Fleet Captain Addison MacKenzie - Can't Take the Heat

[Addison MacKenzie]

((Taste of the Quadrants – Deck 229, Deep Space 224))

 

The trio of red-headed women sat in one of the newest eating establishments on Deep Space 224, their dishes now placed in front of them on the table. As they started to eat, the topic of conversation turned to a bit of their most recent mission – namely, the assassination of General Kexxin.

 

Cole: I was sorry to hear about General Kexxin, he was a good man who wanted peace. ::moment of silence:: I wonder if he thought all human women are redheads.

 

MacKenzie: He was ahead of his time. That planet has a lot to work through. It won’t be easy, but I’m confident they’ll achieve a lasting peace.

 

Sam nodded solemnly.

Richards: Yeah, hopefully Kexxin finally has some peace. 

 

Cole nodded and looked at her drink, clear that something was on her mind. After a moment, the corner of her mouth morphed into a subtle smile. Wanting to draw them both back to the table, Addison pointed to their food and inquired.

  

MacKenzie: How is it?

 

Looking between the captain and the food, Sam smiled.

 

Richards: It’s everything I have been dying for. I’m absolutely coming back here before we leave. ::tilting her head to the side:: How’s yours? 

MacKenzie: The hasparat is quite good. Meets expectations.

 

It didn’t knock her socks off – in her experience, only those who’d shared their family’s personal recipes were truly exceptional – but it certainly satiated her craving. Taste of the Quadrants was certainly giving Molly Malone’s a run for its money in terms of becoming one of the captain’s favored eating establishments.

 

Cole: This stew is quite good, ::swallowing a spoonful:: flavor is robust with a nice kick of spiciness.

 

Another silence fell over the table, save for the occasional sound of cutlery scraping on the dishes. The trio was likely hungrier than any of them expected, with Cole’s stew quickly polished off and Richards making a substantial dent in her salad. As she looked down, a significant portion of her hasparat had also somehow disappeared.

 

Richards: ::Looking at Nat:: We should have told Kexxin about that nickname you came up with for the three of us. ::Gesturing to herself, then to Nat and MacKenzie:: I bet he would have thought the “Cherry Bombs” was great.

Cole: ::blushing a little, or the spice of her meal had made her cheeks flush:: I think he would have probably laughed, or think we were actual explosives.

 

MacKenzie: The Cherry Bombs, eh?

 

Cole: I had a few other names floating around, but that one just stuck out.

 

Cole picked up part of her hasparat and took a bite. MacKenzie noticed that the woman’s face had become flush as she’d eaten her stew, but the spice hadn’t seemed to bother her too terribly much. Now that she’d moved on to the hasparat, however, the security officer’s eyes started to water. Addison resisted the urge to laugh, her lips only pulling into a thin empathetic smile as she realized what was happening.

 

MacKenzie: Hasparat a little spicy?

 

Cole/Richards: Response

 

Her eyes shifted from Richards back to Cole as she bit her tongue to keep from laughing at the Nastasha’s misjudgment of the spice level. Had she thought of it, Addison could have warned her – no doubt a lack of judgment on her own part – when she said she’d never had the dish before. Instead, all she could do was offer up her basket of fries.

 

MacKenzie: French fry? They came with a garlic aioli sauce – that should help tame the heat a bit…

 

Cole/Richards: Response

 

 

 

 

Tag, and TBC!

 

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Fleet Captain Addison MacKenzie, M.D., Ph.D., FASFS
Commanding Officer
USS Artemis-A

Captains Council Member at Large

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