S1M5 - O Other, Where Art Thou?

[Tess tLhoell]

[USS Amalthea - Deck 4 - Ready Room]

Their new mission took them deeper into the Gamma Quadrant to pursue the only clue that might give them hope of opening the wormhole. At their past meeting with the Atrosians, Governor Wye had mentioned a kind of primordial whale that, according to Atrosian legends, possessed special powers in relation to the Bajoran wormhole. Tess knew that there were quite a few critics of this theory among her crew. She herself was more skeptical than convinced, but she also knew that there was a grain of truth in every legend. While previously to her assignment in the Gamma Quadrant she would have doubted the existence of 'space whales', she now knew from her own experience that these Ooroyan really existed. The only question was, how could they be tracked down? They didn't know very much about this species. While they had data from 'Urulei', the astrocetus that had been genetically and technologically modified by the Atrosians to function as something they called a 'Finder' to track down and catch criminal escapees, the question was how representative that data was to apply to the rest of the individuals in the species. At least they knew that it was possible to communicate with them telepathically. That was probably their best approach.

Two other things that weighed on her mind was the change in discipline and behaviour of her brother, Benjin. He became noticeably tardy in his duties and seemed overall drawn back and distanced. Tess wasn't sure what was wrong but hadn't gotten around to have a quiet conversation with him yet. Nor was she sure she was the one who should be talking to him. Rayek probably was the more appropriate person to deal with him regarding this.

The other thing was the still ongoing investigations about the explosion of the shuttle that had Lared still not recovered, Rayek severely injured and Verlok even dead. She hoped the cause would be found out soon.

All this was on her mind while waiting for Rayek, whom she had asked to come to her Ready Room. She wanted to discuss her approach with him before calling a meeting with the senior officers.

[Rayek tr'Lhoell]

Cmdr. Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Amalthea - Deck 16 - Cargo Bay Level 1]

Weeks had passed and Rayek's injuries from the shuttle explosion had healed into a new set of scars.  The weakness he'd experienced from the blood poisoning had all but left him; there was only just the barest hint of toxin still showing in his medical scans and this didn't seem to be something that was going to go away easily.

Presently, Rayek was just finishing up another set of scans of the shuttle debris.  The engineer investigatiors had found nothing conclusive among the wreckage.  Yet Rayek wasn't willing to give up on the search for answers.  He owed it to Verlok to discover the truth of how and why. 

He would have remained longer pouring over his detailed scans if not called away a short while ago by Tess.  She'd given him 10 minutes before he needed to report to her Ready Room, and he'd spent 5 of that already doing the last of his scans.   Saving the scans to his datapadd, Rayek looked over the cargo bay with its floor covered by the organized piles of shuttle wreckage. 

The temptation to remain longer was strong but Tess while he was certain Tess would understand the growing obsession to find answers, he recognized that he had a stronger obligation to the continued operation of the ship.  Turning away from the debris, Rayek exited the cargo bay and sealed the doors, nodding to the security officer stationed there.   He then set off for the turbolift and Tess' Ready Room.

[USS Amalthea - Deck 4 - Ready Room]

Rayek stepped through the automatic doors that opening in response to the Tess' order.  He'd made it to the Captain's Ready Room with a minute to spare.  A quick yet thorough glance over the room showed that it was just he and Tess in the room.

"You called for me, my Captain?" The way he said her title was like an endearment.  A subtle way for him to state his affection for her despite the need to remain professional.

[Tess tLhoell]

[USS Amalthea - Deck 4 - Ready Room]

Hearing the door to the room opening, Tess looked up, a smile immediately settling on her face when she saw her husband. The way he said her rank made her chuckle softly. "Indeed I have, Commander", she said in the same manner. Standing up, she walked over to him and sneaked a kiss from him.

"How are you feeling?", she asked as she gently caressed his cheek. The residual traces of the poison didn't seem to affect Rayek but it still worried her. She had him visit the sickbay more frequent than he probably liked. But she wanted to rule out any long-term effects on his health. "Any news from the cargo bay?"

She then walked to the replicator. "Do you want something to eat or drink? We have quite some things to talk about." She glanced at him over her shoulder. "Have you eaten?" She ordered a ginger tea and a chocolate chip muffin for herself.

[Rayek tr'Lhoell]

Cmdr. Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Amalthea - Deck 4 - Ready Room]

Tess' smile and her returned endearment of his rank brought a grin to his features.  It made his day that she would greet him with a kiss.  His arms found their way around her waist as she caressed his cheek and asked after his health. 

