Dominion Recon

Posted on 25 Sep 2012 @ 4:13am by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius & Amril

2,092 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: USS Galileo - Guest Quarters
Timeline: MD 10 - 0830 hours

[ON]

Lamar walked diligently towards the guest quarters which now housed the Vorta. He had not met the Dominion guest yet, and had several questions spinning through his head as he approached the door. How, what and why were the first and foremost, and Lamar wanted to know the exact circumstances which had brought him aboard. To say he was skeptical was an understatement; in his mind, there was no reason for a former enemy to seek refuge amongst the Federation, let alone request asylum. As far as the chief was concerned, his motives were unknown, and he needed to get to the bottom of it.

The two security officers guarding the room acknowledged Lamar's presence as he approached. "Sir." each of them said with a curt nod as he stopped in front of them.

He replied with his own nod. "I'm here to see the Vorta. Five minutes." he said, then watched as they stepped to the side and allowed him to input his security clearance. A couple taps on the door's small console caused the entrance to swish open, and he stepped inside, sweeping his head left to right to locate the Vorta.

Music, some sort of opera, it sounded like, was playing throughout the room. And sitting at a table with a bowl in hand was the vorta. When he heard the doors open, he turned his chair around and offered a smile to his visitor.

"Ah, look at this," he held up a jiggling green cube in his fingers. "Gelatin, it's called. Isn't it fascinating? I found it in the replicator databank. It's a quasi-solid, would you like to try some?" He stood up and offered Lamar the bowl, which contained several more cubes.

The scene in the room was very strange, the music was odd, and Lamar frowned as he looked around the living space and finally saw the Vorta. He was smiling at him. Why they hell are they always so happy? he wondered to himself. The offer of jello was also bizarre, and the chief held his hand up to decline the offer. "I thought Vorta have no taste buds." he commented dryly.

"Oh, that's not exactly true," Amril said, "We can taste some things. It's the tactile sense that I appreciate in food." He held up the cube and looked at the light streaming through it, "Texture... and you must admit gelatin has unique physical properties." Without further ado, he popped the cube into his mouth.

"Well, what can I do for you..." He leaned to one side and squinted at Lamar, "Master Chief Petty Officer?"

"Yes, well..." he began, then paused to clear his throat as the situation was becoming more awkward than he originally thought. Being a former Marine who fought in several engagements against the Dominion during the war, he had never thought a day would come where one was on board his vessel and... defecting? "I suppose I'm curious as to what exactly you're doing here in the Beta Quadrant."

"Oh it's quite a long story," Amril said, setting the bowl of gelatin down. "Computer, turn the music off, would you?" He waited until the music stopped and smiled, glancing up at the ceiling. "Thank you. Now then, how did I get here? Quite by accident. I was not expecting to run into Federation ships on my course."

The chief frowned. "How did your vessel manage to slip through the wormhole undetected?" he asked, wondering exactly how the Vorta had managed to make it from the Gamma Quadrant all the way into the Beta Quadrant without anyone noticing, and finally take refuge in the Z'Tarnis Nebula.

"Oh, no," Amril said, chuckling, "I was part of the alpha quadrant invasion, you see."

Lamar thought for a long second, remembering what Lilou had told him about some sort of stasis pod found inside of the craft. "So... you participated in the war, then fled to the Beta Quadrant?" he asked, "...For fourteen years?" he wondered out loud. It was quite a feat to be able to survive that long in such a small ship surrounded by a hostile environment such as space.

"Well, something like that," Amril acknowledged. "I'll tell you the whole story behind it sometime, perhaps. So," with a smile, the vorta folded his hands in front of himself, arms resting on the chair, "What is it you do on the ship?"

"A little of everything," he replied matter-of-factly, glancing around the room and taking note of the small details. "I supervise the enlisted crew and report to the XO," he elaborated. "I assume even the Dominion would have some sort of equivalent." he added, unsure of what exactly it was.

"Oh, vorta are responsible for all administrative and logistics needs in the Dominion. The Amril clones were designed specifically for logistical operations and that is how I ended up in the Alpha Quadrant with the invasion force."

The chief stroked his goatee as he listened to the Vorta explain the duties of his species. "Interesting... sounds much like an Operations officer's duty here in Starfleet." he commented. "And am I correct in assuming that you... are requesting asylum?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah, an astute observation, Master Chief," Amril agreed cheerily, "I am indeed." He seemed to find the stroking of a goatee fascinating, for as he spoke he watched the movement of Lamar's fingers through his facial hair. "How did you end up on the Galileo? It seems to me your ship is in the middle of an espionage assignment of some sort."

"I recently transferred aboard from another assignment." he replied, declining to comment on his past service in the Marine Corps. He had fought many Jem'Hadar during the war, most commanded by Vortas, and he figured such a revelation would do nothing at the moment except create tension and conflict... most likely stemming from him own prejudices. So for the time being, he let it go. At least until he was better able to adjust to the Vorta's presence on Galileo. "As for our current mission... it is classified. But we are a science vessel, and espionage is not one of our mission types." He explained, then shook his head to return to the previous subject of asylum. "So why do you want to defect?" he asked simply, "I thought your species was engineered to show unconditional loyalty to the Founders..."

