There was a lot of pomp and circumstance around me going pretty much anywhere, after the send off ceremony. I decided to stay between the cafeteria, and Persephone, as much as possible.

Repair work was started in earnest, and a few or the smaller holes, and breeches, were already repaired. After the news broadcast, the platform commander asked if I would allow them to save the large breech to the power core until last, so visitors might take pictures of it.

Of course I agreed. Any tourist coming here is money coming in, and therefore trade. What this station needed.

I had spent some time alone, and messed with the custom Jewelry button. It allowed me to know how many pieces are close in appearance to what I create, What brands they are from, and approximate market value of the piece I am creating.

I also found the jewelry window allowed me to 'find' the Signet of Gaias Korvall. I held it in my hands, and put it in the wooden storage box, next to a recreation. It was pretty badly damaged, half the engraving was missing, and the ring portion appeared to have been crushed.

When I finally went back to engineering, I was a bit taken aback. It looked like everything in the room had originally been painted white, there was soot everywhere, and then huge swaths of unpainted metal. The battery storage room inside the engineering room was located at the top of the room, away from the damage.

The test lights for every battery came up 'cell needs replaced'. I then noticed the core used Argon as one of the cooling mediums. So I studied the structure closely, and realized it was using Beryllium as a catalyst to fuel itself. The reaction would last decades without a need for refueling. Which begs the question of where these materials were stored, so the Nanites could replenish this.

It took almost a full day for me to find it. There are so many rooms hidden in the walls of this ship, it would need a company of specialists to man everything.

The ship did her job. Her technical maiden voyage brought me here. I allowed one historian on the ship, and told them about the order I had used to initiate the ship. He confirmed the task would usually have been done by a crew of thirty, plus the first owner, thus taking a few minutes, rather than the few hours it had taken me.

At some point, I had consulted with Commander Fits about transferring Danielle to me, and he had official orders in his hands for her an hour ago.

I had ordered her to take today as a rest day. Once in my hand, I asked the Executive Officer to escort me to her quarters, but say nothing on arrival. She was laying in a bunk, almost against the floor.

"Dame Edington." I start, she jumps up from the bunk, and stands in front of me. "I've just been told you have a new assignment." Her eyes get as big as the Executive Officers, as he knew what was going on, but was surprised at how I was doing it.

"I was told you have to report to your new commander by six in the morning; I'm sorry your rest day got interrupted like this." I said as I saw panic set in. Some assignments might mean for her to be off the platform in minutes to be able to report on time.

"Executive Officer Daviid, please read her orders, so everyone here is aware."

"Yes, Princess." He says, and takes them from me. "Dame Danielle Edington, you are to be reassigned. Reporting to your receiving commander no later than zero six hundred Galactic Mean Time. Your new assignment duties will change with this assignment. Your reporting location is the Bridge of the Mercury Class vessel bearing the name Persephone. Your direct report will be to Dame, Captain, Sierra Korvall." He handed me back the orders, and I handed them to her, with the room in applause.

"Pack well, I'll have your bunk ready in the morning." I say as I leave. "Oh! Your reporting time of six is hard. Persephone has a few hour test run starting at that time. So you will be a half a day late if you miss it."

"Aye, aye, Dame." She nearly shouts, but she is already packing.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

I need a cook too. The ones who have served me so far don't seem to have a passion.

I make a turn to head back onto Persephone, and walk right into a young man who looked a bit stressed out. But his face now bore abject horror. Realizing he had run into me. Literally.

"Sorry about that, I wasn't paying attention." I reach out to help him up. "What's your name?" He answers once squarely on his feet

"Kiel Russel, Princess." His eyes shift around in nervousness. "Sorry about the broadcast. I'm the one who recorded it."

It didn't take long at all to narrow down which recording he was talking about.

"Your camera's stealth worked quite well, two Dames failed to notice how you did it. Would you mind explaining it to me in the morning?" His eyes go wide. "I have a scheduled undock at six. Be on Persephone by 0545."

