A Last Meal On Earth

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In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.

-Aristotle

 

Adrian sat on top of a mountain in the Pyrenees staring down at the rolling green hills. He had a thermos of coffee with him and some sort of strange Spanish smoked ham sandwich. The only sound appeared to be a nearby herd of goats that had kindly decorated most of the area with their droppings. He breathed in the country air, having missed out on this in space. There was something cool about just sitting out here, enjoying the view. Even though Adrian was far from a nature freak, being a lover of city life and the speed of it all, an occasional trip like this was always welcome.

 

He bit the sandwich and munched it; the meat was rather tough and bitter, not to his liking at all. He swallowed the mouthful and threw the remainder of it over to the goats. “Did goats eat ham? Maybe” He pondered with a shrug.

 

As he washed away the strange taste with his very milky, very sugary coffee he thought about how this new assignment was going to be one of the most important of his life. Being one of the officers and a bridge officer at that, for a major Starfleet vessel could make or break his career. The previous assignments he’d been on had none of the responsibility or prestige that this would. He’d have to prove himself worthy of it every step of the way. That kind of tension could be a killer, but a few years in a strict Irish boarding school could teach you to beat tension over the head with a big stick.

 

After a few minutes of happily enjoying the peace, Adrian realized he had to be heading off soon. The transport he’d booked to Mars would be leaving that night and it was imperative that he’d pack his stuff and get some decent grub before then. Though he’d probably be sleeping most of the trip, the last thing he wanted was a grumbling stomach. He also wanted to have one last classy meal in a nice restaurant before having to be at the mercy of the Challenger chefs. Starfleet cooks varied from award winning culinary artistes to guys who were so bad they were fired from fast food restaurants. On the off chance it was the latter onboard the fleets new baby, Adrian wanted to pamper himself one last time…well at least eat something better than that rotten sandwich.

 

“Oh…so they will eat ham” he noticed.