The Delegation

Posted on Sat Apr 16, 2022 @ 10:44pm by Lieutenant Penelope Naroot & Commander Cullen Walker & Lieutenant Commander Miguel Torres & Lieutenant Commander Zachary Addams & Lieutenant Arashi Tanaka Mr. & Lieutenant JG Aergad Halvor & Lieutenant JG Ardal King & Lieutenant JG Sydney Friedman Jr & Senior Chief Petty Officer Samantha Summers & Fleet Captain Rhea Kennit & Lieutenant JG Markus Davenport

1,518 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: We Will Take Care of You
Location: In Orbit of Tau Upsilon III
Timeline: 0745 hours

Penny had decided she didn't want to do another bridge night shift, but instead wanted to appear "fresh and ready" when the delegation arrived. She walked onto the bridge and tapped Markus Davenport on the shoulder. He immediately stood up and nodded. "All yours, Boss." She sat down at her station and slaved the Ops controls into it, relieving the crewman at the rear of the bridge. She checked the sensors. The ship was eight-point-seven minutes away. She counted twenty-three distinct emotions going through her, and she wasn't sure if the primary one was excitement, or worry.

Zach stepped onto the bridge and made his way around the rear to his station, sitting down and checking in with Sickbay, then turning and watching the bridge, legs crossed casually.

Sydney followed shortly after, sitting near one of the forward stations, wanting to see everything.

Walker sent a message to the Captain.

Warned by the report from the Bridge that the Android ship was only minutes away now, the Captain exited her Ready Room and crossed the large bridge space to take her place on the command level. “Status report.” Captain Kennit said as she took her seat.

Walker answered, "We are inside of 30 minutes."

“Very good. Do we have them on visual yet?” Kennit asked.

"Aye, Captain," Penny said.

After having breakfast with Rhea, Miguel was already on the bridge since he knew they'd be meeting the ship soon. It was strange, after all he had seen in his life. Times like this he still felt a bit nervous. When he heard Rhea come onto the bridge he turned towards the front of the bridge.

Walker answered, "On screen. Please send out the preliminary greeting." He did a final check with all Departments.

Penny activated the viewscreen and magnified the image. It was still a ways out so their magnification didn't allow for much detail, but the ship was headed towards them and it looked...practically built. There wasn't much artistry to it, but rather quite a bit of function, although what aesthetics there were did not relate to many human senses of style, but more likely reflected the Makers of the androids, and they had copied it.

"Greeting sent," Penny said, then waited a moment. "No response."

"Perhaps they don't see the need for small talk," Sydney said. "They know we know why they're here. Pre-talking may seem unnecessary."

Summers lifted one eye lid before speaking. "Perhaps they're waiting to see if we're finished trying to contact them? They may be as curious about us as we are of them. "

"She makes a good point," Sydney said. "The more input we give them, the more they learn about us for negotiations."

‘Or they don’t like the recorded standard message,” Kennit said softly. “Put me on the comm, open all channels.”

Penny took a deep breath and hit the button. “Channels open, Captain.”

“This is Captain Rhea Katrijn Kennit, Commanding Officer of the Federation Starship Victory, hailing the inbound vessel approaching our location. Please respond.”

Penny couldn't quite keep the surprise out of her voice. "They're responding." She routed the channel to the viewscreen. A moment later, a spartan bridge with dove-grey walls appeared. There were androids sitting at stations evenly spaced around the cylindrical bridge, and in the center was a plain, high-backed chair. There were control panels on either side and it swiveled around to reveal a light-brown-haired male humanoid in a white jumpsuit.

"I am Oscar Twelve," he said, "spokesman for the delegation." His voice was monotone and passive, his posture straight and functional. He did not smile, nor frown, nor incline his head in greeting. Once he finished talking, he sat there expectantly, offering no further cues.

“Oscar Twelve.” the Captain said. “The data provided to me by Starfleet Command was incomplete. What is your purpose here? Why did you specifically request to meet with me?”

"We are here to negotiate a peace arrangement with the Federation. You were requested as you were deemed essential to these negotiations," Oscar said.

