K'Dex
Engineering/Ops
[TI20]
Posts: 50 Likes: 2
Rank: Ensign
Position: Engineering
Species: Caitian
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Post by K'Dex on Sept 14, 2020 2:09:08 GMT
[First Officers Quarters] K'Dex watched as the exuberant ensign was brought, tended, and set down to the table. For himself, he was slowly finding himself quite at ease in the chair, and was examining the food at the table already, sniffing at it lightly while the crewman offered the wine. Her whispered remark to relax caught him slightly off guard, as he felt more relaxed than he had expected at a dinner with the commander. But, with the injuries, creatures, and other general excitement going on, compared to his sudden longing for the fish to come, he supposed maybe he had been uptight. Maybe it was the fact that he had worn his uniform. Either way, the comment, he realized, he should take to heart. He had come in part to become more of a social creature. "Perhaps I will." He said, one part in response to the whispered comment to relax, one part in response to taking a drink. He found alcohol quite curious to his system when he partook of it, as infrequently as that happened. He sniffed it slightly as the drink was poured and he sniffed at the glass. A curious scent for the fruity drink, he took 2 simple licks with his tongue to taste, finding it appealing in a manner he hadn't expected. K'Dex turned his attention to the commander as the rest began to be seated and she explained the first course. He knew little about religious dishes, especially those of Earth. From what he did understand, he thought he might have preferred the traditional chicken soup more, but was hardly about to complain about an unknown dish. Perhaps, while expanding his social traits, he should expand his palate. He accepted the course as offered from the Commander, and listened as she suggested introductions. It seemed to fall possibly on him to start, just by the general looks around the table, and he took the initiative to start, pushing the chair back as he stood to introduce himself. "Well, then, I am K'Dex, Engineering Ensign. This is my second assignment, I came here from the USS Cochrane, mainly a scientific transport ship. I specialized in transporter and beam technologies at the Academy." He thought that should suffice for a general introduction, and sat down, eyeing over the table if they expected more before sitting down.
Tag Judith Eastman, William Waring, Ozu Saya, Kaya Som
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William Waring
Engineering/Ops
[TI20]
Posts: 44 Likes: 0
Rank: Ensign
Position: Operations
Species: Human
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Post by William Waring on Sept 15, 2020 16:43:47 GMT
[ Chief Ozu Saya - Judy's Quarters] Saya offered the young ensign a comforting smile and entered Judy's quarters. As long as you aren't injured, she said mildly. She smiled at Kaya giving Bridge attention and crouched to give Tunnel a scratch. She looks like she's close to popping. It shouldn't be much longer, should it?Standing, Saya started to brush her hands on her dress, then thought better of it and stepped into the kitchen to wash them at the sink. Can I do anything to help? Saya had spent a lot of time in various kitchens with Judy, having been taught to cook by the older woman, and had become comfortable in this one in the few months since their arrival on the station. In fact, if she'd had more time, she probably would have contributed to the dinner herself, but with the massive number of repairs the station needed after the incident with the shadow beings, most of the engineers had been working double or triple shifts to get back to some semblance of functionality. [Cmdr. Judith Eastman(-Williams) - First Officer's Quarters]Judy shook her head and smiled good-naturedly at the young Ensign. "Just take it easy, young man. Wind yourself too tight, and you snap," she advised, speaking casually but from a place of great experience. She'd made more first impressions than she cared to estimate, after all. "She's just a couple of weeks away," she informed Saya, of the rotund corgi. Inside, Judy turned to her Chief Engineer and chuckled at her offer. "You can eat, young lady. Everything else is already taken care of," she quipped. She took off her apron, hung it by a hook along with the rest of the impressive collection she and Max had accrued over the decades, and then took a place not at the head of the table but near the middle, where she could reach everyone and their plates. "Our first course for tonight is matzo ball soup, a traditional Jewish meal. The soup is a relatively simple vegetable soup, although chicken soup would've been more traditional. The matzo balls - kneidlach in the original Yiddish - are relatively simple pastry balls, and they've been soaking in the soup for a bit to absorb its flavor. I can try to give you just soup with no matzo balls, if you'd rather."Still standing, she dispensed the soup with a very well-practiced motion, accounting for any requests given to her. "Now, why don't we start with introductions?" she suggested. The dogs both stared up at her, begging for their share of this course.
