Captain Tolek rubbed his chin, "That would mean delaying our mission for several weeks. Almost a month." the Cardassian finally said. He was young for his rank.
The Cardassians were being unhelpful. This is my surprised face.
Flicking my ears to the side, I simply leaned back in my chair and glanced around the room. Captain Tolek, his unnamed second in command, a older rather grumpy looking guy.
Captain Riker and Commander LaForge, his second in command along with Enterprise's avatar. It was good seeing them both again, especially LaForge, as he had been one of my first friends. They both looked older. Then again, it had been over ten years since I last saw either of them. The last two in the room were me and Drake.
Captain Riker frowned and motioned at Tolek, "Surely there's something that..."
"I'm sorry, but we're carrying vital medical supplies and need to continue as soon as possible. We're risking lives just stopping to see if there was anything we can do for you. If there was something we could have done in a day, possibly two, we would have been delighted to assist you. But we can't delay any longer."
"Are these medical supplies bulky? I might be able to move deliver them for you?" I offered.
Captain Tolek shook his head as he looked over at my avatar, "More than you can carry unless half your inner area is cargo space. And even if you could, it would still take both of us to move a ship this massive."
He was right about that. The Island class might be one of the best kind of ships in the universe, but they were just too big to be easily towed, at least in warp. Luckily they didn't need it very often.
I nodded, "True."
Captain Riker frowned but nodded, "You should continue on your way then. You can't help here and... who were you shipping those medical supplies to?"
Tolek looked over at Enterprise, "The Tazila colony." he answered, "They purchased them from the Cardassian Union as nobody else produces, much less keeps a supply of, Blue Fever vaccines."
No wonder. Blue Fever in nintey-nine out of a hundred cases only affected Cardassians. Or rather, it only spread from Cardassians. It could still infect other species but not spread from them. It also didn't have a great shelf life even if frozen and didn't take well to stasis fields. If a Cardassian visited and happened to be carrying a extra virulent strain...
Yeah, that could be bad.
Riker nodded again, "Very well. Thank you for your assistance, but you might as well continue on your way."
"I'll remain here. Get that medicine where it needs to go." I agreed with a shrug, "We're quite a ways from the network so it will take a while, but my transmitters are strong enough that it should reach the closest starbase sometime during the next six or so hours. Help should arrive soon."
Tolek nodded, "Excellent." he said as he stood up, "Then I'm afraid we must be on our way. Enterprise. Roll for Initiative. Captain. "
Riker stood up as well, his crew copying him, "The crewman will show you to the transporters."
"Thank you."
I didn't bother getting up, instead I crossed my legs with a small frown, running passive scans of the Cadrassian vessel. Without active scans I couldn't verify his story about the medical supplies, but it wasn't unlikely he was telling the truth. What I found odd though was that whenever he was asked a question or commented, he looked at Enterprise or me as he answered.
Maybe he simply didn't like Captain Riker. Not impossible, the Enterprise got into some real scraps during the Dominion war. For all I know, the Enterprise under Captain Picard and Commander Riker killed somebody he knew. Then again, he might simply have liked the view better.
"Well, looks like we'll will be stuck here for a while." Riker said as he turned to me and Drake, "While your here, I would still like to extend an offer of shore leave for your crew, Roll for Initiative."
"Please, Captain. Ivy. Simpler to say. And I think we would be more than happy to accept, most haven't been off the ship for almost six months." I answered with a smile as I got up, "I wouldn't mind meeting some new people either if I'm to be honest.
That got me a smile, "Ivy then. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a engineering briefing I need to attend."
"So do I." LaForge agreed, "It's good to meet you."
I smiled and flicked my ears, "Good to see both of you again." before they left and I turned to Drake, he had been quiet through the entire meeting, "Drake?"
"Hmm?" He asked with a raised a eyebrow.
Grinning I poked him in the shoulder, "Did good."
Drake couldn't help but grin slightly, "I wasn't sure I could be polite so I just kept quiet. I know not all Cardassians are evil scum. Fuck, Ivy, I know most are likely good people. But it's just difficult to see them, knowing what went on. Not only during the occupation but during the war... I grew up among people that.....you could see things in their eyes. Anyway, I was more than happy to let you do all the talking."
"Yeah." I agreed and stuck my tongue out at him, "Like I said, did good."
Smiling, he shook his head and reached up to flick my ear, "Break the news to the crew yet?"
"Working on it now."
"Cool. Hey, Enterprise, is your Lounge in the normal place?" He asked, looking over at the other ships avatar.
She nodded, "Yep. Most of my layout is pretty standard for the class. If you need help to finding your way around, just ask. Just remember you're not Starfleet anymore, civilian areas only without escort."
"Yeah, I remember."
As he left, I sighed softly and shook my head, "Great, if the official stuff is over for now, I can get out of this damn uniform again." I said as I flicked my tail tip, "You know, I think Drake has the right idea about just hanging out for a while."
Enterprise slowly tilted her head at me, "Wait, the Jovian defense fleet doesn't wear uniforms on duty?"
I shrugged, "Eh, it differs from ship to ship like most things, I know some of them are rather strict about it. I'm more of a science vessel than anything else anyway and I don't really care what my people wear as long as it won't disrupt their work. We just use them for official stuff like this and when meeting stuffy starfleet types." I teased her with a wink.
That earned me a raised eyebrow and a slight smile, "Stuffy starfleet types, huh?"
I just grinned at her.
AN// Big thanks to Mantech1 for betaing this section.