"I feel fine, e'lev.  I am back in top form." he assured her, then being a little risqué he continued on to suggest in a quieter more private tone, "Would you care for a demonstration of how fit I am?"  His smile and eyes said clearly said it wouldn't take much prompting to make his teasing a reality.   

But it wasn't meant to be - not at that moment - as Tess changed subject asking about the shuttle investigation progress. She then stepped out from his light hold to walk to the replicator, querying about food.  Rayek tried not to have his sigh of disappointment be audible.

He answered her questions in the order she asked, as he followed her to the replicator.  "Unfortunately no, nothing new.  Though with engineering's help I've increased the scan resolution by 34%.  I will be reviewing those scans once we are done here." he added. 

The question of something to eat or drink had him considering various options as she ordered herself a ginger tea and a chocolate chip muffin.   The temptation was there to merely reply 'I'll have the same as you'... but her earlier comment about having much to discuss suggested that she was in a work frame of mind at present... play would have to wait, so he kept the words to himself.  "Chai tea and an osol twist, will be sufficient for me." he answered, nodding his head at her final question.  "I stopped by our quarters to check on Fvienn and your brothers, earlier.  They had fresh soup and bread made." One of the perks of their quarters was that they'd had a kitchenette installed.  "It was impossible to resist."

Once his tea and twist were in hand he moved to take a seat in one of the chairs placed in front of her desk.   Though he was curious about what topics they needed to discuss, he sipped at his tea and waited for Tess to broach the subject first. 

[Tess tLhoell]

[USS Amalthea - Deck 4 - Ready Room]

Tess was pleased to hear him say he was fine. His following comment made Tess grin; she knew he would follow through on his offer if she just so much as hesitated to decline. Her extracting herself from him wasn't to say in any way that she didn't like his offer, no, she liked too much and she didn't trust herself to resist her husband once they took a step further. Reality was, those meetings were pretty much the only 'alone time' they got in the day. So the notion was very tempting. But she didn't joke when she said they had much to discuss.

Tearing her thoughts away from what might have happened if she had agreed, she focused on Rayek's reply to her question. "An increase of 34% sounds very promising", she commented while the replicator worked on her order. Once that was done she ordered a chai tea and an osol twist for Rayek before she turned to him, smiling as he told her of his lunch with her brothers. "Oh, I hope you guys have left something of it for me", she teased with a grin. "How did you get along with Rah'ul today?", she asked. Ever since Rayek had demonstrated his telepathic abilities to the Ba'ku, he had been extremely wary of his brother-in-law. It seemed to be getting better only slowly.

With both their snacks and drinks ready, Tess returned to the chair behind her desk and carefully put the mug and plate down. On hit sat a rather big muffin, melted and hardened chocolate peeking out of the fluffy baked dough here and there. Not touching either of it Tess leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs as she looked back at Rayek, considering which topic to breach first. She decided to go with the quicker one first, although it also was the one that concerned her most.

"I wanted to talk to you about Ben", she began with a serious face. "His work morale is on a low, I feel it had been deteriorating ever since we came on baord the Amalthea. I'm not sure what's up, I feel like he's avoiding me. But someone has to speak to him. Only yesterday I heard that he showed up an hour late to his shift." Her forehead furrowed with concern.

[Rayek tr'Lhoell]

Cmdr. Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Amalthea - Deck 4 - Ready Room]

While Tess was ordering his Chai tea and osol twist, she commented on his lunch with her brothers, first asking if there was any left over for her.  To which he answered affirmatively with a nod.

"Of course we did!  And Tamonar was even going to bring a bowl of it to your father and one to Benjin as well." he assured her. 

Her follow up question regarding Rah'ul was not as pleasant though for her sake he did his best to highlight the positive.   "There was some tension - as always.  But we manage to get through the meal without him needing to leave the room."  Rayek didn't offer up that Rah'ul had remained warily silent the entire time he was present. 

The Romulan hoped that the fact that the Ba'ku man had stayed rather than leaving to the other room was good sign.  Previously, Rah'ul had taken to hiding out in the bathroom or hallway whenever Rayek stopped by to check up on Fvienn, after learning that Rayek's ability was limited not only by distance but by line of sight.   Maybe that he stayed meant that Rah'ul was coming to some eventual understanding that Rayek had no intention of reading his brother-in-law's mind ever again.  (EVER!  Even if invited!)

