And so, she had packed a couple of state gowns as well as the ridiculous silver circlet she was forced to wear when acting as emissary of the crown, and set off for the new Black Hawk as soon as she had word that the lounge needed a manager.

And so here she was, getting Talons set up and read for business once again- this time with the full knowledge that Queen Nualan ZyMach XVIII could call on her at any moment to act on behalf of the crown- when who should walk in but Captain Geisler. She plastered on a smile- which was only half insincere- and headed over to greet him. "Harvey!" she said cheerfully. "How was your leave?"

Harvey flashed an uncertain smile of his own. While he enjoyed Selah's company, he couldn't help but consider her heritage. The Telino were a mysterious and often understood culture in the Federation. Part of him thought her presence aboard the ship had some sort of ulterior motive, especially since she was connected to a royal family. Incredible odds indeed. "Exhilarating," Harvey replied, "and not brief enough."

"I think you mean not long enough," she said with a grin. "Or did you actually mean you wish it had been shorter?"

"For two and a half months, I was a Captain without a ship to command." Harvey sighed. "Even though I was on leave, it was strange not knowing what I'd be going back to. At least that measure of uncertainty is over now."

"I see," she replied, finally understanding. "So, in a way, it was a sort of torture. I can relate," she added, an expression of amused distaste on her features.

"That so?" Harvey asked. "If it was that bad, I'm surprised you didn't hop on the first ship in need of a lounge manager."

"I should have," she agreed. "But, the truth is, my dear Captain, that you are irresistible!" She grinned and gave him a wink to let him know she was only teasing. "Seriously, though, it wasn't all terrible. In fact most of it was good. The only really bad part was my cousin getting all Queenly on me. It's hard when she does that. We grew up together. It's hard not to think of her as Nala even when she's being official."

Harvey nodded. Before he'd attempt to follow up on the Queenly remark, he asked, "I don't suppose you have any soup or anything quick on the menu, do you?"

"Stuffed pepper and potato bacon," Selah answered quickly about the soups. "The stuffed pepper is my favorite. It's lighter than the potato bacon."

He gave the choices some thought, and tried not to think too hard about them. There was a rather sizable inspection, his first aboard the new starship, that still awaited him. "Stuffed pepper it is then. How is your cousin being so... Queenly such a bad thing?"

"It's not, really, I suppose," she answered, heading behind the counter and dishing up a bowl of soup. "I mean, she is the queen after all. It's just weird because I remember buzzing primitive planets with her when we were teenagers. And now she's all, 'Selah, do this; Selah, do that.' It's just weird is all." She set the bowl in front of him with a spoon and napkin. "Crackers?" she offered.

Harvey took a seat at the raised bar. "Please," he responded, looking down at the steaming liquid. "This made with fresh ingredients?" he asked, taking a moment to enjoy the aroma.

"Yes!" said Selah proudly, grabbing a couple packages of crackers and setting them next to his bowl. "We've got twelve full size food stasis pods and three large freezers, too, for the ice cream. Got to have ice cream," she added with a huge grin.

"Ice cream?" Harvey asked, raising an eyebrow at the idea of having fresh food aboard. "Don't tell the chef." He sampled the soup and then asked, "What's so weird about doing stuff for royalty?"

"It's not doing stuff for her that's weird," Selah answered. "It's the fact that she's actually ordering me to do things. It's sort of like your best friend suddenly becoming your Commanding officer and giving you orders. Like someone you've known since you were in diapers. It's hard to think of her as the Queen. I mean, I know she is, but... I suppose it's not any easier for her to order me around, either," she admitted with a grin.

Harvey shrugged, not really knowing what that was like. He continued to eat the soup she'd offered him, and found that he was consuming it faster than he thought he would. Harvey assumed it was because he hadn't eaten breakfast that morning, which was odd because he wasn't a breakfast person. For him, it was mostly coffee and water until lunchtime. "So, what has she ordered you to do? Or was that just because you were back with your people?"

"Nothing big," she said with a shrug. "She just wanted me to come back here in case she needed someone in the Gamma Quadrant. I mean, I'd already decided to because I like you, but she sorta made it seem like I didn't have a choice."

"The Gamma Quadrant," Harvey muttered, looking behind him at the warp trails that shot past the windows. "It seems to be the place to be these days." He set the spoon beside the empty bowl and asked, "Because you like me?"

"Yeah," she replied with a smile. "You're a nice guy and a good Captain. A bit grumpy sometimes, but I suppose that comes with the territory. And you make it ridiculously easy to run a lounge on your ship. Some Captains can be... well, but you're not like that."

The Captain grunted at the mention of the adjective grumpy. A hard-nosed man he was, and being grumpy was sometimes a requirement, especially if his displeasure motivated others to do better. "Can be what?" Harvey asked.

"You know," she said, searching around for the correct word. "Difficult?" she said slowly. "The last ship I was on- just before Black Hawk- the Captain seemed to think that there shouldn't be any leisure time and so he gave the lounge workers a hard time.

"Then it's amazing that that ship had a lounge at all," Harvey observed. "Well, hopefully, the ship's morale should be higher than it was than our last few months in the Gamma Quadrant. Plenty of fresh faces from the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, personnel who never got to see the horrors of the Dominion or the Consortium."

"That'll be a relief," agreed Selah. "Maybe that karaoke machine will get some use. Those cadets seemed to have fun with it that one time. Ooo! I should try to get a band!"

"With over seven hundred people aboard, I'm sure finding or forming a band won't be too difficult." Harvey sipped the last spoonful of the soup. "My compliments to the chef," he said, leaning upright and placing the spoon into the empty bowl.

"Thank you!" she said, eyes sparkling. "It's my own recipe. I don't get up to much cooking, but I love making soup. The cook tolerates it."

"Probably for the best," Harvey supposed. "You and I both know the Bolian chef. All too proud of his work. If you were to outperform him, everyone would come to Talons for lunch."

She grinned again. "Oh, there's no danger there," she insisted. "I just dabble. He's brilliant."

Nodding, Harvey stood from the bar. "Well, I'm sure Talons will be popular all the same. As for the karaoke, perhaps you should organize an event. You never know what can happen."

"Very true," replied Selah. "I'll put you down for 'Sexy and I Know It,' okay?" She tried to resist giggling, but failed miserably. "Sorry," she laughed. "That was just the most embarrassing song I could think of off the top of my head."

The two blinks and the not-so-casual shaking of his head were more than enough of an indication that it was embarrassing indeed. He also doubted that Selah was truly apologetic, but that was neither here nor there. "Before I push off for the rest of the inspection, is there anything I need to know? Anything I should be aware of?"

"Not that I can think of," she replied. "Everything seems to be in working order."

"Then I'll leave you to it," Harvey said. "If you need anything, just let me know." With that, he nodded and turned for the exit.

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