The Morning After
Posted on Wed Sep 2nd, 2026 @ 5:19pm by Captain Marc Kidd & Lieutenant Maya Canak
Edited on on Wed Sep 2nd, 2026 @ 5:22pm
2,248 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Episode 3 - The One Who Got Away
Location: Holodeck 6 - Deck 6 - USS Artemis
Timeline: MD006 0600 hrs
The sounds of the birds chirping and the crisp, moist air caused Marc to stir and wake. As his bleary eyes fluttered open he was aware of the warmth next to him. He brought what turned out to be Maya in close, and all at once he realized what happened. He backed away not in horror, but out of propriety. He quickly shuffled away to check himself. When he realized that he was fully dressed he calmed down. "Ummmm, morning." He said rather sheepishly.
Maya rolled over and took a moment to orient herself. She was momentarily surprised by the trees and the birdsong. Then she remembered. She sat up and ran her fingers through her hair to get some semblance of order. "Morning," she said, smiling at Marc. "How did you sleep?"
"Pretty well, in fact the best I have slept in quite some time." Marc began. He was still a bit beside himself because of how he woke up. "I wanted to apologize for anything that may have been unwarranted."
She raised an eyebrow and stood. "Marc, you would not do anything unwarranted. And if perchance you had, I am quite capable of telling you no." Maya couldn't help smiling impishly as she added, "If I wanted to."
Marc smiled, although he was unsure if the look on her face at the moment was a joke or not. Navigating women was perhaps his weakest suit. "Yes of course. Perhaps we should get some breakfast going." The moment the words left his mouth he realized that he had not packed any food. However, when he reached into his saddle bags there was some provisions. The adaptive holomatrix is pretty damn awesome. he thought as he realized that computer must have realized their needs while they slept and placed the appropriate provisions. "Well, it looks like we have eggs and bacon and the such. Now all we need is a fire."
Maya had a feeling one had already been sparked, but she wasn't going to say anything. "We can gather wood and start one." She tipped her head to one side. "I think the question is, who is going to do the cooking? From your familiarity with the area, I assume you can cook. I can as well." Then she had a thought. "Let's see what other ingredients are in the saddle bags. I wonder if we have what we need for omelets or if we just fry them in bacon grease?"
"Frying them in bacon grease is the cowboy way. Seems that we have eggs, bacon, some beans, and a few potatoes." Marc said as he held them up for her to see. "There is a plant that grows in this area known as skunk cabbage. It looks like a standard cabbage, but smells awful when you break the leaves. If you boil it down it tastes like spinach. If you can find some in the area I can get a fire going and omelets it shall be."
"I'll look, but no promises." Basically, if the computer wanted her to find skunk cabbage, she would. But if not, they still had plenty of food for a lovely breakfast. She made sure she had her knife as she began to look around for something that looked like a cabbage. The plant didn't grow in the Yucatan, but she did know what a cabbage looked like.
After several minutes, she found what she was looking for. "Smells like a skunk," she said to herself. Then she carefully cut it from its stem without breaking a leaf. Just to be safe, she set it on a large leaf and used that to carry it back to camp.
"Do I need to clean it first, or just boil it?" she asked Marc.
Marc had already gotten the fire going and had a pot of water on a tripod that was built out of branches. "No need. Just toss it in the water. But, break it up first. It is going to stink to high heaven. But it tastes good." He prepped the other ingredients. Work like this never felt like work to him. It was often a skill that he felt most people had forgotten about.
Maya reminded herself that she was a doctor and often had to deal with smelly things. Skunk cabbage was just another one. She quickly broke it apart and dropped it in the boiling water. Once that was done, she nodded and turned to Marc. "Okay. What do you want me to do next? Start cooking the bacon?" Since he was prepping the ingredients, she was happy to start the bacon.
"Yeah that would be great." Marc said with a smile as he looked up from the prep work he did. "I have not cooked like this in ages. My parents were big outdoorsy people. We used to cook like this almost daily. My Dad hated the weather control, he would often wish it to start raining whenever the planet needed it."
"I like the rain--as long as it's not freezing. But it can be difficult if you're trying to cook." She smiled and put the skillet on the fire and began lining the bacon in it. "I like cooking. When my grandfather and I would visit some of the outlying villages, I'd usually do the cooking. I haven't done it in a while, so it will be fun."
"We certainly have gotten jaded with the invention of the replicator. Just food in its purest form is something like a dying art." Marc said as he poured the eggs into the pan with the onions and peppers. An omelet began to take form. He stirred the skunk cabbage. With the awkwardness of the morning dying down, Marc seemed to return to himself. "Now breakfast is the best meal of the day. There is just something magical about it."
"Yes." She paused for a moment to look around. "Sunrise and sunset are two of my favorite times." She checked the bacon, then took it out of the pan and replaced it with the potatoes. "This is the first time I've cooked breakfast outdoors in a while. It's not the same when you're cooking for yourself, so thank you for this."
