losthunter | Be My Guest

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Be My Guest

Hunter is hosting a few guests at his Nexus apartment tonight. Hunter had been planning this night for awhile, ever since meeting some of the crew members of Jim's ship, getting to know them better, and then telling them about the Nexus. He has been busy planning for the evening, including grocery shopping for some home-made recipes, and finishing some art pieces that will be given as gifts.

Hunter has arranged so that the PINpoint portal is basically connected to his front door. His open concept kitchen and living room will be the first thing that his guests will see, once they arrive through the PINpoint portal. There is a small closet located to the left of the door where they can place any jackets.

The dining room in the living room has been set with all the dining places for his guests. He decided against placecards, since it is more freedom to allow his guests to choose their own seats. On the island in the kitchen is a large plate of vegetarian-friendly appetizers, which features Lavash bread topped with Guacamole and red bell peppers, alongside crescent rolls filled with Jalapeño, mushrooms and asparagus.

The open concept living room immediately flows into Hunter's art studio, where he has a few pieces still being created. There is a large set of French doors that leads out from the living room to an outdoor patio, where there is a rose garden outside. The every-spanning Nexus can be viewed from the patio balcony. Right now, the Nexus is showing the lakeside, where Hunter had first appeared when he had needed support the most.

There are a few closed doors along one wall, one of which that leads to the bathroom, and the other of which leads to Hunter's bedroom.

As Hunter chills some wine, and checks on his main course, he is pretty ready for his guests to arrive. He is feeling excited and happy to be a host.

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One of the nice things about having a fruit wine is that it is slightly lower in alcohol content than a grape wine. It might be a sweeter, due to the fruit content.

When Hunter serves himself, he takes a little of everything he cooked. Sometimes this is the best part of being a chef -- getting to taste what he prepared.

"So how are the repairs on the Enterprise going?"

Spock, who has been overseeing some of the repair work, is the one to answer. "They are proceeding on schedule. Approximately fifty-eight percent of the structural damage has been repaired. Work on the warp core is due to begin in three weeks; due to the need to overhaul and update the structure, it will take at least six weeks to complete."

"And any other news from Starfleet?" Mostly, are they going to be a crew again?

Jim smiles slightly at that. "I get to stay captain." While he's happy to finally get that news, a part of him also wonders if he deserves it. His recklessness got a good portion of his crew killed, and himself along with them. Never mind what happened in San Francisco. And while he also knows that keeping that in mind will make him a better officer, it's a hard train of thought to reason away.

"That is great news." Hunter reaches over to take Jim's hand in his own. He senses that doubt creeping up on the other man.

"You get to return to the stars."

"Eventually," Jim agrees, giving him a faintly grateful look for the support. There's not much anyone can do to get those thoughts out of his head, but he appreciates that Hunter is here for him anyway.

"Since the repairs are going to take so long, some of us are being assigned to temporary teaching positions at the Academy," Uhura says, as she can tell that her captain doesn't really want to dwell on the uncertainties of his command.

"What would you each be teaching?" Hunter figures that the Academy must be similar to University, with different classes and courses.

His assumption isn't wrong. It's a lot like a university, with some of the same subjects, just much more advanced. "I'll be handling Elementary Romulan and Xenoencryption," Uhura says.

"I shall be participating in a Cultural Studies program as a guest lecturer," Spock adds. "After Va'Pak, the Vulcan cultural viewpoint has become less prolific on the galactic stage, but it is no less valuable. I am honored to represent my race in this manner."

"Xenoencryption?" Hunter asks for clarification.

"That sounds awesome. Almost like a class that I would love to take, if I was at the academy."

"Coded messages in non-Earth-based languages," Uhura clarifies. "Intercepting alien messages does little good unless you can interpret them, and that goes for learning all new languages, too. It's all about how to seek out and understand patterns."

Spock approves of Hunter's statement. "It is important for every member of Starfleet to have a broader understanding of culture outside of one's own planet. Every species has a unique viewpoint and traditions that are dissimilar to others in some way, and interaction with cultural outsiders is more difficult when one is ignorant of their ways. For instance, as humans lack the Vulcan ability of tactile telepathy, your species is much more open to casual touching, even among strangers. Some behaviors that humans consider beneath notice can be very inappropriate, by Vulcan standards. A Vulcan that interacts with a human must be prepared to witness such actions and accept them as part of human culture, without applying Vulcan cultural standards to their behavior."

"You are really making me wish I could be an Academy student." Hunter chuckles at Spock's explanation. He had studied a lot to know about the Greek culture, before they had searched for Kendra. And he is always interested in other cultural studies.

"And you two? Are they letting you teach?" He teases Jim and McCoy.

"Me? Oh hell no," McCoy answers, shaking his head. "I'm picking up shifts at Starfleet Medical for a bit. I'm much more useful as a surgeon than a teacher."

Jim pokes at his salad, trying to figure out how he wants to answer. "They asked me. I'm still thinking about it."

"I have done some basic pottery classes myself. It is always different being a teacher, than actually doing the art project on my own. You have to go slower. Be more precise."

"I did some student teaching at the Academy, so I've had some experience there too," Jim says, nodding. "Assistant instructor for Advanced Hand-to-Hand Combat. They want me teaching Tactics this time around."

