A foodie's delight

Posted on Thu Apr 9th, 2026 @ 2:32am by Lieutenant Varkl Brukh

1,224 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Echos on the Deck
Location: Main Promenade
Timeline: Many hours after "Here They Come"

With the Nausicaan threat mostly disarmed by Captain Greene, station life had once again subsided into something resembling it's normal operations - at least for everyone except the security teams tasked with shadowing the Nausicaan 'visitors' who were being allowed to use the station's facilities that were open to all visitors in the civilian section.

Brukh had recalled the repair teams that had been staged in key areas across the facility, and returned the department staff to normal shift operation. Hours later when his shift ended, he heeded the grumbling in his midsection - he had been otherwise occupied keeping the fusion engines on full-power stand-by during the normal lunch hour (caused of course by the fore-mentioned visit), and had subsequently skipped the meal. By now his belly was making it too hard to ignore.

Rather than paying a visit to the messhall yet again, he opted to see what delicacies the main promenade had to offer, the fact that it was much closer to Engineering than the messhall had of course been a prime consideration. He didn't expect much as the station had only been in full operation for a short time, and many civilians had yet to arrive en-masse.

The lift doors opened into a circular concourse, with two normal arched portals, stairs rose to a walkway on a second level with two identical arched portals leading to the promenade upper level.

The most prominent opening however was a two-deck archway that he could see led into the massive arboretum - the on-board garden area with trees, grass, flowers, and plants - mainly from Earth, but scattered in pockets there were biomes dedicated to flora of various worlds. He had yet to explore this area of the station, but it could wait for another time.

Choosing the lower option, he ventured through one of the openings that seemed to be more populated than the other. T'Vei would logically conclude, or so he thought, that it would be more likely to have open shops and restaurants. As soon as he passed into the corridor he was rewarded by enticing aromas that proved the theory to be correct.

The first shop he passed appeared to be a bar of some type, a large counter with stools could be seen beyond, with several tables between it and the doorway. A wide variety of patrons were inside partaking of the facilities. He passed onward toward the next area - a narrower space not yet occupied, but bearing a hand-lettered sign Centauran Salon - Coming Soon".

'Salon?' Brukh pondered. There was no translated location in Tellarite, he mentally filed it away to inquire as to it's function later, perhaps his new acquaintance the good Dr. Belanger would be able to explain.

Further along he found the first place offering food. A bold sign proclaimed it as Papa Angelo's Italian Bistro, a smaller hand-printed sign read 'now open'. 'Looks promising' Brukh grinned and opened the door causing a bell attached to the other side to tinkle a pleasant carillon. From behind a red and white counter a plump woman in an apron emerged with a wide smile that a Denobulan would find challenging.

"Welcome!" she exclaimed encouragingly, while calling back toward the kitchen in a heavy accent that he could scarcely identify "Papa! We have-a our first customer - and he's a Tellarite!"

The sound of what could only be pots clattering answered the call and a Human male with a bushy black mustache emerged from a pair of swinging slatted half-doors wearing another apron stained in red and yellow, with a generous coating of white powder arising as he wiped his hands upon it. His eyes went wide seeing the hairy form of Brukh standing in near-equal surprise. "Ciao my new friend! Come, sit. I will mak-a you the best-a food from my country!"

Brukh was promptly ushered to a table with a similarly red and white checkered tablecloth, and handed a smaller piece of cloth that was similarly colored. The man disappeared back through the doors singing a pleasant tune while the woman started fussing over her customer.

"You're one of the station crew" she quipped setting a glass on the table and filling it with water. Before he could do more than nod in assent she continued, "Papa and I were nervous about coming all this way from home, but I said to him 'papa, we've never been anywhere off Earth. It's time to see what adventures the galaxy holds!' So we packed up our old cafe, did I mention we had a nice little cafe in Parma, that's in Italy back on Earth. Did you ever get to visit Earth?"

"Yes, but I never left San Francisco..." Brukh tried to reply.

"San Francisco is a nice-a place too, but it's no Italy!" she rambled. "I'm Lucia by the way, and papa he's Angelo - but you probably got that from the sign... you can just call us papa and mama Angleo if you like. I hope-a you come here often!"

The sound of rattling pots and utensils rose to a louder pitch along with the singing. Brukh could just make out some of the words to the songs, it seemed to be about the woman since it frequently mentioned 'Santa Lucia'... He didn't get the opportunity to ask as the woman continued her rambling.

"We have some very nice vino for you to have with dinner, let's see what will he be making... Ah yes," she mused while apparently listening, "He always sings that when making Spaghetti Bolognese, a nice Chianti would pair well with that... I would expect a second course of Eggplant Parmesan with white sauce, a Pinot Grigio with that I think... Now for dessert, what would you think about some Tiramisu?"

"I have no idea what that is, but it all sounds delicious!" Brukh finally managed to interrupt.

The swinging doors once again opened as papa emerged with a large steaming plate. Mama scurried off behind the counter, momentarily emerging with a bottle that seemed to be partially encased in a wicker basket and a stemmed glass. From either side of the table one placed the platter containing what seemed to be thin pale worms covered in a red sauce and a large piece of bread, while the other opened the bottle with a loud POP and decanted an aromatic red liquid into the glass. Both then retreated a few steps awaiting their guest's first taste.

Brukh cautiously lifted a fork from the table and tried to scoop the worms causing some grins and chuckles from the hosts. "I can see you've never had spaghetti before" she tittered taking the fork from him and picking up a spoon with the other hand, "This is how you do it." she speared some of the worms and began to rotate it using the spoon to hold it in place. Soon it wound into a loose ball, and she handed the fork back to him.

He rose the dripping wad into his maw and was met with a pleasing flavor. Savoring it momentarily he hastily dug into the plate again. His hosts beamed encouragingly while mama nudged papa to return to the kitchen to prepare the 2nd course.

Lt. Varkl Brukh
Chief Engineer
Sentinel Station

 

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