Shard
One and Many
- Location
- Malaysia
Don't we like have dozens of tech trees to progress down?
To Boldly Go... (a Starfleet quest)
- Thread starter OneirosTheWriter
- Start date
- Sci-Fi
-
- Tags
- star trek exploration fully automated luxury gay space communism top level canon (canon) #hashtagcontent all-encompassing space amoeba cardassian boy bands cardassian magical girls darkest bureaucracy debate makes the qm cackle like palpatine hoh is an empire quest it has to be foreign infiltrators more ships ship happens singers delenda est starfleet this is not an empire quest ur waifu is collective?
- Location
- Central Standard Time
We have most of it covered right now, but any further teams will cost PP that could be spent on other projects.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
While this is true, on some level I'm getting tired of passing this guy up for promotions because his bonus (which is otherwise awesome) isn't helping us very much. I'm sure we'll find a way to spend the extra RP some day.
The Miracle of (Starship) Birth (Pt 3 - 2306.Q2.M3-)
- Location
- Australia
The Miracle of Starship Birth
2306.Q3.M1
"Alright, Ensign Tabriec," says Commander ch'Davesh, the Assistant Superintendent of the Berth. "You've been with us for half a year, seen things go from an empty docking bay to a bundle of duranium-tritanium sticks, and now to a big wireframe saucer section."
"It's been very exciting so far, sir," says Calai Tabriec as she stands at attention in ch'Davesh's office.
"Well, normally Rob handles this bit in person," the Commander replies as he quickly leafs through the pages on his data padd. "But unfortunately they have had to rush him out to Andor system for a couple weeks to help provide last minute pointers to the rookie Superintendent at Lor'Vela. They'll be opening later this year, you see."
"Oh, I wondered why I hadn't seen him this week," mused Tabriec.
Command ch'Davesh shoots her a look. "You know, you shouldn't be afraid to ask questions of your fellow coworkers, not just Rob."
"Uh, yes, sir, sorry, sir," says Tabriec in a rush. She hesitates, and then adds, "It's just been a bit difficult. Everyone already seems to know each other so well, everyone has special names for each other and as the only Amarkian on the staff, I feel kind of ... isolated."
"They're a friendly crew, just make the effort to open up," replies ch'Davesh. "Now, as for your probation period. You've proved a quick learner on procedure. You work hard. You seem to have a pretty intuitive grasp of many of the shipbuilding process. All in all, we're pretty pleased." He drops the data padd onto the desk and folds his hands. "Congratulations, Ensign Tabriec. We have decided not to dismiss you at this present time. You have passed your six-month probation."
"S-Sir??" blurts the Ensign. Abruptly it twigs. "Uh, yes, sir! Thank you, sir!"
"That will be all, Ensign," says ch'Davesh. As Calai begins to pass through the door to his office again, he calls out one last time. "Keep up the good work, Tabs."
"Yes, sir!" says Tabriec. And three steps away from the Commander's door, she stops and pauses. "Wait. Tabs?"
-
2306.Q3.M2
The "Happy Not-Fired-Day, Tabs!" banner hangs across the entire back wall of the Operations Room, and Tabriec can feel the heat rising up in her cheeks. All of the officers of her shift swing by at one point or another to offer their congratulations. Even the petty officers piloting the Work Bees out in the yard mention her as they check in to the ops rooms. On her usual work console she even finds a sweet baked item like a squat cylinder with a rounded top that her coworkers tell her is called a "cupcake".
Despite the frivolities, most attention is paid to the work at hand. The primary framework for the saucer section is complete and, to Tabriec's surprise, rather than building out from there, they detach the saucer section from the armature assembly and lock into place near the front of the docking bay. Instead the secondary hull is to be constructed directly against the armature, with a two ring assemblies marking out the upper lip of the hull, and then a Bow Encompassing Ring that will become home to the main navigational deflector array.
"You'll get pretty familiar with this operation until we fit the warp core through the neck and then seal it up with the saucer," explains Lieutenant Cassie as she carefully works the armature controls, shifting at a rate of mere meters per hour as the ship is gradually released into the control of the Work Bees. She's been a lot nicer today, Tabriec notes.
