Back at the base

[ElaineDelgado 0]

Chen walked into a nearby turbolift, after much thinking and discussing with his fellow science ner - er... officers; he decided he needed some soup. "Promenade". It took the Turbolift a while to get down there but it got there. Chen walked around.

 

Elaine was already at the promenade, sipping at a cup of coffee, sitting alone at a table, and people watching.

 

Chen stepped out of the turbo lift and pondered where to have his lunch ... or was it breakfast ... dinner? He had lost track of time from being rushed to a fight then scanning for warp traces all day. He saw Elaine and decided to walk over. "Hello doctor, what time is it again?"

 

She stiffed a laugh and looked up at him, "Almost noon I believe."

 

Ah. Chen thought. Lunch it is then. "May I join you?"

 

Smiling, she said, "Of course... but don't you want to get some food first?"

 

Chen looked at his hands then at a nearby restaurant then noticed his stomach growling. "Er... I seem to have misplaced my lunch. Be right back," and walked, rather quickly, to a place with good soup and ordered a bowl of chicken-veggie soup. Carrying the hot burden, Chen walked back to the table.

 

Elaine took a sip of her coffee, and then tried for a bit of conversation. "So, what plans do you have for the holidays?" she asked him.

 

Sitting down and probing the soup, Chen looked up. "Play with genetics and genes. Really nothing else to do, you?"

 

Shrugging, she replied, "Catch up on some letters, go to the holodeck at some point maybe... not much to do as you said." She leaned on a hand. "So, how do you 'play' with genetics and genes?"

 

Chen took a sip of soup. "With an iso-injector, a lot of scanners, some data padds, and microscopes."

 

Trying to not look as puzzled as she felt, Elaine asked, "Is what you're doing similar to what Arik Soong did, or are you doing something completely different?”

 

Zack looked shocked but shoot his head. "Erm... not on that scale, I’m just playing with them ... you know ... I have really nothing else to do ... maybe design a few microbes to accelerate plant growth. My cactus died last night ..."

 

Elaine wondered if she should express something about his cactus, or not touch that subject, or ask him about his family or maybe, just maybe, sit there and sip her coffee with out saying anything at all.

 

She took a sip of her coffee

 

Chen took a sip of his soup.

 

For lack of something better to say, Elaine asked, "So, does your family celebrate Christmas?"

 

"No, only new years, Christmas is a bit colorful for grandma's eyes. And children screaming ... they can't take it. How about you...”

 

Elaine smirked. "My father's side of the family has always celebrated it, however mother's side… no." She laughed and added, "I can't imagine Grandfather Salok in a Santa hat... it's just too much."

 

Chen chuckled and nodded. "I always wanted to see a Vulcan with a Santa hat on." He took a cautious look around to see if any Vulcan were near to hear him. He didn’t need a Logic lecture right then.

 

Tilting her head to one side, Elaine said, "I'll try to remember that." Then she got up as though to leave.

 

Chen raised his head. "Uh, hey I'm kidding!"

 

She smiled warmly at him. "I know. Merry Christmas, Zack. Maybe I'll see you again around here later." She winked at him and walked away.

 

"Er..." Thinking about what just happened, Chen went back to his soup and thought about it some more. Feeling somewhat embarrassed he finished his soup with haste and left, taking a nice cozy refuge in his lab.