Everybody Knows This is Nowhere

Part 13 - Imperfect Instant Replays

A month had elapsed. Lili was back to living in her quarters on C deck. Her new roommate was Security Crewman Deborah Haddon. It was Jenny and Aidan's wedding day.

The Ikaarans lived in the Observation Lounge. There was no more talk of stealing back ships or departures. But that was not due to Verinold and Lemnestra suddenly accepting their circumstances. Instead, it was a function of having few to no opportunities to take action.

Farming had continued on the little hidden planet, as the Enterprise continued to orbit it. Sandra threw herself into the work, knowing that it had sustained and transformed her before. It was also a means of assuaging her grief over losing Brooks. She was more affected than she had originally thought she would be.

Without Brooks to assist, the management of the second farming crew fell to Tristan. He became skilled, working closely with Dakiza and Timinka to work the land as efficiently as possible. The first harvest was projected to be pretty good, certainly better than they had originally thought. It was a far cry from barely scratching out a meager living, with the Ikaarans nearly all starving to death.

=/\=

Captain Archer was in his usual spot on the Bridge as it was a few hours before the scheduled nuptials. The doors opened. It was Chef Slocum, a man who barely visited A deck, let alone the Bridge.

"Captain," Will asked, "might I have a word with you?"

"Sure," the captain stated, "T'Pol, we'll be in my Ready Room." Once the door had closed, he asked, "Something on your mind, Chef?"

"Yes, well, we seem to be all set with fruits and vegetables. Anything we can't grow either here on the ship or on that planet, we can replicate."

"That's wonderful news."

"The thing of it is, I'm concerned about meat. That planet has nothing. The only non-humanoid animals on there are any hitchhiking viruses or bacteria."

"True."

"Sir, I'd like to take a hunting part to that Amity planet, and bring back some of what they called procul."

"What are they?"

"The database says they're large amphibious squid, and they can change color, possibly at will. According to the records, they can taste like deli meats or turkey, in general, depending upon body part, age of the animal and, of course method of preparation."

"Do we know when the other NX-01 is in that area?"

"We do," Will reported, "they were there in early September and then they get back there in late November. So I am thinking soon would be good. And we can avoid them by taking the Ikaaran shuttle and engaging its cloaking device."

"You'd best take the Ikaaran pilot, Kerna."

"Then I have the go-ahead?" Will asked.

"You do."

=/\=

Craig and Brian set up chairs for the wedding. Lili went to help them, but they waved her off. "Go do something nice with Jenny, while she's still single," Brian had suggested. And so Lili found herself waiting her turn for a haircut and style as the Quartermaster, Sekar Khan, attended to Jennifer.

"What do you think of this?" he asked, sweeping up her fiery red hair into a loose chignon.

"Huh, I dunno. What do you think, Roomie?"

"You might wanna stop calling me that, seeing as I live with Deb Haddon now," Lili reminded her. "Hmm," she appraised the proposed hairstyle, "it's asymmetrical."