Say what?

Posted on Mon Apr 6th, 2020 @ 11:30pm by Commander Curtis Thibideaux & Commander Natan O'Donnaghue & Lieutenant Tavana Kolan, Daughter of Kretorg & Ensign Lisa Creed

2,076 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Diplomacy by any means necessary.
Location: Shuttle Bay 2, Ambassador's shuttle
Timeline: MD002 09:00 hrs

Valiant’s shuttle bays weren’t that big and the type 9 shuttle that the ambassador had gotten his mitts on for his own personal mini yacht filled the escort’s number two shuttle bay.

An Orion woman, red hair tied back in a pony tail dressed in a diplomatic jumpsuit with knee boots waited at the companionway as members of Valiant’s crew arrived. The Ambassador had requested their presence the third day out of Star Base 80. The first day he’d been too busy getting settled for much of anything. The second day, Ambassador Telford had been tied up on the comm systems.

So today, Valiant’s Commanding Officer, Science officer, Security/Tactical chief and Diplomatic officer found themselves approaching their first face to face meeting with the Ambassador.

The Orion, who had been introduced and placed on the manifest as Sidri n’Vashaw smiled as the Valiant’s crew assembled. “Thank you all for coming so promptly,” she beamed. “The Ambassador can see you now.”

Leading up into the shuttle, they saw that it had been significantly altered on the inside. The entire rear of the shuttle seemed to have been closed off into personal quarters for the Ambassador, while the front third was an office space. The ambassador’s chair was situated immediately behind the flight deck, which had had those seats folded and pushed forward so as to be out of the way. To either side of the ambassador’s chair were what could only be described as travel desks. Two small, collapsible very large suitcase sized desks had been mounted to the bulkheads and opened to reveal various drawers and provide desk tops.

The interior itself was luxuriously appointed in blue and white, making the space seem larger. Inixorian deep pile carpet dyed a rich blue ran bulkhead to bulkhead and Diathra mahogany accents trimmed out the cabin.

Flip out bench seating ran along the bulkheads and the ambassador smiled and stood as he caught site of the arrivals.

“Ahh, Commander O’Donnaghue, so nice of you and your officers to make the time for our meeting,” the tall, slim man stepped forward offering his hand.”

Natan was a bit overwhelmed by the changes to the shuttle bay. Still a bit off he accepted the hand and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ambassador."

Tavana shot a glance in the Captain's direction and then stepped forward, starting her role as liaison. "Ambassador," she said respectfully, "I am Lieutenant Tavana Kolan, Chief Diplomatic Officer. I will act liaison for the duration of this mission," she explained politely. "This is Lieutenant Commander Daynah Ral, our second officer and Chief of Science and that is Lieutenant JG Lisa Creed, our Chief of Security," she introduced the other two women.

"Thank you for the introductions, Lieutenant," Telford replied to Tavana. "Your reputations proceed you, to be sure. I'm sure we'll work well together to make this mission a success."

"Ambassador," replied Lisa looking back at the Ambassador, She continued, "I will be for the most part your Body guard whilst on this ship," she looked at his own team, she finished," If not me then my second will be," as she was not taking any chances whilst the Ambassador was on the Valiant.

Telford turned his gaze to the security officer, "I do appreciate the sentiment, Lieutenant. Do you think I'm in much danger aboard Valiant? I was assured she was a well vetted ship..."

When the security officer just looked at him, the Ambassador let the silence go for a moment then shrugged slightly and settled back into his chair. Next, he gestured toward the bench seats to the left with a smile. “Humble quarters hey? But much easier for work in the short term. No having to chase over various decks from place to place. But, speaking of work, please be seated,” the brown locked man said and touched a control on his chair. Glancing over the officers as they sat, he smiled to himself nodding as if agreeing with a thought as he moved along with his presentation.

The screen that took up one bulkhead came to life and began running through data on a planetary system. “So, my…our… mission is to travel to Valdivae and reassure the people there that they are valued members of the Federation and we wish to keep them within the fold.”

Sidri appeared with a tray, which contained carved wooden glasses. “Thank you Sidri,” the Ambassador smiled to his aide as he took the first offered glass and looked expectantly to Valiant’s crew. “This is a nectar drink produced by our soon to be hosts. I thought getting an early jump on acclimating slightly would be a good step.”

Raising his glass, he made a series of clicking and exhaling hiss, lifting his glass to the Orion who smiled at him, but responded in nearly the same sounds, except for a couple of subtle differences. “You overemphasized the hiss, sir,” the Orion told him with a smile. “So easy to do if you let too much breath out while you do it. But very good sir!”

The Ambassador beamed at the praise and met Natan’s eye. “Sidri is a subject matter expert on Valdivae. I expect she will likely be the hero of this expedition.”

