Final Preparations

Posted on 05 Jun 2014 @ 8:46pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Gul Verrok & Lieutenant JG Wakeham Paul Alasia Ph.D. & Chief Petty Officer Lyras Ueda & Petty Officer 3rd Class Robert Jameson & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn & Lieutenant Theron Rhodes

2,748 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: USS Galileo - Various
Timeline: MD 02 - 1930 hrs

[ON]

Deck 1 - Saalm's Quarters

John twitched uncomfortably in the corridor as he stepped out of his quarters, wearing his full dress uniform and associated regalia. He would not normally have worn quite this much of his finery but with the Cardassians, he felt that a show of strength would be appropriate.

Crossing the deck, the Captain could have quite easily ducked out and onto the Bridge, faked some sort of emergency and avoided this whole dinner in it's entirety, after all, others on his crew were diplomats and would be far better equipped to handle the Gul. Taking a moment to dispel the thought, he took he last few steps to the Commodore's quarters, and tapped the chime.

"Enter!" came a flustered reply from inside the room. Lirha was busy trying to adjust her white jacket while also keeping one of the buttons from getting tangled in her hair, and so far it wasn't working out too well. Had Siren not been on-duty, she probably could have helped, but now Lirha was on her own and becoming more and more frustrated the longer the dressing process took. Normally a cordial and polite person, she did not look forward to their obligatory dinner with the Cardassians, and the event was already not starting out well for her.

John stepped through the doorway after hearing the rather heated order from his former Commanding Officer. As he entered, the Captain could see the rather perplexed look on the Commodore's face as she wrestled with her choice of outfit for the evening. The dress uniform was not exactly the most comfortable part of an officer's wardrobe, and he had a sneaking suspicion the Orion would have been more at ease in something to her own tastes.

"Commodore. I thought I would escort you to this evening's...pleasantries. Are you alright?"

"Oh," Lirha hadn't bothered to ask who it was before admitting them into her quarters, but the sight of Holliday was a welcome one. "I am fine, but I think this uniform will not fare too well by the end of the evening."

She finally finished tugging all of her stray strands of hair out from underneath the jacket then proceeded to tie it back into a neat, high ponytail. "Thank you for the offer, I think it would be best to have company for the evening. I am not thrilled at the prospect of entertaining the Gul and his officers...but I suppose it is a necessary evil." She paused to think about how her words might have sounded. "Or was that too harsh?" she smirked at herself.

"My experience with the Cardassians is nothing is too harsh. I've seen what they're capable of when backed into a corner."

John replied, feeling the tug of his own dress uniform against his figure. He too had no desire to spend his evening in the company of a Gul and his officers, but as Lirha had said, needs must.

"I'm sure the evening will be filled with opportunities for Verrok to point out why his people are better than Starfleet and our shortcomings. Do you think the Admiralty would be upset if we accidentally lost a torpedo during dinner?"

"Another Chancellor Gorkon incident?" she laughed in hindsight of one of the worst diplomatic incidents in Federation history. "No, but I have the feeling Mister Quinn will want to exchange some verbal photon torpedoes." Lirha was finally ready to depart for the observation lounge, and quickly grabbed a PADD off her desk and clipped it to her belt before motioning towards the door indicating for them to depart. "Have you seen our diplomats, recently? I hope they are making preparations as we speak...I have the feeling their assistance may prove valuable tonight."

"I... must admit I haven't Ma'am. Between avoiding Cardassian insults and preparing survey teams I haven't had the time to dedicate to diplomatic measures."

John was a little embarrassed that he would be going into a situation without adequate preparation. He had never expected the Gul to accept his invitation and as a result had not planned to deal with any sort of diplomatic brushing up so early on in their mission.

"I thought a Commodore with an Intelligence background would be adequately suited to the task of pacifying a Cardassian Gul however?"

Lirha shook her head adamantly from side to side, her dark ponytail bobbing across the tops of her shoulders as they exited her quarters and walked down the corridor towards the turbolift. "No, do not pin this one on me," she replied with a sideways smirk, "I am simply an 'observer'. You are the captain now," she half-teased.

John grunted unapprovingly. He had wanted the big chair, but not necessarily all of the additional duties that went with it. He had hoped that having a Commodore on board would at least let him slide into the role gently, but it seemed that Lirha was not about to let that happen.

"Does that mean you fall under my command then, Commodore? Surely I could just order you to follow my instructions?" John replied with a smirk of his own. He had no intention of trying to tell a flag officer what to do, but had developed a certain degree of banter with his former CO.

Stepping into the turbolift, he waited for the doors to close behind him.

"Deck 2 - and take your time computer."

