What's For Lunch? Part 1: Getting Back

Posted on Thu Oct 31st, 2024 @ 10:15pm by Commander Mindo & Lieutenant Zo & Lieutenant Daniel Keith
Edited on on Thu Oct 31st, 2024 @ 10:34pm

Mission: The Only Thing Left Was Hope
Location: Transport
Timeline: 1100 hrs, Day 3 on the way to Earth

ON

Zo's guitar was in it's case in the cargo hold and was dearly missed. Zo knew from prior experience on the transport that it was nearly impossible to navigate the halls carrying something as big as a guitar. However, his fold-out keyboard could be safely stored in a duffel bag Zo had put under his bunk.

Seeing as his temporary roommate Greep was not a fan of Zo's music--or his band Warp Nine--Zo was relieved when the giant ape-bird Ontarion left for the bridge, the one place no one but he would care to go. Satisfied with the non-presence of Greep, Zo had been working on a new song inspired by the Pandora crew getting back together. While he would have preferred composing it with his guitar, Zo was making progress. He wasn't nearly as skilled as the keyboardist in the band, but he was good enough, and the extra challenge was always a welcome feeling for him.

After a while, Zo folded up the keyboard and brought it with him to the lounge area, where he found the new guy--Daniel? thought Zo--also there.

Daniel with Olivia had come to the lounge before she went off to talk to some other passengers, leaving him alone for the time being. Which was fine as he pulled up an old book to read on his PaDD. A western about two cowboys, old Texas rangers who along with their friends set out to start a cattle ranch in Montana. It was a great read the first time he read it, and it was still a great read. he was absorbed in the book and didn't see Zo enter the lounge. He was once again lost in the imagery of the old west and the exciting escapades of the characters.

"You! New guy," Zo said, headed to the fridge. "Want a beer? The ship came with a whole case of the real thing. Genuine Mexican lager from Earth. They're pretty good, and we're all technically off duty for the next few days."

Daniel looked up at the voice and thn around before realizing the stranger was addressing him. "Sure, toss me one. I can use the taste of a real beer and from Earth makes it even better." He said with a smile. "Say while you're standing there, see if there are any pretzels to munch on."

"How about French fries?" Zo said, tossing Daniel a cerveza. "I fixed the replicator a few days before we got to Risa. It's a really old model, practically ancient, and makes nothing good except fries for some reason."

Sitting straighter, Daniel caught the beer easily with one hand. "Sure! French fries are good. Just don't go tossing those at me. I don't want to be picking them up from the lounge floor." Daniel said with a laugh.

Zo grinned as he punched in the commands for two plates of French fries. He brought them over and set them down on the coffee table. Zo opened his beer and took a big swig.

"I'm Lieutenant Zo," he said. "I saw you at the meeting, but I didn't catch your name."

Daniel laughed in good humor at Zo's statement. "I'm Lieutenant Daniel Keith and have some French fries." He said taking the plate and moving it closer to him.

Zo popped open his can of beer. "Earth beer is good, and one thing I like is their wide variety. We made some excellent brews on Ba'ku, but I think humans could teach some of us a thing or two." Zo unfolded his keyboard and put it in his lap.

Dniel laughed at Zo's comment, "Get no argument from me. I think Earth beers are some of the best I've ever tasted." He looked at the keyboard in Zo's lap. "Composer, singer or both?"

Zo grinned. "I like to say 'Mack Daddy of Music.' I sing, I write, and I play. In my free time, I'm front man of the band Warp Nine. My best instrument is the guitar, but try lugging one around these halls."

Daniel nodded at Zo's admission. "I am impressed. Multi-talented for sure. I'm afraid I can't carry a tune in a bucket. However in the shower, I can't be beat." He finished laughing as he did. "And no I've never tried to lug a guiter around. Sounds cumbersome and tiresome."

"Shower singing is the best," Zo said with a laugh. "There's something about being naked that allows you to hit the high notes. Think I'm kidding? Well I have a story..."