He sipped at his tea, and waited for Tess to bring up what she'd called him in for.  She seemed to be either hesitating or prioritizing which topic to bring up first.  When she did speak, he understood the hesitancy.  He nodded slowly.

"I apologize, Captain." This time there was no inflection to the title.  "I was aware of this yet have not acted on it.  Lared... before his injury, had remarked to me, on Benjin's inattention and more frequent displays of attitude.  He had indicated he was going to attempt to deal with it - quietly out of respect for your position." Rayek informed.

Staring down at his tea, Rayek recalled how Benjin had initially stood fast by his comrades following the holodeck incident.  The others had taken far more prompting to tell the truth than Benjin.  Whereas Benjin had previously known Rayek to be reasonable and fair, his fellow cadets only saw a Romulan officer scowling at them every time they opened their mouth to protect one another.  They each kept silent refusing to speak until the threat of dismissal was raised.  That it took that level of coercion to get the cadets to talk was a mark against them.

In the end, Rayek had each confined to quarters for two weeks (compared to Benjin's one).  He wondered if that had something do to with Benjin's 'low morale'.

Rayek lifted his eyes from the drink in his hand to meet with Tess' blue eyes.  "It should technically fall to the interim flight chief to deal with issues of tardiness before things of this nature are brought to the XO.  But... Benjin is family.  I will speak to him.. see if I can determine what is troubling him and perhaps help advise him on a better path."

[Tess tLhoell]

[USS Amalthea - Deck 4 - Ready Room]

Hearing that Tamo'nar was taking care of her father did something to Tess. While she was grateful, immensely grateful, for it, she also felt a twinge of guilt. She didn't have the time to look after him like she would like to. An acknowlegding smile showed on her face. "I really need to thank him for that later."

Hearing that Rah'ul had stayed and had lunch with Rayek present was an improvement indeed. "We're taking baby steps, but even those mean progress." She smiled at Rayek. She knew it was unpleasant for him as well. They just needed to continue to be patient and give her brother the time he needed.

Tess started sipping at her tea after she made her comment about Benjin. To learn that Lared had intended to tolerate her brother's behaviour surprised her. "Out of respect for my position?", she asked. "I'm not sure what that means." She watched then as Rayek looked down on the beverage in his hand. She knew that it was the Flight Chief's task to take care of these things, and Tess half expected Rayek to point that out and let him do it. But to her surprise, when he eventually spoke, he took on the task himself. And that Tess grateful for.

"Thank you. I believe it's the best option at the moment." She paused for a moment as she stared a random point behind Rayek. "You know ... I feel like it's not only things going on with him regarding his duties. I feel like he's drawing away from us. I don't know when was the last time he joined us for a meal. Or even just visited us. Or my dad. You know that he used to hang around with us all the time." Shifting her gaze again she looked at Rayek, concerned. "So ... maybe it's good to have someone talk to him who is also his family ...?"

[Rayek tr'Lhoell]

Cmdr. Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Amalthea - Deck 4 - Ready Room]

[USS Amalthea - Deck 4 - Ready Room]

Hearing that Tamo'nar was taking care of her father did something to Tess. While she was grateful, immensely grateful, for it, she also felt a twinge of guilt. She didn't have the time to look after him like she would like to. An acknowlegding smile showed on her face. "I really need to thank him for that later."

Hearing that Rah'ul had stayed and had lunch with Rayek present was an improvement indeed. "We're taking baby steps, but even those mean progress." She smiled at Rayek. She knew it was unpleasant for him as well. They just needed to continue to be patient and give her brother the time he needed.

Tess started sipping at her tea after she made her comment about Benjin. To learn that Lared had intended to tolerate her brother's behaviour surprised her. "Out of respect for my position?", she asked. "I'm not sure what that means." She watched then as Rayek looked down on the beverage in his hand. She knew that it was the Flight Chief's task to take care of these things, and Tess half expected Rayek to point that out and let him do it. But to her surprise, when he eventually spoke, he took on the task himself. And that Tess grateful for.

"Thank you. I believe it's the best option at the moment." She paused for a moment as she stared a random point behind Rayek. "You know ... I feel like it's not only things going on with him regarding his duties. I feel like he's drawing away from us. I don't know when was the last time he joined us for a meal. Or even just visited us. Or my dad. You know that he used to hang around with us all the time." Shifting her gaze again she looked at Rayek, concerned. "So ... maybe it's good to have someone talk to him who is also his family ...?"

