Morning Meeting

Posted on Wed Aug 13th, 2025 @ 3:57am by T'Sai & Lieutenant Anna Esquivias

Mission: Season 6: Echoes of the Zynari
Location: N'vok's quarters
Timeline: MD6
883 words - 1.8 OF Standard Post Measure

T'sai was working away at her maths assignment, her datapad on her knees as she manipulated holographic blocks of information. She was dressed in her school jumpsuit with her belt of pouches as an accessory. Her feet were currently bare.

She looked up as Anna stepped out of the bedroom annex. "Good morning, Lieutenant Esquivas," T'sai said. "There is fresh pineapple juice on the table if you would like some."

"Good morning," Anna said. "It's T'sai, isn't it?" She looked unreasonably surprised and a little awkward.

"Yes," she agreed. "I was -the Terran phrase is sleeping over, yes?- at a friend's quarters. I think N'vok wanted to introduce us this evening but my morning class was canceled, so I came back to study." She sat up, setting her datapad aside.

T'sai offered her hand. "It is nice to meet you at last. N'vok has spoken about you often."

"He has?" she asked, taking the girl's hand.

T'sai nods. "N'vok was very impressed with your adaptability. You survived being kidnapped by those terrible slavers, yet were able to take up your post with alacrity and run your department with efficiency. N'vok is fond of large words as you know." She flashed a smile for just a moment.

Anna was slightly surprised when she smiled, but she returned it. "I'm very fond of N'vok," she said, "large words and all."

T'sai nodded. "And he seems very fond of you. I would be very thankful if you would take good care of him, Lieutenant Esquivas. We, that is N'vok and I, get along quite well, but there is so much that is part of his work life that I do not have the knowledge to help with. But you are his peer, a fellow officer and a department head, you can talk of things that make sense to both of you." She obviously had to suppress a smile. "And things I do not want to know about."

"We are good friends," Anna said and she could not help but blush. She was obviously a little embarrassed, though maybe she shouldn't have been. She walked over to the pineapple juice and poured herself a glass. "Do you like pineapple?"

"I do," nods T'sai. "For some reason, when I was ten, I decided to try all of the fruits of the founding worlds of the Federation. Pineapple was one of my favorites and I thought you might like it too."

"I do like it," Anna admitted. "Why the Founding Worlds? I know Tellar has some great fruit but.." She shrugged slightly.

"Well, I had wanted to do all the Federation worlds but that lead to an unmanageable number of fruits," T'sai replied. "Even just the Founding Worlds have a surprising number of fruits, Vulcan has the fewest. The Tellar Great Berry is one of my favorites, but not otherwise much liked outside of Tellar."

"Well, that makes sense," Anna admitted as she drank some more pineapple juice. "But I will have to show you all the great Ardanan berries some time. My mom was from there, even though I was born on Earth. My father is human.

T'sai nods. "I would like that, a new world of fruit would be fun to explore." She pauses a moment. "As you are no doubt aware, my parents were killed in the event that brought us to this sector of space."

"I know," Anna said softly. "That must have been..." Anna paused and shook her head slightly. "I don't really know the right words. Maybe there aren't any."

"Do not worry, most people do not know what to say," said T'sai. "Such a scale of loss is rare and that is good." She pauses for a moment. "I would like us to be friends. Shall we plan on trying an Ardananian fruit together each day?"

"I would like to be friends as well," Anna said. "And that sounds like a good plan. We can start with Ardanan redberries tomorrow."

T'sai nods. "Yes, please. Would they be good as part of breakfast?"

"I think so," Anna said, glancing down to the table. "What do you normally have?"

"Grains cooked in milk," said T'sai. "I like Vulcan tynassi, N'vok Terran oats. Usually with some fruit as well, so your redberries would fit in well. What do you usually have?"

"Usually just some fruit, sometimes with toast," Anna answered her. "I've never had tynassi."

T'sai nods. "I like it, N'vok says that most Terrans find it too coppery in taste." She shrugs. "I do like toast but it is more fun if you get to toast it yourself. Replicated toast just does not seem right."

"It's because of chemistry," Anna told her. "Replicators can get the substance of food down to the molecule but there are active chemical processes going on in fresh food or even freshly toasted food that they don't quite capture."

T'sai nods. "I suspected such. Well, it sounds like we have a good plan for tomorrow. Now, I should probably return to my studies. It has been pleasant talking with you."

"And I have duty," Anna said. "It was nice meeting you." She smiled and then she turned to head out.

T'sai had already returned to her maths as the door hissed shut.

*wipe transition following the door closing*