Why is the coffee always gone?

Posted on Fri May 5th, 2023 @ 11:26pm by Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Remal Kajun

Mission: Repairs and Retribution
Location: Sunfire
Timeline: Before the abduction

Why is the coffee always gone?

Eight long days of dealing with a starship crash, a planet covered in dinosaurs teaming with bugs and a DNA virus which left many in a state of caveman-like intelligence, and yet, they were here now, survivors. Now docked at a starbase, somewhere away from Bajor the crew had been relieved of their duties in order to unwind and relax while the ship was repaired and upgraded.

After sleeping for a solid 6 hours, Remal found himself awake early, grumbling and digging through the wreckage on board the Sunfire for personal belongings including but not limited to a personal stache of homegrown coffee beans. Sure, Rhenora’s cove of candles and altar to the Prophets would be things worth saving, but as with all things, Coffee first.

Half an hour into searching cabinets, drawers and all of the hidden places in what used to be their shared quarters, Remal was reminded of something. His growing frustration getting the better of him he finally went to where Rhen was still sleeping and gently shook her. “Hey, sorry to wake you, but, do you know what happened to the stash of coffee I had hidden on the ship?”

The scene of Remal lazing on a beach next to her sipping chilled spring wine in the golden sun and sand vanished and was replaced with the sound of Remal muttering about coffee and ships.

“You’re makin’ me coffee? Zat’s nice” She slurred, curling up tighter under the blanket and closing her eyes again. It was so nice to be able to sleep without alarms and crisis and the universe trying to throw whatever it could at them every day of the week. She lay there for a few moments whilst her sleep-addled brain caught up and then sat bolt upright. “The coffee’s gone?!?!”

He looked her in the eyes, her blonde hair sticking up and out in various directions, and couldn’t help but to smile. “Yes, as far as I can tell. I’ve searched our normal stash locations and have come up empty handed.” He tilted his head, “You don’t happen to know anything about where, or who, may have depleted our stores?” His eye twitched slightly as his body visibly craved the wake up juice.

The only people who were in the ship were the repair crew, could one of them have taken it? She swung her legs over the side of the couch she had been napping on that was remarkably intact. There was a padd on the coffee table, too neatly placed to have survived the crash in that position.

“Hang on just a minute, did you put that there?” She asked, nodding towards the padd.

“No, I thought that was yours.” He swiveled around to pick up the padd. “Weren’t you trying to play catch up on your reports or something?” He neatly lifted the PADD, turned around and handed it to her for inspection. Besides, he thought, what does the data PADD have to do with our lack of coffee?

Hearing his answer she grabbed the PADD and activated it, finding a message from Ronson on the screen, surrounded by the rest of the repair crew.

“Hey - do you want to see this?” She asked Remal, indicating the message.

He slid easily up and onto the sofa next to her, sliding her to the side a bit with the sheer vastness of his girth. As he peered over her shoulder indicating he was ready to watch. “Sure.” He said out loud.

She flicked open the message, waiting for the face of Ronson backed by the entire repair team to begin speaking.

"Dear Captain, if you're seeing this then we have successfully left the planet behind us. I want to emphasize the work that the repair team had done over the last week to get the ship operational again. We’ve all worked long hours, enduring broken sleep and harsh conditions. To keep them going I made the difficult decision to use your private coffee bean stash. Yes, the one Remal keeps in your quarters. It was for the benefit of the entire crew, we couldn't have done what we did without it. When we get to Starbase 67 I will acquire you some more. I'm sorry Remal, it's all gone, even the emergency-emergency stash." Ronson's face vanished from the screen, replaced by the cartouche of the Sunfire.

She turned to look at her husband. "Well at least it went to a good cause and not grumpy dinosaurs" she shrugged, feeling somewhat broken.

He on the other hand was flabbergasted. Dismayed, he questioned, “Even the emergency-emergency stash? How did he even know where that was? I’d like to give them all a piece of my mind. Yeah I know it kept them going and I should be understanding.” He ranted as though arguing with himself. “But, this was our coffee. This was our nectar of life, the only thing that tends to keep, us, going.”

He stood to continue his ranting, “I mean, we suffered too you know. We toiled and worked hard to make sure everyone made it out alive. We deserve some coffee too right? Right? Why is it whenever we need it, the coffee always seems to be gone? Huh? Ugh, I want to give little Ronnie a piece of my mind right now.” It was possible he was allowing his emotions to carry him too far, too fast. It was also possible he just needed some caffeine.

Rhenora watched with mild amusement, understanding his need for the tirade and the need to have his opinions and recent lived experience heard. She'd been there too, so exhausted that everything seemed like an uphill battle only to find the only glimmer of a normal life you have left was taken away.

"Well we could look at this one of two ways" she started, watching the emotions flicker across his face in quick succession. " We could stay here in our trashed quarters and try to salvage what we can and lament our coffee stash. Or we pick our asses up, take a break and find the best coffee den this station has to offer." She rose and offered her hand. "What do you say?"

His shoulders began to slump back into their normal form, her voice of reason keeping him sane. He took her offered hand, "While wallowing in self pity and wanting to punch our coffee thief is appealing, your idea is okay I guess." He smirked to show he was teasing if only a little. "I will help you get dressed, maybe brush out your hair and then a walk would be lovely."

"I look that good huh?" She grunted as she stretched, feeling the muscles release just a little with the movement. Her constantly changing size made keeping any kind of consistent wardrobe impossible and so she replicated something light and comfortable to wear.

He walked up behind her and wrapped his large arms around her tiny frame before whispering in her ear, “Still as good looking as the first time I lay eyes upon you.” And then he grunted, “Would look even better with a cup of life in your hands though.” He teased.

As his hands rested upon her midsection there was a shift, some small sense of movement. His eyes lit up as, for the first time in their lives, he felt movement from inside her which could only have come from their unborn child. It seemed a bit early even for Bajoran standards, but nonetheless, there it was.

"And now you know why I'm always tired" she joked. "Apparently backflips at 2am are the done thing" she let him soak in the moment for as long as he wanted to. "Now, you mentioned a cup of life?"

"Ah yes, stay here and hold the two things I love most in this universe or let them go in order to chase down the elusive third thing? Tough dilemma when one ponders too long." He gave one last squeeze before releasing his grip.

She took his hand and squeezed it, picking a path towards the door through their trashed quarters. Crew quarters were a long way down the list of priorities for repair but would get done before the Sunfire headed back out into the big black yonder again. How soon that would take would be anyone’s guess. “Now… tell me of the best coffee den you’ve heard of in this place”

TBC