Star Trek TNG: The Wormhole

[solitaryman]

The docking clamps slide back into their protective slots on the outside of Deep Space Nine. The shuttle craft Magellan, belonging to the USS Enterprise was cleared to leave DS9 and return to the Enterprise. Captain Jean Luc Picard had been at DS9 and consulted with Captain Sisko as well as paid a visit to Chief Miles O'Brien, a former member of the Enterprise crew before his assignment to DS9.

Picard had not come to DS9 empty handed. The Magellan brought some needed maintenance parts for O'Brien as well as medical supplies for Dr. Bashir's sick bay. The meeting with Sisko was over some energy reading that DS9's long range sensors had been detecting over the past few days. The Ganges had also been patrolling in the same area and had encountered the bizarre readings as well as heavy subspace interferenc.

Picard put the Magellan on autopilot after plotting the course back to the Enterprise. The Enterprise was in this sector in response to investigate possible incursions across the neutral zone by the Cardasians. The USS Ticonderoga reported a running fight with an unindentified vessel whose course originated from the Cardasian side of the neutral zone.

As Picard sat sipping on some of his favorite tea and reading the pad containing the information, the Magellan's shields automatically activated. Picard sat the pad down and went to the command console to look over the sensor screen. He recognized the energy signature and took the Magellan out of autopilot. "Picard to Enterprise, detecting energy reading, course 222.65, can you confirm on your sensors?" Picard waited and got no answer, except heavy subspace interference.

As Picard attempted to contact Enterprise again, the energy reading turned into an opening wormhole. Picard attempted to veer away but felt the Magellan shudder and start to be pulled towards the hole. Picard went to full reverse on the engines, but there was no effect, and Magellan was drawn closer and closer. Picard then launched an emergency beacon which contained downloaded information of Magellan's course and sensor readings.

The Magellan soon disappeared into the worm hole. The ride was quite bumpy, the shuttle shuttered under the energy turbulance, and relay after relay overload caused sparks to fly all along the control console and the other consoles on the shuttle. The shuddering stopped as the Magellan emerged like a missile from the wormhole.

Picard saw a planet dead ahead, sensors did indicate it was a Class M, but that was about it as most other systems were off line. The Magellan plunged through the atmosphere, Picard struggled to keep the ship under control. Barely clearing a large gorge after clearing the atmosphere, he saw a level escaptment ahead of him, more hills in the distant, [/b]this was the best place to set it down. He activated the maneuvering thrusters to slow the Magellan, but nothing happened. He was going in fast. Picard braced for a crash landing as the Magellan went down hard on the escarpment bounced around for a few hundred yards before finally stopping on the solid ground, dust and smoke rose and gradually disappeared into the air after the Magellan finally came to a rest.

 

[Mera1506]

The wormhole wasn't an unusual appearance here. In fact scientists were trying to find a way to control and use it. The moment the shuttle came out it had been detected. But as they were debating what to do with it it crashed. Readings showed it was neither very outdated or very advanced and there wouldn't have been room for more then four people inside.

A young woman currently off duty saw the crash. Nice start for a holiday. She soared down to investigate the strange vehicle. She folded her large wings up on her back. Her back and back of her neck were covered in royal blue feathers which gradually became darker till the tips of her wings were black. Her feet were a crossover between hands and talons. The two outer fingers could move opposite to the other three, on each ends a sharp claw. Short tibia and long lower legs made her an efficient jumper and runner as well. Her build was lean and athletic and E-cup breasts were bound close to her body, looking smaller. Needless to say most clothing had bare backs or a thing piece of cloth running between the wings. She wore a simple pair of pants and what looked like a t-shirt of which most of the back had been removed. Also a collar which was common for her people. It held a computer with different functions such as a translator.

Carefully the tall female approached the damaged craft. Simple as her clothes were, the tools carried by most were anything but. She used a laser like weapon to cut a hole in the door which was jammed and partially melted tot he rest of the hull. She let the piece of metal fall onto the field and carefully glanced inside with a pair of very sharp eyes. One person inside, an older male. "Are you alright?" She asked in her own language. She doubted that he would be though, after that crash.

