Lunch with the Doctor

Posted on 11 Aug 2020 @ 3:53am by Lieutenant C'Tora Kuroka

Mission: Mission 4 - Race against the machine
Location: Sickbay/Holodeck
Timeline: Mission Day 7 Lunchtime
2414 words - 4.8 OF Standard Post Measure

Michael hadn't yet gotten a booster shot needed to deal with the natural pheromones Orion females give off. It was something needed plus, It had been a piece of advice that Captain Reynolds had given to him when they had last spoken.

Michael entered into sickbay, making his way to C'Tora's office. He knocked on the door, "Excuse me Doctor, I am Ensign Hawkins, could I have a moment of your time?"

C'tora glanced up as he heard the tap at his door. " Come in please, Ensign Hawkins is it? What can I do for you today? " As he finished inputting reports into they're data files. " I was just getting ready to step out for some lunch,But I think I can take care of this first. So what seems to be the problem?"

"Yes, it is Ensign Hawkins. " Michael answered with a smile. "There isn't a problem at the moment, however, I am probably due for a booster shot to curtail reactions to pheromones emitted by Orion women and other species that may have that capability."

"Ok,Not a problem." He picked up a hypospray and pressed it against Michael's neck,a soft hiss escaped as the device did it's task."There you are, your good for about three months. Come back and we can give you another booster then." He sat the hypospray back on the tray. "Speaking of pheromones,I have a friend who is a doctor on Starbase Haven. They have a councilor Who's mother is a green orion and her father is a deltian. Both species have strong pheromones,so she must have her pheromones suppressed every week."

C'Tora stopped and looked at Michael. "Sorry, I didn't mean to prattle on like that.You're most likely busy and I don't want to take up to much of your time. If you'd like you may walk with me as I head to the Holodeck."

"Actually I am on my lunch break so decided to take care of things necessary. If I may ask, what sort of program will you be running in the holodeck." A curious glint in his eyes.

C'Tora looked at Michael with a bit of surprise. "My you're a curious one aren't you? This is the first time anyone has been interested to even ask." He thought for a moment. "How shall I describe this? It's a light exercise program followed by lunch. And we will need some light workout clothing and some light gear."

"An Orion-Deltan mix. That is quite the combination, I would say. Sounds like she was an exotic beauty.Michael remarked before turning his attention to the rest of C'Tora's answer. "I do have a rather inquiring mind, so yes I have a strong streak of curiosity. I am also someone who likes to get to know people, its all a part of getting to know the various beings that populate the vast realm of space."

As he walked alongside C'Tora, "What's the terrain going to be? This way appropriate clothing can be programmed ready for us."

"The terrain is a jungle moon from my home world,It is quite beautiful and teaming with life."C'Tora stated with a wistful look in his eye." As for clothing and gear it is simple light robes for wearing and a spear for you and a short sword for me.Soon after that we should have lunch."

Michael thought for a moment, jungle, spear getting lunch afterwards. Yup that certainly sounded like they were going on a hunt.

He grinned, "So we will be hunting our own food and eat what we catch. Sounds great to me. I will be changing my outfit. Instead of a robe, I'll wear something else. Something I will be more comfortable in." he stated. "What will we be hunting?"

“ I believe on earth it is called a razorback, it is about a 200 kg wild boar with some rather sharp tusk that can do some nasty damage if your not careful.” He stopped for a moment. “ computer hunters hand claws.” As the requested item materialized in front of him and he strapped them in place. “ would you like a melee hunting weapon or a ranged weapon? The program is limited to muscle powered weapons, I hope that doesn’t bother you.”

“It doesn’t bother me at all.” Michael said with a smile.

“Computer set me up with a boar spear."Holding out his hand with the weapon materializing. He also ordered a hunting clothing kit which consisted of boots, camouflage khakis and a T-shirt. He changed into those, and picked up the spear.

The boar hunting spear was a few inches shorter than a regular spear,made out of ashwood, at the base of the spear were two metal prongs that would keep the boar from driving the spear further in thus preventing the boar from attacking the hunter.
“I’m ready, anything else I need to know about your program?”

“Well Michael the only other thing about this program is the safety protocol is switched off. I have never hunted with the protocol on,no challenge in it. But rest assured I do have a medical field kit nearby, is that acceptable to you?”

"Safety protocols off, acknowledged." Michael giving a nod. "I can work with that. This will definitely be classified as getting to know some of your culture and also team trust building. Let's make certain neither of us get badly injured, otherwise, I'm sure the captain and Syvar will kill us both if that happens."

“Agreed.” C’Tora chuckled and smiled at Michael. “ Hunting mission is classified, Shall we begin?” Computer begin program C’Tora 3 at level 1. Temperature set at 37 C with 60% humidity. C’Tora took off his robe, dressed only in a jade green loin cloth he gazed down into the valley below. “Nice day for a hunt.” And began walking down the hill into the valley.

It was before midday and the sounds of the jungle were active in every sense. The sounds of insects in the trees and the calls of birds filled the air. The pungent aroma of flora and fauna drifted on the breeze, as the sound of a stream bubbled along underneath the canopy and into the distance.

“Michael, the stream heads over towards that small rockface cliff over there to the left.” As he pointed towards it. “Plenty of vegetation and other items that a razorback would find tasty. Shall we try over there first?”

“Boars are known to cluster near water as well. Looks like it’s time to do some scouting around.” Michael said, quietly moving in that direction, his movement not making a sound. After going a distance, Michael could see the tell tale signs of boars being near, a wide swath of damage to the vegetation cutting a path towards the stream.