Zo went into deep reflection as he told his story.. "I'm front man for a band called Warp Nine. For a long time we were mainly a cover band, but we recorded an album with original stuff two years ago. So, we were in the studio recording. I had written a song. The lyrics were deep and highly personal, the way I usually write. I did a decent demo on my own, but when I brought it in the studio for the band we really struggled. We messed up on every take. None of us could get it right. We couldn't find the right 'feeling.' We had certain parts down, but couldn't put them together. We'd worked on it for three days straight. Every take was terrible. The feeling just felt off. We were about to give up, when our keyboardist Kathryn said, 'The only thing we haven't tried is playing it naked.' She may have been joking, but at this point we were desperate and willing to try anything. So right then and there, all of us, even the people in the booth, stripped down to nothing. We started playing, everyone bare-ass nude, and we nailed it. It was the best take of any song already recorded on the album. We did no rerecording or digital augmentation, so the whole track would stay 'naked.' It was all about 'feeling.' We were baring our souls with that song, but we needed to bare everything to get it right."

Zo looked back up at Daniel and grinned, saying, "That's why everyone sounds great in the shower."

Daniel listened attentively as Zo told his story. When Zo had finished, Daniel nodded, "That is an amazing story. I don't know if I could have done that. Get naked I mean. But I also think musicians are some of the most uninhibited people around. I commend you on your creativeness and the success with the song and yes, everyone sounds great tin the shower because they are uninhibited."


Zo shrugged and ate some fries. "Well that's my story. What about you? Got any interests?"

Daniel nodded, "Shooting, White water rafting and everything and anything that do to with the outdoors and fresh air. Oh, and of course Olivia my wife." He finished with a bright smile.

Zo raised his eyebrows. "Outdoors and fresh air... so what are you doing on this crate?" Zo began lightly playing the keyboard, adding a nice but not intrusive ambience to the setting.

"I'm on this crate as you put it because I'm also very good at my job and being here allows me to see other worlds and be outside and in their fresh air." Daniel replied with a smile as Zo began playing his keyboard.

"Ah!" said Zo. "You're one of the 'to boldly go' types! Me too! I come from a planet who's rings give near-eternal life. I left it behind because I too want to find new life and civilizations. And I want to write music about all of it!"

"Then I'd say you picked the right way to do both see new worlds and write music about it all." Daniel said with a broad smile and a nod of agreement. "In fact you should have ample writing mateeial for several new songs and albums."

"I'm always writing music," Zo said. "I just can't find enough time to record anything. It's fine though. We play them at our concerts, so our fans get to hear them there. We're thinking about releasing a live album of original material. We've recorded almost all of our concerts. The ones we did on the Pandora were especially cool. We played on Halloween one year and dressed as the Fantastic Four. At least, I think it was Halloween..."

Daniel nodded as Zo spoke and played his music. "Its good see you always have the ability to create. As for playing you songs at live events, tha tis an excellent idea. Um, I do have a question though, when you refer do the Fantastic Four? Do you mean the Beatles?"

Zo shook his head. "Not exactly. The Beatles were the 'Fab Four.' We were dressed as the 'Fantastic Four,' characters from one of my favorite comic books. But here's an interesting story: the party was shortly after we had liberated a race of people from certain doom, so as a tribute to them, the first song I played was 'Revolution,' by the Beatles. One of the characters in the Fantastic Four is called the Human Torch, who can shoot fire. When he does, he yells,'Flame on!' Before I hit the first chords, I yelled 'Flame on' and when I started playing, my guitar burst into giant yellow holographic flames!"

"Ah. I stand corrected, thank you." Daniel replied to Zo's explanation. he smiled as Zo told his story. "I can see that. our guitar bursting into holographic flames. I'm sure the audiance went wild at the sight of that as well as the song by the Beatles. A nice tribute by the way. Classy."

Zo smiled. "Thanks. So you like the Beatles?"

Daniel nodded, "I certainly do. I think they were amazing artists, groundbreaking in their music. Trend setters."

"They're my favorite," Zo said. "It's amazing that their music has stayed relevant over the last five centuries." Absentmindedly Zo played a few bars from the song "Let It Be."