 

[solitaryman]

Picard had been thrown from the pilot's chair at the command console upon impact. He laid on his back, and had been drifting in and out of consciousness. The smoke was clearing from the burnt out relays and other systems malfunctions caused by the bumpy ride through the wormhole as well as the crash landing. He tried to get up but felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder. He had come down hard on the grading when thrown off the seat. His right hand moved by reflex to the area of the pain, and he held his left arm at a 90 degree angle against his body. He felt the worst, either a broken collarbone or shoulder.

He blinked his eyes a lot to try and regain clear vision of the inside of the shuttle. Everything for the most part was scattered about. About the only things that were still in place was the nameplate on the wall identifying the shuttle as the Magellan, and several cases of Andorian ale, that Picard was bringing back from DS9 to the Enterprise, not only for Guinan's special stock at 10 Forward, but also had turned into a drink that Picard liked to unwind with off duty.

His attention was then turned to the main bulkhead. He saw and heard a laser at work from the outside as its user was attempting to cut their way into the shuttle. Picard thought of trying to reach the wall compartment where the Magellan's phasers, triquarters and other equipment were kept secured, but new he would never make it. He laid back and watched the door slide away and a thud sounded its meeting the ground. His eyebrow raised and then his eyes widened, as he saw the young woman enter the shuttle. He heard her speak, but did not know the language. "Who are you...Where am I..." his words faded as he slowly slipped back into unconsciousness.

 

[Mera1506]

Even with her translater he didn't understand. His language wasn't in the database. Even though she had no idea what he was saying she could hazard a guess. The shuttle was a mess, but maybe they could get enough from the database to at least get the translator working. In the mean time they would have to make do. He was far from alright, his arm or shoulder was obviously hurt and him drifting in and out could mean internal bleeding, a concussion or both. She approached him slowly, trying not to appear threatening. She put her hand on her chest. "Kyrea." She said. It was her name and would have to do for now.

She picked him up, one arm under his knees, the other under his back. She had no trouble lifting him him up and stepped outside. Others would soon be arriving, this could cause trouble. Instead she spread her wings and headed to the nearest medical facility. At the very least they could scan him and if nothing complicated was going on treatment shouldn't be too hard. She chose a speed which wouldn't hurt him, but was still enough to get him there in a couple of minutes. They would be expecting her.

A doctor approached her and she walked into the nearest treament room with him so the patient could be scanned. "Broken arm or shoulder, possible concussion, internal bleeding or both." She told the doctor in her own language, the man nodded and picked up a scanning device. It oddly enough wasn't too different from a tricorder. "No internal bleeding, but a concussion and broken collarbone. He's been lucky, considering the crash." The doctor told her But they needed a more elborated scan to know more about his physiology before treating him.

Both of them lifted a gourney he was lying on up and brought him to in front of a machine that looked like the old MRI scanning machines on earth. Though the scans would be much more detailed then any MRI.

In the mean time at the shuttle a few scientists were linking the database to their computer, mostly to find the linguistig database. But most of the computer was fried. The shuttle was transported to a hall where they could use more advanced equipment.

 

[solitaryman]

Before Picard faded into unconsciouness he did hear the young woman's name, "Kyrea...Kyrea..." The name stayed in his mind as he felt himself being moved out of the shuttle. He moved his head from side to side during the doctor's examination, and then muttered the young woman's name before going back into unconsciousness. He woke up briefly again in the MRI chamber and sensed he was in some medical facility.

Time passed as Picard started to regain consciousness again. He looked around and his vision became clearer gradually. He was in a what appeared to be a room in a hospital. Lying on a hospital bed he looked down at his left arm, and it was still resting across his chest. He was hooked up to some medical monitors, the type and technology he had not seen before. He definitely knew he was not in the sick bay of the Enterprise or for that matter back on DS9 or the planet Bajor. The name he remembered before passing out came to his lips as he called out, "Kyrea...Kyrea where am I, where are you?

 

[Mera1506]

Well he'd been out for quite a while. In the mean time the scientists had managed partially access the database. The laguages that were still intact downloaded into their universal translater. Kyrea's had hers updated and headed back to the hospital. "He's been asking for you." One of the nurses told her. Kyrea gave her a slight grin and walked over to him.

