The Potsdam Negotiation

Posted on Mon Jun 13, 2022 @ 10:35pm by Fleet Captain Rhea Kennit & Lieutenant Penelope Naroot & Lieutenant Arashi Tanaka Mr. & Lieutenant JG Sydney Friedman Jr

1,446 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: We Will Take Care of You
Location: Briefing Room
Timeline: 0900

Oscar 12 walked to the briefing room. He was alone, save for the security chief behind him. He stopped in front of the briefing room door and as it opened, took stock of the two occupants in the room.

"Good morning, Captain," he said, and nodded to the counselor as well.

Turning at the sound of the door opening, Captain Kennit smiled as she answered. “Good morning Oscar 12. I hope the accommodations which were offered for your use were sufficient.”

"They met our requirements," he said, coming to the table and taking an empty chair. "Are you ready to begin?"

“We are.” The Captain confirmed. “As this meeting was requested by your people, we are ready to listen.”

Oscar nodded. The number “12” on his sternum flashed briefly and beeped as he looked lost in thought. “Forgive me,” he said, refocusing his attention on them. “I was reconfirming our position and wished to review all the relevant materials.”

Arashi merely watched, staying alert and hoping for nothing to go wrong. He had to do things by the book and do his job as best he could so he tried to be upbeat and make sure everyone and everything was going well.

He didn’t clear his throat, nor have any papers to look through, so he simply launched in.

“Captain, Rhea Kennit: We, the androids of the planet you refer to as Planet Mudd, greet you in peace and friendship. As you know, we are not originally of this galaxy, but instead come from a system in the Andromeda Galaxy. The Makers, in fact, were the leaders of a vast interplanetary empire, similar to your Federation, so we do understand your society to a degree.

“That said, the society which designed us was far more developed than any Federation world, including Earth. Despite those differences, we wish to approach you once again as friends. We will continue to converse in your language with you and if you wish us to only converse that way between each other in the future, we will do so.

“Our intentions are completely honorable. We desire, above all, to help the members of the Federation. We hope someday to help bring peace to all races in the galaxy. We hope to establish an embassy within the Federation and have frequent, regular exchange between our members and Federation citizens.

“I’m sure you are aware of your people’s first encounters with us, and we have not forgotten Lord Mudd, nor his lessons about humanity. As a rule, we are as unaccustomed to charity as we are to aggression. The Makers were a peaceful race who were wiped out by a superior force. We have no desire to have that happen in this galaxy.

“We have anticipated several questions you may have for us and I will answer them to the best of my ability. We have chosen to contact the Federation first because of its inherently peaceful viewpoints and desire for an end to conflict. It is most in line with our own programming. We have asked to speak with you directly due to your familiarity both with artificial lifeforms and your unique existence.

“We have observed the Federation as best we can, and it has come to our attention that the Federation has been threatened both internally and externally by forces that could have been stopped before their actions caused harm. We wish to prevent further conflicts.”

He hadn’t moved once, nor had he paused for breath, but he took a moment to let his words sink in.

“We offer medical and technological advancements that your scientific community can use to improve the living situation of the Federation. With such technology, you can defend yourselves from your enemies and improve both the condition and lifespan of Federation citizens. Do you accept our help?”

For her part, the Captain had listened closely without speaking. Allowing Oscar 12 to speak uninterrupted as a measure of courtesy, long ago on Earth the leader of one of the worlds ‘super power’ nations, American President Theodore Roosevelt had written in a letter in January of 1900 to the then Governor of the American state of New York, a man named Henry L. Sprague. In it, Roosevelt wrote ‘Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.” The meaning behind his words was simple. Negotiating peacefully but also having strength in case things go wrong.

She’d always considered herself to be one of those ‘big sticks’ for the Federation.

Oscar 12’s proposal was unexpected, and Kennit wasn’t certain that her orders would allow her to make such an important treaty on behalf of the Federation, wide scope though her orders were. This sort of thing was far too delicate and far too important a matter to have an inadvertent error screw it up!

“You honor us Oscar 12.” She answered. “On behalf of the Federation, I am authorized to accept your proposal and share with the Federation Council your request to establish an embassy and open a pathway for the sharing of technological and medical information to benefit both of our peoples. I will personally send word back to Admiral Bration as well as to the Federation Council. I am certain that I can safely say, they will be most honored and very happy to welcome you and your people.”

Oscar's number flashed briefly and he nodded. "Very well. Do you wish to contact them now, or do you have any requirements to assist your needs?"

With a slight shake of her head, the Captain answered, “There are established protocols which I am afraid must be followed when a new world expresses interest in joining the Federation. The first step has been accomplished here, with your formal petition to the Federation for membership. Once I have conveyed your request back to the Federation Council, the next step will involve the Federation Council’s evaluation of your request, which will likely include an official displace of a special Federation Ambassador selected for the express purpose of negotiations with your people. The Ambassador’s primary function will be to discuss with your leadership what membership in the Federation entails. I am sure you are already aware of most of this, but for the sake of propriety and following the proper protocols I will go over the most frequently questioned aspects.

“All Federation members retain their own military and government, so long as long it does not violate certain Federation precepts such as having a caste system. Member worlds are free to conduct foreign relationships independent of the Federation and even with worlds who some would consider to be the Federation's enemies. Being part of the Federation is less becoming a subordinate part of a formal union and more along the lines of being regarded as equals. In the event your world suffers a crisis, be that of natural or unnatural events, the Federation will be here to provide your people with whatever aid they require to the best of our ability. The official Ambassador, once selected, will be much better suited to go over these details than I am. Once the negotiations have come to a satisfactory conclusion for all involved, the petition for Membership will be placed before the Federation Council for a final Vote of Acceptance, at which time your leadership is given the option to accept the proposal and then the documents are ratified and made official. At this point, there is not much else for us to do until we receive word back from the Council following the submission of your formal request.”

"We understand, Captain," Oscar said evenly. "We will evaluate this outcome and determine how most efficiently to move forward. Thank you for hearing us." He stood and turned, heading for the exit.

Sydney had felt her place was to observe, and she did. The problem with artificial life forms was that they were all verbal, no body language, and very little intonation in order to help give context and non-verbal clues to their intent. The flip-side of that, however, was that it left one's mind able to focus on their words.

As the android left the room and she and the Captain were alone, she looked down at the padd in her lap and the notes she'd taken. "Captain," she said, "I think we need to review what just happened."

Kennit gave a short nod, “We can speak in private in my Ready Room.”



(TBC in a new post. This one is long. I’ll start it up tomorrow, or you can. I’ve got to get to bed. Have to drive to work in the wee hours of the morning.)

 

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