driftfleet | The Way to a Blue Fish's Heart...

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The Way to a Blue Fish's Heart...

Who: Blue Fish crew and visitors
Broadcast: Maybe some accidental, but not overall
Action: The Blue Fish kitchen
When: All Day, Feb. 7

[It had been a rough month for a lot of the Blue Fish crew. From blenders to family members and lost friends and blocked credits, they'd been soldiering on through a lot. And while Jilly was new enough to have skirted by most of the drama, she was keenly aware of the underlying stress of her crewmates. She wants to help.

Sometimes, though, words aren't enough...and so she sets about taking advantage of her augment to the best of her ability. For the past month she's been collecting recipes from the datary and experimenting with the supplies provided by the Atroma. And, in the days leading up to the 7th, she quietly recruits Beverly for a pair of extra hands with some Station grocery shopping and behind-the-scenes planning.

It's not announced, but on such a small ship it's hard to miss that something is going on that day. Forgoing her usual trip to the Station for job hunting and people watching, Jilly gets up extra early and sets the kitchen in motion. Recipes are taped up on the cabinets, ingredients are gathered, and so begins a marathon of food.]

[Between the combined forces of Jilly and Beverly, the two "cooks" for the Blue Fish will be setting out food all day as a bit of a much needed holiday for their crew (and any visitors who stop by). Volunteer as a taste-tester, grab food on the run, help clean dishes between baking bouts, or simply sit and relax with your crew mates. Food therapy is a go.]

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To stop the Romulan sun from exploding and destroying Romulus. According to him, he was to late, but the red matter detonated and it created that space-worm hole and dropped both him and Nero through - well, Nero before him. Time travel is strange.

_{[ He let out a breath, wondering if he needed to say this, to explain
what had happened to so drastically change his world and separate it from
hers. But he thought he should - get the rough bits out of the way. ]}

I suspect the other rather large difference between your dimension and mine is that Vulcan still exists.

[That's...

Give her a moment Kirk. It's hard to say what to focus on: the fact that Romulus will be in danger of being destroyed in the near future or the fact that Kirk's Federation has lost one of its central home worlds. She can't help but think of every Vulcan she's ever known, most especially of Dr. Selar, and how they might not exist in his universe.

And then, perhaps this won't be so easy to avoid the contamination of timelines after all. If they do remember what happens here, there is no way she could stand by and not warn someone about Romulus' impending disaster: if they acted now, perhaps they could at least evacuate to a new home world. Yet if that were to happen, what would become of this Kirk? Then again, all evidence seems to point to the idea that no one will remember their time in Drift Fleet.

She closes her eyes and rubs her temples with a sigh.]

Spock. I can't even imagine what he's going through right now. Or any of them. [Her eyes fly open again with a sudden thought.] Did Sarek...?

_{[ When he speaks, his voice is a whisper. ]}

He hurt so much...

_{[ He remembered the mind meld that Old Spock had put him through, to
show him, to make him believe. Even though what he had received was but a
fraction of the depth of the Vulcan's pain, it had speared him to his core.
It had made what he did to Spock to gain the Enterprise all the
harder, but sometimes hard choices had to be made. ]}

Sarek and most of the Vulcan's elders that made up their cultural core made it. Spock saved them - my Spock, that is. His mother... didn't. Around 10,000 Vulcans made it off the planet or already were off when it was imploded. They've recolonized on a new planet since then, so they'll recover - in time.

Old Spock - that is, your Spock - is heading that effort, actually.

Amanda...

[Amanda is long dead in Beverly's world but there she got to live a full and happy life with Sarek. And he... how devastated he must be, when it already ate at him so much that he never told her how he truly felt about her.]

I knew Sarek. And Ambassador Spock as well, but... I knew Sarek better, probably more than he ever would have wanted me to know, for I saw the depths of his pain, everything that Vulcans try so hard to control.

_{[ Kirk nodded quietly. ]}

I only saw a little, through a mind meld I shared with Old Spock, and I can't imagine what it must be like for them, having to star their entire race over. From updates we've gotten they're doing well though.

_{[ He looked to her, rubbing the back of his neck briefly. ]}

And that, Doctor, is why I hate time travel, among other things.

I don't know a Starfleet officer who doesn't, to be honest.

[Standing, she picks up the tricorder again and resumes her scanning.]

But it sounds as if you have suffered worse than most. I'm sorry for that.

_{[ He shook his head. ]}

Don't be. My life hasn't been easy, but it made me what I am. I'm sorry for what happened to Vulcan, for Pike's death, for the people that died because of Khan and Marcus, for the mistakes I made, but I wouldn't choose to be anything other than myself. So now all that's left is walking forward with my head high and being better than I was before.

_{[ His fists clench against his thighs for a moment before he relaxes
them. ]}

Hope I just live up to your expectations of Jim Kirk.

You don't have to. You're not him, you're you, and you have your own triumphs and failures and life to live. Whatever expectations I have, they're my problem, not yours.

[Not so big on the destiny, this one. Besides, selfishly, she's simply relieved to have another member of the Federation here, even if he is from a parallel universe.]