"You're awake again, good." She said. The translator should be working now, to him she would appear to be speaking English. "As you may have guessed you're in a hospital. You've been quite lucky, surviving that crash with just a broken collarbone and a concussion." She told him. Though the bone had been set back and healed it would be weak for a day or so, so for now his arm was in a sling. "Now you know my name, as by now I'm sure the whole hospital knows, can you tell me yours?" She said, trying to break the ice with a little humor. Keeping her voice down since people with a concussion were known to be oversensitive to light and sound.

 

[solitaryman]

Picard smiled as he saw Kyrea walk into the room. He thought to himself, "I was not dreaming after wall, when I first saw her," his eyes fully focused now and he looked her over from head to toe. She was definitely humanoid in some ways, but in others her physiology was something he had never seen before. He did see her deep inny belly button, about the size of a quarter fully exposed from under shirt and above her trousers. He did not recognize any of the equipment she carried, but did know it was advanced beyond the equipment on the Enterprise and the Magellan.

He laid still and listened to her, he could tell that his shoulder felt much different than earlier and that the pain had subsided. "I am Captain Jean Luc Picard, of the Federation Starship Enterprise. I am grateful to you for your assistance. I was on my way back to my ship but woke up crash landed on your planet," he paused, "and I don't even know where I am. I have many questions, as I am sure you do as well." He swallowed softly and continued to look at her, his breathing nearly back to normal, but still a bit labored from the trauma of landing on the metal grating of the Magellan.

 

[Mera1506]

"Indeed." She said and pulled up a chair. "I've never heard of this federation, but since you came out of a wormhole that's not surprising. You're on Hanad. Our home world." She said. Since her spieces flew they had had very little use for roads, leaving forests in between towns and cities to be dense and rich. "I'm afraid your shuttle's database is literally fried beyond repair, we were lucky enough to be able to download your language into our translator." She told him. Obviously he wasn't used to seeing an avian species.

 

[solitaryman]

He nodded as she sat down in the chair next to his bed, "A wormhole? So that is what was causing the energy readings that had been reported to my ship. Everything happened so fast when it opened up, I was quite lucky my shuttle's shields activated when the energy was detected." Picard's right eyebrow raised when Kyrea told him of where he was. "Hanad? This system is not even on our star charts. I must have traveled many light years through the wormhole. I understand now why the guidance systems could not pick up anything familar. "

Picard sat up slowly in the bed, and made sure he did not aggravate his shoulder. "Kyrea, it is important that I contact the Enterprise and let them know I am alive. I had released a beacon prior to entering the wormhole, but not sure if it wasn't destroyed." He breathing was labored, but normal as he talked to her.

 

[Mera1506]

"Over half a million lightyears. The wormhole appears here about every three months, but the other end doesn't have a regular cycle. The next time it's here the other end could point in an entirely different direction. Scientists have been trying to control this wormhole with no luck so far. A subspace message would still take years, but we can send one for you. But we'll need the co-ordinates." Kyrea said. It was possible, but it seemed he was in for a long stay.

"But you should rest for a couple of more days you have a rpetty nasty concussion. Just give me the co-ordinates and we'll send a message of your arrival." She offered.

 

[solitaryman]

Picard's eyebrow rose and then his eyes widened in disbelief, "Half million lightyears? I never believed that was possible, and we have had our own experience with a worm hole in the Bajoran sector of our galaxy. We would be willing to work with your scientists to assist in their research." He paused and then gave Kyrea the coordinates for both DS9 and the Enterprise. "I do appreciate your efforts to get a message through."

He sighed and accepted that he was not leaving anytime soon, given what he was told about the infrequency of the worm hole opening, as well as the damage to the Magellan. "Kyrea, there are some cases of Andorian ale on my shuttle, its a drink from one of the member planets in the Federation, blue in color. Perhaps we could have a drink together and celebrate our meeting each other."

 

[Mera1506]

"Though rare wormholes can cover great distances like this. " She told him. "After you get out of the hospital. Regulations are strict here, no alcohol, at least not in drinks." She told him. She noted down the co-ordinates on a pad. "Alright I'll go get that message underway and you rest." She said. She left and took flight to the control center and relayed the information provided to her. He was being co-operative with her, leading to her being appointed to his personal guard. They didn't want a alien running free with no supervision, at least not an unfamiliar species. The message was sent off and she went back to the hospital. "Well the message is underway." She said.

