The Captain's Table

Posted on Wed Jan 8th, 2025 @ 6:33pm by Commodore Jacob Kane & Lieutenant Ame Solis M.D.

Mission: Pandora's Box
Location: Commodore's Quarters
Timeline: MD-02 - evening
2187 words - 4.4 OF Standard Post Measure

Despite having made the plans before Starfleet had cast the ship and crew into another abrupt assignment, Kane had thought twice about cancelling the meal his yeoman had scheduled with the new CMO. It would have been easy to rain-check given the circumstances. But he'd made a personal commitment to try harder to connect with his senior staff, and since she was newer than the others that meant a little more effort.

As with the usual 'brief' for dinner at the CO's quarters, Kane had prepared a fairly straightforward meat stew and requested his guest provide dessert. He was checking on the pot's progress when he heard the door chime, signalling her arrival.

"Come in!" he called.

The request for a dessert had thrown Ame off her game. She was more of a savoury snacker outside of those truffles she had given Commander Zora, but she was sure that wasn’t going to cut it. She had sourced meringues, fresh jumjas and a bottle of springwine from her dad. It was an awkward hodgepodge of all the things that should go well together.

Chef had helped Ame put together a sort of Bajoran mess, a jumja compote with a springwine caramel, sweetened whipped cream and crumbled meringues. A delicate sprig of mint had be laid a top to give the impression that she knew what she was doing. The dessert was much less imposing on the senses as opposed to the savoury dishes she had considered in her conversations with Savin and Commander Zora.

There was a moment of pause before she pressed the chime, she looked presentable, brown corduroy trousers with cuffs that exposed the tops of her boots, a cream button-up shirt that was visible under her oversized black v-neck jumper. The speed of the response was much quicker than she’d expected but she was on time and keen.

Stepping through the door, she awkwardly offered the oversized trifle bowl looking for a good place to set it down. Her nose lifted, quick sniffs to sample to wares of the Commodore. “Good evening.” Ame greeted him curiously looking what he was up to.

"Almost ready here," Kane nodded, waving with a hand towards a table that had been set up already. His sleeves were rolled; the undershirt of his uniform without the crimson nor the rank indicators the best one might get from him looking 'casual'. He scooped up some of the hearty slow-cooked concoction onto a pair of plates alongside some more traditional mashed potato and set them down. "There was nothing in your file about whether you're vegetarian, but the meat is replicated so I don't know if that counts either?"

Carefully she set down the bowl on the counter and took a deep breath in of the meal that had been prepared. It looked like some kind of braised meat puree. Being a human himself she imagined it was probably a potato and a dark meat like the ones Jackson had loved so dearly. She couldn’t help but laugh at his comment about checking her file. “Same. I wasn’t really expecting to bring dessert, it was a curveball. No allergies and no dietary requirements.”

Her eyes scanned the table, “Would you like a hand? Drinks? Anything?” She enquired tucking her hair behind her ear and rolling up her sleeves enough to expose her forearms.

"No, no. I'm the host, apparently that's all my job." He'd learned that lesson already. These 'Captains Table' sessions had at least been informative when it came to certain aspects of dinner etiquette. "Sit, sit." He scooted himself in at roughly the same moment to make it less awkward. "So, uh, do Bajorans...pray before a meal?" he asked cautiously.

“Okay then, host away.” She held her hands up in defeat and took a seat, scooching in to bring herself closer to the table. It felt awkward but it was a relief to see that she wasn’t the only one feeling that way. Ame couldn’t help but laugh at his comment, “I don’t pray before a meal. Do you?”

He shook his head quickly.

She wore a D’ja pagh on her right ear like many a Bajoran but not because of religion. It was her mother’s, the only thing she had left outside of faint memories and pictures that had been shared. Jackson had bought her one when they had gotten engaged, it had been stashed in her belongings along with pictures and items she couldn’t bear to look at. She drew in a deep breath, the rich meaty smell pulling a smile to the corners of her mouth, “That smells amazing. What is it?”

"Grandma Kane's lamb special," he replied, cutting into some with a satisfied sort of feeling. "The actual recipe is lost to time, but I managed to approximate it with a few smaller additions." He motioned to the dessert bowl. "Any special stories behind your pick?"

“Lamb is from a sheep, right? The fluffy ones with the squished pupils.” Ame attempted to clarify. The Ranch didn’t have sheep, but there were animals similar to the Aries family throughout the universe. She would have made the bleat noise, but that was perhaps a bridge too far.

Carefully she picked up her cutlery and opted for a mix of the stew and potato. “Not really, it was more of a panic moment. I’m more of a savoury fan, so when you mentioned dinner I was looking at some favourites. None of which were desserts.” The Bajoran laughed softly, “There was a conversation with Chef and it was explained that when I go sweet, I go sweet, sweet. Sweet cream with caramel and boozy Jumja and crispy chewy meringues fit the bill.”

"Hmm. Should I be worried my Chief Medical Officer is about to give me an overdose of sugar?" Kane remarked, his guard lowered enough to make light of the notion.

As the tender meat practically melted in her mouth, Ame stifled a murmur of contentment. Savoury dishes were her weakness; she’d take slow-cooked perfection over a sweet treat any day. “Grandma Kane would be proud,” she remarked with a warm smile, her gaze drifting to the dessert bowl on the table. Her lips quirked in amusement. “Unless you’re planning to finish the entire thing yourself, I think we’re safe from diabetes. Besides, I’m fairly sure replicated calories don’t count or at least, that’s what my father always told me when I was a kid.”

