Surgeon's Lunch

Posted on Thu 17th Nov, 2016 @ 8:20am by Lieutenant Commander Lanis Dhuro MD

1,320 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Cloak & Dagger
Location: Orchids & Jazz
Timeline: MD 4, 1330 hours

Bleeding artery--
Caught in hemostat before ligation--
Slippery as rice noodles
In hoisin sauce.

I long for surgery's chaotic grace
During clumsy luncheon moments
As I struggle to eat noodle soup
Without a fork.

* * *

Lanis arrived at Orchids & Jazz and gave the restaurant a curious look. He'd heard that it was a fancy dining place, and indeed it did look fancy, but he'd been told that it had a rather nice and reasonably priced lunch menu and that he should try it out. He paused in front of the well-dressed young Terran man standing near the entrance. "One for lunch," he said to the fellow. "Could I just sit at the bar?"

"Absolutely," Reon assured him. "Or upstairs in the loft, if you want to be farther from the music. Wherever you choose to sit, the service is fast. There's also a lunch buffet which goes until 1400, if that appeals to you."

"Down here at the main bar is fine, thanks," Lanis said and followed the doorman over to the bar. "What do you recommend from the buffet?"

"Today's selections include a fine lobster salad made from cold water lobsters raised here on Deck 1947. Or if you are more inclined toward chicken, there's a Waldorf chicken salad with grapes and walnuts."

Reon gestured toward the buffet table. "I'm sure you'll find something to please your palate. Head over when you're ready. Chilled plates are in the steel cabinet at the right end. If you'd like anything else, I'm sure Miss Lantz," he nodded toward the woman further down, behind the highly polished wooden bar, "will be happy to help you." Reon headed back to his spot by the door.

Lanis glanced at the lobster salad that Reon pointed out and decided that he had had enough of cold meals during his life. He wanted something hot and steaming. There were platters of finger food, some of which looked a lot like hasperat but cut up into small pieces. He took some of that, a green salad, and some grilled sausages that smelled deliciously of caramelized onions and herbs. Lastly, he added a scoop of mustard potato salad and made his way to the bar.

The little rolled-up morsels were not exactly hasperat, but they seemed to be a close cousin--and they were spicy enough to make Lanis grateful for the gooey yellow cheese rolled inside them. "Hello," he said to the woman behind the bar as he began to slice the sausages. Fragrant steam rose from them as he cut them apart and began to eat them. "You're the owner of this place, aren't you?" he asked in between bites. "I saw you in the Infirmary the other day."

"Yes, Jade Lantz. Dr. Dhuro, if I remember correctly?" she asked, and then smiled. "We were worried about Dr. Addams, though I suppose that's superfluous, really. I'm told she's a wonderful doctor, but I'm more interested in her as a person."

Switching topics, Jade noticed the contents of Dhuro's plate and asked, "Our hasperat bites are one of Marin's new ideas, my chef. What do you think? Winner? Loser?"

"Oh, these are hasperat? They're great! We usually use a creamy, white cheese instead of a yellow one, but what your chef made is quite tasty, and it's spicy enough to be satisfying," Lanis said. "Please thank him or her for me." He picked up a drink menu, raised his eyebrows, and looked back at Jade as he put it down. "If you have real Coca-Cola, I would like a glass of that with some lime, please. I'll have to come back after work and try some of your other drinks. Do you sell black Kanar, by any chance? And I don't mean that sickly-sweet crap that pours like motor oil, either. I mean the well-aged version that is considerably less viscous."

"You're welcome any time," Jade said, as she poured a large Coca-Cola from the bar spigot and set it in front of the surgeon. Then she used silver tongs to put several wedges of lime in a bowl for him. "I haven't had any call for Kanar, but if you'd like, I can look into what's available and stock it for you. I'm more than happy to do that. Is there anything else you'd like me to bring in?"

Lanis thought a moment and then shook his head. "No, I think that's pretty much it. I can get Bajoran ale anywhere--Kanar, too, for that matter, but not the good, aged stuff. I remember, when I was in Fleet Medical, the freshmen boys would dare each other to drink Kanar Noir, once they discovered I drank it." He winced. "They couldn't afford the aged vintages and were mainly just trying to make each other sick--which they usually succeeded in doing." Lanis squeezed a slice of lime into his Coke and then took a sip, as if trying to banish the remembered taste of young Kanar.

"This is a lovely restaurant you have," he said. "I was going to bring Dr. T'rel here for her birthday--not that she celebrates--but any excuse to come here is a good excuse. She got paged away to handle an emergency, though, so I decided to come here anyway. I'm glad I did."

"Me, too. Your story of the freshmen was worth saving," she smiled. "It's amazing what strange things people convince themselves to do. Now, what intrigues me more is why a Bajoran would be interested in Cardassian alcohol." She leaned against the aged wood and waited for that story.

Lanis snorted. "Hmph. You should see the looks I get. People who know anything about Bajoran history look confused. Bajorans look either stunned or offended. Cardassians are amused. I first tried black Kanar when I was 15 or 16, working as a servant to a Cardassian army doctor. He would entertain other doctors at our labor camp every once in a while, and he would have me serve his guests Kanar--sometimes the more colorful varieties but most often the black version. It got to where I could tell how highly or how poorly he regarded his guests by the viscosity of the Kanar he had me serve." Lanis shrugged. "I was a bit of a strange boy; I noticed odd details like that. But it's hard not to notice when one week the wine is as thick as syrup, and the next week it's as thin as water and served in tinier cups.

"Well, one evening, one of his guests apparently didn't care for black Kanar, and she nursed her glass all evening. After everyone left, Dr. Morketh went to bed, and I stayed to clean up. I had tasted the syrupy stuff once and had decided it was disgusting--as sweet as a jumja stick and as bitter as Valerian tea. But I wanted to try the thinner version, too, so I did." Lanis smiled and sighed, remembering. "My people wax poetic about Baltrim's Wine, but to me, aged black Kanar tastes like smooth, smooth velvet going down, with a wonderful, herbal burn when it hits your throat. The aged stuff has a powerful kick. I decided, if Cardassians could make wine like that, they couldn't be all bad." He shrugged. "I was also more naive then."

"Now that is a tale!" Jade replied. "I imagine there weren't many jobs other than working for Cardassians at the time." A customer down the way caught her eye. "Thank you for sharing with me. Please come back again, with or without your friend. I'd love to chat with you again and find out how you went from servant boy to doctor."

"I'm sure that will take more than a few lunch breaks," Lanis said. "I'll see you later." He waved her off good-naturedly and continued his lunch in reminiscent silence.

OFF

Jade Lantz
Owner, Orchids & Jazz

Lt. Dhuro Lanis, MD
Chief Surgeon

 

RSS Feed