 

[solitaryman]

Three days later, Picard got out of the bed he had been confined in since the crash of the Magellan. He smiled as he saw his gait was stable, that his legs did not buckle and he seemed to be rid of most of the pain of his body, the result of the rest that he was told he needed. He noticed that his Star Fleet uniform was rid of all the dust and smoke smell resulting from the systems failure and crash. His comm piece was still on his uniform tunic, though of no use since he was half a million lightyears from where it would function. He slowly got back into his uniform and laid the hospital gown on the bed. It felt good to be back in his uniform after so long.

He glanced around the room, and saw no windows, just the doorway leading in and out of the room. He figured that this was an isolation room of some sort, that his hosts were taking the same precautions as the Federation would, if the shoe was on the other foot. He saw no harm in stepping outside the room to wait for Kyrea. The door opened automatically when he broke the sensor grid, and he walked just outside the doorway, the room door slid shut behind him. He turned slightly when he heard the slight thud. He saw a corridor that went in both directions past his room. There appeared to be a medical station down the hallway, and he watched as several medical staff members passed by him. He smiled softly as they went by, yet he knew by the way they went by him quickly, that this was the first time they ever saw someone like him. Picard sensed they were as suspicious of him as he was having still many unanswered questions. Though, he tried to rationalize that if Kyrea had been in the same position as he, in his world, that the same situation would exist. He simply stood by as he waited for Kyrea.

 

[Mera1506]

After running scans and letting him rest it was determined he carried nothing dangerous. Kyrea came in a few moments later. "Good morning. I'm glad to see you're feeling better." She said and smiled slightly. "This way please." She told him and began to walk towards the exit. "Since you'll be staying here for a while an appartment has been arranged for you to stay in." She informed him. Though towns and cities had roads in general they weren't often used. The appartment was in the main capital, near the center of science where they were working on a solution. The buildings reached impossibly high or so it would seem to him. Entrances and exits on many different levels was not uncommon for a species like her own. There were hovercars flying around, people flying around. The cars usually transported other spiecies since they did do business with other species. The people who walked on the streets were often those not blessed with wings.

Outside was an ordinary hovercar, nothing fancy. "Get in." She said and got into the driver's seat. Once he was seated she took off.

 

[solitaryman]

Picard looked around as he felt the hovercar lift off from the hospital parking pad. His eyes filled with curiosity and observation as he saw the buildings and other hovercars moving about. "This is almost like an Earth freeway only in air," he noted as he looked at the buildings. It reminded him of the old Earth cartoon called, "The Jetsons," that he had watched one time when he was in a library in San Francisco when the Enterprise had paid a visit to Earth. He glanced over at Kyrea, "This is fiction come true for me, I've read of things like this as well as our mythology contains stories of people with wings, we call angels, but never before have I experienced this for real."

As they landed at the building where his apartment was located, he looked about and saw what he thought was the center of science. "Where has the Magellan been taken, I would like to examine its damage and collect some personal items." He was entrance with the heights of the buildings, the entrances and exits at such a high altitude but reasoned that they were like the skyscrapers that were part of the Earth city skylines. "This is quite nice," Picard remarked as he looked around the apartment, and waited for Kyrea to give him the tour. He looked out a window and saw people walking along the street below. They looked like ants from where his apartment was located. "And who are those people on the street, Kyrea, are they your people as well. They do not have wings like me."

 

[Mera1506]

"Angels? Interesting." She said thinking for a bit. His appartment was on the 100th floor which was about half way up for this building. "Across the street. The andorian Ale and everything that didn't look like part of the shuttle has already been brought up." She told him. "Well ti's nothing fancy. Living room, kitchen in the back. Behind the door on your right is a bedroom with bathroom and that's it." She said.

She looked down and saw the people. "They're from species we do business with. The Girth are the dragon like ones, there's a Brandoran, the squid with the waterbowl on his head and there's a Yinfo." She said, though this species looked quite a lot like an Earth Yeti. "And not to forget the Xarinx. They're an aquatic species so you won't find them roaming around the cities." All these species held a pact for both trade and military, this resulted in great stability in the sector. "I'll call ahead and let them know we're coming." She said, though he'd find his belongings were already in the appartment. As he walked around the appartment she placed the call.

