Worries

Posted on Sat Feb 1, 2014 @ 2:03pm by

691 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: A Whole New World, Part 2 - Durbatuluk
Location: Shuttlebay
Timeline: After the Imlad's arrival

Blackburn watched as the delegation left. As soon as the doors closed shut, she let out an audible sigh. She hated people who took pride in material possessions and money. Her eyes turned to Imlad's shuttle and she approached it with crossed arms. She didn't trust the Imlad due to the fact their scanners couldn't make sense of a lot of Imlad's equipment.

After making sure the Raeru were being properly conducted to their quarters, Dakar turned and took in alien shuttle. He'd never seen anything quite like it. It really was a much a work of art as a spacecraft. Unfortunately, matter how nice the surface may be, he didn't know anything about what was past it. Security work came with a certain level of inborn paranoia. He glanced at Blackburn. Intelligence...

He walked up to her and spoke softly. "Ma'am? Any chance you could get some data on that thing's interior? Just as a precaution, of course."

Blackburn turned her head to see that Ensign Dakar had come up to him. Being a Cardassian serving Starfleet, she had taken an interest when she came across his profile while looking to know more about the senior staff and their assistants. "I have my team in the Comunicore scanning it constantly. If anything abnormal pops up, they'll inform me." She approached the shuttle and ran her hand across the shuttle's hull. "I'll have them inform you and your team as well."

"I'd appreciate that." He ran his eyes over the shuttle. He'd never seen anything quite like it. The few ships that had run to the refugee colony where he'd grown up had been aging, barely flying rustbuckets, and nothing in Starfleet was quite so...decorative. "If they put as much work into function as they do form, this thing could probably outfly and and outfight half the fleet."

"I doubt that. Rarely are powerful vessels beautifully decorated. Take the Borg for example--powerful and ugly. But I don't trust a person claiming to be a religious leader and yet decorate his shuttle in such a fashion. You'll stand out wherever you'd go. That's a big security risk for someone supposedly so important. Why would he attract attention to himself in such a way?"

"From a security perspective, that's true enough. However, when you deal with VIP protection, there's often concerns beyond the practical, much as their security details may lament it. Leaders, religious figures, people like that, they usually feel the need to project a kind of image. The Heru did say something about color pleasing his 'Creator'. Who knows, maybe all of this," he said, gesturing toward the shuttle and its ornate designs, "is all designed to garner some kind of divine favor."

"Possibly. Thankfully my God doesn't require our people to display such things." She recalled how her parents had tried to teach the old ways religion to her and her brother when she was young such as the Talking God, Changing Woman, and the Corn People.

“Neither do the Prophets. There are certain ritual icons, as well as the traditional vestments of prylars, ranjens, and vedeks, but for the most part they ask only for the honor of their children. The Kai certainly never had anything like this.”

"Outside of the Ferengi, I've never heard of a leader focusing on color and displaying wealth." Blackburn finally turned and faced Dakar. "What is your take on the Raeru?"

"Well, they aren't shy about their opinions, are they? Coming on board, especially when we're helping them, and immediately telling the Captain what they find wrong with the ship... that took some serious gall."

"Yes it did." Blackburn was sure her team was on top of things in the Communicore. "You or your team need any help here in the bay?"

The Cardasssian looked around the bay and saw security officers already taking their positions. "I believe we have things in hand, at least for the moment. I would appreciate your people keeping their sensors on this thing, though."

Blackburn nodded. "Will do, ensign." She turned and walked out of the shuttlebay after one last look at the shuttle.

 

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