[XO's Quarters] He silently nodded in thanks to Saya and responded to Judy as he made his way to the table and sat down "Yes ma'am. I'll try ma'am." he said quickly before Judy lead into the description on the meal and the prompt to introduce themselves. This was just like icebreakers they did at the academy... he hated doing those. He was boring. [First Officers Quarters] K'Dex watched as the exuberant ensign was brought, tended, and set down to the table. For himself, he was slowly finding himself quite at ease in the chair, and was examining the food at the table already, sniffing at it lightly while the crewman offered the wine. Her whispered remark to relax caught him slightly off guard, as he felt more relaxed than he had expected at a dinner with the commander. But, with the injuries, creatures, and other general excitement going on, compared to his sudden longing for the fish to come, he supposed maybe he had been uptight. Maybe it was the fact that he had worn his uniform. Either way, the comment, he realized, he should take to heart. He had come in part to become more of a social creature. "Perhaps I will." He said, one part in response to the whispered comment to relax, one part in response to taking a drink. He found alcohol quite curious to his system when he partook of it, as infrequently as that happened. He sniffed it slightly as the drink was poured and he sniffed at the glass. A curious scent for the fruity drink, he took 2 simple licks with his tongue to taste, finding it appealing in a manner he hadn't expected. K'Dex turned his attention to the commander as the rest began to be seated and she explained the first course. He knew little about religious dishes, especially those of Earth. From what he did understand, he thought he might have preferred the traditional chicken soup more, but was hardly about to complain about an unknown dish. Perhaps, while expanding his social traits, he should expand his palate. He accepted the course as offered from the Commander, and listened as she suggested introductions. It seemed to fall possibly on him to start, just by the general looks around the table, and he took the initiative to start, pushing the chair back as he stood to introduce himself. "Well, then, I am K'Dex, Engineering Ensign. This is my second assignment, I came here from the USS Cochrane, mainly a scientific transport ship. I specialized in transporter and beam technologies at the Academy." He thought that should suffice for a general introduction, and sat down, eyeing over the table if they expected more before sitting down.
"Uh... I guess I can go next..." he said nervously, glancing around the table at those assembled "Firstly, thank you ma'am for having us tonight" he paused for a moment before leading into this introduction "I am Ensign William Quentin Waring. This is my first real posting in Starfleet, my previous assignment being the USS Republic for a training cruise. I graduated as an Operations Management Officer with concentrations in Probability Mechanics and Statistics. I don't have anything else interesting to mention. I am quite boring..." he said, trailing off at the end before sitting down and waiting for the next person to speak. Tags: Judith Eastman Ozu Saya Kaya Som K'Dex
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Ozu Saya
Engineering/Ops
[TI19]
Posts: 878 Likes: 29
Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer
Position: CoB/Chief Engineer
Species: Vulcan-Bajoran
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Post by Ozu Saya on Sept 16, 2020 14:24:57 GMT
[ Chief Ozu Saya - Judy's Quarters] Saya joined the others at the table after watching her hands, taking a seat beside K'Dex. She offered an amused smile at the others after the Caitian and the young human had introduced themselves. I would be quite concerned if you don't know who I am already. You may be at the wrong dinner party. However, if for some reason someone doesn't know, I am Master Chief Ozu Saya, family name comes first. Correct addresses are Chief, Chief Ozu or ma'am, she added for Waring's benefit. It was possible he hadn't been around long enough to have picked up that her name followed Bajoran convention and she hated being called 'sir'. Saya accepted some of the matzo ball soup and dipped her spoon in to take a sip of the broth once everyone had been served. It was delicious, as was nearly everything Judy cooked. The only times she didn't like something prepared by the Eastman-Williamses had to do with the actual flavor of a food item, not its preparation.