"I was actually curious about that," says Tabriec. "Why don't they just match up the two structures and install the warp core through the ejection port?"
Cassie grimaces. "Ejection Port installations are a lot fiddlier because of having to pass through the outer armour and ejection gear, ya know? But the big reason is that it is a lot easier to simply install the matter injection systems on top after the warp core is in place, before the saucer goes on."
"Oh, okay. Wow, so the ship stays in two parts until year three?" asks Tabriec.
"That's right, Tabs."
-
2306.Q4.M1
A Vulcan freighter has arrived bearing the carefully sealed and shielded main navigational deflector for the USS Bob. Captain Henderson takes a Work Bee out to make an inspection as the array is slowly towed into tractor beam range of the berth, and Calai gets to come along for the ride. The array is over thirty meters in height, or nearly twenty men standing on each other's shoulders, dwarfing the little Work Bee. It's also twice as long as it is tall. Overall, the full assembly, with its vast array of field generators, modulators and other devices behind the massive dish, resembles the barrel of a lock. They deliver it as a full product from the Ranford Deflector Assembly Yard.
"As you can see, all the mounts are in order, it should just plug in," says Lieutenant th'Konass, the rep from Ranford.
"Ah, the mounts," muses Rob before he turns towards his ensign. "Tabs, I tell ya, you shoulda been here in the late 90s. The 2295 block of the Excelsiors finally resolved some of the issues that the transwarp experiment had left with the design. All good, except they redeveloped the mounting system for the navigational deflectors."
"Without telling us," says the Lieutenant. "I was in the Academy while this was happening, but it was a huge scandal in Andoria, you couldn't get away from it."
"Without making sure everyone was talking to everyone," half-agrees Rob. "So this navigational deflector for the Courageous shows up, right? Absolute dog's breakfast. Total balls-up. Docking ring is incorrect, the Field Catalyst Assembly protrudes too deeply, the works."
"Although precisely to the old spec," adds th'Konass.
"Right," says Rob. "So we had to create our own adapter assembly. Except of course, it isn't quite perfect. Which is why, until its refit in two-three-double-oh, there was a pocket on deck ... my memory tells me Deck 19, near the secondary processing cores, that would glow neon pink whenever Courageous went to warp."
"Yeah," says th'Konass with a cough. "That's part of why they decided that the assembly plant needs to send along an officer with the equipment delivery, to help identify and resolve issues during installation."
"It's actually so Berth Superintendents have someone to throttle when the plants stuff it up," opines Rob.
====
2306.Q3.M1
"Alright, Ensign Tabriec," says Commander ch'Davesh, the Assistant Superintendent of the Berth. "You've been with us for half a year, seen things go from an empty docking bay to a bundle of duranium-tritanium sticks, and now to a big wireframe saucer section."
"It's been very exciting so far, sir," says Calai Tabriec as she stands at attention in ch'Davesh's office.
"Well, normally Rob handles this bit in person," the Commander replies as he quickly leafs through the pages on his data padd. "But unfortunately they have had to rush him out to Andor system for a couple weeks to help provide last minute pointers to the rookie Superintendent at Lor'Vela. They'll be opening later this year, you see."
"Oh, I wondered why I hadn't seen him this week," mused Tabriec.
Command ch'Davesh shoots her a look. "You know, you shouldn't be afraid to ask questions of your fellow coworkers, not just Rob."
"Uh, yes, sir, sorry, sir," says Tabriec in a rush. She hesitates, and then adds, "It's just been a bit difficult. Everyone already seems to know each other so well, everyone has special names for each other and as the only Amarkian on the staff, I feel kind of ... isolated."
"They're a friendly crew, just make the effort to open up," replies ch'Davesh. "Now, as for your probation period. You've proved a quick learner on procedure. You work hard. You seem to have a pretty intuitive grasp of many of the shipbuilding process. All in all, we're pretty pleased." He drops the data padd onto the desk and folds his hands. "Congratulations, Ensign Tabriec. We have decided not to dismiss you at this present time. You have passed your six-month probation."
"S-Sir??" blurts the Ensign. Abruptly it twigs. "Uh, yes, sir! Thank you, sir!"
"That will be all, Ensign," says ch'Davesh. As Calai begins to pass through the door to his office again, he calls out one last time. "Keep up the good work, Tabs."