"Well. Grandma Kane would have insisted on clear plates before going anywhere near anything sweet," he noted with a short nod of acknowledgement. "You mentioned your father; your mother was a Starfleet officer, wasn't she? A casualty of the Dominion War?"

The Doctor didn’t need to be told, another swipe of potato and stew had already found its way into her mouth as he spoke. She hummed in agreement about her father and nodded. “Yes, she was. She joined Starfleet not long after I was born and she died in the Battle of Torros III.” Her answer was dry and matter of fact, she hardly knew the woman and she chose to leave so quickly.

“It was a difficult time to serve.” Given his age and the length of his career, she knew he’d have to have joined around that time, in the middle of a war.

He said nothing for a few seconds. A respectful silence. "Yes, it was. I was a cadet when it started. The war...changed a lot of things, for a lot of people. I'm glad it didn't put you off serving yourself."

Ame nodded, “I can only imagine. I think it only pushed me into my career. Treating simple wounds and learning biology let me see how I could make a difference. I caused a lot of trouble on that Starbase, there was a level of shock when I actually graduated and completed my training. Let alone when I was reassigned as an officer.”

She’d said so much, “Why did you enlist?” The woman picked a mix of veg and rich stew with her fork. Perhaps she talked too much or he was just a man of few words.

"I didn't. Well, at least, I didn't want to. Thankfully, there was a particularly stubborn Vulcan Commodore that saw something in a scrappy, equally stubborn young man and practically dragged him into the recruitment office." Kane's lips thinned into something resembling a smile as he sat back from the plate and recalled. "I think the junior Lieutenant on the desk thought it was a joke. That was nearly 25 years ago now; a little hard to believe."

She listened, rearranging the food on her plate to her liking. "I'm sure the intake office has its share of stories," she mused, taking a sip from her glass. "I’ve always believed this place opens doors and opportunities, and how you choose to walk through them says a lot about you." She paused for a moment, reflecting. "I never thought I’d end up here. It took a push to step out of the comfort of research and minor emergencies back on my childhood Starbase. I considered going back to Starfleet Medical and focusing on research full-time. But mentors… they have the wisdom we often don’t, don’t they? They see things we can’t."

"That they do indeed," Kane tipped his head in agreement. "Sometimes a push is all we need. I'm certainly not immune to that. Do you still have contact with your mentor?"

“Yes, I do. Commander Mira Calloway has been both a mentor and, I’m glad to say, a friend,” Ame replied, her expression softening. Part of her couldn’t help but wonder if their closeness had been shaped by personal circumstances, though neither Mira nor her father had ever let on. “She’s the one who encouraged me to put my name forward for this position.” Her gaze lingered thoughtfully for a moment before she asked, a touch tentative, “And you? Do you still keep in touch with your mentor?”

He pondered her comment before he answered; hearing that someone he didn't know recommend Ame seek out the posting was a little surprising. He knew his reputation broadly among the fleet. Perhaps Commander Calloway was a rarer sort. "Not as often these days. He's semi-retired and last I heard living in a monastary on Vulcan," he explained, glancing down at his now bare plate. "You get to my position, you don't always get the luxury of long vacations."

The Bajoran tried to picture life in a Vulcan monastery. Strict routines didn’t seem so bad, but the meditation and mental discipline that came with it made her skin itch just thinking about it. Setting her fork down, she brushed the back of her neck with deliberate care, soothing the faint irritation.

“What would you even do with a long vacation?” she asked, her brow furrowing slightly in thought. Relaxing for a few days might be nice, but it would probably end up being something like reading papers in the sunshine, with the sound of waves in the background, a scene easily recreated by the holodeck.

Her own plate bore the remnants of her meal, faint streaks of gravy and mashed potato left behind. Her knife lay neatly beside her fork, the utensils arranged as if to signal she was done.

"Hopefully somewhere quiet, unfettered by omniscient beings intent on mischief," Kane remarked, half-mocking recent events. "Yourself?"

She leaned back in her chair and took a moment to think, “Somewhere warm, beachy with a lot of alcohol and a high-class medical facility. I’m very easy to please, maybe a cute bartender.” Her smile widened as she ran her fingers through her hair and shrugged a little. It seemed a long way off that was for sure.

He lifted his glass, almost toasting that thought. "Now there's an idea. One day, my chief medical officer will mandate a vacation just like that one, you know, in her professional opinion."

“She just might, you’ll have to keep her up to date with your condition just to make sure there’s not too much suffering.” Ame raised her glass in return taking a mouthful before looking back at the heaping mound of sugar, cream and jumja. Her eyes looked toward her commanding officer with a pained look, “I won’t be offended if you’ve no room for dessert.”

Kane glanced at the dessert. "Nonsense," he answered. "After Grandma Kane's stew, I think we both need something a little less hearty." His expression gamefully dared her to refuse.

The Bajoran blew out through her lips before draining the last of her glass. It didn’t take much encouragement to get to her feet and retrieve her creation, “Bowls? Or just a spoon.” She teased. Given its size, they would have never met in the middle. Definitely a little overzealous.

Picking up a spoon, Kane nodded thoughtfully. "I suppose it saves on cleaning up afterwards."