Marc began to plate the omelet and the cabbage. He had found the plates in the saddle bags, another credit to the holomatrix thinking ahead. But it was when he looked at Maya as she cooked that caused him to stop dead in his tracks. The way the sunrise beamed through the trees, and highlighted her hair was arguably more beautiful than anything that the forest could have created. He looked and his mind tried to form the words, but none came. After quite a few beats he caught himself staring and smiled to break the stare. "No, thank you. It is rare if ever that I get away from the Ready Room and the Bridge and experience life as it were."
"Then perhaps you need someone who can help you get out of your Ready Room from time to time." She flashed him a smile before she added the potatoes to the plate with the bacon. She almost offered to be that person, but wasn't sure if that would be too presumptuous. The problem was, she wanted to. She could almost hear her grandfather tell her, "Mija, tu trabajo es sanar a la gente, no te enamoras de ellos."
She gave herself a mental shake. Marc didn't need her acting like an adoring puppy. "Bring the plates over and I'll add the bacon and potatoes."
Marc did as she asked and knelt down next to her. As she plated the bacon and potatoes he forgot himself, forgot where he was, his position, her position, everything. There was something akin to electricity, or at least that is how he felt it. As she placed the last piece of bacon he kissed her. In the moment it was beyond great, and then after a beat his anxiety kicked in. Marc realized exactly how wrong his actions were, but he did not want to ruin the moment, in case this was the last.
It was unexpected, and a bit awkward--due to their positions--but Maya took advantage of the opportunity and kissed him back. She would have liked to continue, but he was holding breakfast, and she still had a spatula. "Querido," she said when the kiss ended. "Perhaps we should eat before the food gets cold." Hopefully, this wouldn't be the last time he kissed her.
"Yes, of course." Marc said and settled in next to her on the ground to eat breakfast. He did not want to break the kiss, but he was not sure if she even wanted the kiss. He felt like a high schooler with a first-time crush. She did not pull away from him in anger, or any other emotion. So, he thought that was a good sign. He took a few bites and the food was delicious. "This is beyond good, and has the taste of the fire."
"Food always tastes better over an open fire." After that kiss, she felt a little shy, and a little hopeful. She handed him one of the two drinks she found in a chest by the food and began to eat. "The omelet is delicious." But her thoughts were more on the kiss--and if she could kiss him again.
For a man who was so sure of himself when in that seat, at the center of that Bridge, he was so damned awkward in moments like this. In fact, he thought that the awkwardness right now could be cut with a knife. He took some bites of food if for no other reason than to cover the silence. He in fact had no idea how to proceed. "Indeed. Replicated food never holds a candle to the real thing." He said and then suddenly realized that the food they were eating was technically replicated. "Although this is probably the closest it has ever come."
"I guess, if we're talking replicated ingredients, I do that a lot when I cook," Maya admitted. "It's a little difficult to produce everything you need naturally on a starship. I'm grateful I can grow some of my own herbs." She paused. "Can you imagine having live chickens in a cargo bay?"
Marc almost choked with laughter. After he swallowed and caught his breath. "You know it wouldn't be half bad, at least I wouldn't mind it. I mean we could pipe them through the ship's speakers to wake everyone up in the morning. Don't think the Security team would like it too much though."
It was Maya's turn to laugh. "No. Especially if they were on Beta shift." She shook her head. "Just thinking of the number of chickens it would take to have two eggs every morning... Can you imagine the cleanup? Much better if you're planet side." She finished her meal and set her plate on the ground for now. "Would you like seconds?" If not, she'd begin cleaning up. As much as she'd like to stay here for a while, they both had work to do.
Marc had filled up on both food and company. It had been some time since he truly enjoyed himself in this manner. But they both had real life to return to, a case to solve. He handed her his plate. "No, I think I have had my fill of the food. There is one last thing we can do before we return to the Artemis and the case. One last ride..." He rose to his feet so he could ready the horse as she cleaned up.
Maya cleaned up and checked the site. Even though it was a holodeck, habit wouldn't let her leave if she didn't. Then she went over to Marc and the horses. Before she lost her nerve, or they left the holodeck before she had another chance, she asked, "Would you like to have dinner with me?"
Marc had one foot in the stirrup and was about to swing up on his horse when Maya asked her question. All at once all of the thoughts that he had since he kissed her came flooding back, with the addition of wonder whether or not this was a request for a date or to return the favor of sorts. There was too much to process, too much to think about, too much... His thoughts trailed off and something from within took over. He looked at the natural beauty that stood before him and spoke. "Of course I would."
A smile spread across her face. "Good." Then, before she could think better of it, she kissed him. "I hope you like beef stew." Without giving him a chance to respond, she mounted her horse.
Marc watched her ride away and before he would catch up physically with her, his brain would catch up with what just happened. He got the answer to the question that had just plagued his mind. He smiled and kicked his horse into a gallop.
A Joint Post by
Captain Marc Kidd
Commanding Officer, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Lieutenant Maya Canak
Chief Medical Officer/Medical Examiner, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
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