When Tess repeated back to him the phrase 'out of respect for my position' stating she didn't understand, Rayek wondered if he'd misunderstood the saying and thus used it wrongly.  "What I meant is that, rather than correcting him openly, and possibly embarrassing you by reprimanding Benjin in front of others, Lared intended to keep the disciplinary measures quiet, and out of the official records."

Unfortunately, as such Rayek was reliant on Lared's verbal report to know what measures the flight chief had taken to address Benjin's poor attitude back then and that conversation was still pending due to Lared's unconscious state.   Given that there had been a continual decline in Benjin's performance, Rayek suspected that Lared hadn't yet spoken to Benjin.

After his offer to speak to Benjin himself, Tess offered her own thoughts on her brother and how she viewed the situation.  Rayek nodded his agreement of her assessment.  "I will keep that in mind and look for ways to include him more in both in mission and personal time."

Rayek pulled his padd from it's holster at his back, and began scheduling a meeting with Benjin for later that morning. He wasn't going to put off the task.  It was best addressed sooner rather than later.   It took but a moment to rearrange his schedule to make suitable time for the planned intervention; after which Rayek fired off a meeting notification to both Benjin and the cadet's interim department chief to inform the latter that Benjin would be excused from his duties during the meeting time period. 

"Was there anything else you wished to discuss?" he asked as he set the padd down and picked up his tea to take another swallow. Tess' earlier statement had made it sound like there were going to be a number of topics to be addressed during this meeting. 

[Tess tLhoell]

[USS Amalthea - Deck 4 - Ready Room]

Tess frowned slightly at Rayek elaborated his statement. She leaned back in her chair, thinking. "So, he let the fact, that Benjin is my brother, influence how he treats his subordinates." She grimaced. "I don't know ... This is what makes it difficult to have family on board. Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful to have him here. But he should not be treated differently." Tess was really concerned about that. So far, she had not heard of any dissatisfaction by other crew members, but that didn't mean it didn't happen.

Then she faltered as she wondered if she had just contradicted her own statement when she had asked Rayek to speak to Benjin. She glanced at her husband. "That being said ... You still good about talking to him?" Why was this so difficult. In this case she thought it was alright because a talk needed to happen both regarding duty and private life.

Tess took a bit off the muffin and began to eat it. At Rayek's question for further topics, she nodded and answered after she had swallowed. "Yes. Our mission. I've been studying the data we have collected back on Katra of the Ooroyan since Governor Wye had hinted on a probable ability of these creatures that they have an effect on the wormhole. We should try to find that certain astrocetus. Which is more like finding a needle in a haystack." She sighed. "But one detail I remember is that there is the possibility to make contact with these creatures telepathically."

[Rayek tr'Lhoell]

Cmdr. Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Amalthea - Deck 4 - Ready Room]

[USS Amalthea - Deck 4 - Ready Room]

Tess frowned slightly as Rayek elaborated his statement. She leaned back in her chair, thinking. "So, he let the fact, that Benjin is my brother, influence how he treats his subordinates." She grimaced. "I don't know ... This is what makes it difficult to have family on board. Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful to have him here. But he should not be treated differently." Tess was really concerned about that. So far, she had not heard of any dissatisfaction by other crew members, but that didn't mean it didn't happen.

Then she faltered as she wondered if she had just contradicted her own statement when she had asked Rayek to speak to Benjin. She glanced at her husband. "That being said ... You still good about talking to him?" Why was this so difficult. In this case she thought it was alright because a talk needed to happen both regarding duty and private life.

Tess took a bit off the muffin and began to eat it. At Rayek's question for further topics, she nodded and answered after she had swallowed. "Yes. Our mission. I've been studying the data we have collected back on Katra of the Ooroyan since Governor Wye had hinted on a probable ability of these creatures that they have an effect on the wormhole. We should try to find that certain astrocetus. Which is more like finding a needle in a haystack." She sighed. "But one detail I remember is that there is the possibility to make contact with these creatures telepathically."

Rayek regarded Tess with a bit of an amused expression.  She didn't want Benjin treated differently yet she had just asked him to break the chain of command to speak to her brother on the topic of his recent poor behavior and attendance.  Despite how it seemed, Rayek didn't view this as favoritism.   He knew he had engaged in similar private talks with other wayward officers during his time serving as Katra's First Officer.  Rayek looked at it as: he was doing what was required to ensure the smooth operation of the ship.

