Comfort Food and Cover Stories - Part I

Posted on Tue May 19th, 2026 @ 8:45pm by Ensign Nyx Calder & Lieutenant Katya Davi

1,360 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Avan's Colony
Location: Forward Viewing Alcove, SS Adelaide

Now that Kat was back on the Adelaide and cleared by medical--sort of--she discovered that the ship had a new pilot. She also learned that the captain had been called away, but that was another matter. She wanted to meet the pilot and get to know her. Since the Adelaide was small, they'd be taking meals together and she thought it would be nicer to say hello apart from the gatherings in the mess.

Nyx had claimed a small viewing alcove near the forward section, sitting sideways on the narrow bench with one knee tucked up and a mug balanced dangerously close to the edge. A half-eaten pastry sat beside her, along with a PADD showing what looked like flight telemetry from the Adelaide. She was watching the view outside with bright, restless eyes, one finger tapping a quiet rhythm against the mug.

When Kat approached, Nyx looked over, paused for half a second, then gave her a quick grin.

“Hi,” she said. “If you’re here for the pastry, I respect the hunt, but I will defend it.”

She shifted, making room on the bench with a little nudge of her boot.

“You’re Kat, right? Ops boss. Keeper of the wires, lights, air, and all the little ship bits that scream when pilots get creative.” Her grin widened, cheeky but warm. “I’m Nyx. New helm gremlin. I promise I only break things emotionally on the first meeting.”

Kat had stopped by the mess to get herself a small bowl of vanilla ice cream with ribbons of chocolate fudge and had gone in search of a quiet place to eat it. Not that she minded the crew, but she wasn't quite ready to face a certain doctor. She was a little surprised to see someone else in the little alcove in the forward section. But she was immediately pleased at the opportunity to get to know the new pilot. "That's me. I'm also the mistress of mayhem, according to some." Kat grinned and held up her ice cream. "I will leave you to the pastry. This is what I need right now." She sat down and looked at Nyx. "Welcome aboard. Late, but sincere." Then she took a bite of her ice cream and sighed happily.

Nyx’s eyes dropped to the ice cream like Kat had walked in carrying treasure.

“Vanilla with fudge ribbons? Yeah, okay. That’s either self-care or a cry for help.” She gave a small approving nod. “Possibly both. Respect.”

She slid her pastry a little closer anyway, just enough to make it clear the ceasefire did not extend to baked goods. Then she grinned.

“And thanks. Late’s fine. I got here through secret orders, Empok Nor being… well, Empok Nor, and some old bloke with a pipe telling me I was expendable.” She lifted her mug slightly. “So honestly? Normal hello with ice cream? Huge upgrade.”

Nyx leaned back against the wall of the alcove, one shoulder tucked into the corner, blue-green eyes flicking from Kat to the view and back again.

“Mistress of mayhem, though,” she said, smile tugging sideways. “That’s dangerous branding around me. I hear something like that, I start expecting fireworks.”

She took a bite of pastry, chewed, then pointed vaguely at Kat with what was left of it.

“So what kind of mayhem are we talking? Ship systems behaving badly? People behaving worse? Or the fun kind where someone yells your name from three decks away and you know it’s already too late?”

"I haven't been there yet." Kat took a bite of ice cream and paused to enjoy it. "I've found every pirate hold on the Adelaide, and use one as my workroom." She wasn't sure if she should mention Amy's Twinkies, so she paused and raised an eyebrow. "Do you like music or do you dance?" Nyx seemed the type who might.

Nyx’s eyes lit up at the mention of pirate holds.

“Wait, wait. You found secret little ship holes and made one your workroom?” She pointed at Kat with the pastry like this was suddenly very serious. “Okay. I take it back. You’re dangerous. Quietly dangerous. That’s worse. I like that.”

At the question about music and dancing, her grin widened.

“Music, yeah. Big yes. Loud stuff. Ugly stuff. Pretty stuff with teeth.” She tapped a quick rhythm against her mug. “There’s this band, The Neon Knives. Awful name, amazing noise. Bit punk, bit synth, bit ‘someone threw a drum kit down a Jeffries tube and called it therapy.’ I love them.”

She shrugged, eyes bright. “Dancing depends. Fancy ballroom? No. Unless we’re trying to start a diplomatic incident. But club dancing, dockside dancing, dancing because standing still feels like being punished?” A crooked grin. “Yeah. That I can do.”

"Well, I do like ballroom, but right now I'm more into burlesque and chorus line dancing. Stuff for show more than anything. I've been thinking that if we could get some sort of vaudeville troupe together, we could use it as a cover if we need to be on a station or something. And, burlesque is kinda fun." Kat didn't know why she said that. It just came out. "I think Amy, the chief intelligence officer, will be interested." She shrugged. "Anyway, it's just a thought."

Nyx gave Kat a look, slow and sideways, like she was trying to decide whether she’d just heard madness or genius.

“Burlesque as a cover,” she said, testing it out. “That’s… actually not terrible. Weird, yes. Risky, definitely. But not terrible.” She took another bite of pastry, thinking as she chewed. “People look at dancers, but they don’t always watch dancers, y’know? They see glitter, legs, smiles, noise. Half the room forgets you’ve got hands.”

Her grin crept back in, smaller and sharper. “I don’t know Amy yet, so I’ll let you pitch that grenade. But if she doesn’t throw you out of an airlock for suggesting it, I’d hear more. I can dance. Not the polished, perfect, ‘look at my posture’ stuff, but stage trouble? Yeah, I can do stage trouble.” She glanced towards the corridor, then back to Kat. “You got one of these pirate holes big enough to practise in, or are we about to make the lounge deeply uncomfortable?”

Kat nodded. Then decided she should explain more. "A vaudeville show is just a bit too obvious, so I'm thinking it could work--in the right place." The more she thought about it, the more she was warming to the idea. She wasn't worried about Amy. It was the first officer that might put a wrench in the works. "Feathers, boas, heels, torch songs. The kind that'll make a man forget your face. As for where, the place I have is too small, but I can find another. If nothing else, I know a great annex in the cargo bay that will do. Acoustics are good and there's plenty of room. All we need is a good mat and lighting. You can even choose what sort of routine you want to practice."

She paused to eat more of her ice cream before it melted, then she grinned and asked about something Nyx said earlier in the conversation. "So, caused much emotional damage since your arrival?"

Nyx made a thoughtful little face and counted on her fingers, pastry still in one hand. “Depends how we’re measuring damage. Commander Earl Grey (Rhupert) found out I’m not scared of weird orders, Lt. Trellis from the Pioneer had to survive forty-six hours in a runabout with me naming things, Daynah let me into her office and somehow decided that was a good idea, and I may have made Doctor Zuub’s antennae do things I’m pretty sure weren’t in the medical manual.” She paused, eyes flicking up like she was genuinely doing the maths. “So… emotionally? Light-to-moderate casualties. Nothing fatal. Yet.”

(To be continued…)

Ensign Nyx Calder
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Valiant

Lieutenant Katya Davi
Chief Operations Officer
USS Valiant

 

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