Lirha entered the turbolift behind him, then grinned and shrugged at the idea of being 'ordered' to be diplomatic. "I suppose you could try... but I must warn you, I was a bit insubordinate during my early Starfleet career. And once I have a few drinks in me, it might take more than orders to get me to cooperate."

John raised one eyebrow towards the Commodore. He was well aware of her more laid back attitude as a result of her Orion heritage, which clashed quite nicely with the Captain's own more orthodox attitude to conduct aboard a starship. He said nothing further, but made a mental note that he may end up helping the Commodore back to her room later on that night in order to preserve diplomatic decorum.

Tapping her commbadge, Lirha called down to the observation lounge to see how the preparations were progressing while silently hoping that everything was all set and in order.

"Saalm to Alasia and Ueda, are we almost ready to receive our guests?" she inquired.


Deck 7 - Observation Lounge

Lyras frowned in a completely Vulcan-like manner, eyeing the lounge as if he were preparing to receive the finest of dignitaries of the whole of the Alpha Quadrant. He tapped his commbadge, giving the other diplomat a nod. "Commodore, this is Ueda, and we are quite ready to receive our guests." If anything looked out of place to Gul Verrok, it wouldn't be from the decor.

The room hung silent for a second as the Paul paced the floor, waiting. He noticed the surpising level of readable emotion emanating from his new Vulcan colleague. Paul didn't know if it was a function of the current circumstance or that Lyras just happened to be more comfortable with emotion. Either way, it put Paul immediately at ease to know he wasn't the only member of the staff to feel ill at ease. "They must do this on purpose, to throw us off." Paul said to Lyras, trying to break the silence.

"I would have disagreed if we were having dinner with the miners." Lyras folded his arms against his chest, finally allowing himself a break in his otherwise serene demeanor. A frown crossed his lips, and he shook his head. "But this Gul Verrok was definitely a surprise none of us were expecting."

"They're not as perfectionist as the Romulans." Paul crossed his arms. "The Cardassians, I mean. They sort of carry themselves in a similar way but they're not the stoic rationalists they're going to try to pass for tonight."

Paul leaned with both arms on one of the chairs, the too-long sleeves from his hastily tailored dress uniform slid over his hands. He attempted to work though his feelings on the out loud to his new colleague. "The Carassians aren't exactly my wheelhouse but I've always felt that, for the leadership especially, they've often felt like a second rate power. They always act just a notch too sure of themselves, you know? But if they're this great military power, who have they ever defeated? The Bajorans? A barely space-faring race that didn't even saddle up for war because they thought they were receiving allies, not conquerors." Paul felt some bias from his time as a practitioner on Bajor welling up. He blushed slightly. "This is all by way of saying, don't be nervous." Paul laughed with nervousness at his own hypocrisy. "I think their idea is if they act like a true galactic power than we'll think they are one. All the barbs, the little jabs, it's insecurity. If we just tell them they're right, pat them on their half-bald heads and act serene, we win. If we get worked up, we lose."

"That seems to be the going thought." Lyras felt out of place. He may have had a dislike for Cardassians, but the bias that seemed to be running on the Galileo ran deeper than a slight suspicion and discomfort. At least he felt in like-minded company. If the diplomats disagreed, then that would have been quite a sight for the 'dignitaries' involved. Although, his new friend seemed to have a grudge that ran deeper than Lyras could pinpoint at the moment. "We will have to tread carefully, especially around Gul Verrok. He seems to have already received a negative reaction amongst some of those in our own command staff, a fact that I think he is reveling in." Fortunately, Lyras had some experience in dealing with Cardassians, if only due to the war. "But we shouldn't underestimate their military abilities either. Sometimes they have something even more surprising up their sleeves."

"I leave dealing with the surprises to smarter people than me." Paul smirked. "Best I can tell, our job is to placate or intimidate. Whatever it takes to make them think we aren't worth surprising."


Deck 2 - Transporter Room 1

The door swished open, and Lirha and John entered Galileo's primary transporter room. A quick check of the wall chronometer revealed it was almost 2200, and the Orion commodore walked over to the transporter chief to check on the status of their pending guests.

"Are the Gul and his personnel ready for transport?" she asked the brown-haired petty officer.

"Negative Sir. Their transporter operator is indicating they need another couple of minutes. Some last minute hitch of something. Will advise."

"Very good," she replied, then took a deep breath and walked back over next to John. "I suppose we should summon Mister Quinn and Lieutenant Rhodes. Diplomacy awaits."

"Indeed." John replied, taking a breath before reaching up to tap his commbadge.