 

[solitaryman]

Picard smiled, "Kitchen, eh? I pride myself on being a pretty good cook, on our ships we always have food syntesizers but I love cooking and eating food prepared from scratch. Maybe I could interest you in a dinner to go along with the Andorian Ale." He saw his book by Charles Dickens he was reading was brought as well as the ale. Picard stood by Kyrea as he looked back out the window and listened to the different species and descriptions of them. "We have the same thing on Earth, they are called Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, among a few. And within the Federation there are Andorans, Vulcans, Bajorans, Klingons, Orions, Rygilians. And they themselves have different species within them as well. One question I have is do you have people that are lets say enemies, even within those species you have told me. My prime mission is exploration and making contact with other worlds, but sometimes I have to fight when it is necessary."

Picard watched as Kyrea made the call to the science building and, as she did, he walked around the small but cozy apartment. The Hanadians were being quite hospitable and cooperative even though he was the first human they had ever met. There was still some mistrust and suspicion, he was sure, but he was handling this as a first contact mission now, and there was an opportunity here that he could not pass up. He walked over to Kyrea, "Science building, and then do you have a marketplace to buy food?"

 

[Mera1506]

"sounds good." Kyrea said, the invitation to dinner was interesting. "The species I mentioned are the ones we are allies with. There hasn't been a big conflict in ages. Probably because antagonizing one species means all species sending out ships to intercept. But outside the region of our allies things are quite chaotic. Small fractions fighting over who is the leader and whatnot." Kyrea said.

"Sure, let's go." She said and headed back to the hovercar to take him to what was left of his shuttle. the reason she took the car was because the entrance was above ground, then there was the clearance thingy. However it all went smoothly and she lead him in. The hallways were a cool white nature stone, very smooth and shiny. There were computer pannels in the walls and doors here and there. She lead him to a big hall, in the middle was the wreckage of th elittle shuttle.

 

[solitaryman]

Picard listened as they walked back to the hovercar. "We have that go on as well, even within the Federation. Planets fight over mining rights, that's mostly the Orions and Andorians, then the Vuclans and Andorians had a long lasting feud until Earth stepped into negotiate and now the Vulcans and Andorians were original parts of the Federation. We still have space pirates and raiders, lots of small stuff like that going on. Last big fight was between Bajor and Cardassia over an existing wormhole in the Bajoran sector."

Picard got into the hovercar and noticed the weapon Kyrea was wearing, "Interesting sidearm, what kind of weapon is it, not that I want you to use it on me." Picard looked back down at the street as the hovercar headed towards the science building and landed in one of the upper entrances. Picard stayed close to Kyrea as he walked with her towards the part of the building where the Magellan was stored. Picards eyes widened as he saw pieces of the Magellan everywhere, "What did you do to her, take her apart?" shaking his head as he walked around the sections, and saw that some of the systems were still emitting power, though small amounts. He walked to the section housing the compartment where the phasers and tricorders were kept. He saw the phasers were gone, and then picked up a tricorder and saw it and the others were still operational. "Kyrea, may I have this, it is called a tricorder and I need it to record a journal of what happened to me." He glanced around the rest of the Magellan and then looked at Kyrea, "Let's go shopping for dinner."

 

[Mera1506]

"Pirates, don't get me started on that one. There are plenty of those. Mining rights, since the pact is only between six species we rarely have conflicts like that." She told him. "Plasma gun, the results are not unlike your phaser though." She explained.

She lead him into the room. "We had to. The computer was still on fire when we got there. We were lucky enough to be able to save the languistic database, but not much more I'm afraid." Kyrea told him. "I think it shouldn't be a problem." She said and looked at the man in charge who gave a nod. He would see that there were different kinds among her species. Some were much smaller and squirrel like, some were looking with more bright colored feathers, not unlike parrots, others were more like swans with long necks and white or black feathers and flippers in between the fingers on the pair of hands below rather then claws, and the one in charge looked to be sort of a vulture with longer neck and completely bold.