Tag Kaya Som, K'Dex, Judith Eastman, William Waring
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Kaya Som
Engineering/Ops
Site Historian
Yaya! You have survived! That's too bad!
Posts: 804 Likes: 108
Rank: Senior Chief Petty Officer
Position: Chief of Engineering
Species: Trill
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Post by Kaya Som on Sept 16, 2020 16:51:30 GMT
Kaya was raised to eat anything she was served, especially when she was a guest. Human cuisine was, on the whole, palatable to most Trills, and a simple much-loved recipe from the Commander's culture was welcome. Scientifically there was no physical or chemical difference between replicated and homemade dishes, but it was the variety and care of a hand at work that made all the difference.
The casual dinner began with a formal around-the-room, apparently for the benefit of Will Waring. Ozu, K'Dex, and Kaya had been working together for months now.
"Kaya Som," Kaya said once the chief was finished. "I mostly work with computer systems. I come from a big city called Tallanastre on Trill. We're most famous for these massive subterranean ruins if you ever visit."
Famous on Trill at least.
She took a spoonful of the soup and made an approving nod.
"Where are the rest of you from?"
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Judith Eastman
Civilian
Grandma
Posts: 2,593 Likes: 84
Rank: Civilian/other
Position: Civil Servant
Species: Human
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Post by Judith Eastman on Sept 17, 2020 0:02:45 GMT
[Cmdr. Judith Eastman(-Williams) - First Officer's Quarters]Judy nodded gently at K'Dex as he started them off, and then at Waring as he thanked her, but then suppressed a sigh at the latter's self-deprecation. Between the dress uniform, the earlier fall, and this now, she supposed that this young man could have some deep-seated insecurity, something that perhaps needed to be worked at. Having finished ladling the soup, she sat down, and then took several pills. With her particular health conditions and age, there were medications she had to take at different times of the day, and she just preferred pills to hypos. "Gerald, my son, actually visited the ruins a few years back. I've been wanting to visit myself, someday," she responded to Kaya. She neglected to mention that she had inadvertently ruined that vacation by having a heart attack back home on Earth. "In any case, as you all know, I'm Commander Judy Eastman-Williams. 'Williams' is the hubby's last name, and it's strictly optional for all of you. I started out working infrastructure design for terraforming projects, before I went into management," the XO introduced herself, putting on an exaggerated self-important tone for the word "management". "I'm from New York City, born and raised," she added, with a distinct measure of city pride in her tone.
