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Character: Human Male Starfleet Engineer, Vice Admiral (50)
Timeframe: Before "Sphere of Influence" - Early July, 2409

-o0O0o-

"An Exercise In Elaboration"
'Moonshine on Mol'Rihann'
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

New Romulus was a good place, the Starfleet Admiral had decided long ago. Despite the Hirogen and Tholians and Tal Shiar that all made their presence known at times, the planet was officially designated as 'peaceful', which meant that Starfleet General Order Fifteen didn't apply. He could beam down to Mol'Rihann and go off on his own without an armed escort, though he sometimes brought one of the ship's science or engineering officers down with him to assist in helping the 'New Romulans' and Remans study their new world and build their settlements. He liked being able to go off on his own when he could, it was a reminder of when he was a Lieutenant with his first command and he didn't have to worry about the same expectations and regulations that began to apply when he reached the rank of Captain and later earned his own flag. There were some falls near the edges of the Vastam Peaks outside the main settlement and future capitol city that he was particularly fond of; he'd even learned of a spot where one could approach the falls from the south and make it out to a nice ledge about half-way up the cliffs where the spray from the falls was nice and cool and the view of the river below was breathtaking. The first time he had made it there, he'd actually joked that if he ever found time to date, he'd have to bring them to that spot at some point.

That day, unfortunately, there hadn't been time to visit the waterfalls. Instead, he had been asked to assist in botanical research in the Paeleos Crater to the southeast of the city, there had been an increased number of Hirogen attacks and the native fauna were becoming restless, leaving the Romulan researchers concerned for their safety in the area. He didn't mind dealing with the Hirogen, or even watching the Vivver Cats - secretly, he enjoyed the days when he was helping out in the Epohh Fields, tagging the small creatures for tracking and study - but collecting plant samples frankly bored him senseless and he was glad to be able to turn them in and call it a day. He would have been even happier if the botanist wouldn't insist on cataloguing each plant individually with the Admiral standing there before signing off on his assistance, but finally they had reached the last group of samples that had been collected

"An edible plant in the tuber family, this will be useful as a food source," the New Romulan botanist remarked as he picked the first example of the last group of samples up and began to examine it.

The Admiral picked up one of the other tubers and looked at it, "A 'food source'... What a waste... As good a food as potatos are, I can think of so much better things to use them for..."

"Excuse me, Admiral?" the botanist asked as he took the tuber from the human and placed both of them back into the container with the rest of samples of that particular plant.

The Admiral rolled his eyes, "Haven't you ever heard of moonshine?"

The Romulan frowned, certain that his universal translator was acting up as what he was hearing seemed to have little to do with the conversation, "What does solar light reflecting off a planetary satellite have to do with tubers?"

"That's moonlight, not moonshine," The human grinned as he picked up the entire crate of tubers, he had a feeling that he was really going to enjoy this, "Follow me, it will take a little time to get everything set up, but I think a practical demonstration will explain what I mean."

He had never liked Synthale anyway.

-o0o-

"There they go again," Proconsol D'Tan remarked as he saw one of his people's botanists and a Starfleet Admiral go through the Staging Area with a hover-platform filled with the newly-discovered 'Vastam Tubers', as they had been named, "I wonder why they're acquiring all the Vastam Tubers we find..."

Foreman Kalor, the supervisor for Staging Area operations and one of those speaking with D'Tan, shook his head, "I've been working on that, but so far I haven't found it out. Whenever they're not working, they're locking themselves in a storage shed with the Tubers. Sometimes one of the Klingons is in there with them, other times he's on guard outside."

-o0o-

In that same storage shed, events had finally come to the decisive point - three sets of eyes watched impatiently as the liquid made its way through the tube before dripping down into the container set below. Carefully, the human reached out and pressed his finger against the open end of the tube for a moment, letting some of the liquid collect on his fingertip. Slowly, he moved his finger away from the tube and brought it to his mouth, exchanging a look with his companions before sticking it inside to taste the liquid.

"Well?" the Klingon demanded as the human pulled his finger out of his mouth and lowered it.

The human Admiral could only think of one word with which to describe the sensation, "Wow."

Looking at the human unsure as to what to make of that statement, the Romulan botanist decided to taste for himself, cupping his hand under the tube until a small puddle of liquid had formed in his palm before bringing it up to his lips and sipping it up. After swallowing, the Romulan blinked a few times before nodding at the Admiral, unable to form words.

Not to be outdone, the Klingon General picked up the catchment and upended it into his mouth, setting it down and exhaling forcefully before making a declaration, "A warrior's drink."

-o0o-

Loud noise coming from the Staging Area the next day was attracting the attention of those in the city and drawing them out to investigate, including D'Tan and Foreman Kalor.

"Oh, they call it that good old 'Mountain Dew', and them that refuse it are few! I'll hush up my mug if you'll fill up my jug with that good old 'Mountain Dew'."

Kalor shook his head at the drunk and singing mixed crowd of Starfleet, KDF and Republic officers, "That explains what happened to all the Vastam Tubers."

"What is all this?" D'Tan asked in confusion.

The Starfleet Admiral that had been leading the song had appearantly heard the question and raised his hand for silence to answer, "A little present from the humans - us Americans to be precise - a bit of celebration for the Fourth of July on the old Earth calendar."

"What is the importance of this date?"

The Admiral smiled, "Considering the situation between the Republic and the Star Empire, I think you'll enjoy it - it's Independence Day, the day that the American republic declared ourselves seperate from and equal to the British empire over six-and-a-quarter centuries ago."

"Bloody ungrateful if you ask me!" A voice from the crowd shouted.

"Oh, be quiet, you Limey, or you're not going to get anything more to drink," The Admiral shouted back over his shoulder, causing a few laughs and chuckles throughout the listeners, "So, how about it, Proconsul? It may not be Romulan Ale, but a toast to defeating tyranny and recognizing the undeniable right of the people to freedom?"

D'Tan managed a small smile, "I believe I will. To freedom, then."

"To freedom," some of the crowd cheered in agreement.

"To honor," a number of Klingons, both in KDF armor and Starfleet uniforms, along with others, answered in reply.

Then a Jem'hadar in the crowd raised his day's vial of White into the air, "Victory."

There was a moment's pause as thoughts of the Tal Shiar, the Undine, Borg and other threats that the Alpha and Beta Quadrants faced that didn't care for the conflict between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, that sought the destruction or conquest of both that they would have to face together, then everyone echoed, "To victory."

-o0O0o-

Author's Notes: In case anyone's curious, despite being unnamed in the actual Elaboration, I privately think of the Admiral, the botanist and the Klingon as 'Admiral Hilts', botanist 'Jendli' - the J is pronounced like an H - and 'Brigadier G'ophf'.