Food for Thought

Posted on Sat Oct 10th, 2026 @ 9:20pm by Lieutenant Tyler Hunt & Dr. Rita Mehta
Edited on on Mon Oct 19th, 2026 @ 12:07am

1,251 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Outward Trajectory
Location: Deck 6: Mess Hall
Timeline: MD07

Rita Mehta entered the mess hall, which was currently filled with Starfleet personnel. Typically she would grab her meal and return back to the quarters she shared with her roommate. But today the doctor decided to change the routine she had developed since arriving on the Eventide. Grabbing a tray and plate, Rita added the food and a drink. Looking around the room, she spotted someone familiar. Lieutenant Hunt who appeared to be sitting alone with his food in front of him but focused on the PADD in his hands.

She walked and stood in front of the table, unnoticed. "Excuse me, mind if I join you?"

Focused on the PADD, Tyler had been engulfed in the mystery of why both ships that they were en route to assist were gradually malfunctioning. Suddenly startled by a voice that wasn't in his head, he looked up. "Yes, please have a seat."

"Thank you," said the doctor as she sat down. "What has you so busy that you haven't touched your food?"

"Honestly, I have no idea," Hunt admitted. "Nothing makes sense about why these ships continue to suffer from malfunctions. On paper, everything was perfectly according to Vulcan and Starfleet standards."

Rita crushed her crackers and added them to the bowl of chili. "Starving yourself trying to solve that mystery is far from helpful. Eat and recharge. Chili is far from brain food, but it's delicious."

The Chief Operations Officer stared at her for a few seconds as he contemplated her words. Opening up the pack of crackers, he crushed them, and added them to his chili. This was followed by adding cheese. He took a spoonful into his mouth and mumbled with satisfaction. "This is good. Though I didn't take you as a chili for a first-date kind of a woman."

Taking a quick bite of her food, Mehta frowned at Tyler. "First, this is not a date. It's a meal between colleagues. Two, I love a good bowl of chili and never too good to eat it whether on a date or not."

"I'll remember that for future use," Tyler acknowledged.

"Whatever. Focus on that bowl and then your work."

Shrugging, he continued eating and sipping his drink. "I need a distraction. So, what actually brought you out of your room to eat with us common folks?"

"Broadening my horizons and gracing the little people with my presence such as yourself."

"Doctor your harsh words cut me deep," he responded, holding his chest.

Rita couldn't help but laugh. "You play too much."

"Got to keep you on your toes. But what have you been doing? Ain't seen you around these corridors the last couple of days."

"Interesting to know that you have been searching for me," she joked. "But on a serious note, just been keeping mind on my research from my last assignment. I have a research paper that I am interested in completing within the next two weeks."

"Smart and beautiful," Tyler acknowledged with a wink.

"I am a doctor after all. But E for effort, I suppose."

"Clearly a tough audience," the Lieutenant shrugged. "Tell me about this research paper."

"Are you really interested in my research?"

"Yes, doctor I am very interested in hearing what you have going on. Fairly certain, its going to be a big deal and I get to be the one who gets to say I knew before you became a big deal around here."

"For the record I am already a big deal," Mehta countered. "The paper explores how human societies evolve culturally, politically, and socially when separated from Earth for an extended period of time."

"Seriously now?"

Sipping her tea, she nodded. "I'm serious. These settlements end up forming their own townships and cities, which ultimately morph into a different type of Human. For example, look at Alpha Centauri or even Terra Nova."

Considering what she told him, Tyler had to concede there was truth to it. "They did go on to form their own governments outside of Earth."

"Just look how close Mars is to Earth," she continued. "And then branched off, believing their values and beliefs differed from Humans on Earth. And it's my belief that the further we settle from Earth, the more different will become. I wouldn't be surprised that eventually we'll undergo physical changes as well."

"You mean an additional limb?"

Rita rolled her eyes a bit. "I wouldn't go that far. And these changes would be far down the evolutionary scale, so it wouldn't be the basis of this paper. But a world with higher gravity could lead to increased bone density, and stronger musclature could eventually lead to individuals becoming shorter. Or the opposite, lower gravity could lead to reduced bone density, which would could make humans taller. Reduced or increase sunlight could change pigmentation. Atmospheric conditions could cause humans to adapt. And the possibility of adapting to microorganisms on a strange world. So, many exciting possibilities."

Tyler simply watched as the woman across from him lit up. "That's all very scary to me. But I can see how clearly passionate you are about all of this."

"What part scares you?"

"The morphing into something, not quite human. Sounds like a horror film I watched as a child."

"If it means anything, Humans were already morphing and adapting to our environment on Earth millions of years ago," Rita assured him. "And now with us venturing out into space like this. Evolution owes us another adaptation."

Finishing his food, he looked back over at the PADD on the table. The distraction had been nice. But he had his own research to complete, and he feared that he wouldn't have a viable answer before they reached their destination. "Wish, I had the answers like you do."

The Anthropologist couldn't help but laugh. "You Starfleet folks are so impatient. It took years and decades, if not far longer, to find out all this research. The answers aren't supposed to just jump into your lap. A lot of trial and error, along with new information. The more malfunctions those ships experience the more data you will receive."

"But what about those crew?" Hunt inquired.

"Unfortnately, it sucks to be them" she added. "But the data only comes with the malfunctions, as far as we know at this time. Also, this Luujak nebula and the signal coming from it is something that no one is familiar with. Which means you have to look at this from a different viewpoint."

Leaning in closer to the woman across from him. The Lieutenant was clearly focused. "You have an idea about this signal?"

"All I know it's something that no one has heard is the rumor going along the ship. But figuring that out, might just need to be your primary focus. Because for all you know, he could be a Humpback whale."

"What's a Humpback whale?" Tyler questioned with the most confused look on his face. "And what does that have to do with my current predicament?"

"They are an extinct species of whales native to Earth..." Holding up her hands, she stopped talking. "The point is that the signal could be anything. Put all of your attention into that. Link up with communications and try to decode it, then focus on the effect on ship's systems."

"Yes, ma'am."

=================
Lieutenant Tyler Hunt
Chief Operations Officer
USS Eventide


Dr. Rita Mehta
Anthropologist
USS Eventide

 

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