A Try At Diplomacy

Posted on 19 Mar 2012 @ 11:29am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Crewman Nazhzhalh

1,884 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 00 - Pre-Deployment
Location: Starfleet HQ, Office
Timeline: MD 05 - 1445 hrs

[ON]

As Lirha sat at her desk, she casually looked through a large pile of PADDs before tossing one to the side and leaning back with a loud sigh. She ran her hand through her dark hair and stood up, walking slowly to the replicator to retrieve a glass of water. Conducting personnel reviews was a tedious task and one which was beginning to give Lirha a headache. After several moments, she sat back down and began to tackle the remaining crew files. She blinked several times as she stared at one member of particular interest, a Crewman Nazhzhalh. Apparently belonging to a species of which Lirha was unfamiliar, the young man appeared to be quite unique, both in his physical and mental abilities. His position of biotechnologist was of similar interest to the captain, and she quickly typed up a message on her console requesting his presence. She tapped the flashing green button in the upper left corner of the screen and transmitted the communique to his PADD, hopeful that he would receive it and report to her office in a prompt fashion.

Having been on board the ship for a while now, fascinatedly examining its every nook and cranny, Ziyal didn't look down at his flashing PADD until at least ten minutes had gone by. He startled, and bumped his head against the conduit he'd been trawling through. "Ehgyehsh!" he clicked in annoyance, rubbing a few fingers over his head. He climbed out of the jefferies tube and looked up at the PADD in the light.

The commanding officer wanted to see him? He raised an antennae curiously before making his way off of the ship and down through the Starfleet shipyards, through engineering, up into admin, down, turbolift, main floor... A ha, administrative offices. Fortunately for him, W'qa'arr had a useful ability known as psychic magnetism. He just let himself walk and he would be drawn to the one he was thinking of.

It made finding people much easier and helped with his abysmal sense of direction. After about fifteen minutes, he chimed the door and tumbled on inside when it opened for him. He stood up straighter and gave her a salute. "Captain," he chirped out with a blink. "Crewman Nazhzhalh, reporting as ordered!" The translator lagged behind a little, despite being as accurate as it could, and so you could hear the little clicks and sounds of his native language beyond it. It was a bit surreal, but it seemed to suit him.

The Orion captain stood up as she heard a soft chirp echo throughout her office, signaling the presence of someone outside. With a quick tug on her shirt sleeves to make herself look presentable, she turned her attention towards the door and stood almost wide-eyed as a strange and very...alien figure moved into her office. The assortment of antennae and tentacles on the crewman's face was complimented by an array of appendages, and it took several moments before Lirha realized she had been staring at him. With a polite nod and a smile, she finally replied. "Thank you for coming, Crewman. At ease, please." she said, and motioned for him to take a seat in a nearby chair. "I trust you found my office with no problems?" she asked.

If he (or it, rather) was bothered by her staring, it didn't seem to show at all. In fact, he seemed totally oblivious to any offense one might've taken at such a thing. At ease didn't really look much different than awkwardly standing there, but Ziyal did relax for his own credit. He moved to sit down and folded himself very primly, looking almost comically well postured. He flipped over a few of his arms in vague gestures as he spoke animatedly to the commander. "Yes! W'qa'arr-" he started, clicking out the sounds that indicated his species, which couldn't truly be translated as anything other than what it was, "Have psychokinetic abilities which I use to help me with my poor sense of direction." He blinked largely at her, which in any other species might've been a smile. "I just found you!"

A smile spread on the captains face as she looked over her new crew member, taking note of his interesting language and enthusiasm. "Excellent," she replied, then sat down across the desk from him. "If you don't mind me asking, where are you from?" she asked curiously, if somewhat bluntly. "I've never seen one of your species before, and I've traveled to most places in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants." she added. The information could have been found in the PADD containing his personnel file, but Lirha had skimmed over it non-chalantly and had apparently missed a few things.

"The W'qa'arr are from a planet called K'q'kwez'xi I-123'new'Qey," the alien fellow explained, the syllables escaping him in a long stream of unintelligible nonsense. "The planet only has one habitable colony, where I was born. It is in the Andromeda galaxy, the galaxy neighboring your Milky Way." The only other race to emerge from that galaxy had been the Kelvans, who were eventually placed on a Federation colony and remained peaceful with the Federation Diplomatic Corps. Though, understandably, the Federation had been wary of meeting yet another race from that galaxy, as the Kelvans were notoriously malicious the first time around. "I traveled here on a bioship capable of faster than light teleportation. It took me a year to travel here!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"The Andromeda galaxy?" she replied, her eyes large and mouth slightly agape. "Oh my..." she whispered, then hastily picked up her PADD to re-read some rather pertinent information which she had previously neglected. "A year's travel is quite a long journey. What made you decide to travel to our lowly corner of the universe? " she asked with a smile as she looked up briefly from her PADD.