"Yes, sir!" says Tabriec. And three steps away from the Commander's door, she stops and pauses. "Wait. Tabs?"
-
2306.Q3.M2
The "Happy Not-Fired-Day, Tabs!" banner hangs across the entire back wall of the Operations Room, and Tabriec can feel the heat rising up in her cheeks. All of the officers of her shift swing by at one point or another to offer their congratulations. Even the petty officers piloting the Work Bees out in the yard mention her as they check in to the ops rooms. On her usual work console she even finds a sweet baked item like a squat cylinder with a rounded top that her coworkers tell her is called a "cupcake".
Despite the frivolities, most attention is paid to the work at hand. The primary framework for the saucer section is complete and, to Tabriec's surprise, rather than building out from there, they detach the saucer section from the armature assembly and lock into place near the front of the docking bay. Instead the secondary hull is to be constructed directly against the armature, with a two ring assemblies marking out the upper lip of the hull, and then a Bow Encompassing Ring that will become home to the main navigational deflector array.
"You'll get pretty familiar with this operation until we fit the warp core through the neck and then seal it up with the saucer," explains Lieutenant Cassie as she carefully works the armature controls, shifting at a rate of mere meters per hour as the ship is gradually released into the control of the Work Bees. She's been a lot nicer today, Tabriec notes.
"I was actually curious about that," says Tabriec. "Why don't they just match up the two structures and install the warp core through the ejection port?"
Cassie grimaces. "Ejection Port installations are a lot fiddlier because of having to pass through the outer armour and ejection gear, ya know? But the big reason is that it is a lot easier to simply install the matter injection systems on top after the warp core is in place, before the saucer goes on."
"Oh, okay. Wow, so the ship stays in two parts until year three?" asks Tabriec.
"That's right, Tabs."
-
2306.Q4.M1
A Vulcan freighter has arrived bearing the carefully sealed and shielded main navigational deflector for the USS Bob. Captain Henderson takes a Work Bee out to make an inspection as the array is slowly towed into tractor beam range of the berth, and Calai gets to come along for the ride. The array is over thirty meters in height, or nearly twenty men standing on each other's shoulders, dwarfing the little Work Bee. It's also twice as long as it is tall. Overall, the full assembly, with its vast array of field generators, modulators and other devices behind the massive dish, resembles the barrel of a lock. They deliver it as a full product from the Ranford Deflector Assembly Yard.
"As you can see, all the mounts are in order, it should just plug in," says Lieutenant th'Konass, the rep from Ranford.
"Ah, the mounts," muses Rob before he turns towards his ensign. "Tabs, I tell ya, you shoulda been here in the late 90s. The 2295 block of the Excelsiors finally resolved some of the issues that the transwarp experiment had left with the design. All good, except they redeveloped the mounting system for the navigational deflectors."
"Without telling us," says the Lieutenant. "I was in the Academy while this was happening, but it was a huge scandal in Andoria, you couldn't get away from it."
"Without making sure everyone was talking to everyone," half-agrees Rob. "So this navigational deflector for the Courageous shows up, right? Absolute dog's breakfast. Total balls-up. Docking ring is incorrect, the Field Catalyst Assembly protrudes too deeply, the works."
"Although precisely to the old spec," adds th'Konass.
"Right," says Rob. "So we had to create our own adapter assembly. Except of course, it isn't quite perfect. Which is why, until its refit in two-three-double-oh, there was a pocket on deck ... my memory tells me Deck 19, near the secondary processing cores, that would glow neon pink whenever Courageous went to warp."
"Yeah," says th'Konass with a cough. "That's part of why they decided that the assembly plant needs to send along an officer with the equipment delivery, to help identify and resolve issues during installation."
"It's actually so Berth Superintendents have someone to throttle when the plants stuff it up," opines Rob.
