Lunchtime!

Posted on Sunday March 1st, 2020 @ 5:38pm by Lieutenant Commander Freya Mannerheim & Cadet Freshman Grade Daisy Stanier
Edited on on Thursday March 5th, 2020 @ 7:41pm

1,164 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Shakedown Cruise
Location: Mess Hall
Timeline: Post-Departure

ON

It was Daisy's first ever lunch break and she was feeling quite hungry after only having a small breakfast. She headed over to the counter - where she chose a jacket potato and cheese with ravioli - before taking herself over to the nearest vacant table. After getting herself comfortable Daisy picked up her cutlery and began to eat her delicious looking meal.

Freya sighed as she walked into the mess hall, ready for lunch. It had been a fairly uneventful day so far, with the ship finally underway to its first destination. As she finally retrieved her meal from the replicator - a quick lunch of Wiener Schnitzel and some potato salad, to be washed down with some apple juice diluted with carbonated water - the Lieutenant noticed that there were no free tables around her. With a shrug, she approached the nearest table with a free chair, where a young cadet was sat with a rather peculiar choice of meal.

"Excuse me", Freya said to the young woman, smiling. "Is this seat taken?"

Daisy looked up at the voice which had addressed her and found it was a bespectacled Lieutenant with short light brown hair. As she wasn't expecting anybody else to sit down the Cadet gestured to the vacant seat before confirming verbally.

"Please...be my guest" Daisy responded.

"Thank you." Still smiling, Freya sat and began eating. "Don't think we've been introduced yet. Lieutenant Mannerheim, Chief Flight Control Officer," she introduced herself after a moment. "But just call me Freya."

Daisy was surprised by how laid back the Lieutenant was - certainly most of the officers she'd come across before weren't anywhere near as relaxed as Freya was.

Daisy replied. "Are you sure Lieutenant? Well...in that case...you can call me Daisy"

"Nice to meet you, Daisy," the Lieutenant answered. "Peculiar choice of meal you have there, don't think I've ever seen anyone try that combination before."

Daisy took a sip of her pineapple juice and placed the glass back down before responding.

"Likewise Freya. It's my favourite actually - I have it most days during the week either for my lunch or for my dinner. Your meal looks nice too - what is it?" Daisy responded.

"It's a simple German meal. One of the regional cuisines of Terra." She shook her head. "I mean, Earth. Terra is what we call it where I'm from, Nygard. A colony settled by people from Northern Europe, who then returned to the customs of their ancestors. It never formally joined the Federation, though."

She finished her meal and washed it down with some of her apple juice. "Where are you from, Daisy?"

Daisy continued her meal - surprised at how quickly Freya had finished her own.

Daisy nodded. "Ah...I see. I'm from England"

"England? I must say, I only visited London briefly once, but I liked it a lot."

"I'm from the North West part of England - nice enough but I feel like I need a break. Whether I go back after I finish my training...I don't know yet. We'll see" Daisy said.

Freya nodded. "I haven't been to Nygard since I started at the academy. And I don't know if I'll ever go back." She paused for a moment. "Anyway, what are you training for? I see you're in teal - medical or science?"

Daisy responded. "I'm training to be a counsellor actually - I'm also the XO's assistant so I'm learning a bit about the command side of things as well. What department are you from Freya? I don't recognise the colour of your uniform."

Freya laughed. "I have the CO's permission to wear a personalised uniform. I come from a warrior culture, and making our mark on our service is key to our traditions. As I said, I'm the Chief Flight Control Officer, so technically I should be wearing red. Although I trained as a linguist at the academy as well, so I could wear science colours, too."

Daisy had another couple of mouthfuls of her food - washed down with a sip of her pineapple juice - before responding.

"Oh...I see. That sounds interesting - you'll have to tell me all about it at some point. I'd offer to reciprocate but I don't really have anything interesting to say about myself" Daisy replied.

The Lieutenant shook her head. "Oh, I'm sure you would come up with plenty of interesting things to say." She looked up at the wall, towards the large time display. "Well, I still have some time before I need to get back to the bridge." She took another drink from her juice. "Do you speak any other languages?"

Daisy shrugged. "Well...I suppose my granddad being a senior politician is interesting...or maybe not. As for languages...I've always wanted to learn more but it's just finding the time I suppose. Maybe one day"

This did pique Freya's interest. "A politician? That is rather interesting, actually. What's his name, maybe I've heard of him?"

Daisy had another sip of her drink before replying.

"Kenneth Stanier. He's the Prime Minister actually...my dad's in the cabinet too. I think my dad was hoping I'd go into politics as well but to be honest with you Freya...it's really not my thing. I'd rather be a counsellor" Daisy confirmed.

Kenneth Stanier. Prime Minister of one of the nations of Earth in this universe - one of the senior advisors to the Emperor in the one she came from. Freya smiled at the realisation that once again, even through the mirror, things weren't all that different.

"Well," she replied, "I guess you need to have the right kind of personality for politics, and if that isn't you, then you need to find your niche. Centuries ago, one of my ancestors was a famous general. Another of my ancestors was the leader of the first colony on Nygard. My grandfather is one of the leaders there now. But I never felt that big leadership was my kind of thing. So I very much get where you are coming from."

Daisy nodded. "Yeah I don't think I've got the personality for it - but I find I really like listening to people and trying to find the best solution to helping them feel better. But I'm proud to be my dad's daughter and granddad's granddaughter - they've both done amazing things to help a lot of people"

Freya smiled as the clock once again caught her eye. "Ah, what a shame, I need to get back to the bridge. Still, we should definitely continue this conversation. How about a drink tonight?"

"Yeah that sounds good. What time do you want to meet?" Daisy asked.

"Well, shall we say, 2000 hours, over in the lounge?" Freya replied.

"I look forward to it. See you then" Daisy replied.

OFF
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Lt. Freya S. Mannerheim
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Poseidon


-and-

Cadet Daisy Stanier
Counselor's Aide
USS Poseidon

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