Steel Beach, Starfleet Style! (Part 2)
Posted on Sun Oct 26th, 2025 @ 11:36pm by Captain Patricia Cooke & Lieutenant Charlotte E. "Charlie" Yeager & Senior Chief Petty Officer Karen Jinryo & I-402 & Commander Katrina Chance & Lieutenant Commander Andrew Star & Lieutenant Akira Kogami & Lieutenant Alice Penrose & Captain Jacob Rye & Ensign Toran Vos
Edited on on Sun Oct 26th, 2025 @ 11:36pm
1,073 words; about a 5 minute read
Mission:
Ghost Starship
Location: Main Shuttlebay, Deck 10
Timeline: After Part 1
Previously, on Star Trek: Missouri:
Toran turned just enough to glance to her, the edge of a wry smile pulling at his lips. "I was told there would be fire. And protein."
Alice gave a soft, amused breath. "And I was told there would be a chance to connect with the crew. So here we are, heeding the call of duty and curiosity."
"I assume you're leaning toward the former?" Toran replied with a small, knowing smile. He hadn't known her all that long, but the Betazoid had gotten a read on her pretty quickly.
Alice tilted her head, her dark, long hair falling over her shoulder with it. "Maybe. But...sometimes it's good to remind myself I can do this. Be in a room like this, with noise and movement and faces I don't know yet, and not run." She glanced his way, watching him steadily. "And you? What will this be for you?"
"A tactical assessment. Possibly penance," Toran replied with an entirely deadpan tone.
Alice laughed gently, unable to help herself. "Well. I'll be your designated fallback if conversation gets too intense. And you can be mine..."
And now, the continuation:
At last, a junior petty officer who was a proficient cook arrived to take over the responsibilities of the grill so Patricia was free to mingle. Patricia made her way over to the small stage setup that Yeager had so kindly constructed, where there was a sound system wired up.
"Hello, everyone, and thanks for coming to this steel beach picnic. It's a generations old naval tradition that we're proud to carry on today, and I hope everyone can have some fun."
Katrina had been content to observe the crew during this tradition. It wasn't that she was against mingling. Instead, she just wanted to get a sense of how these officers all fit together. To learn meant she shouldn't interfere. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to see Patricia making her way onto a makeshift stage. She watched and listened to her little introduction, though the smell of the food around her was somewhat distracting. Either she didn't realize how hungry she actually was, or the food had more of an impact on her than she'd thought. Either way, it was a situation easily remedied. But that could wait.
"Now, obviously, we're primarily here to celebrate our commissioning, which took place about 4-ish months ago." Patricia explained. "But there are couple other items on the docket worth celebrating: For one, production on our ship's class, the Bellerophon class, is ramping up. Starfleet has decided to commit to only producing the Bellerophon moving forward."
From what she knew of the Bellerophon, it seemed a worthy successor to the Intrepid class. An excellent outgrowth of a revolutionary starship design. Katrina allowed herself a quiet smile, pleased by the news.
"And also, you may have noticed the absence of our Quartermaster, Master Chief Jinryo. I'm happy to report that she is doing well, and her third son, Patrick, is getting bigger with each passing month." Patricia continued. "Starting today, Master Chief Jinryo returns to her duties after spending a few months at home on Schumacher III to introduce Patrick to his older brothers and father, and prepare her husband to take care of him, so welcome back Master Chief Jinryo."
"I report my return aboard, Captain!" Karen playfully called out from among the gathered audience.
Katrina's eyes turned towards the master chief briefly and she flashed her a subtle thumbs up, a look of amusement crossing her features.
"Well, I think that just about covers the major announcements." Patricia said. "So, let's go ahead and have some fun, dig into some good barbecue: We've got burgers, we've got brats, we've got hotdogs, kebabs, and the brisket should be getting close to being ready soon. We've got a volleyball setup, we've got some deck darts, cornhole if that's your thing, horseshoe throwing, there should be enough here for folks to have a good time, and I hope you enjoy your time here today. That will be all."
"What the hell is a brisket?" Akira whispered as she stole a confused glance at Katrina.
Katrina turned slightly and leaned towards Akira to answer softly. "It's a cut of meet from the chest of an Earth cow. You interested?"
Akira furrowed her brow. "And what is it that makes Cow chest-meat so special, if I may ask?"
Katrina nodded slightly to Akira. It was a question she had not thought to ask. Why did humans eat the things they did? What makes them the way they enjoy them? She clasped her hands in front of her, eyes flitting towards the feast that was available to the crew before she looked back to the 2XO. As she did, she wondered what Akira's cultural upbringing was like. Could that explain her lack of knowledge in this area?
"It comes down to how tender the meat is," Katrina answered. "Among other factors. I would suggest giving it a try if you are curious. And... if your cultural sensibilities allow you to."
"It's not like I'm opposed to it..." Akira sighed as she made her way over to the crudely-fashioned buffet where the food was being served.
"Alright, you've got me curious now," she spoke to the Bolian Junior Lieutenant on serving food on the opposite end of the cheap plastic folding tables. "I'll take a brisket exactly as the Americans like it."
The Bolian looked up.
"So, do you want a Brisket sandwich or just straight up?" He asked, rather confused.
Akira glanced over at Patty, then back over at the Bolian. "Uh... how do the Americans typically like it?"
The Bolian started blankly back at Akira.
"You tell me, boss." He finally answered. "I grew up on Bolarus IX. I don't know how Earthlings like their food."
"Well, I guess that makes two of us..." Akira sighed.
Food wasn't on Andrew's mind; having a good time was! He began to gather up people to play volleyball—officers vs enlisted or whatever.
"Count me in..." Toran jogged casually over towards the net, undoing his cuffs to roll his black sleeves up to his elbow. He'd take volleyball over small talk any day of the week.
To be continued...
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