====
Project Milestones
2306.Q1.M1 - Notice of Intent Received - Register with Suppliers
2306.Q1.M1.W3 - Main Navigational Deflector Assembly Begins
2306.Q1.M2.W1 - Build Order Received
2306.Q1.M2.W2 - Saucer Frame Assembly Begins
2306.Q1.M2.W4 - Warp Core Assembly Begins
2306.Q2.M3 - Saucer Framework Complete
2306.Q3.M1 - Engineering Hull Frame Assembly Begins
2306.Q4.M1.W1 - Arrival of Main Navigational Deflector Assembly
2306.Q4.M1.W3 - Installation of Key Lateral Hull Supports for Navigational Deflector Assembly Complete
2306.Q4.M1.W4 - Installation of Navigational Deflector Assembly Complete
2306.Q4.M2.W1 - Primary Deuterium Fuel Tank Park Installed
2306.Q4.M1.W3 - Main Power Transfer Conduits installed from MARA Void to Nacelle Mounts
2306.Q4.M2.W1 - Principal Warp Plasma Manifold Installed
2306.Q4.M2.W3 - Antimatter Feed Systems installed
2306.Q4.M2.W4 - Antimatter pod housing installed
2306.Q4.M3.W1 - Warp Core Delivered from Venus Assembly Plant
2306.Q4.M3.W4 - Warp Core Installation Complete, Installation of Deuterium Feed Systems
2307.Q1.M1 - Entire month dedicated to diagnostic runs of the Warp Core
2306.Q1.M1 - Notice of Intent Received - Register with Suppliers
2306.Q1.M1.W3 - Main Navigational Deflector Assembly Begins
2306.Q1.M2.W1 - Build Order Received
2306.Q1.M2.W2 - Saucer Frame Assembly Begins
2306.Q1.M2.W4 - Warp Core Assembly Begins
2306.Q2.M3 - Saucer Framework Complete
2306.Q3.M1 - Engineering Hull Frame Assembly Begins
2306.Q4.M1.W1 - Arrival of Main Navigational Deflector Assembly
2306.Q4.M1.W3 - Installation of Key Lateral Hull Supports for Navigational Deflector Assembly Complete
2306.Q4.M1.W4 - Installation of Navigational Deflector Assembly Complete
2306.Q4.M2.W1 - Primary Deuterium Fuel Tank Park Installed
2306.Q4.M1.W3 - Main Power Transfer Conduits installed from MARA Void to Nacelle Mounts
2306.Q4.M2.W1 - Principal Warp Plasma Manifold Installed
2306.Q4.M2.W3 - Antimatter Feed Systems installed
2306.Q4.M2.W4 - Antimatter pod housing installed
2306.Q4.M3.W1 - Warp Core Delivered from Venus Assembly Plant
2306.Q4.M3.W4 - Warp Core Installation Complete, Installation of Deuterium Feed Systems
2307.Q1.M1 - Entire month dedicated to diagnostic runs of the Warp Core
Really makes you wonder how they do it in only two years for a Centaur-A. After all it has all the same parts, just smaller.
Jello_Raptor
(Confirmed Jelly)
- Location
- Left of Center
Fewer rivets. That's what takes all the time after all.
- Location
- Australia
Less fabrication time for the sub-components, most of the components are smaller and easier to inspect, less margin allowed for with a cheap escort than an Explorer.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
The escorts may also lend themselves to modular sub-assemblies better.
Ease of inspection is a big deal, because it means you can do more in parallel, and there are fewer days where you're deliberately holding off on doing thing Y, because you are not SURE that you've done X correctly yet because you have to follow procedures very carefully.
Ease of inspection is a big deal, because it means you can do more in parallel, and there are fewer days where you're deliberately holding off on doing thing Y, because you are not SURE that you've done X correctly yet because you have to follow procedures very carefully.
Here's hoping Captain Rob stays in his job long enough to have a crack at building his first Ambassador. (I think we could have him starting 2322 or so.)
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
...Exactly how long do you expect research on the project to take, if we're starting in 2313?
Don't forget the sheer difficulty and delicacy of moving the enormous masses around without power or bumping something important out of alignment before bolting things down.
The latest sheets I saw in the Design thread had level 4 fudge technologies, so about 4 research turns? 2313Q3, 2314Q3, 2315Q3, 2316Q3, and start the prototype in 2316Q4. Six years for that, and regular models start building in 2322Q4.
...using... ellipses... to express... slight disbelief... and ask... if something wrong.... with that logic. (While building the prototype at SF yards is theoretically possible, Rob's berth will likely be in year 3 of an Excelsior build and so unavailable.)
