Eat Your Veggies

Posted on Jul 28, 2014 @ 11:03pm by Commander Jacob Crichton
Edited on on Jul 28, 2014 @ 11:07pm

Mission: http://thefrpg.com/sim/missions/id/9
Location: USS CENTURY

= Eat Your Veggies =
(cont'd from "Motherhood Has Torn me Asunder")

LOCATION: USS CENTURY

SCENE: Lucky 13

STARDATE: [2.14] 0723.1509



Finally off-duty, Jake Crichton came in to Lucky 13 lounge and saw Ben and Dahlia seated a table near one of the windows. Major Thytos sat with them, chin resting on her hands, with an expression that Jake could almost have called a contented smile. In front of each child was a plate of food, piled with greens, yellows, and a scoop of white mush that looked like mashed potatoes. As Jake watched, Ben picked up a piece of broccoli and ate it. Ben’s expression screwed up in a look of disgust, but when he flicked his eyes over to Thytos, and forced a smile and soldiered on, chewing quickly and steadily.



“I said you have to eat it,” Thytos chuckled. “I didn’t say you have to *like* it.”



“Okay,” Ben said. “I don’t like it.”



“Fair enough,” Thytos said, reaching out to tousle the boys hair. “Now eat up.”



Jake went over to the table. Dahlia’s eyes brightened when she saw him, and she jumped out of her chair and ran over to hug him around the waist.



“Jake!” she cried.



“Hi dad!” Ben smiled through a mouthful of pulpy green mush. “We get to have ice cream if we finish our vegetables.”



“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Jake smiled at Ben. Then, to Thytos: “Thanks for keeping an eye on them.”



“Thanks for getting the replicators working,” Kass said.



“Can’t take credit for that one,” Jake shrugged. “That was all Rochemonte.”



“Oh,” Kass said.



Jake took a moment to consider the marine. She wasn’t exactly friendly, but she had seemed like a good person. Even when the neo-Essentialists had been taking over the ship, she’d treated Jake decently enough, and had even taken the time to listen when Jake tried to tell her about Stonn’s conspiracy. But in the days since their escape to the CENTURY, Cindy had mentioned her encounter with Thytos in Main Engineering, that had left Cindy clinically dead. True, the marine had then taken steps to save Cindy’s life, and Kane evidently trusted her enough to keep her on as part of the crew…



“Don’t forget those peppers, kid,” Kass said to Ben. “They look like they’re feeling left out.”



“Okay,” Ben said. He picked up a slice of yellow pepper and ate it.



“You’re good with kids, Major,” Jake said.



“Kane helped,” Kass said with a shrug. “Wasn’t all me.”

“The captain ordered us to finish our vegetables before eating dessert,” Dahlia explained. “We have to follow orders, huh Ben?”



“Yeah,” Ben nodded, a bit of pepper hanging out the side of his mouth. Jake laughed.



“Well, once you’re finished, we’ll get you that ice cream,” he said.



“Oh sure,” said Kass, with a grin. “I have to be the bad cop and make them eat their veggies, then dad comes along with the sweets.”



“You should meet my wife,” Jake chuckled. He took a seat, and helped himself to a slice of pepper off Ben’s plate, winking at the kid as he did so. Dahlia resumed her seat and ate a spoonful of potatoes.



“Where are Gavi and Erika?” Jake asked.



“I gave them a break,” Kass said. “I’m sure they’re getting into all kinds of trouble.”



“Probably,” Jake said. He glanced quickly over at Ben, then leaned closer to Kass.


“Do you know if they rounded up all CENTURY’s crew?” he whispered. “The ones that were left when we found it, I mean.”



“We were thorough, Commander,” Kass said. “No worries about them bumping into a corpsesicle.”



“What’s a corpseicle?” Ben asked.



“Uh,” Kass said, looking over at him, her cheeks flushing a little.



“Eat your veggies, kid,” Jake said.



“I want a cherry corpseicle,” Ben said, as he picked up another piece of broccoli.



“Sorry,” Kass mouthed to Jake. Jake smiled to show there were no hard feelings.



“When will we get back to Earth?” Dahlia asked.



“Another few days,” Jake said. “We’re going as fast as we can, but we have to be careful not to get spotted.”



“I miss mom,” Dahlia said.



“Me too, Dee,” Jake said. “Me too.”



“Your wife’s famous or something, right?” Kass said to Jake.



“Secretary of Starfleet,” Jake nodded.



“So she’s gonna have a lot to say about this Essentialists shi- uh, *stuff*… when we get back,” Kass said.

“Probably,” Jake nodded. “She’s good at her job. With our testimony, and Xana supporting us, I think everyone responsible for this mess will get what’s coming to them.”



Kass’s eyes dropped to the table.



“Everyone,” she said quietly.



“Everyone *responsible*,” Jake said. “You weren’t responsible, Major. You didn’t even know what was happening.”



“I should have,” Kass said. “Maybe things would have been different.”



“And maybe you’d have been locked up with the rest of us,” Jake said. “Which means we wouldn’t be here.”



“Sure,” Kass said. “Doesn’t make me feel better, though.”



“Kane will vouch for you, if it comes to that,” Jake said. “And so will I.”



“And me too,” Ben said, smiling at her. “You’re nice, even though I don’t like broccoli.”



“Sweet kids, Crichton,” Kass said, smiling at Ben. “Keep them safe.”



=================================================

NRPG: Not very long, I know, but I wanted to get at least one more post in before the next mission opener.


Shawn Putnam

a.k.a.

Jake Crichton, Commander

Chief of Engineering

USS CENTURY