Tag K'Dex , William Waring , Ozu Saya , and Kaya Som
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K'Dex
Engineering/Ops
[TI20]
Posts: 50 Likes: 2
Rank: Ensign
Position: Engineering
Species: Caitian
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Post by K'Dex on Sept 17, 2020 4:11:09 GMT
[First Officer's Quarters] K'Dex licked up another sip of wine, listening as the table went round. He refrained from making any comment on the human's boringness. K'Dex was considered quite boring, and it was somewhat a part of his life. To be fair, the concept of coming to this meeting was part of his own efforts to combat that boringness. He listened as the Chief then explained the Bajoran naming principles, something he had taken a few weeks to wrap his head around. Thankfully, "Chief" was a universal term that he tended to default to. Then there was the apparently social Trill crewman. He'd seen her working around, and seemed quite adept. More than once he knew software assignments above and beyond the general requirements went to her, but he had rarely worked directly with her. To be honest, he'd rarely worked directly with many of the engineers, and definitely not had more than stiff relationships with them outside of work. At most, he'd gotten to know the damage control specialty members more than the rest, as that had been his previous assignment and he figured that was a good place to pick up his knowledge when he'd first been assigned to the USS Mac/Front Ear Station. The Commander... was good. Obviously social, often at ease and was constantly making efforts for others to be at ease as well, while still maintaining all of her management duties. He'd worked a few bridge shifts, and had gotten to accept most of her, what seemed to him, unusual style. He cleared his throat once before speaking. "Officially, the family is from Cait. But most of my family is Star Fleet, spread out on assignments most of my life." He waited for the other Ensign to speak, but was most interested in the background of the Chief if he was totally honest. A Bajoran/Vulcan background was rather uncommon from what he'd seen. Judith Eastman William Waring Ozu Saya Kaya Som
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William Waring
Engineering/Ops
[TI20]
Posts: 44 Likes: 0
Rank: Ensign
Position: Operations
Species: Human
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Post by William Waring on Sept 17, 2020 7:45:31 GMT
[XO's Quarters]
Will listened as the others spoke and made mental notes for each of them for things like titles, training, and anything that would make future interactions easier. He may be a nervous idiot-ball some of the time but that didn't mean that he wouldn't eventually settle down in this environment and actually make friends with these people. He was just nervous, not anti-social after all. Each of those present were so different from Will in every way and it was almost difficult to fully understand. To be honest, they were likely we wasn't stuck silent.
As the others answered the inquiry posed by the Commander, he tested the soup provided and found it... interesting. Definitely warranting further study and possibly entry to his replicator catalogue. He'd have to ask for the recipe first... so maybe not. He tried a second spoon to see if the first was as good as he thought, only to have his analysis of the soup interrupted by the realization that he needed to provide an answer as well.
"USS Valley Forge. I was born in Space and have spent most my life here. Parents were Starfleet, Science and Engineering, so I grew up in this lifestyle you could say. Um... if you'd prefer a terrestrial location, the Waring Family comes from England back on Earth. Don't know where exactly, that's all I know."
Will stopped short of giving his whole history. This was a dinner, not a lunch with a counselor. They wanted to be comfortable with each other, not be experts in the history of the Warings. At any rate, he felt less nervous since his short time here and he felt like he would fit in just fine. At the moment, however, he was waiting to here from Saya while trying to figure out the best way to ask for the soup recipe without making a fool of himself. Easier said then done...
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Ozu Saya
Engineering/Ops
[TI19]
Posts: 878 Likes: 29
Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer
Position: CoB/Chief Engineer
Species: Vulcan-Bajoran
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Post by Ozu Saya on Sept 17, 2020 18:54:12 GMT
[ Chief Ozu Saya - Judy's Quarters] I was space-born as well, Saya said with a nod to the young ensign. My father was a member of the Bajoran Resistance and used a small, fast vessel to deliver aid and medical supplies to Bajoran colonies. He met my mother on one of those trips. After the Occupation ended, we traveled mostly at the whim of my mother's performance schedule. She was a well-known singer, and my father made jewelry that he would sell wherever we were visiting.[/color] Saya absently reached up and brushed the unique Bajoran earring she wore in her left ear. The cuff rested halfway up the shell of her ear with a delicate chain connecting it to the IDIC symbol that dangled slightly from her lobe. Hanging from the cuff was a tiny charm in Vulcan script that Kyo had given her upon their marriage. It had taken many years for her to be able to speak of her parents so easily. Saya just tried to keep the pleasant memories at the forefront and not allow the horror of their murders to intrude. This is quite good, as always, Ju- Commander, Saya said lightly to discourage further questions about her background. She didn't mind talking about it so much anymore, but it would indubitably shift the mood of the evening for the worst.
Tag Judith Eastman , Kaya Som , K'Dex , William Waring
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Kaya Som
Engineering/Ops
Site Historian
Yaya! You have survived! That's too bad!