"Mine as well." Daniel replied, "Let It Be is great and for a bouncy, upbeat song how about Ob-la-di, Ob-la- da." He then began singing softly. "Desmond has his barrow in the marketplace, Molly is the singer in a band, Desmond says to Molly, "Girl, I like your face "And Molly says this as she takes him by the hand, Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on, brah,la-la, how their life goes on
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on, brah, la-la, how their life goes on." he stopped and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry you had to hear that. Like I said I usually just sing in the shower."

Zo had begun playing after the first line on the makeshift keyboard and did the part of backup vocals. Afterward, Zo grinned. "No man, that was good! How about this one..." Zo started playing again and started the lyrics, "I've got a feeling, a feeling deep inside, oh yeah... oh yeah!" Zo continued playing and gestured for Daniel to join in.

Daniel nodded and then grinning, dove right in. lending his voice to Zo's singing. "'ve got a feeling. A feeling deep inside
Oh yeah, Oh yeah, that's right.I 've got a feeling A feeling I can't hide, Oh no, no, Oh noOh no."

Zo laughed and switched up the song. "Let's see you do this one," he said, moving into "A Hard Day's Night."

Daniel smiled as Zo switched the song but he jumped right in and began singing. "It's been a hard day's night, and I've been working like a dog, It's been a hard day's night, I should be sleeping like a log But when I get home to you I find the things that you do Will make me feel alright

You know I work all day to get you money to buy you things
And it's worth it just to hear you say you're going to give me everything
So why on earth should I moan, cos when I get you alone
You know I feel OK."

Zo stopped playing and applauded Daniel's singing. "That's awesome! You know every word! Where did you learn about the Beatles?"

Daniel smiled at the praise, "Thank you. My parents. They played all the old songs especially the Beatles, they would sing their songs all the time to my brosther, sister and myself. I liked the tunes and the rhythm so we all learned the songs as well and we would make it a family affair." he paused and smile at the memory. "We sure had some great times. Dancing and singing."

"That's a cool story," Zo said. "For me, I didn't hear the Beatles or any kind of rock music until I started at the Academy. Living on Ba'ku, we didn't have any rock music. We had some instruments that were a lot like guitars, though, and I got very skilled with them early in life. When I got to the Academy, some friends introduced me to classical rock. One of the first rock albums I ever heard was 'Abbey Road.' It was love at first note. I often use 'Come Together' as an opening number when we do a gig."

Daniel shook his head and chuckled. "No, yours is the cool story. Mine is just a family spending time together and having fun doing it and i wouldn't change it for the world."

Zo began adding a little bluesy sound to his playing. "The way I see things," he said, "everyone in Starfleet's got a cool story. You can't even apply for the Academy without being some kind of crazy! And if you didn't have anything crazy happen in your life, you certainly did by the time you graduated!"

"An interesting theory to be sure with more than a fair amount of truth to it." Daniel agreed with a smile. "It would be boring if no one had a cool story. I think most people who apply and graduate from the Academy have "it" a look, a can-do attitude. They are put off by things not going smoothly. Adversity makes them strive harder to get the job done."

Zo laughed at the last part. "I'm an Engineer, dude! Things never go smoothly for me. If everything is working, something's wrong. If something gets upgraded by something better, it's worse. When the warp core is a hundred percent stable, we're about to explode. Engineers are taught early in the Academy that they'll never get a break!"

Daniel shook his head and grinned at Zo and his answer. "You guys are just pessimists by nature." He countered in good humor. "Never happy, never satisfied."

Zo's eyes widened. "Oh I beg to differ!" he said, matching the humor. "Engineers are always happy when they're fixing something! It gives us stuff to do while you guys stand at your consoles on the Bridge all day reading trashy romance novels and wishing for a reason to fire phasers!"

"Zo!" came a voice from the entrance. It was Mindo, wagging a finger at Zo. "Don't pick a fight with a Security Officer. Trust me, you'll regret it."

"Chief," Zo started, "you fought a Klingon in the Warp Core and-"

"Trust me," Mindo interjected, sending a wink at Daniel. Mindo looked down at the table. "Are those french fries?"

Others began milling into the room. Zo looked at his chronometer. It was lunch time!

To Be Continued...