The one in charge wasn't glad when he heard them talk about shopping before dinner, but since she was assigned to him this might not mean a date. "Alright, this way." She said and lead him back out tot he hovercar and headed to what wasn't unlike a supermarket. Though the things being sold were rather different. Of course there were the different sorts of meat, but they weren't as clearly cut as any human supermarket would have. One could by a head, rib cage, legs, all with skin still attacked and whatnot. Fish weren't clean and gutted either, just cooled. Since intestets were often considered a delicasy, in fact those were sold seperately if the creature they came from was rather large and those were pricy, mostly the stomach and bowls since they contained nutrients from the creature's previous meal, then the liver, fat and heart and then the rest.

The fruit and vegitable section had more in common with Earth, though the species of fruit and vegitables were different each had their own crate, had been cleaned and one could grab paper like bags to put them in. There was a section of nuts and some sort of candy like things, but it remained much closer to nature. Sometimes the nuts were covered in something, but he'd find that bread wasn't something invented on this planet.

There was a section of drinks which mostly consisted out of fruit juices and mineral water and a small portion contained some alcoholic drinks. Since people on this planet only drank it on rare occassions and it wasn't common to serve alcohol on normal days the section was much smaller then you'd expect on earth, though the variation in alcohol varied from 2% to 60%.

Near the end was a section with cooking books and imported stuff. Here it was that he could find something similar to bread and candy more like on eEarth and anything else important that wasn't fresh. Milk was one of the other things that wasn't sold as from this planet, but it was among the imported stuff. Since Hanadians usually enjoyed the natural taste of things herbs and spices were also only found in the section of imported goods.

Kyrea guided him through the supermarket, not sure what he was planning to make and how his people cooked. She looked curiously at the ingredients for a moment.

 

[solitaryman]

Picard thanked Kyrea's superior for allowing him to have a tricorder, " This will be of great assistance to me," and then followed Kyrea out of the science building and towards the hovercar. "I will have a lot of work ahead of me trying to put the Magellan back together again, so it can take me back to the Enterprise." He glanced around as Kyrea flew the hovercar through the traffic, and admired her skill in maneuvering in and out of the other hovercars in the air around the city. "Very nice driving," he told her, "you'd do quite well in city driving on Earth, although it is on the ground, it is much the same principles as your traffic patterns here."

Arriving at the market, Picard walked with Kyrea through the market, gathering what he needed to make them a meal. He hadn't eaten a good meal of liver and onions before, so he picked out a piece of liver that was enough for both of them, as well as some bags of vegetables that resembled what he could use to make a salad as on Earth. He got one of the cookbooks as well, as it would make some good reading while he was at the apartment as well as his book by Charles Dickens. Picard spent a lot of time in the imported section getting the spices he would need, then walked with Kyrea as he carried his supplies to what resembled a checkout counter.

After they arrived back at the apartment, Picard went right to work. He took the supplies he had obtained in the market and laid them out on the counters. He opened up the cookbook and found a recipe for liver. He began to cut the liver into the right pieces to fry up in a skillet that he had found. He put it on slow and added the spices that the cookbook had called for. While the liver was cooking, he made himself and Kyrea a salad out of the vegetables, and put the bowls out on the table. He had found something that resembled an apron and had it tied around his waist.

After some time, the smell of a delicious meal started to move around the rest of the apartment. Picard came out with two plates of liver and sauteed onions, and put them on the table. He fetched a bottle of Andorian ale from one of the cases and then poured some into two glasses near each of the plates of food. He looked at Kyrea, "Dinner is served," and held her chair for her to sit down, as a good gentleman would for the girl he was cooking for. Then Picard sat down across from her, "Eat," as he started to sample the meal he had cooked for them.

 

[Mera1506]

"The people on your world are big on spices I see, interesting." Kyrea said. She only used them if she had off world guests, which was almost never. At least this guy wasn't a vegitarian, the last thing she wanted to do was grazing. But humans seemed to eat more vegitables in comparison then she would. Her diet was usually almost carnivoristic, being from the bird of prey kind of bird.

He looked adorable in the apron though. A guy from this world would never wear it, mostly because only the tough meat was ever cooked, many recipes for the more carnivorous birds had to do wit raw meat or fish. She was curious to how he would use this. After a while it was smelling quite good.