"Yes ma'am, um.. Dame, ah Princess!"

I walked toward the kitchens, a pair of temporary orders in my hand; one for a cook, and one scullery, but the name and service numbers were blank.

"Something I can help you with?" A cook asks as I walk behind the line.

I find a hair net, wear it over the folded ponytail, then wash my hands.

"I am observing." I say to him as I put the Signet back on my pinky. He nods, and moves away, getting back to work.

A redheaded boy to the back is cutting vegetables incredibly fast, and accurate. The older cook slightly in front of him takes twice as much time for the same amount. I look at the recipe cards and see mashed potatoes on the menu, along with a brown gravy.

"Who do you think your best cook is?" I ask the head cook. He points to the guy who approached me. "And your worst?" Without hesitating, he points to a woman who looks to be in her early twenties. "What about him?" I point to the red head.

The cook waves his hand, and makes a gesture. I realize it's a form of sign language.

"Worthless, always messing up." He signed. So I signed back my idea and showed him the temporary orders. He started moving, setting up a makeshift competition for making the brown gravy, and mashed potatoes with four workstations. Once he was done, I knocked a spoon on the counter.

"You two," I pointed to the redhead, and the one in front of him, "You, and you;" pointing at the best and worst cooks according to the head. "Stand up here."

"I've yet to fully enjoy a meal here." I start, a few faces look angry, but I continue. "My experience has been forgettable meal, after forgettable meal. All the nutrition is there, all of the techniques for cooking a good meal are there. Technically every meal has been flawless." This brings smiles everywhere

"So, if it's flawless, why is it forgettable?" I ask the room, then turn to the four. "I think i have an idea why; so, In front of you are the ingredients you are allowed to use. Each of you are to make four servings of the Mashed potatoes, and brown gravy meant for dinner tonight. You are not allowed to look at any recipe cards. You have one hour. Start now."

The two prep cooks, and the woman rush to the sink, wash their hands, then fill their small pots with clean water.

The cooks in the rest of the kitchen are getting their work done, while also watching. The big male cook begins by peeling the potatoes, and I immediately rule him out of being a good cook.

At the half an hour mark, only the redhead is still cooking, having figured I gave them an hour for any corrections.

"Time" I say, "plate what you think to be one serving of potato using these." I set four butter knives down.

They each plate a different amount, I have another cook come over with the spoon used to portion the potatoes for dinner, and only the woman has the right amount, with everyone else realizing I had given them enough to make eight servings. I then used four clean serving spoons for gravy, so as to not mix flavors, and drizzled the gravy over half the serving. Then tasted each one separate, then together; saving 'best cook' for last.

When I tasted his together, my character window appeared, with a red line under one of the options. I closed it out.

"Did you intend to serve this to the crew of this station, or just me?"

"Just you, Princess;" he seemed proud of himself.

"You are prohibited from cooking anything for me, ever again." I said.

The kitchen fell dead silent.

"Three reasons: first, you didn't wash the potatoes. Any number of bacteria, or contaminant can be on the skin."

"I peeled them."

"Second, you didn't wash your hands from your previous task, bringing those contaminants with you, which mixed with whatever was on the outside of the potato, and permeated the flesh as you peeled them, you were working with chicken, which makes this oversight more egregious." The others start going back to work.

"Third, if this is what you think is Royal Quality, the only thing you should cook is dog food." I pause. "You know I am able to tell when a huge mistake is made. Did you notice I didn't have anyone taste them before me? Head Chef, taste this here in the center." He comes over, tries it, then quickly makes the gestures for 'fired' and 'leave'

"Discard all of that." Speak to everyone, "what just got him fired is an admission this was made only for me, and this specific mixture of ingredients created a mild poison. One I am immune to, but am well aware when exposed to it."

I hand the temporary orders to the redhead boy, and the woman, and ask if they are willing to cook for me on Persephone, and only for the day.

With their affirmation, we could be underway for a few hours.