Chance encounter

Posted on 15 Mar 2014 @ 12:51pm by Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant Commander Amynta Markos

1,265 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 05 - Solstice
Location: USS Galileo Deck 7 - Observation Lounge
Timeline: MD58 - 1400

ON:
Allyndra made her way to the Observation Lounge and it was obvious that it was just as reworked as any other part of the ship and not completely finished as was the sickbay. In fact if anything it was in more disarray then most, with most of the tables and chairs still not set up but for one.

The only real table was already occupied and Allyndra did not recognize the woman that sat at as she made her way over after getting a hot cup of sugary tea.

"Excuse me," Allyndra said to the blonde woman. "Perhaps I can share the table with you?"

Amynta looked up from the PADD she was reading, her blond hair free. She was dressed in a dark red shirt with a black top, her hair swept up into a loose bun. She ran her eyes over Allyndra, remembering her from her file. "Have a seat. After all, not that many here," she said and looked back at her work.

"Thank you," Allyndra took the seat opposite and blew on her tea. She looked at the windows but there was not that much she had not already seen. Curiosity over the woman was higher than the view and Allyndra was fairly positive that they had not met. The woman seemed to be intent on her reading and Allyndra hated to bother her.

It was too much finally and finally she said, "I am not sure we have had the chance to meet. I am Allyndra." Though the woman looked human, it could be a bad assumption and even then some humans did not like touch.

Amynta met her eyes for a moment, watching her face before putting the PADD down. "Amynta Markos," she introduced herself, and for the same reasons that Allyndra didn't offer her hand, neither did Amynta. It was always a careful balance. "You are the doctor."

"One of them, yes," Allyndra took the opposite seat. She regarded the woman, thinking 'this one is cautious'. Allyndra was curious though and asked, "I am sorry, you seem to know me and I must apologize, I do not think I have had the pleasure of meeting you before."

"I work in Intelligence," Amynta said and gestured towards her before touching her own temple. "I have a good memory for faces. And names. And jobs."

Intel, Allyndra kept her thought. She had very few run ins with intel types and the few were not exactly a lot of fun.
"It must be fascinating work," Allyndra decided to go for the positive approach. "Having to correlate bits and pieces of information to try to synthesize a conclusion. I can only think sleuthing a new cure to a new disease is as close as I could come with my own field."

Amynta watched the woman for a moment before letting out a breath she hadn't even realised she had been holding. "It's more making the judgment what is relevant or not. Information is precious. But too much of it can overwhelm. It strips you of your own...compass. To what works and what does not. You need the intel, but you also need your own experiences."

Allyndra listened intently. The woman was correct, there was a medium of knowing what to use and what not to use. There was something similar in research and diagnosis but Allyndra could see how perhaps knowing some extra tricks might help. Then there was her home world and its past and future which she would be involved with.

"I know this is going to sound odd, but I would like to learn a little more how you go about that. I think it could prove useful in my field and..." Allyndra stopped. "Some issues dealing with my own world." She added finally.

Amynta met her eyes, searching them. "I know little about your world. I know you are Akkaidian. I noticed it from your personnel file...since there isn't that many of you in Starfleet."

Allyndra kept her face schooled but the 'noticed it from you personnel filed', struck her as odd in the extreme considering that while humanoid, Akkadians differed from others even on the most first glance. It then struck her as her mind worked through that in intel, while difficult one could make modifications to make someone look like another species.

Allyndra nodded finally. "No there are not, and we are an allied world not a member one." Allyndra sat back, "We have kept an isolation from the rest of the galaxy," Allyndra did not add, 'for a long time'. "However, the rest of the galaxy has changed that and part of my reason for being in Fleet was to observe and urge whether to pull the government into membership or not."

"So your word to your government matters a lot to the Federation," Amynta observed, her eyes on the woman. She tried to think of what resources Allyndra's home had. She came up empty. Because she hadn't been interested. But given the information she had gotten from Allyndra, she would make it her interest. Starfleet could do a lot here, politically, with this one individual. It was a dangerous place to be. And it added other concerns. Would anti-Federation people try and stop the joining? Would the Federation pressure Starfleet to treat Allyndra differently to make the woman urge her government to join? What was going on with other people of her species within Starfleet; what were their situations at this time?

"I am not Guildhouse Council, so really have little say in any real decision. Actually in a way I am more exile than anything else in a way. Let's just say I disagreed with a course of...isolation. I think over time though I have come to see why and they in turn have to come to appreciate the need move ahead." Allyndra thought though that things had changed, perhaps more an experiment now in seeing how things worked out. The fact that the Council had even allowed her and an alien to even look into some of the records was a major step forward. "Besides, technically Akkadia does not meet full membership requirements." Allyndra smiled, "We do not have warp technology." That was true, they never did have it but something that made warp drive look like chemical rockets in comparison.

"I have never known the Federation to turn someone down due to a technicality," Amynta said absently, frowning as she considered it for a moment before taking a deeper breath. "Still. My advice to you is to be careful. Interesting people are often targeted by...far darker forces than just me."

"Thank you for the advice, but again I am not that important when the time comes the Council will make up its own collective minds." Allyndra took a sip of the tea and then looked at the woman deeply. "Perhaps some time I could talk to you about this in deeper detail?"

"Sure. My door is..." she stopped, considering it. "Well, not always unlocked or open, but I am available."

"Thank you," Allyndra gave a deep nod of the head. "I will come see you. In the meantime, well I guess duty or pre-duty calls and I need to make sure everything is set in sickbay."

"Well, enjoy," Amynta said and reached for her PADD again. "And I suspect we will see each other again."

Allyndra smiled and said, "I would hope so."

OFF:

Lt Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

&

Lt. Amynta Markos
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo

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