"Oh, we are, I have the great fortune of being... liberated, however. My genetic material is not the same as most vorta clones. It is an extremely rare but normal occurrence in the cloning process."

It slowly began to dawn on the chief that the Vorta was somehow defective. Though he didn't have much experience with the matter, there had been at least one documented case of such a clone during the war, and it was well within the realm of possibility. "I would imagine your superiors weren't too happy when they found out?"

"I do not know," the vorta admitted, "I did not stay long enough to find out. But I imagine they were not."

Lamar nodded to himself and stroked his goatee again. "Yes..." he mumbled to himself, then shook his head slightly to snap himself from his thoughts. "Well, I suppose you're lucky that we found you, and not the Klingons. I think you would have been one of their most prized trophies."

"Ah, yes, no doubt. If the rogue jem'hadar were allowed to govern themselves, they would end up like klingons. I'm sure you can imagine who unpleasant the alpha quadrant would be then. Oh... did they manage that? I've been indisposed for several years..."

It suddenly occurred to the chief that due to the nature of the stasis pod, the Vorta in front of him probably had no idea how the war had ended, and had probably been asleep for many, many years. "The Treaty of Bajor was signed in 2375... with the conditional surrender of all Dominion forces." He explained rather simply. "All Jem'Hadar, Founders and Vorta were expelled back to the Gamma Quadrant."

"Yes, I'd heard." The comment was made more like a history professor would make it than a veteran of the losing side of the war in question. "But there were rogue jem'hadar who would not necessarily have left. Do you know of any of them who remained behind and started a planet of their own or something? Of course it would not be long before they died off..."

Lamar shook his head. "To my knowledge, no such planet has been discovered. But I guess that doesn't mean they aren't out there... somewhere." he replied, glancing through the window and out into the stars. "And with the recent collapse of the Romulan Empire, there are no doubt many places to hide." He added thoughtfully.

Amril followed Lamar's gaze to the window for an instant before looking back again. "Collapsed completely?" he asked, "Well, now, it would seem the Dominion accomplished some of its goals in any case."

"Not completely, but they are only a fraction of what they once were." Lamar answered, still looking out through the window. "The Hobus star went supernova two years ago and destroyed their homeworld." he explained, then paused for a second. "You know, it might be worth the time to look through the historical logs in our database... get yourself caught up on recent affairs," he suggested as he finally looked back at Amril.

"Oh, yes," Amril agreed, "However, my access to the ship's computer is rather limited. I do not believe your commander trusts me. I'm sure he's under a lot of stress, commanding the ship himself."

The chief walked over to the nearby LCARS terminal and tapped in a short button sequence. "Looks like you have Level 1 clearance," he commented as he read the screen, "That should be enough for you to access basic historical logs, but your data access is restricted to civilian. Commander Holliday is indeed a busy man... and as for trusting you..." his voice trailed off as he deactivated the console and turned back to the Vorta, "Well, you'll have to wait and see. It's not every day we pick up a Vorta defector... might be a while before everyone feels comfortable with your presence aboard the ship." He said honestly.

"Oh, perfectly understandable," Amril said with a nod of his head, "But I will be content to merely regain my freedom. After all, it is quite new-found and I would hate to lose it just because you do not trust me. Don't you think?"

"Yeah... I suppose that wouldn't be fair to you," he replied. "But knowing the captain, I think she will give you an opportunity to prove yourself." He added as he thought about the Orion CO who just was just rescued from the grips of the Empire. In his limited experience with her, he had found Captain Saalm to be rather accommodating, which was a reassuring feeling for most under her command.

"I'm sure she will," came the agreeable reply. "No doubt Starfleet only chooses its most qualified personnel to command their forces. But tell me, what do you think of the Dominion? Did you fight in the Alpha Quadrant War? No need to be concerned for my feelings, of course, I am merely interested in what you think of the matter."

Lamar shook his head, declining to reply. "That's a conversation for another time. Right now, I'm running late and have to return to my station." he answered as he slowly moved towards the door, cutting the visit short. Though not all of his questions had been answered, he had learned enough to at least feel slightly more comfortable with the Vorta on board. He still didn't trust him, but that wasn't necessarily a requirement of his duties. That would be up to the captain to ascertain. "I suppose I'll be seeing you soon. Not many places to hide on a Nova Class."

"Of course, Master Chief," Amril said, walking him towards the door. "Have a good day."

The chief nodded as he acknowledged the Votra's pleasantries, then stepped through the gray door with a swish. Out in the hallway he turned to the two guards who were still manning theirs posts. "Keep an eye on him." he said to them quietly, then briskly walked off.

[OFF]

--

MCPO Lamar Darius
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo
NPC'd by Lirha Saalm

Amril
Dominion Defector
USS Galileo

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