Spock doesn't frown, exactly, but he does look a little displeased. "They wish for you to oversee the Kobayashi Maru?"

"Who the hell thought that up?" McCoy wonders, throwing a concerned look at the captain.

"What is that?" Hunter is a little worried, only because of the displeased look from Spock and the concerned look from McCoy.

"It is a simulation designed to test cadets in the command track," Spock replies. "It is an open-ended examination to observe how the cadet reacts when faced with an unwinnable encounter on the bridge of a starship."

"The way it goes," Jim explains, "your ship picks up a distress call from a ship called the Kobayashi Maru, but it's in the Neutral Zone, and crossing the border means violating a peace treaty and pissing off the Klingons. If you don't go, the Maru is lost with all hands. If you do go, Klingons attack you and even if you manage to take them down, more show up until you're toast. Or if you hold them off, the Klingons might destroy the Maru themselves. Either way, the computer cheats to make sure you lose."

Edited 2017-06-16 18:03 (UTC)

Hunter takes a moment to turn over the explanation in his head a few times. "I can see why that would be a good test for cadets on the command track."

"It makes them think about the lives they are responsible for."

"Are you being asked to teach the simulation, because of what recently happened to you with the Enterprise?"

Jim looks uncomfortable at that, and McCoy jumps right in before he can say anything. "God I hope not."

Uhura does what she does best, finding a more diplomatic angle to address instead. "It might be related, but it's probably more because he's the only person to ever beat the test."

Spock tilts his head slightly. "That is... slightly misleading. The captain did indeed find a solution to allow victory, but not within the intended parameters of the test."

"I reprogrammed the simulator on my third run," Jim admits. "I still say it's a stupid test. Yeah, it makes you weigh the lives of those under your command against innocent lives and all that, but putting a cadet in a sim that can't be won is setting them up for failure. I know you can't always save everyone. But that doesn't mean you should give up or accept defeat either."

Hunter gives Jim an apologetic look. He didn't mean to make him uncomfortable.

"You found a way to win, in a no-win situation." Sometimes in life, you have to find ways to 'cheat the system'. And Hunter has no judgement on Jim's decision to find his own way.

"Is there a way you could change the test for future generations? So they are still tested for command... but are not given a situation that can't be won?"

"Maybe," Jim answers. "They might be thinking about it already. I got brought up on charges of academic dishonesty, but by the time everything was all over, I got a commendation for original thinking. I didn't do it because I wanted the spotlight, I did it out of protest."

The captain pauses for a moment, trying to decide how much about this he really wants to share. His family has always been a sore spot, but everyone knows the story. "Everyone's kind of come to see what happened to my dad as the ultimate Kobayashi Maru, because he died and the Kelvin got destroyed. But someone I met in the Nexus got me thinking that maybe that's not losing. He got what he wanted: eight hundred souls saved. I wasn't thinking about it when I went in the warp core, but if he lost, then so did I." He looks up at them, uncertain. "It's not like self-sacrifice isn't part of our duty, I just don't know if I'm the right role model for that. You know?"

Edited 2017-06-16 19:49 (UTC)

Hunter takes Jim's hand in his own again. "I don't think there is any good role model for self-sacrifice. Most of those who decided to sacrifice themselves are gone..."

"We almost lost you Jim. And no one would be around to tell the tale. To explain how it feels to be a survivor, when you weren't planning to survive."

"Those cadets should be ready for that part of their duty. And perhaps it will help a whole generation of future captains to hear from a self-sacrifice survivor."

Hunter shrugs his shoulders. "It could save countless lives in the future. Because instead of a no-win situation, they understand the whole point of sacrifice."

"I know you would give anything to have your dad around. To explain what he felt."

"You have that opportunity."

All good arguments, and Jim musters up a small smile. "I just don't want them to think about that option first, before they've tried everything else."

"Thank the Lord for that," McCoy mutters into his wine.

"Captain," Spock says, "I do not believe there is any active duty officer more qualified to speak on the matter than yourself. If you desire it, I can assist you in altering the simulation reflect your valid criticisms of its function, and provide my support in submitting the revised program to Starfleet."

"Just think, you might change that program for the better." Hunter hopes it works out for them.

He checks around the table, to see if anyone is needing seconds, or wants another serving of wine. He also has a non-alcoholic cider ready if anyone wants to switch to something else.

"All right, fine, I guess I'm teaching Tactics then," Jim concedes. He's still unsure if any good will come of it, but he also hasn't made a habit of giving up before he's even started.

Spock is definitely going to take him up on switching to a non-alcoholic drink, and though Jim would rather have more wine, he knows he won't get away with it since McCoy is sitting right next to him. The doctor takes another helping of chicken and shrimp, and Uhura splits more pineapple and tofu with Spock.

Hunter steps from the table to get the cider for both Spock and Jim. He also takes the opportunity to putdessert onto the table. Tonight he is serving smores cupcakes, complimented with a smores-flavored ice cream.

There is a shift in lighting from outside, as the Nexus changes its viewpoint, and now the tall buildings of New York City can be viewed just outside his balcony.

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