Summers raised her right eyebrow. "Captain, by 'essential,' does he mean our ship, or us, or both?"

Walker motioned for her to wait.

Oscar 12 tilted his head, the number on his collarbone flashing briefly. "Our calculations indicate that this crew should be involved in the negotiations in order to facilitate the most favorable outcome for both sides," he said, then looked back at Kennit. "We will have a delegation ready for transport when we arrive." With that, the transmission ended.

Walker answered, "Well, that was pragmatic and susinct." His skillset was reading body language and speech patterns. He knew something was off, but couldn't place it. "Summers, in negotiations, different aspects are taken into account, Culture, Religion, Local Customs, Intelligence levels, and Social Status. Everything is relevant. I've seen Androids that that defer to processing speed and storage capacity. As if the ability to process faster makes you better, at least for certain tasks."

For her part, the Captain wanted to order Penny back to the Ready Room then grill the Lieutenant for her impressions of Oscar 12, however doing that would immediately set off curiosity among the crew thus…. She had to quell that particular impulse.

“That was.. different.” Kennit said. “Time until they arrive?”

Penny checked her boards. "Just under twenty minutes," she said.

Something about this just set off her nerves, though she couldn’t put a finger on it. Not yet. “Mr. Tanaka. Make certain that all ship's systems are locked down and inaccessible to anyone not part of the ships crew. If one of them attempts to access our computers, I want the system locked down immediately and a silent notification sent to Security as well as myself and the XO.”

"Aye, captain. Will get on that right away." Arashi said and started to lock down access to all systems and made sure that the only he and the senior officers, starting with the captain and going down the chain of command. After a few minutes, he had finished his work. "Captain, the systems are locked down and only the crew of the ship can get at them. Do you need me to do anything else or do you need me to stand by?" Arashi asked as he finished his typing on his computer.

“Stay alert and monitor the computer network for any indication that someone is attempting to gain access. Our soon to arrive guests are likely quite skilled at accessing computer systems, lets make sure if someone tries we know about it.” Kennit answered.

---

Eighteen minutes later, the ship dropped out of warp in front of them. The size of it forced Penny to scale back the view magnification several times, and even then it was difficult to get the entire ship in the screen. "Captain," she said after an alert went off, "they are launching a shuttle. It's on course for our main shuttlebay."

“I guess we are going to have guests shortly.” the Captain said. “Alright then. Number One,” she said with a look at Walker. “You’re with me. Mr. Tanaka, I want you to keep sensors on ur guests at all times. Miss Naroot, you have the conn.” The Captain began to walk toward the turbolift, then paused. With a shake of her head, she tapped her comm badge and said “Kennit to Commander Logan. Our guests will be arriving in the main shuttle bay in just a few minutes. If you are inclined, join us there.”

As the Captain stood and moved to the turbolift, Penny stood up quickly and turned towards the Captain's chair, sitting down in it and doing her best not to look nervous. Markus Davenport dropped into her seat at the helm, and another crewman took over Ops at a backup station.

Sydney frowned then quickly stood up and crossed the bridge. "Permission to join, Captain?"

The Captain gave a quick nod, “If you would like, certainly.”

Zach stood as well, making his way to the turbolift. "I wouldn't mind getting a look at them as well," he said, conversationally.

“Keep in mind this is a serious diplomatic envoy. We will treat our guests with utmost respect.” the Captain warned.

"I promise not to gawk," Zach said. "I've just never seen an android of this type up close; I'm curious." He stepped into the turbolift and stood next to Sydney.

Penny ducked her head a bit, glad her hair was long enough to cover her blushing and doubly glad the bridge had most of the remaining stations behind her, and Markus had his back to her.

As the turbolift doors closed, she sat back in the center chair and stared at the viewscreen. As the shuttle approached, all she could think was, I wonder if they...will.....[unit synchronization subroutine initiated]

Markus Davenport turned from the helm to see what Penny thought of their new neighbors, but she appeared lost in thought, staring at the viewscreen. He turned his attention back to his work and nodded to himself. He had to agree, the whole thing was fascinating.

 

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