Kim took a few short steps forward as the line she was standing in finally advanced. The Lurian who'd been at the head of the line had taken his good sweet time deciding what he wanted to order, and some of the customers in line behind him had started getting ugly. All this barely registered on Kim's mind though; her thoughts were elsewhere.
Since Banshee Squadron wasn't scheduled to go on active duty until tomorrow, Kim had decided to sleep in a little this morning, and then try a little breakfast at one of the restaurants near her quarters. The one she'd chosen -- although she was beginning to regret her choice -- was one of the Supply Base's theme restaurants. It was called El Taco and was modeled after a type of twenty-first century Earth restaurant called a "fast-food joint". The customer would place his order at a counter, and less than a minute later (or his next meal was free) his food would be served to him on a plastic tray that he'd take himself over to a vacant table and eat it. It had appealed to Kim because she was in the mood for something simple, and this place seemed to fit the bill.
Finally it was Kim's turn. The young person -- his plastic name tag read "Pancho" -- at the register said, in what Kim guessed was the most bland and unenthusiastic voice he could muster, "Welcome to El Taco. Can I take your order." He spoke it as a statement of fact, not a question, and the tone of his voice suggested that taking her order was the last thing he wanted to do. But again, all this barely registered on Kim's mind, as her thoughts were still elsewhere.
Looking at the large menu board above and behind Pancho at the counter, she quickly decided what she wanted. The customers behind her were already angry because of the Lurian; she didn't want to provoke them any further. "I'll have a Mucho Macho Hasperat Breakfast Burrito. And a milk."
"We're out of milk," said Pancho, "but we borrowed some schplict from next door. Is that okay?"
"Uh... yeah. I guess so," answered Kim somewhat dubiously. She had no idea what schplict was.
Pancho rang the order into the register, and a moment later droned, "Three forty-seven."
Kim passed him her Starfleet credit chip, which Pancho dutifully processed through the register. Handing the chip back to Kim, he looked past her and mumbled, "Next please."
Less than a minute later, Kim had her plastic tray in hand, and settled herself onto one of the plastic seats at the rear of the dining room. She had removed the paper wrapping from around the burrito and was about to take the first bite when a friendly voice interrupted her.
"Hey there, kiddo," said Jo Schmidt, the Banshee Navigator, as she took the seat opposite Kim. She cast a doubtful look at Kim's choice of breakfast and commented, "Kinda spicy for breakfast, isn't it?"
Kim just shrugged noncommittally and mumbled something unintelligible through a mucho macho mouthful of hasperat burrito.
"This is a pretty cool joint though," Jo continued. "From what I've heard about how these places used to be, I'd say this place was right on the money. Right down to the teenagers with bad attitudes at the counters."
That elicited a startled look from Kim, who said, "You mean they're supposed to act rude and incompetent?!?"
"Sure! All part of the ambiance. The manager's pretty nice though. His name's Rick something." She hitched her thumb over her shoulder indicating the kitchen area, where Kim could now see a man in a shirt and tie striding through the midst of his slothful workers bellowing in a stern but not unfriendly voice, "Andale tortugas! Mueven sus nalgas!"
Jo returned her attention to her friend now, and got to the reason she'd sought her out. "So...," she said nonchalantly. "You got in pretty late last night...."
"Hmm? Yeah, I guess so. Me and Garek were--"
"So, it's Garek now, is it?" teased Jo.
"I mean Commander Loran," Kim quickly amended, starting to get embarrassed.
"Uh-huh. So, tell me everything that happened. And don't leave out any details!" demanded Jo.
Right about then, Sam Beckett walked up to the table and sat down, just in time to hear Jo's last comment. "Details about what?" she asked.
Quickly, before Kim could get a word in to defend herself, Jo turned to Sam and said, "Kimmie was out all night with Commander Loran."
"Oh?" said Sam, intrigued. "Do tell." Both she and Jo turned back to Kim, awaiting an answer from their beleaguered comrade.
Exasperated by her two friends' good-natured but meddlesome teasing, Kim put down her burrito and cried, "It's not what you guys think!" but the grins on her friends' faces made it clear that they weren't going to be that easily convinced. "We were out testing our ships, and then we spent the next few hours in the hangar working on them. The next thing I knew, it was 3:00 in the morning...."
"Sure, Kimmie. Whatever you say," said Jo.
"It's true!"
"Okay. I believe you," lied Jo, still smiling. She reached for the cup that came with Kim's breakfast and took a small sip. Her eyes bugged out of her head and she reached with both hands for her throat, spilling the cup all over the table, gagging violently. "Gaaaagggghhhhh!!!" Her spastic jerking motion sent her chair flying over backwards and her with it, leaving her in a twitching heap on the floor trying to scrape the offensive beverage from her tongue.
Sam's cyber-enhanced olfactory sense immediately identified the contents of the cup. "Schplict," she declared, shaking her head sadly.
"Serves her right for teasing me," said Kim.