Quietly he said, figuring that C’Tora had the hearing of a jungle cat, “Definitely want to stay away from the mama boar, and her piglets. She would be more dangerous than a male to deal with. Shall we find a clearing where we can set the stage?”

As they got closer to their destination C’tora’s steps got slower and completely silent. His ears twitched as he caught a sound that he was looking for. He breathed in and caught a faint scent and smiled. He whispered to Michael. “We have one or maybe two rooting around down by the stream. With any luck we’ll be eating soon.”

Michael nodded, “Let’s do this” he quietly said. He bent down and picked up a couple of stones, then proceeded to where he could see the two boars C’Tora was referring to.

One was a rather large male,the other looked like a young male. Standing straight up, being prepared to run, Michael threw one of the stones with precise accuracy hitting the larger male in the flank. The boar squealed looking up from getting a drink of water. “Hello lunch.” he said to the boar, and threw the other rock at it.

The younger boar took off running in the other direction, while the larger male charged Michael. The ensign took off like a bat out of hell, with the male giving chase, Michael leading the boar towards a clearing. The ground was slightly slippery, due to the terrain of the jungle,Michael had to rely on his agility to keep himself from making a face plant in front of the boar. One wrong move would mean being hurt or killed. He could feel the branches plucking at his arms leaving scratches. One branch was low enough he had to do a slide as if sliding to home plate on a baseball diamond. He quickly rose to his feet hearing the boar crashing right through the underbrush, snapping the branch that Michael had dodged.

Michael broke through the clearing skidding to a stop, turning around planting his feet to meet the charge of the boar with the spear in place. The boar impaled itself on the spear, driving Michael backwards, him feeling like he was being hit by a rather large opponent on a Rugby team. He pulled out the spear in one smooth motion, as he dove to one side, to get ready to make another attack.

As soon as Michael took off running and the boar pursued him, he took off after the boar. He was about twenty meters behind it and upwind of it. As he ran he could feel the air cross over his fur,the warm smell of the earth as he passed over it and the sun filtering down through the canopy.

He smiled as he watched Michael’s spear drive into the boar's chest and then move out of the way before it could charge again. C’Tora’s legs tensed as he gathered the power and then leapt onto the boar’s back and let out a primal roar causing the boar to freeze for a moment.

His rear legs raked the boar's flanks, as his fangs sunk into the base of the boar's neck. At the same time his hunters' claws ripped the boar's throat open. The creature moved for a few meters more and then dropped in its tracks.
C’Tora cut the boar open and removed the heart and the liver. “ Well lunch is served. Will you be dining naturally or would you prefer yours cooked?”

“I’ll cook mine.” Michael remarked with a smile through his mud spattered face. He built a small fire, starting it with flint and steel cut off a chunk of meat, skewering it on a sharpened stick and letting it cook above the fire. While waiting for it to cook, Michael took time to get the mud off and pluck the leaves and twigs that stuck in his hair. “Looks like I get to have some scratches and a small cut to take care of.”he said with a shrug. “One nice thing about a holodeck,I can have a shower appear to get cleaned up before I get back to my duties.”

C’Tora carved a large hunk of meat and happily began chowing down on it,a few moments later he stopped in mid bite. “ Computer. Two one liter bottles of mulled cider.” The air shimmered and the two bottles appeared. He placed one in front of Michael. “That should go well with the flavor of the meat. Or would you prefer something else?”

He then looked at the scratches and minor cut that Michael had. “ I’ll take care of those before we leave the holodeck.” As he motioned to the scratches. “And as for cleaning up,yes you could have a shower appear in here if you wanted. As for myself I’ll just wash up in the stream. There is a nice section about 1.3 to 1.5 meters in depth right over there with some nice rocks to sit on as well.”

“What you ordered is perfect, and as you pointed out there is the stream to clean up in. All part of the ambience of the program.” The scent of the meat wafted its way to Michael, letting him know food was ready. He pulled it off the fire and began eating.

At the end of the meal C’Tora pulled out a small, but very sharp knife and cut the heart and liver in halves and gave one of each to Michael. “ When we have a successful hunt the hunters share in the eating of the heart and liver as a way to show thanks. We eat it raw as we do our meat taken in the wild. I won’t be offended if you do not wish to partake.” He then bit into both the organs one at a time and enjoyed the chewy texture.

Michael took a bite of the heart and liver, then handed the rest back to C’Tora. “If you don’t mind eating the rest,”he smiled, then took a slug of his drink. “It was good hunting with you, C’Tora”

“This was a very enjoyable hunt Michael. I am glad we shared this experience together, maybe we can hunt again together sometime if you’d like.” As he finished off the rest of his meat and the remainder of the returned heart and liver.

After the meal and bathing were finished C’Tora then treated Michael’s cut and scratches. “ All done. No one will be able to tell that anything even happened.” He mused to himself for a moment. “ So what did you think Michael? Travel more than a quadrant and have a hunt and a lunch on a jungle moon and still get back in time for duties. Not bad for an hour lunch.” He said with a laugh. “ I’ll let you decide when you want to exit the program. This was a good lunch.” He said as he reached out to shake Michael’s hand.

Michael chuckled,shaking C’Tora’s hand.”Yes, it was indeed an enjoyable lunch. Will have to do this again sometime. Shall we get back to our duties?”

C’Tora just nodded his head,picked up what little gear he had and headed towards the archway feeling very content and with a full belly. “Archway!” he called out as it appeared before them.”End Program.” The doors opened as the two walked out once again to return to their duties.