===== Rangi's quarters, USS Chimera ===== [If the XO wont mind joing the CO at holodeck three imediately, she might find here something amusing, at least the CO hopes so] Rangi was intrigued.What could be so amusing that Shane wanted her to go immediately to holodeck three? She stood outside the door in a moment of hesitation as a black thought filled her mind. {No...he wouldnt} she reasoned with herself doubtfully {...nooo...no he wouldnt} She was remembering a time when Shane had promised her an afternoon she wouldnt forget. That had been true for it 'had' been unforgettable but not quite in the way Rangi had thought he had meant. Two hours of watching the One Hundred and Forty Second League Ice Hockey Championship game had come low on her list of 'things to do for fun' but Shane had enjoyed every moment. At least he assured her he had. At times he seemed in total despair, standing in the crowd with a bleak expression that touched her heart but moments later he was in absolute heaven, jumping up and down grinning at everyone. The wild extremes of mood had revealed a whole new side of Shane she had never known existed and she had been 'very' glad that she didnt fully understand all the terms he had yelled at the referee. Going on various similar comments screamed by others in the crowd, she made out the gist to be somewhere along the lines of 'couldnt the referee see what was at the end of his nose?' and 'wouldnt he be better growing flowers in some remote place.' This and the multiple times he had implored various deities to help his team, had made for the unforgettable afternoon Shane had long afterwards referred to with greatest pleasure. ===== Holodeck three ====== Rangi steeled herself against the expected sight of a swaying. chanting crowd and pressed the button to open the door. She stepped inside and stood stockstill, only her eyes moving to take in the scene facing her. The kitchen was every cooks dream, with shining pots and pans, knives, spoons and gadgets of every description on immaculate surfaces. "Ahh...young lady" boomed a voice and Rangi blinked at a massive Klingon wearing a chefs hat at a jaunty angle. Shane stood beside him sagging slightly under the weight of the cooks hand laying on his shoulder. "Come in! Come in" bellowed the chef beckoning her forward. Rangi glanced from him to Shane and back. "Hello" she said suspiciously. Seeing the shocked expression in his beloved's eyes, Shane had to laugh softly: "Hello darling, come please in and join us." He turned his head to a side and looking upwards he said: "This is Momo ..." looking back at Rangi he added: "And this is his place called Boiling Worm ..." he hardly could hide the grin on his face. "Boiling Worm...riiiight." Rangi replied walking towards the pair but looking around. "What is this place?" she asked, then qualified the question. "Obviously its a kitchen.... "she said turning back to Shane. "...but what's it for?" Shane nodded: "Well, its supposed to be an interactive holodeck cook-book and our intention it is to make ... erm ... cookies" he said with a shrug as he looked sideways as a small heap of round shaped (slightly burned) "things". Rangi followed his line of sight as she arrived at the table edge. "Mmmmm." she murmured in a non commital way she sometimes used. Shane shrugged: "Well, it was you who said that men cant cook ... and I rememeber well the expression you, Athena and Xenai wore a year back when you were cooking them by yourselves." Looking at the 'misfortune' of cookies he added: "Looks like you were quite right ..." Before Rangi could reply, Momo slapped Shane on his back. "Come on my lad." he boomed. "Defeat is not a word used here." and he swept the singed cookies, tray and all, into a shiny bin. "Now.." he announced heartily "We three will make cookies like you've never seen. Come, come young lady..stand here and lets begin." Rangi obeyed, swiftly moving to Shanes side. They exchanged glances. Shane shrugged but a slight grin appeared o his face: "YOU said you are the cook from us two ... now you can make use of it". "Lets go!" he cried at Momo who appearantly understood only words cried aloud. "Show me what to do and I do my best!" "Splendid!" Momo said loudly. "Now..break the eggs into the bowl..like so." he demonstrated a quick one hand movement that cracked the egg on the bowl, parted the shell and deposited the contents into the base. He waved his hand at Shane. "Like that" Shane sighed. The trouble was that the eggs werent standard terran eggs ... from chicken, but instead of that of green shell with bright yellow dots all over it. The size was about three the size of an 'normal' egg ... just fitting into the hand of the huge Klingon ... but definitely not into Shane's. He glanced over at Rangi. Rangi took the egg, gave it a sharp tap on the bowls edge and squeezed the shell. With surprise she saw the contents fall. "Oh" she said and began to fish out the piece of eggshell from the glutinous mass. "Careful be there young lady" the Klingon boomed, "cooking is a gentle work ... not a battle with Gorn. You need a firm but gentle hand ... like this" he said and broke yet an another egg with ease. Rangi selected another, shifted her weight from foot to foot, bit her lip and cracked the egg.It dropped with a satisfying 'plop' in with the others. Rangi beamed a smile at Momo and flicked egg from her fingers behind her back. Remembering the basics of cooking Shane poked the Klingon in his ribs and asked innocently: "What about the flour?" "EASY there my lad" boomed the Klingon again, "first is milk, salt and zucker ..." he said and reached for the ingredients. Shane wasnt even surprised to see the milk being a deep purple color. He glanced over at Rangi to see her reactions about the variety of ingredients. Her expression was one of wide eyed amzement bordering on horror. {We have to 'eat' this?} she thought looking at the evil concoction that Momo was stirring with a large wooden spoon. She met Shanes eyes and suddenly it was as amusing as he had suggested it might be. "This is looking good is it not!" Momo stated. "Your turn...stir it well" he said handing the spoon to Rangi. She began with vigour but found her arm ached quite soon for the mixture was very stiff. "You try." she said to Shane and laughed. "Excellent!" Momo said."We all enjoy cookie making" and he too laughed heartily. An evil thought struck Shane's mind. He will mix those "wonder-cookies" with the other sweets on the xmas party and see if any will have the courage to taste them. Shane was sure that lilac cookies were not the common sort on any celebration. "What are you planning?" Rangi asked smiling at the expression on his face and suspecting something. "Me?" he asked innocently and gave a shrug. "He is planning NOT to poison his friends" Momo said and roared with laughter at his own joke. *** End Log *** Commander Shane Guzman Commanding Officer USS Chimera-A & Commander Rangi Summers XO USS Chimera-A & 'Momo' Klingon chef (npc) Mumacik & Rangi