Derek58
Rocket Punch is Best Punch
- Location
- Getter Valhalla
Hmm, hey @OneirosTheWriter, if we build the Ambassador prototype at Utopia Planitia, could we use Patricia Chen's ability to speed it up, and if so would doing that cause problems with it?
- Location
- Australia
Yes to both.
It's ill-advised outside of an emergency situation (for a Prototype).
Last edited:
Derek58
Rocket Punch is Best Punch
- Location
- Getter Valhalla
Ah gotcha, good to know.
- Location
- Patriarchova
I had no idea Nash would be this hard to write. :U
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
I've got an omake that tripped over that too...
[commiserates]
[commiserates]
Omake - Across the Stars - Leila Hann
- Location
- Patriarchova
Omake: Across the Stars
Open, almost cathedral-like hallways intersected below the railing. It was bright, much too bright, but Penelya had spent the last two days getting used to this. She could keep it comfortably dim in her quarters, and choose to venture out at dawn and dusk once she's been brought to whatever planet awaited her. It was kind of amazing. For so much of her life, the clang of her boots against metal decks and the weight of artificial gravity on her body and head had been her anchors, the things she clutched to keep herself sane. And yet, now the only thing she wanted was to be on real ground, breathing pollen scented air, and looking up into a warm, cloudy night.
She opened her scaly lips and breathed it aloud. "Penelya." It was her only name now. Not that she had given up much, with her parents gone, her brothers estranged, and the betrothed who she'd never touched dead in one of the endless border skirmishes. But still, she felt naked. For so long, she had been taught to think of her family name as a suit of armor, even if it was a thin, flimsy suit.
Below the platform smooth skinned humans, hairy tellerites, and nearly half a dozen others came and went between the mess hall, the operations decks, and the habitation area. She knew what everything was, and what everyone was doing, but she couldn't understand any of it.
"Maryam told me you might be here."
Penelya leaped upright, every muscle in her body tensing up. She turned around to see the uniformed Nash ka'Sharren leaning against the railing a few armslengths away. The andorian's eyes had a glint that reminded Penelya of the too-bright lights, or of a pair of the stars that had so long ago beckoned her away from Cardassia Prime. As always, she looked larger than life, more real than the rest of the room. And for that, all the more dreamlike. The first Federation citizen that any Cardassian had ever beheld...it felt almost contrived.
"Such precision," Penelya replied with a cold smile, "two days back among her people, and Captain Ajam already slips back into loose Federation habits."
Nash's eyes narrowed a little. "I hope I'm not hearing buyer's remorse."
Penelya shook her head a little too quickly. "Of course not, Captain. If I am to become a valued member of Federation society, I must point out where I see room for improvement in operations. It's as much as was expected of me in the Defense Force."
"Ah, sorry," Nash offered a small smile, "as I'm sure you've been told, we never learned all that much about the CDF's internal culture."
"You still haven't read the reports I spent weeks writing up for your people? I must say, I'm disappointed." Penelya felt her throat tighten as she said the words. She maintained eye contact though, even if it was difficult.
A moment later, Nash chuckled. "There's a bit of a difference between reading a conceptual summary of something and seeing it in practice. Tell me, is the snarking also what a good citizen does?"
Penelya took a step closer. "In...friendly...circumstances."
Nash's smile grew. Penelya felt her heart accelerate.
"I should introduce you to some tellerites. I think your peoples might have a bit in common."
There was a long, heavy pause. Penelya kept her eyes trained on Nash's. Both pairs of orbs trying desperately to communicate, and failing.
"Yes," Penelya finally broke the silence, turning away from the Andorian and leaning back against the railing, "from what I've heard, they sound like a most engaging people." She felt a little burn under the scales of her face.
"Is everything alright?"
"Yes, of course. I am simply...a bit...overwhelmed." She closed her eyes, suddenly wishing Nash would just leave.
There was another, longer pause. She felt Nash's eyes drilling into the back of her head.
