The Garden - Melissa Scott [9]
"It isn't Neelix's fault, Kes, and no one will blame him. If anybody's to blame, it's us-the away team, I mean. We should have tested for that."
"Oh, don't you start," Paris said, and touched controls to summon the turbolift. "First, you couldn't've known either, and second, we don't even know if that's the problem yet."
Neelix's makeshift kitchen was actually a surprisingly efficient and pleasant space, despite the constant fuss and bustle from Neelix himself. The second dinner shift had just ended, and Neelix was watching jealously as a trio of human crew members fitted the first of the cooking pots into the cleaning belt. A second team was busy setting out the trays of cold food that would be available for anyone whose duties had kept them from eating during a regular serving period, and, seeing that, Kim heard his stomach growl.
"Dammit," Paris said, "he's put everything away."
"Just in cold storage," Kes answered. "Don't worry, Tom."
Neelix turned sharply at the sound of her voice, and came toward them, smiling, his eyes darting from Kes to Paris and then back again. "I was looking for you, Kes. I could have used your help with dinner-it would have been very helpful, in fact."
"I'm sorry." Kes didn't sound particularly repentant. "I was helping Harry in stores."
Neelix turned a suspicious glare on Kim, who said hastily, "We've spent most of the day testing the food supplies. We think that the ascorbic acid in the food from that last planet may be affected by the cooking process, so we need to test the food you served tonight."
"Well, there's not much left," Neelix answered. "The curry was very popular tonight-it was the green leeabi nuts in the piquant yduvari salsa, very tasty, if I do say so myself-and I don't know if there's enough-"
"Even something left on a plate would do," Kim said, breaking firmly through the chatter, and Neelix gave him a look of horror.
"Oh, no, I can do better than that. This way, please."
Kim followed him behind the improvised serving station, and Paris and Kes leaned on the nearest counter, peering past the trays. Neelix ignored them all, rummaging in a stasis box until he finally produced a covered container. He held it out to Kim with a flourish. "I made this specially for the captain. I know she liked the leeabi nuts when I made them this way the last time, so I thought-"
Kim nodded, letting the wave of talk roll over him, and pried off the tight-fitting lid. Inside the dish was a darker green version of the curry he had had at lunch, tastefully cupped inside a thick dark-red leaf.
"-so if there's anything wrong with it, anything at all," Neelix went on, "I want to know about it. I want you to test it-in fact, I insist you test this. Nothing but wholesome food goes to the captain from my kitchen, nothing else."
"Right," Kim said, and aimed the tricorder at the curry. He held his breath and pressed the button that would initiate the test. For a long moment, nothing happened, and then the bar light appeared. It glowed pale red, and beneath it letters and numbers spelled out the details that confirmed its news there was little or no ascorbic acid in the curry. Kim gave a whoop of joy, and then sobered as abruptly. They might have found the cause of the deficiency, but they were no closer to its solution.
"Good news?" Paris asked, and Kim gave him a wry smile.
"Depends on your definition of good. It looks like you were right, Kes, the cooking process doe s somehow destroy the vitamin C."
"What?" Neelix shook his head, nearly sending his tall hat flying. "Gentlemen, I assure you, everything is properly cooked here-"
"It's not your cooking," Kim said, and turned his tricorder on another dish. "It's something about the food itself that's the problem."
"But-" Neelix broke off as Kim touched his communicator.
"Kim to bridge."
"Chakotay here. Go ahead, Mr. Kim."
"I have a preliminary report for the captain," Kim said. "I'll be entering more detailed information into the computer, but I think she should hear this now."
"I'm here,