At her question confirming that he was still good with speaking to Benjin, Rayek nodded.  "He is not the first that I have called into my office to have a candid conversation with." Rayek assured, continuing on to state.  "He is not receiving anything I would not do for any other struggling crewmember."

The topic then turned to their current mission - to find means to reopen the worm hole and how the search for a specific Ooroyan might help.   He nodded. "Yes, they were. Lieutenant Falleg was capable of making a connection with the species rather readily.  I would suggest that our first step in attempting to locate one would be to contact Katra to see if  Urulei has returned." 

To Rayek's knowledge the astrocetus was last seen during the Wanderer's attack on Katra when Urulei had saved the Wonderland and their son.  Afterwards, Rayek had attempted to find the space whale, in order to thank him, but it had appeared the whale had migrated elsewhere.

[Tess tLhoell]

[USS Amalthea - Deck 4 - Ready Room]

Rayek's amused expression actually made a little insecure, but knowing that it wasn't meant in a bad way, she couldn't help but smirk back in amusement about herself. This was actually one of the good things to have your husband as your First Officer. They knew each other so well. At his assurance, Tess consciously tried to relax and nodded back at him. "That's all I want. Khnai'ra", she thanked him and offered a small smile.

At the topic of finding the astrocetus, Tess nodded slowly at Rayek's suggestion how to go about their mission first. "Good idea. Please see to that." She paused for a moment. "I think telepathy would be our greatest chance to make contact with the creature once we found it. ... Do you think you could communicate with it with your abilities?" While she knew about Rayek's telepathic abilities very well, she wasn't sure about this, though. He would be able to gauge the chance better than her.

[Rayek tr'Lhoell]

Cmdr. Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Amalthea - Deck 4 - Ready Room]

[USS Amalthea - Deck 4 - Ready Room]

Rayek's amused expression actually made a little insecure, but knowing that it wasn't meant in a bad way, she couldn't help but smirk back in amusement about herself. This was actually one of the good things to have your husband as your First Officer. They knew each other so well. At his assurance, Tess consciously tried to relax and nodded back at him. "That's all I want. Khnai'ra", she thanked him and offered a small smile.

At the topic of finding the astrocetus, Tess nodded slowly at Rayek's suggestion how to go about their mission first. "Good idea. Please see to that." She paused for a moment. "I think telepathy would be our greatest chance to make contact with the creature once we found it. ... Do you think you could communicate with it with your abilities?" While she knew about Rayek's telepathic abilities very well, she wasn't sure about this, though. He would be able to gauge the chance better than her.

The way Tess thanked him in Rihan brought a warm smile to his lips.  He loved the way she added touches of his culture to their every day.  They often spoken Rihan in Fvienn's presence at home, but to have her do so between just them - during a meeting - was a rarity, yet was really appreciated by Rayek.  He dipped his head acknowledging both her thoughtfulness and her excellent pronunciation.  He almost wondered if she were getting lessons from others on the language. 

Later during their discussion of finding an astrocetus - ideally the Ooroyan, Urulei, since Starfleet had a good rapport with the space whale after having freed it from captivity by the Atrosians -  Tess put Rayek in charge of contacting Katra regarding the last known whereabouts of the astrocetus.  He nodded.  "I will do so right after this meeting."   

Unfortunately given their distance from the station, several weeks away at warp, it would take  several hours for any message he sent to be received by Katra and likewise several hours again for him to receive a message back.   But that would give him time to speak to Benjin.

Tess' follow up question was less easily responded to.  She wanted to know if he could communicated with the Ooroyan once found.  "It is possible, I suppose.   My ability however is limited in terms of viable distance.  Unlike Lieutenant Falleg, I cannot initiate a mental connection beyond line of sight and within 50 ft.  Making a connection to the Ooroyan might be beyond me unless I were almost in physical contact with it." he answered honestly.

Rayek however wasn't one to let a bit of a challenge keep him from doing his best. 

"I will look over our roster and speak to those of known telepathic ability and birthright.  There may be others better suited to the task about the ship. If so I will find them and enlist their assistance."

[Tess tLhoell]

[USS Amalthea - Deck 4 - Ready Room]


The smile Rayek gave her said more than words could have said. The small gesture - a dip of his head - was something so typical for him and she had learned to love that. Smiling back, happy at his acceptance, she took a sip of her ginger tea.

While Rayek then replied to her question of if he would be able to communicate telepathically with the atrocetus, she took another bite of the muffin. She chewed slowly at his assessment of his ability and the situation. At his suggestion, to go through the roster and see if they had any crew members on board that possessed telepathic abilities also, she nodded. Her first choice was still Rayek but it was good to have a back-up if they should find they needed one.