"I think you should stop by sickbay. You're the first Cardassian to stay aboard a Starfleet ship, who knows what kind of-"
"I said I'm fine, Captain." She growled the words over the edge of the railing. Immediately, her shame redoubled. Losing her composure this quickly? Had she not even realized how much stress this defection was putting her under? "If you do not wish to exchange any more words with me, I suppose I can find a tellerite to talk to as you instructed."
The longest pause yet. Then, from behind her, a sharp intake of breath.
"You."
...
"I what?" the cardassian woman asked, back still turned. Nash quickly swallowed the other words that had been on her tongue, but she still felt like Gul Miran had pulled the rug out from under her.
"You...um...you seem to have something you want to talk about," she spoke very carefully, thinking about every syllable before letting it out. Meanwhile, the rest of her mind was racing, almost panicked. Admiral Sulu had told her there were only two dozen, at most, Cardassians who could have written that scene. Oh ice, how could she have not seen it?
"Not in particular," the slim, scaly-skinned woman replied, "I was merely hoping we could get to know each other properly, now that we're not being forced to posture at each other across a field of Apiata shipwrecks. Thank you for checking up on me, captain."
Nash breathed in deeply, and let it out very slowly. "Penelya."
The cardassian turned around very slowly, raising her eye-ridges almost dangerously at her.
"I would like that. But you don't know me yet." Ice and glaciers, was this actually happening? Had some sort of space time anomaly dumped her into a world where the extranet memes about her were true?
"Indeed," Gul Miran whispered, obviously waiting for more.
"I'm an Explorer Corps captain. Some people would say I'm the Explorer Corps captain, though there's a human named Michel Thuir who might be stealing that title at this rate. When they send us into the frontier, they train us to be symbols just as much as people. Every word and action is supposed to represent the Federation, and we always do our bests to make it so."
"Ah. I believe I understand what you are saying."
"You've come to the right place, Penelya. And if you'd like dinner tomorrow night, you're welcome to stop by. Just to talk."
Penelya turned back to the railing, and resumed her people-watching. "I will consider it."
Nash watched the back of her head a little longer. "It wasn't actually you who killed those Apiata harvesters, was it?"
"No. You avenged those worker bees when the Lorgot's warp core breached. My job was just to publically deny it. And accuse you, of course."
"I see." Nash felt a little wave of relief wash over her. "I'm glad my orders never sound like that."
Penelya turned around a third time, just barely looking at her out of the corner of one snakelike eye. "Is that Nash ka'Sharren talking, or the Explorer Corps Captain?"
Nash smiled. "I'm glad to say those two are in total agreement on this one."
The cardassian smiled back.
Open, almost cathedral-like hallways intersected below the railing. It was bright, much too bright, but Penelya had spent the last two days getting used to this. She could keep it comfortably dim in her quarters, and choose to venture out at dawn and dusk once she's been brought to whatever planet awaited her. It was kind of amazing. For so much of her life, the clang of her boots against metal decks and the weight of artificial gravity on her body and head had been her anchors, the things she clutched to keep herself sane. And yet, now the only thing she wanted was to be on real ground, breathing pollen scented air, and looking up into a warm, cloudy night.
She opened her scaly lips and breathed it aloud. "Penelya." It was her only name now. Not that she had given up much, with her parents gone, her brothers estranged, and the betrothed who she'd never touched dead in one of the endless border skirmishes. But still, she felt naked. For so long, she had been taught to think of her family name as a suit of armor, even if it was a thin, flimsy suit.
Below the platform smooth skinned humans, hairy tellerites, and nearly half a dozen others came and went between the mess hall, the operations decks, and the habitation area. She knew what everything was, and what everyone was doing, but she couldn't understand any of it.
"Maryam told me you might be here."
Penelya leaped upright, every muscle in her body tensing up. She turned around to see the uniformed Nash ka'Sharren leaning against the railing a few armslengths away. The andorian's eyes had a glint that reminded Penelya of the too-bright lights, or of a pair of the stars that had so long ago beckoned her away from Cardassia Prime. As always, she looked larger than life, more real than the rest of the room. And for that, all the more dreamlike. The first Federation citizen that any Cardassian had ever beheld...it felt almost contrived.
"Such precision," Penelya replied with a cold smile, "two days back among her people, and Captain Ajam already slips back into loose Federation habits."
Nash's eyes narrowed a little. "I hope I'm not hearing buyer's remorse."
