Diplomatic Officer's Log - 1

Posted on 01 May 2014 @ 7:52pm by Lieutenant JG Wakeham Paul Alasia Ph.D.

515 words; about a 3 minute read

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Personal Log,

My first mission will be on the planet Lyshan III to investigate mysterious occurrences at a mining facility the Federation runs jointly with the Cardassians.

It's tough to parse the political ramifications of a project like this. I could see the Prime government keeping a close eye on every minor detail of this outpost or forgetting that it exists entirely. Neither would really surprise me. Since the war, the government on Cardassia has struck me as equally capable of stubborn micromanagement and outright obliviousness.

Joint functions with the Cardassians are a rare historical circumstance. If there's one thing they seem to like above all, it's hierarchy so a network governance approach - especially with the Federation - seems a little out of character. Of course, the touchstones of character get discarded pretty quickly when a people have been through what they have.

I've never found that there was much nuance to study with the Cardassians. They are ultimately a very centrally organized people. To understand Cardassia is simply to study the tents espoused by central command. The leadership never lack for opinions and those opinions are expected to be digested wholesale by the people. Their music is a perfect example of this: almost all of the best-known performers from Prime are funded straight from the government. How does that even work? How does it affect your art to submit it to the government rather than perform it for people? It just seems so stuffy and clinical.

This could also just be a function of my ignorance - of all the major alpha and beta quadrant players, I've always found the Cardassians among the most opaque and to some extent or another, the least interesting. They're at once completely unable to sustain their current holdings due to strip-mining and draconian colonial policies but they've never been particularly successful at conquest. I've never quite understood where that left them. There overriding desire for control makes them seem - I don't know, desperate? Insecure? It's easy to call the arrogant like the Romulans but they've always had their own flavor. Petulant almost seems like the right word. They keep all the information on themselves locked down tight because they think they can control the narrative on themselves and thus, control how they're seen. In my opinion, they've never been nearly as effective at that as they think they are.

Either way, we're going to be dealing primarily with military personnel and this being my first mission, I can't imagine the command staff is going to have a central place for me in the initial contact - or really - the mission as a whole. I'm fine with that. My interest in forcing my presence on the staff is pretty low. This placement is a marathon, not a sprint and when the moment is right, they'll call on me. Everyone in Starfleet is always so eager to out alpha everyone else. I'm perfectly happy to hang back. Until then, I help where I'm needed.

Computer, end log.

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Lieutenant (JG) Wakeham Alasia
Diplomatic Officer
USS Galileo

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