Posts: 804 Likes: 108
Rank: Senior Chief Petty Officer
Position: Chief of Engineering
Species: Trill
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Post by Kaya Som on Sept 19, 2020 17:33:40 GMT
Elders save her. Kaya should have set a time-delayed emergency in her quarters as a contingency plan if they all started reciting their previous work assignments. Everyone was trying so earnestly, it seemed to Kaya, that all the best parts of a dinner other than the food was missing. She fought the unfiltered urge to try and steer the conversation again, so she leaned over her soup and rested her elbow on the table. The matzo balls rolled and floated around like little lost planets, helped along by her spoon. Tag Judith Eastman K'Dex Ozu Saya William Waring
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Judith Eastman
Civilian
Grandma
Posts: 2,593 Likes: 84
Rank: Civilian/other
Position: Civil Servant
Species: Human
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Post by Judith Eastman on Sept 20, 2020 16:43:11 GMT
[Cmdr. Judith Eastman(-Williams) - First Officer's Quarters]Judy ate her own soup, gently cutting the matzo balls into 3-4 pieces with her spoon, as she listened to the others. She was aware of the potential discomfort around Saya's background, and so made the decision to try and nudge the conversation in a different direction. "Let's get to some shop talk, if you all don't mind," she suggested, seeing in her mind the eye rolls she would've gotten if her family was present. "I've been thinking lately about our poor, poor power grid, especially after what happened."Judy refrained from sharing her own opinion, that there was an unfortunate combination of old components and deferred maintenance, because she didn't want to choke the conversation. As a command-level officer, her word was prone to be taken as law.
Tag K'Dex , William Waring , Ozu Saya , Kaya Som
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K'Dex
Engineering/Ops
[TI20]
Posts: 50 Likes: 2
Rank: Ensign
Position: Engineering
Species: Caitian
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Post by K'Dex on Sept 22, 2020 4:25:24 GMT
[First Officer's Quarters] K'Dex nodded as the Commander spoke, a bit bereft of the entertainment of knowing the background of the Chief. Then again, the war was a confusing time, let alone near Bajor. Several interesting things had probably happened, but he wasn't one to pry. He licked up one of the matzo balls, and found that he enjoyed the chewy nature of it. Swallowing, he spoke up. "Take a who knows how old station, let it become riddled with problems, and then have it dumped on someone else." He said impassionately. While it was mildly irritating, it was also the main reason he became an engineer, to develop ways to not have to do much to maintain. However, there was a right way to do that, and a wrong way. The wrong way had become abundantly clear those days he was on station. "At this point, we have EPS relays to be replaced, insulation to be installed, and that's just to have a system similar to the technology from 50 years ago I saw at the academy." He purred out, his slightly insolent side showing again. He recognized that he was letting himself go again, spouting off what he considered 'the truth'. In one way, it was one of his habits that was distinctly that of an engineer. It was what it was, and it was bad. "Perhaps thats just my view from my limited time in some of the more obscure depths of J-Tubes and maintenance systems. I'm sure the Chief has a more accurate report." K'Dex said, nodding respectfully to the chief next, as he searched out another matzo ball to chew on.
Tag Judith Eastman , William Waring , Ozu Saya , Kaya Som
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Ozu Saya
Engineering/Ops
[TI19]
Posts: 878 Likes: 29
Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer
Position: CoB/Chief Engineer
Species: Vulcan-Bajoran
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Post by Ozu Saya on Sept 26, 2020 19:07:00 GMT
[ Chief Ozu Saya - Judy's Quarters] Saya nodded her concurrence with what both Judy and K'Dex said, setting down her spoon and folding her arms. Indeed, we had been making progress in upkeep if not improvement as yet. The encounter with the shadow dimension, however, has pushed everything back further than it was before we arrived. I've been in contact with Starfleet to try to get us more resources so that we can update as we repair, but our being on the hinterlands, they don't feel we warrant more or better resources. Our industrial replicators are being run at full capacity to make parts, of course, but the speed required to get us into barely working order means we don't have the time to replicate the most up-to-date parts. It is a frustrating paradox.