"We could also try to send out a message that can be picked up by the creatures." She sighed. "I wish we had an idea about how big the astrocetus population is. Do they live in schools in a certain part of the quadrant? We should make an effort of interviewing any ships we might meet on our journey." She took another sip of the warm tea that warmed her up from inside. "I was also thinking about reconfiguring long range sensors to astrocetus life signs."

[Rayek tr'Lhoell]

Cmdr. Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Amalthea - Deck 4 - Ready Room]

Watching Tess eat her muffin as he answered, reminded Rayek that he had a confection of his own to enjoy; or more importantly, which he could share.  The osol twist could be cut in half so that he could offer half to his wife.  He tried to recall if she'd tried the rather tart treat before.  Given it's notoriety as a Romulan favorite, Rayek suspected she had, though he couldn't recall to mind any specific instance.  Carefully, he snapped the twist in half.

He was relieved that she accepted his answer regarding the use of telepathic abilities to communicate with the Ooroyan, once found.  On top of that she offered some suggestion of her own.  Rayek nodded in agreement.

"Yes, I do believe there are several recordings of Urulei's 'song' that we could transmit out." he remarked.  It was strange that in all the time that Katra's linguists had studied the Ooroyan 'song' that they hadn't been able to come up with a translation matrix for it.  The song eluded Federation understanding.

Tess' pondered questioned were shared by him and many of the xenobiologists who studied the sentient creature since their 'discovery' nearly a year prior.  Her suggestion of questioning other ships in the quadrant was a good idea.. with one caveat.  "I would recommend having something to offer in exchange for information.  Rarely are things given for free - information included.. having something prepared in advance that we are willing to exchange may save us from having to decline outrageous requests." he proposed as he took one half of the osol twist and placed it on the napkin on which she had the remains of her muffin, while she sipped at her tea. 

He smiled, and took a bite of his half.  The Romulan treat was so tart, his cheeks drew sharply inward nearly meeting in the middle of his mouth.  Oh! that was good stuff!  It had been quite some time since he last enjoyed an osol twist.  It was a nice counter to the warm spice of his Chai tea.

He glanced up from his treat when Tess mentioned reconfiguring the long range sensors to better search for astrocetus life signs.   She seemed to have all the best ideas today.   "An excellent idea, my Captain." Again the title spoken more as an endearment than true recognition of rank... but Rayek was certain Tess knew how much he respected her and her role as Captain. An endearment in private could be permissible.

"I'll have Mitumba and tr'Hava work together on that once we are done here."

[Tess tLhoell]

[USS Amalthea - Deck 4 - Ready Room]

Tess nodded when Rayek mentioned Urulei's songs. "Let's do that." Her eyes were drawn to his hands as he snapped the Romulan treat in half. She acutally had never had one, although she had heard Rayek mentioning it now and then.

Rayek then commented on her suggestion to ask ships they might encounter, and then it showed again why they made such a good team. Tess probably would have thought to offer something in exchange too late. And for Rayek, it was the first thing on his mind. "Good thought. Please prepare a good selection of things we could offer in exchange for information." While she said that, Rayek placed one half of the osol twist on her napkin in clear gesture. Tess chuckled. Muffins and Romulan treats for lunch. She was living a five-year-old's dream. "Thank you, ciccino." Curiously, she leaned forward and picked up the Romulan treat. It looked fruity, but she wasn't sure if that meant it tasted like it. She watched as Rayek bit into it and his face then turned into a grimace. She started to laugh. "What? Is it sour?" It looked like it, but if the happy expression on his face was any indication, it was a nice kind of sour. Casting a playful wary glance his way she lifted the treat up to her mouth and took a bite. It was tart, so much so that it was hard not to make a grimace. But that moment passed and then a pleasant sweetness replaced the edges of the tartness and gave it an overall very nice taste.

She looked to Rayek and commented before she even swallowed her first bite. "I like it."

Returning to the topic of their meeting, Rayek seemed to agree with her suggestion to re-configurate the long range sensors. Again, the way he said her rank made it sound more like an endearment and Tess had to admit to herself how much she liked to hear it. There was something to it. "That's what I want to hear, Commander", she grinned back.

They actually had gone through the talking points quicker than she had anticipated. She took a second bite of the osol twist and chewed it calmly. "I think that was it." She licked a few crumbs off her lip. "Is there anything you want to talk about?"