_{[ He smiles at her gratefully for that, as selfishly happy as she is
to have someone else from the Fleet to talk to, even if they might be
separated by realities and years. It was a little bit of home, and that was
all that mattered. ]}

So, tell me what it's like in the future - how far have you guys gotten out in the universe?

Well, the Federation itself is about 8,000 light years across, with over 150 member planets. We have made contact with the Gamma Quadrant and since I've been serving on the Enterprise we've made perhaps... twenty-five first contacts.

_{[ There's a moment as he imagines those new figures, a please smile
curling his lips. The Federation would certainly make strides, wouldn't it?
That he would be helping it reach that expanse, well... it filled him with
a sense of pride. ]}

Sounds like you and yours have been doing good work then. Though I should count myself lucky to have you aboard here. I had to admit, it's... easier with someone Fleet here, even if we don't come from the same time-frame.

Don't I know it. I haven't seen another Starfleet officer in over six months and Julian... Dr. Bashir was only here for a couple of months. Otherwise, there hasn't been anyone else. So selfish as it might be, I was very pleased to see you.

_{[ He almost winced when she told him that. He couldn't imagine being
away from anyone he knew - really knew - for that long. But the way it
sounded he might be in for that kind of long haul. But, as they had both
just said, they weren't quite all alone anymore. There were shared
experiences between them, even years apart, and it was enough. ]}

All right, doctor, how am I looking?

_{[ Bring it back around before they got weepy on each other. ]}

And before you prescribe anything, I should probably mention I have allergies.

_{[ A lot of them. He knew it had to be an endless headache for Bones
that his Captain couldn't be treated with a fair number of medicines.
]}

[Yes. Feelings, we can avoid those for now.]

You're perfectly healthy, no side effects from the... implant.

[Augment seems particularly not a good thing to say in this case.]

But for future reference, what sort of allergies? I presume you mean to certain medications?

_{[ He's thankful for the tactful response. Seems Beverely has a
somewhat better beside manner than Bones - or maybe that's just when he's
with him. ]}

A lot of medication, actually. My, ah... transfusion unfortunately did not take care of that particular part of my physiology.

[Beverly nods, then looks around for a moment. Ah! Here we are! She picks up a pad of paper and a pen and hands them to Kirk.]

Maybe it'll just be easiest then if you would write them all down for me?

_{[ He takes it and recalls a familiar dance he had gone through with
his own ship's doctor. Though he doubted she had the skills of Beverely, it
was nice to have back ups, just in case. ]}

It's going to be quite the list, and I'm not sure Bones has managed to test them all. From what I've experienced, it's safe to assume I'll suffer some kind of side-effect from anything you give me that isn't pretty generic.

We'll figure something out. I've been collecting medicinal plants as we've gone along, so we can test those, see if we can't work out alternatives for you.

Mmm, maybe. Who knows, right? Thankfully, I haven't really required much medicine since... everything happened. But better to be prepared since we never know what we'll meet out there.

_{[ He gives her a charming, lop-sided grin, exuberant at the prospect
of seeing new sights even if it wasn't exactly the way he thought he would.
]}

[She grins back. The truth of the matter is, if she hadn’t been forcibly brought here, and if she knew she would definitely return home one day, she’d be utterly thrilled by the opportunities out here for exploration. So to see someone else who is excited by the potential for discovery is wonderful.]

I’m glad to see you haven’t lost your sense of adventure at least.

_{[ Sure they had been forced her, but he liked to look at the silver
linings when he could find them. Thinking to much on the more dour aspects
wouldn't help any, and as was the job of any captain - well, he couldn't
panic and had to keep the morale up. Maybe it was only for himself now, but
right now that was almost all that mattered. ]}

It's going to take more than a little kidnapping to knock that out of me. I'd be a poor excuse for a Star Fleet captain if it did.

It'll certainly make for an interesting report when we return. Can't say I've heard of anyone getting put on an intergalactic reality television show before.

Edited 2016-02-26 02:41 (UTC)

_{[ He groaned. ]}

Right, I keep forgetting about that.

_{[ He hates writing reports. Can you tell, Bev? He snorted, though,
shaking his head. ]}

Odds are they don't even believe me, or if they do I spend the next since months in a debriefing.

_{[ He says it like he's been through it far to recently to want to go
back through it again. ]}

[Beverly is a little surprised at that - it's never crossed her mind that she wouldn't be believed. Maybe not by higher ups, but by Jean-Luc would certainly take her account seriously. After all, he lived a whole lifetime in another world without the crew realizing it.

Though... She hopes it doesn't come to that, for her.]

You'd be amazed, at the seemingly impossible things Starfleet command has to learn to accept.

_{[ Oh the brass as had to swallow a lot. A planet disappearing. Marcus
betraying them. Khan playing them. Smoothing over the fact a secret Star
Fleet militarized ship crashed into and destroyed part of San
Francisco and killed thousands. But somehow he didn't see them accepting
the idea he was kidnapped for a reality show. It was just that one step to
far that would make them balk and toss him off. ]}

Somehow, I don't think they'll swallow "kidnapped for a reality show".

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