Taking another sip of the slightly slimy liquid, Telford cradled the glass in his hands and said. “Some things the Admiral might not have briefed you on that will be of interest to you Captain is that the Valdivaean’s have been having some trouble with Pirates. Raiders. Miscreants of that sort. The space lanes to and from the Valdivae systems have been peaceful ever since they entered the Federation. Now however, no less than five transports a month are going missing and found looted, the crew incapacitated…or just missing.”

“Starfleet Intelligence tells me that they’re not sure who might be behind it. Whoever they are, they hit hard and fast when they attack and they know how to cover their tracks. Sensor recordings have all been wiped when rescue ships have arrived and there are very few leads. Their system defense forces are stymied and we’ve promised increased patrol vessels for the region. Those will be in place in a month. Three at the outside, or so I’ve been assured. In the short term Valiant is here to show the flag and that the Federation means business.”

Natan looked to the liquid in the glass that was handed to him. He took a sip and then nodded. He let the liquid go through his mouth. "Well... whatever they need, I guess."

Telford smiled, took another sip of his drink and said, "Very well said, Captain! And to go along with that, we have been invited to take part in a presentation to the people of Valdivae shortly after our arrival. This will include Valiant landing at one of their Defense Force bases and being part of a display where VIP's and some of the citizens can tour Valiant. I've been assured our hosts are quite excited by this...it's not every day that a StarFleet vessel can be experienced by the populace. They do have their own shipyards and ships, some which will be also on display, but Valiant will be one of the star exhibits. The Admiralty seemed quite enthused once we made our case to them."

Tavana glanced at the Captain, to her it felt like this was a news to the Captain. She held her tongue, because if she was in error, she would stand with her feet in her mouth and for a diplomat, that's not exactly what you need in your mouth...

"Uh..." Natan almost choked on his drink when he heard the Ambassador say Valiant would be on display like a museum piece. He put the glass aside. "It would have been nice if you consulted with me first before you put myself and my crew on display like that. We're an exploration vessel in service of Starfleet, you can't just willy nilly put our ships on display without asking first. My crew signed up to do their jobs not parade around all member planets of the Federation." He sighed. "But since you already promised this, and I don't want a diplomatic incident."

This was definitely something Talim would do were she here. And there was never any talk with these people. Natan turned to Lisa and spoke out loud so everyone could hear it. "Alright, Lieutenant, Please make a timed scheduled for the tours, I don't want the entire day having people on the ship. We will land on the planet when the tours are scheduled. No entering of personal quarters and bunks. No entering of key systems and weapons lockers. And all groups must be accompanied by a tour guide at all time. Tour guides will be an assign security officer. And no bigger groups than 10 people. This ship is already crowded enough without the Valdivaens prancing around it."

"Captain," Tavana said as she stepped a bit forward, addressing him, but her eyes fixed on the Ambassador. "I am sure that is what the Ambassador meant," she said with a very small smile. "Maybe the message about the plan was lost in everything else," she added. She knew she needed to make the Ambassador look good, as she needed to gain his trust, but there wouldn't be gaining her trust much.

Lisa responded "and I for one do not like being put on display," as she looked back at the Ambassador, she continued, "My job whilst you are Sir is to keep you safe," as she knew that this had now made her job more difficult now that she would have to give tours of the ship. as she knew that the captain was not happy about this, she looked back at the diplomatic officer and gave her a glare as she now had to deal with the logistics of the matter.

Telford's brow furrowed and the Ambassador looked at Lisa, then pointedly turned to Natan and said. "Well, I trust your officers understand that the Federation and StarFleet have made this determination after due consideration and this is all part of the outreach project for the Valdivadaeann's?" Turning back then to Lisa, the Ambassador took on a lecturing tone and said, "For your information, Lieutenant, the Valdivadaeann's are nearing a voting cycle and their leadership is struggling with the matter of staying in the Federation. Within their charter is a vote every four years on staying with the Federation: It's left up to the populace and the matter is not assured."

The ambassador leaned back in his chair and his voice lowered somewhat, "Thus, we are pulling out the stops to show them that while they are a voice amongst many, that voice is valued."

Tavana met Lisa's eyes, with a near imperceptible shrug. The decision was made already, they now needed to manage the situation. "Ambassador, this has caught us off guard, and it increases the security risk to the ship itself and of course to you. But, " this time she looked at Lisa, " it's nothing we can't handle. Our security is very competent and we will certain accommodate tours, provided the tours are limited to 10 people and 4 times a day, forty minutes at a time, with a guide assigned by us as well as accompanied by a security officer. If there is any violation of the measures and protocols that will be drafted by security and command, it will result in the re-evaluation of the terms," Tavana said. It was a proposal and she had not discussed with the Captain, but they had to start some where.

The ambassador nodded and moved on to the next piece of business, seeming content to let Valiant's crew catch up as they could. "Very good," he stated. "So, after the tours there will be meetings with various representatives and you and your crew may be tasked with helping show the flag, as it were."

The ambassador, with Sidri's help began laying out the itinerary for the Ambassador and Valiant's crew for the first week on Valdivae. If all went according to plan, it would be busy.

 

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