to show where they have
chosen to sit.
“There they are,” gestures Logan to the group to
show he has seen them.
“Let’s grab a tray and take a seat,” Zoey suggests.
Looking across the rows of food, some items appear
despairingly similar to the rations found on the hospital ship, but some other,
more intriguing choices catch Logan’s eye.
“Hmm… A few things look pretty appetizing,” Logan
remarks, slightly showing amazement.
Taking a few servings of his prime choices, he sets
his tray out as though to display the choices like a menu image.
He grabs a cup and fills it with Cava juice, and
then makes his way to the rest of his fellow companions.
“So, how is chow?” Logan asks, while taking a seat
at the table.
“Well, the little green things that jiggle all over your
plate seems surprisingly tasty. A kind of tangy citrus aftertaste,” Tess notes.
Zoey humorously interjects, “You like that? Wait
until they serve it as a single mass you have to scoop up. We call it the
blob.”
Anticipating that the normal crew-members have
monikers for each menu item, another team member named Justine asks, “What do
you call this gooey brown stuff?”
“Glop,” Zoey replies plainly, without missing a
beat.
“Fitting,” Justine replies as she scoops up a spoon
full and lets it plop back down on her plate.
Zoey explains the reason for the menu choices the
ship galley provides, “Normal military ships have only rations. Similarly, the
hospital ships, which are not usually military, also serve rations.”
She continues on to explain that exploration ships
are long duration flights, so a little piece of home is required to improve
moral during the journey.
A balanced mix of rations and special courses made
of normal food items, to resemble more familiar menu choices, allow the ship to
serve meals that are both nutritious and comforting while keeping within the
bounds of rationing.
Kitchen staffers that normally cater to military
crews simply just throw stuff together without considering that the food is
supposed to resemble real food.
As Zoey goes on to explain the inner workings of the
kitchen to the group, a message over the intercom briefly breaks their
communion.
“All hands to battle stations! This is a drill! I
say again, This IS a drill!”
“Battle drills? Are we expecting more fighting?”
Logan asks.
Zoey replies, “Just a precaution. On flights like
this, you can’t always just assume there will be nothing eventful. After all,
there is a heightened alert status do to the war, and there are always pirates
to contend with.”
Briefly continuing the subject, she adds, “Pirates
don’t usually attack military ships, but they aren’t always aware of explorer
ship designs. They may mistake the explorer ship to be a civilian one,
especially covert exploration ships like this one.”
After her explanation of the call to battle
stations, Zoey continues with her dialog into ship mess halls for another
several minutes.
Closing out her dialog, she remarks, “And that’s why
the food isn’t always appetizing.”
“Well, that is just… reassuring,” Paige
sarcastically replies.
The group laughs at Paige’s comment and they
continue their meals, trading stories and after thoughts to each other. On
occasion, they tell tales of events that have happened to them before they
joined the research team.
They talked about family and events growing up,
school, and Zoey added stories from her military career.
As the time grew near for sleep, each member rose
from the table, said their farewells, and headed-off to their quarters for a
full nights rest until all that remained at the table were Zoey, Logan, and
Paige.
“So,” Paige starts to ask, “Where are we headed to
first?”
Zoey opens her satchel that she carries with her
everywhere she goes and pulls out a DataCom pad.
She pokes at the touch screen with her figure tips
and pulls up a file on mission reports.
“Looks like a small
chosen to sit.
“There they are,” gestures Logan to the group to
show he has seen them.
“Let’s grab a tray and take a seat,” Zoey suggests.
Looking across the rows of food, some items appear
despairingly similar to the rations found on the hospital ship, but some other,
more intriguing choices catch Logan’s eye.
“Hmm… A few things look pretty appetizing,” Logan
remarks, slightly showing amazement.
Taking a few servings of his prime choices, he sets
his tray out as though to display the choices like a menu image.
He grabs a cup and fills it with Cava juice, and
then makes his way to the rest of his fellow companions.
“So, how is chow?” Logan asks, while taking a seat
at the table.
“Well, the little green things that jiggle all over your
plate seems surprisingly tasty. A kind of tangy citrus aftertaste,” Tess notes.
Zoey humorously interjects, “You like that? Wait
until they serve it as a single mass you have to scoop up. We call it the
blob.”
Anticipating that the normal crew-members have
monikers for each menu item, another team member named Justine asks, “What do
you call this gooey brown stuff?”
“Glop,” Zoey replies plainly, without missing a
beat.
“Fitting,” Justine replies as she scoops up a spoon
full and lets it plop back down on her plate.
Zoey explains the reason for the menu choices the
ship galley provides, “Normal military ships have only rations. Similarly, the
hospital ships, which are not usually military, also serve rations.”
She continues on to explain that exploration ships
are long duration flights, so a little piece of home is required to improve
moral during the journey.
A balanced mix of rations and special courses made
of normal food items, to resemble more familiar menu choices, allow the ship to
serve meals that are both nutritious and comforting while keeping within the
bounds of rationing.
Kitchen staffers that normally cater to military
crews simply just throw stuff together without considering that the food is
supposed to resemble real food.
As Zoey goes on to explain the inner workings of the
kitchen to the group, a message over the intercom briefly breaks their
communion.
“All hands to battle stations! This is a drill! I
say again, This IS a drill!”
“Battle drills? Are we expecting more fighting?”
Logan asks.
Zoey replies, “Just a precaution. On flights like
this, you can’t always just assume there will be nothing eventful. After all,
there is a heightened alert status do to the war, and there are always pirates
to contend with.”
Briefly continuing the subject, she adds, “Pirates
don’t usually attack military ships, but they aren’t always aware of explorer
ship designs. They may mistake the explorer ship to be a civilian one,
especially covert exploration ships like this one.”
After her explanation of the call to battle
stations, Zoey continues with her dialog into ship mess halls for another
several minutes.
Closing out her dialog, she remarks, “And that’s why
the food isn’t always appetizing.”
“Well, that is just… reassuring,” Paige
sarcastically replies.
The group laughs at Paige’s comment and they
continue their meals, trading stories and after thoughts to each other. On
occasion, they tell tales of events that have happened to them before they
joined the research team.
They talked about family and events growing up,
school, and Zoey added stories from her military career.
As the time grew near for sleep, each member rose
from the table, said their farewells, and headed-off to their quarters for a
full nights rest until all that remained at the table were Zoey, Logan, and
Paige.
“So,” Paige starts to ask, “Where are we headed to
first?”
Zoey opens her satchel that she carries with her
everywhere she goes and pulls out a DataCom pad.
She pokes at the touch screen with her figure tips
and pulls up a file on mission reports.
“Looks like a small
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