Ziyal blinked, and one of his facial tentacles pointed outward as he clicked and hooted his answer out. "I was considered unsuitable for W'qa'arr society," he told her. "None of our species ever leaves the system we inhabit. I wanted to explore and I had no place within my planet. So I left to find a new home that might accept me."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Lirha said softly, still reading the PADD. "But from what I can see in your Starfleet file, you seem to anything but unsuitable. Your Academy instructors all had very positive things to say about you, and apparently your 'skill with biotechnology is unsurpassed'." she added as she quoted one of his instructor's remarks.

A few of the arm-tentacles clapped against one another in an unusual display of excited emotion, though most of them just appeared strange. "That is what they say!" he said chirpily. "Starfleet has given me a home and accepted me beyond what I could imagine," he added, sounding a little bit more humble than he was normally prone to. "You value life, no matter what it may be, on its own terms. That is a gift." It was an odd moment of contemplation, before Ziyal simply shrugged his arms again and tacked on happily, "I am very glad to be here!"

"And I'm happy to have you aboard." she replied, then set the PADD down and folded her hands in her lap. "Tell me, Mister Naz...Nhz...Nazhzhalh," she paused as she attempted to get his name right, "What brings you to the Galileo? Did you request this position, or were you transferred?" she asked, curious as to the reason for his assignment.

Another clap came from the alien, this time it seemed more or less obvious he was amused. "You can call me Ziyal if it is easier, Captain Saalm," he told her, realizing he had neglected to mention the more simple form of his name in his greeting. "I got to choose between the Galileo and the Daystrom Institute research facility. I wanted to serve aboard a starship. It sounded much more exciting than at a research facility," he clicked out at a fast rate. "My purpose for coming to the Alpha Quadrant was to explore. It is easier to do that when you are exploring, not only interpreting data."

Lirha nodded, satisfied with Ziyal's logical thought process. "I completely agree with you." she replied. "And how do you feel about serving aboard a Nova Class starship?" she asked. "Unlike the larger and more versatile ships in the fleet, ours is much smaller and extremely specialized.". It was a question she asked of all her new crew, and she found it important to point out to them the rather unique and special nature of the Galileo.

"Yes, that was another reason why I wanted to come on board," Ziyal answered. He was examining the captain as she spoke. Green-skinned, dark-haired. A Vulcan? No, Orion, the intelligent part of his brain supplied. Ziyal snapped out of his internal reverie and elaborated. "It is a scientifically oriented vessel with both experimental and specialized technology, it seemed like a good place for me!"

"Indeed." she replied with a grin, "I think you will fit in nicely on board the ship. Have you had a chance to visit the Fleet Yards and see her up close?" she asked. It was truly a rare privilege to see a starship first-hand at a planetary drydock, let alone one which was a day away from launch.

"Yes, Captain," Ziyal confirmed as he gestured a bit with two of his arms. "I was on board to meet the chief of science and set up my quarters. I have just been working on unpacking my laboratory and some of my work," he told her easily.

"I trust Miss Barel was kind enough in welcoming you aboard?" she replied in reference to the Chief Science Officer. Lirha wasn't too familiar with the warrant officer, but she had seemed friendly enough during their beach encounter a couple days previously.

"Oh yes!" the W'qa'arr told her. "Very nice! She is Betazoid so it is easier to communicate with her than non-telepathic species," he said. "I hope that I will be able to serve your crew admirably, Captain," he added, once again for a brief moment slipping into a bit less hyperactive gerbil and more meaningful scientist.

"I think you'll do just fine, Mister Ziyal." she said, then adjusted herself in her chair to a more comfortable position. "Do you have any questions for me?" she asked, offering the crewman a chance to ask about any matters pertaining to the ship or her mission.

Thinking for a moment, Ziyal shrugged and then shook his head in the custom he'd become accustomed to noticing other species. "No, Captain! Not so far." He blinked at her, clicking away as he spoke. "Should I return to my duties?" he asked simply.

The captain nodded, "If you have no further questions, then you are dismissed." she said, standing up with a smile on her gold lips. "Welcome aboard, Crewman."

[OFF]

--

CMDR Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

CN Nazhzhalh
Biotechnologist, U.S.S Galileo 800100

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