He'd found a Girth cookbook, if any species liked things spicy it was them. She just hoped they wouldn't burn their tongues out so to speak, probably would. She got up and walked over to the table. "It smells good." She said. He was being a real gentleman, unlike some people she knew. She sat down, the drink sure smelled a bit odd, not unpleasant. Even they had something like a spoon, however a form was just one pointy object and the knives since many dishes on Hanad were with raw meat were always sharp. She used the spiece to pick up some liver, way too much spices for her liking, though not bad. "You might want to be careful with Girth recipies they like things spicy to the point that it's, how should I put it, insanely hot." She warned him. For a human this dish might even proof to be too much since it did call for a lot of a herb not unlike spanish pepper, at least just as intense.

 

[solitaryman]

Picard chewed on the bite of liver, and his face showed that it was quite spicy. He sipped on his Andorian ale, and looked over at Kyrea, "For the first time cooking with Hanadian spices, its not bad, but I will need to do some adjusting, since i used the spices as if I was cooking in an Earth kitchen." He continued to eat, and sipped between a few bites on his Andorian ale. "Yes, Earthlings do love to cook with spices, and it depends on what region of the planet as to how much spices are used. I will share an Earth cook book with you sometime, so you can see what I mean."

He watched Kyrea as he ate his salad, "Some Earthlings are total vegetarian, but I cannot bring myself to that. I like my meat and vegetables." He continued to eat and then finished his meal, washing it down with the rest of the Andorian ale in his cup, and then refilled his cup and set the bottle back down on the table, the bottle half full. He then got up and started to clear away the dirty plates and dishes. He saw that there were no leftovers from the meal he cooked, and was happy that Kyrea received his meal well and did partake of it.

"This was quite good Kyrea," he spoke as he put the dirty dishes in what appeared to be a dishwasher in the kitchen, then started it. "The early vessels had chefs that prepared the meals for the crew, but now it is done via food synthesizer. While it is good, I still love to prepare meals from scratch every chance I get." He walked out of the kitchen and then took his cup from the table, and sat down in the main living area on the couch. He sipped on his ale, and looked over at Kyrea, "I have a strong interest in archaelolgy, and would love to explore the planet more, since I do have to stay here for a while, and if it is okay with your leaders. I do understand that your people may have a lot of other questions for me, and I will answer them to the best of my ability."

 

[Mera1506]

"Most of them are not from here. We rarely use spices at all." Kyrea said. She took another bite, other then a bit too spicy it was good. Half way through she took a sip of this Andorian ale. It wasn't bad, but she couldn't drink too much she rarely drank alcohol so wasn't used to it.

"I see, well as you've noticed there are different spicies among my kind, some can't digest meat at all others like myself have an almost carnivorous diet." She said. She finished her meal and took a few more sips of the ale and put the cup down still half full. "Do Earthlings drink a lot of alcohol?" She asked.

After their meal she sat down in comfy chair. "I'll see what I can do, I can't guarantee anything. But I do know that anyone who wants to join an archeological dig does have to pass some sort history test on the subject of the dig and one that goes to the general history of Hanad. I'll take you to the library tomorrow." She said.

 

[solitaryman]

Picard smiled as she sat down on the couch, beside him. He was still sipping on his glass of Andorian ale. He smiled softly at her question about Earthlings' alcohol consumption. "Well it depends on the person. Some people don't drink alcohol at all, some drink socially or in moderation, while others drink it like water." He blushed a bit as he spoke, "Um..Kyera, at one point in my life I fell into the later, as a young cadet in the academy, but really declined because the older you get the worst the hangover." He went on to explain the meaning of hangover, the result of too much drinking, which he explained to her as getting drunk.

"I knew a retired Chief Engineer named Scott, who drank scotch like it was water, and he could handle it quite well. In fact he could tell the difference between synthesized scotch and the real thing. He's retired now and living in the Denova system."

As the conversation shifted to his interest in Hanadian archaelolgy, he nodded his head, I would like to study more about Hanadian culture and history. I look forward to a trip to the library." He smiled as he finished his cup of Andorian ale and put the empty glass on the table in front of the couch. "The table like this in Earth homes is called a coffee table. People would finish their evening meal and sit down like us, and have a cup of coffee or drink, and talk as we are doing now."