Penelya shook her head a little too quickly. "Of course not, Captain. If I am to become a valued member of Federation society, I must point out where I see room for improvement in operations. It's as much as was expected of me in the Defense Force."
"Ah, sorry," Nash offered a small smile, "as I'm sure you've been told, we never learned all that much about the CDF's internal culture."
"You still haven't read the reports I spent weeks writing up for your people? I must say, I'm disappointed." Penelya felt her throat tighten as she said the words. She maintained eye contact though, even if it was difficult.
A moment later, Nash chuckled. "There's a bit of a difference between reading a conceptual summary of something and seeing it in practice. Tell me, is the snarking also what a good citizen does?"
Penelya took a step closer. "In...friendly...circumstances."
Nash's smile grew. Penelya felt her heart accelerate.
"I should introduce you to some tellerites. I think your peoples might have a bit in common."
There was a long, heavy pause. Penelya kept her eyes trained on Nash's. Both pairs of orbs trying desperately to communicate, and failing.
"Yes," Penelya finally broke the silence, turning away from the Andorian and leaning back against the railing, "from what I've heard, they sound like a most engaging people." She felt a little burn under the scales of her face.
"Is everything alright?"
"Yes, of course. I am simply...a bit...overwhelmed." She closed her eyes, suddenly wishing Nash would just leave.
There was another, longer pause. She felt Nash's eyes drilling into the back of her head.
"I think you should stop by sickbay. You're the first Cardassian to stay aboard a Starfleet ship, who knows what kind of-"
"I said I'm fine, Captain." She growled the words over the edge of the railing. Immediately, her shame redoubled. Losing her composure this quickly? Had she not even realized how much stress this defection was putting her under? "If you do not wish to exchange any more words with me, I suppose I can find a tellerite to talk to as you instructed."
The longest pause yet. Then, from behind her, a sharp intake of breath.
"You."
...
"I what?" the cardassian woman asked, back still turned. Nash quickly swallowed the other words that had been on her tongue, but she still felt like Gul Miran had pulled the rug out from under her.
"You...um...you seem to have something you want to talk about," she spoke very carefully, thinking about every syllable before letting it out. Meanwhile, the rest of her mind was racing, almost panicked. Admiral Sulu had told her there were only two dozen, at most, Cardassians who could have written that scene. Oh ice, how could she have not seen it?
"Not in particular," the slim, scaly-skinned woman replied, "I was merely hoping we could get to know each other properly, now that we're not being forced to posture at each other across a field of Apiata shipwrecks. Thank you for checking up on me, captain."
Nash breathed in deeply, and let it out very slowly. "Penelya."
The cardassian turned around very slowly, raising her eye-ridges almost dangerously at her.
"I would like that. But you don't know me yet." Ice and glaciers, was this actually happening? Had some sort of space time anomaly dumped her into a world where the extranet memes about her were true?
"Indeed," Gul Miran whispered, obviously waiting for more.
"I'm an Explorer Corps captain. Some people would say I'm the Explorer Corps captain, though there's a human named Michel Thuir who might be stealing that title at this rate. When they send us into the frontier, they train us to be symbols just as much as people. Every word and action is supposed to represent the Federation, and we always do our bests to make it so."
"Ah. I believe I understand what you are saying."
"You've come to the right place, Penelya. And if you'd like dinner tomorrow night, you're welcome to stop by. Just to talk."
Penelya turned back to the railing, and resumed her people-watching. "I will consider it."
Nash watched the back of her head a little longer. "It wasn't actually you who killed those Apiata harvesters, was it?"
"No. You avenged those worker bees when the Lorgot's warp core breached. My job was just to publically deny it. And accuse you, of course."
"I see." Nash felt a little wave of relief wash over her. "I'm glad my orders never sound like that."
Penelya turned around a third time, just barely looking at her out of the corner of one snakelike eye. "Is that Nash ka'Sharren talking, or the Explorer Corps Captain?"
Nash smiled. "I'm glad to say those two are in total agreement on this one."
The cardassian smiled back.
Last edited:
- Location
- Patriarchova
thatsthejoke.jpg
- Location
- Australia
[Very Loud Buzzing Noise]