=^=Mr Rhodes, Mr Quinn - Transporter Room 1 on the double. Our guests are about to arrive.=^=

=^= Be right there Sir.=^= Rhodes replied

Markum kissed Tarish and their child before leaving his quarters and walked quietly to the transporter room. Before leaving he made sure all his medals were perfect, each crease to specific regulation, and the collar of this godforsaken dress uniform was not too tight and his boots were impeccably spit-shined.

Quinn entered the room, stoic and reserved. "Captain. Ma'am." he stated to both officers present in the room. "I guess there is no way I can be shot out of an airlock before we beam them over?"

"Only if the Commodore and I can join you Mr Quinn - but then we would be leaving the ship in breach of it's command staff requirements." John replied, noting the admirable appearance of the ship's CoB.

The doors of the Transporter Room swooshed open and Lt. Rhodes came to an abrupt halt to his jog. "My apologies Captain." Straightening out his dress white uniform, just slightly winded.

"Not necessary Lieutenant. Just glad you could join us." John replied, looking over his security chief's appearance before nodding in approval.

"Captain. The Cardassians are signalling their readiness to transport aboard. Six in total."

"Energize," replied Lirha who then stood up a little straighter while she watched the familiar transport cycle begin.

Jameson began the transportation sequence. Cardassian transporters tended to be temperamental and he kept a close eye of the matter containment stream until he had the group in his buffers. Last thing he wanted was an accident on his watch.

With a shimmering of white and cyan particles above each of the six pads, the Cardassian delegation materialized much in resemblance to the team earlier in the afternoon. Gul Verrok stood at the front pad accompanied by Glevon and Nentar, and three other unfamiliar Cardassians were also now present including a rather attractive female officer.

"Captain Holliday... we meet again," Verrok said with a cunning smile as he stepped off the transporter pad.

"Gul Verrok. Welcome back to the Galileo. I see the Cardassian reputation for punctuality is entirely valid."

John stepped forward to meet the Gul as the two seniormost members of their respective crews - save for the Commodore.

"You remember my senior staff? Commodore Saalm, Lieutenant Rhodes and Chief Quinn? I believe we have some new acquaintances on your side however?"

The rest of Verrok's men stepped forward and off the platform and took up position next to the Gul, each of them with their signature-style slicked back hair and silver trim adorning their dress armor.

"Yes, I remember." Verrok nodded affirmatively at Lirha and Rhodes, then did the same with Markum albeit with barely any eye contact for the COB. He remembered the enlisted man with the short temper from the conference room earlier and was not exactly pleased with some of his comments. "May I present Dal Glevon and Dalin Nentar whom you also met earlier," the Gul motioned with his hand towards the two returning Cardassian officers, then to the newest arrivals.

"This is First Glinn Tratar, senior tactical officer; First Glinn Jamon, senior medical officer; and Second Glinn Risot, cultural advisor," he introduced all his personnel to the small Federation envoy present.

Rhodes' and Tratar's eyes met. It was like a wrestling match to see who would give away the most in just a look. Both security officers turned away and back to their own business.

Lirha smiled politely at the Cardassian delegation while keeping her posture professional and her hands clasped lightly behind her back. "It is a pleasure to meet your crew, Gul Verrok," she addressed the Cardassian captain. "Our crew have gone to much effort to make preparations for your arrival. I hope you will find everything satisfactory," she said.

"I am sure it will be fine, Commodore. Thank you in advance for hosting us, but we Cardassians are simple people...we are not used to the luxuries found in Starfleet vessels." Verrok motioned with an underhanded palm to the ship's bulkheads.

"I'm sure we will have many... cultural issues to discuss Gul Verrok. If you are ready to eat would you be so kind as to come this way?"

John grimaced as he broke into a smile - a fake, hollow smile, but a smile nonetheless. Stepping back he ushered the Cardassian delegation to proceed towards the door and on to the Observation lounge.

Quinn didn't say a word, instead kept his eyes forward, his shoulders back and his back straight. But in his mind he was thinking of the best way to shoot this son-of-a-bitch Gul out the airlock. Quinn would probably have no lip left to chew by the end of the night. Providing he could keep his trap shut that long.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CDRE Lirha Saalm
Mission Advisor
USS Galileo

Command Master Chief Markum Quinn
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo

CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lt. Theron Rhodes
Chief Security Officer
USS Galileo

LT JG Wakeham Paul Alasia
Diplomatic Officer
USS Galileo

PO 1rst Lyras Ueda
Diplomatic Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC Kita]

PO3 Robert Jameson
Transporter Chief
USS Galileo

Gul Verrok
Commanding Officer
CDS Aldara
[PNPC - Saalm]

RSS Feed