I have prioritized some systems to be repaired temporarily, then receive updates once we have most of the station back up to normal. Ish.It was incredibly frustrating to have had all of their work of the last few months undone; though, of course, it was good that they'd saved the station.
Tag Judith Eastman, William Waring, Kaya Som, K'Dex
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William Waring
Engineering/Ops
[TI20]
Posts: 44 Likes: 0
Rank: Ensign
Position: Operations
Species: Human
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Post by William Waring on Sept 26, 2020 19:46:57 GMT
[XO's Quarters] Will silently ate while he listened to the conversation. Those others present obviously had more academic and technical experience then he had and that was a little intimidating. He waited until there was a break in the conversation so he could speak. "I know I am still fresh to this neck of the woods but... what if we expanded the ability to fabricate parts outside the replicators? Surely a station has some ability to fabricate parts for the upkeep of the station without the need for replicators or for instances when the replicators are offline, right? We take some empty space in the station or in orbit and construct what we need. It may take enough stress off the replicators so that we don't have to be simply keeping up with it all. I mean, if Starfleet won't send us what we need, why don't we make it from what we have?"Will knew that they may have already discussed this in the past but he had to make it known that he wasn't just here for the free meal without actually contributing. Besides, he didn't think it would be a bad thing to have anyways. Tag: Judith Eastman Ozu Saya K'Dex Kaya Som
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Kaya Som
Engineering/Ops
Site Historian
Yaya! You have survived! That's too bad!
Posts: 804 Likes: 108
Rank: Senior Chief Petty Officer
Position: Chief of Engineering
Species: Trill
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Post by Kaya Som on Oct 1, 2020 18:41:17 GMT
Shoptalk was, technically, a mercy. And it truly was with both K'Dex and Waring suddenly coming alive. The Chief also seemed relieved at the change of subject. It wasn't much of a party - more of a home-cooked-catered meeting - but at least no one was dead. "I'm with Waring," Kaya said before taking another drink of wine. "Not everything's better replicated. Like soup." Suck up. "I bet the station residents are as fed up as we are. Maybe someone knows what they're doing with a spanner, or knows another market for parts. What's that ship that's always coming and going? Diamond Dog? Maybe they can hook us up." Judith Eastman Ozu Saya William Waring K'Dex
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Judith Eastman
Civilian
Grandma
Posts: 2,593 Likes: 84
Rank: Civilian/other
Position: Civil Servant
Species: Human
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Post by Judith Eastman on Oct 1, 2020 19:26:35 GMT
[Cmdr. Judith Eastman(-Williams) - First Officer's Quarters]Listening to one engineer after another, the gears in Judy's head began to turn. "In the short run, we can try to reach out to our civilian population. We'll have to keep them on the less finicky, less classified systems, but we can do it," she began, tacking on her own caveat (nothing too complicated for untrained hands) and the one Harmon surely would demand (nothing too secretive). "In the long run, we can definitely try to get an extra machine shop. In fact, the colony project on Kerelia has a grant for a machine shop, and they don't want to put it on the planet. If we can get that shop set up here, they're not going to use it nearly to capacity - I've seen the plans, they won't - which means extra industrial capacity for us, provided the machinery is useful to us," the First Officer added. Her tone was almost that of a question, inquiring whether there was sufficient cross-applicability of tools. "And when you get into the bureaucracy and all the nitty-gritty, there's a lot that a civilian, community-owned outfit like that can do a lot more easily than we can."From her past civilian life, Judy knew that community-owned entities, and private ones, had significantly more flexibility than Starfleet and other Federation national agencies. She had a clear mastery of bureaucratic operations. "Does anyone want more soup, or shall we proceed to the main course?" she asked, making the pivot to casual dinner-table logistics.
Tag K'Dex , Ozu Saya , William Waring , Kaya Som
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