Tea, Earl Grey, yecch!

"Have you met the new doctor yet?" asked Arjay.

"No, I haven’t had a chance yet. Have you?"

"Not yet. Morgan has met her already. He says she can be a real bi-" Arjay caught himself, and noticed Linda's look of disdain. "A real difficult person to get along with," he finished.

"In what way?" Linda asked.

"I think his exact words were 'You don't want to mess with this doctor.'"

"Morgan is intimidated by the doctor? I find that hard to believe!"

"He didn't say he was intimidated."

"Maybe he didn't say it directly but it sounds like he has issues with her."

"Morgan has issues with her? Sounds more like she has issues dealing with authority figures."

"How can you say that? You haven't even met her."

"Well, I've been busy."

"Oh what a crock!" Linda rolled over and threw a pillow at him.

"Hey!" Arjay feebly protested.

"I'm thirsty."

"Oh sure, change the subj…" Arjay had started to speak out of habit, but given where the conversation was going, it probably was wise to allow her to change the subject.

"Do you think that during the refit they might have programmed some new choices into the food replicators?" Linda got up from the bed and walked over to the replicator panel. Arjay watched her body appreciatively. "Computer," she addressed the panel, and the panel chirped in response. "I'm thirsty."

"Please specify your request."

"I feel like having something I haven't had before."

"That information is not in my memory banks."

Arjay smirked.

"I feel like tea. What kind of tea do you have?"

"White tea, green tea, black tea."

"Not much choice in colors, is there?"

"Please restate your request."

"What's the difference between white tea and black tea?"

"Black tea is made from leaves more heavily oxidized than white tea."

"Oh great, that's what I need right now, something that is oxidized," Linda replied with a light tone of sarcasm.

"Please restate your request."

"Black tea. Please." She said this with an exaggerated politeness.

"Please specify blend."

"Blend? First I have to choose a color, now I have to choose a blend?"

"Please restate your request."

"What kind of blends do you have?"

"Assam, Ceylon, Darjeeling, Earl Grey –"

"Whoa, computer, stop. That's too many choices. Just give me the last one you mentioned. Earl Grey."

"Please specify serving temperature."

"Oh for crying out loud, do I have to choose the temperature as well? Okay, room temperature. Twenty two degrees Celsius. Just make it now and don’t ask me anymore questions."

The machine hummed and whirred and shortly a cup filled with black liquid materialized. Linda picked up the cup and lifted it to her nose. She sniffed it and made a face. "Smells lemony," she remarked. She tilted the cup to her mouth and took in a gulp – and promptly spit it out. "Yecch!"

Arjay burst out into laughter.

"You find this funny, sir?" she retorted.

Arjay was laughing so hard he could not respond right away. Finally he regained some composure. "I just had the image of you standing – "he was laughing as he spoke, " – standing in front of your science station on the bridge – naked, arguing with the computer and spitting up all over it!"

Linda wiped up the splatter she made when she spit out the tea and came over to the bed. She put her hand on Arjay's chest and then started laughing knowingly.

"What?" Arjay asked.

"I just had the image of you, standing naked – "

"On the bridge?" he interrupted.

"No – in sickbay getting your medical examination by our new doctor."

This time Arjay made a face. "Oh my God, now I'm definitely going to stay away from sickbay."

Linda moved her face in close to Arjay's. Their levity made her feel relaxed and close to him. "Permission to tell you I love you, sir."

"Permission granted, lieutenant." He put his arms around her and squeezed her tightly. "Permission to come aboard."

"Permission granted, sir."

They made love again.