Post 364: Someday You Will Find Me Part One

Stardate: 70809.1130
Title: Someday You Will Find Me. . .Part One
Author: =/\= Zanh Liis
Scene: Arboretum, USS Independence
Time: Following "Old Tricks," by Dr. McKenna
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David McKenna's abrupt and honest admission that he'd been eavesdropping nearly made Zanh forget that he had a hell of a lot of nerve to be doing it.

It was true that the arboretum was considered public space on the Independence, and as such was subject at any time to audio-visual monitoring. But that was for security purposes, not for just listening in, so to speak. Especially not by newly assigned doctors with a curiosity level that could cost a cat all nine lives in one fell swoop.

Thinking first about how she wanted to respond to this situation before speaking, Zanh simply moved toward a water spigot and rinsed as much of the muck and grime from her hands as she could. She really needed a good long shower, but as much as she hated to admit that the doctor was right, he was. She was starving.

He had fastidiously spread a blanket on the ground beneath the gazebo, and was now busy uncorking a bottle of wine.

Zanh watched as he withdrew a container from the picnic basket and poured its contents out onto a plate. She smelled the unmistakable aroma of arribiata sauce, and knew that he'd done some research. She sat down.

He held up a fork, and she took it. She nodded thankfully, then pretended to see a smudge on the tines and frowned dramatically. McKenna looked horrified momentarily at the thought that something about his perfectly planned meal might not be just so, but then she laughed.

"Don't worry, Dave. It's fine, I'm just getting a bit slap happy here. It's been a long day."

"Indeed." He poured some dressing onto his salad, and then waited. "Ladies first." He inclined his head, and she really did laugh heartily now.

"Gee whiz. I can't remember the last time anyone referred to me as a 'lady'."

"One of the many perils of your station, Captain Zanh. Once the 'sir's' begin, gender references usually fall by the wayside in our desperate pursuit of political correctness."

"Maybe so, but somehow, I don't think that's the reason. So, you've been accessing my replicator files, hm?"

"Well, I did want you to eat it. If I'd shown up with. . ." he paused,

"Anything covered in Parmesan cheese."

"Anything covered in Parmesan," he imitated her tone and the face that she made, "then you'd be as hungry when we leave as you were when I arrived, and then I wouldn't have accomplished my mission, now would I?"

"What mission is that? Another assignment for Command?" she was a little nervous suddenly, only half joking.

"No. This is a top-secret, personal mission I've taken on as the newest medical officer on this ship."

"Do tell."

"This mission concerns the acting Captain of the Independence. Maybe you've heard of her, I believe her name is Zanh?"

"We've met."

"Well the objective of said mission is for me to see to it that Zanh Liis does not burn herself out, and up, with the brilliant and luminous flair of a supernova."

"A champagne supernova, apparently," Zanh replied, picking up the bottle that McKenna had brought with him and turning it around gently. She noted the vintage and then set the bottle back down. His expression questioning, she shrugged. "Sorry. You'll find that you will get a lot more of my jokes, doctor, if you bone up on the music that was popular on your home world during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries."

"You like music?"

"That would be what you could refer to as a monumental understatement."

"It's dry champagne," he informed her, "to compliment the shrimp in your pasta." he gestured toward her plate with his fork.

"Swanky. Well, Doc, that was sweet of you and I really do appreciate the thought. But there's something that you won't read about me in my profile,"

"I bet there's a lot about you that one cannot read in your profile," he thought aloud, quite certain of the fact. "But what 'thing' are you speaking of, specifically?"

"I don't drink alcohol. Ever."

"Any particular reason?"

"Yeah." She returned to her dinner, not offering him any further information.
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Zanh Liis
Acting CO
USS Independence NCC-90791