Diplomacy?

Posted on Wed Feb 19th, 2020 @ 6:19am by Commander Taeler Santu M.D. & Commodore Jacob Kane & Hamilton Broll

Mission: In the Family
Location: Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: MD-06
884 words - 1.8 OF Standard Post Measure

The young Federation Envoy was sandwiched between the two senior officers as they practically escorted him into Kane's ready room. It felt like they were going to take him out back and snuff him like gangsters. The tension was practically palpable.

Kane motioned for the young man to take a seat. His ready room, being somewhat smaller than most, only had a couple of seats available opposite the desk, so Hamilton nervously alighted and glanced at the two apparently stern officers.

"So, Envoy Broll. Let's talk about the mission," Kane said. "My orders were minimal. Had I received word we might actually have been under real threat things might have turned out differently, particularly in regards to the Ambassador."

Hamilton swallowed. "Well, Captain sir. This is my first assignment. I'm supposed to-"

"I'm not finished," Kane spoke over him. "Our intelligence on the Paratans is apparently limited. I need you to tell me what you do know."

"Oh. Well, I do have plenty of files on them over on the Glory, but I can tell you what I did find out. Okay, so they're a relatively newly warp-capable species. Monarchic, and fiercely matriarchal. Their ruler is Queen Sarissa IV. She inherited the crown from her mother." Hamilton paused, fearing an interruption that didn't come. "Anyway, the Paratans aren't really that fond of men, per-se. As I said, fiercely matriarchal. Lady Hortensia was chosen as liaison because of her, well, her personality seemed to suit their unique culture. I mean if you thought she was bad, wait until you hear about..." He laughed nervously, but stopped the train of thought.

"So you're saying that if I try to interact directly with the Paratan royalty I'm more likely to cause a diplomatic incident than avert one?" Kane asked.

"Oh, I'd say so, sir," Hamliton nodded enthusiastically. "They're really particular about how men should act in their presence."

Kane looked over at Santu. "Well, Lieutenant Commander, I suppose we really will have to find out how much of your diplomatic training you remember. Thoughts on how you'd like to proceed?"

Santu swallowed a lump in her throat, this whole thing was spinning out of control quite a lot faster than she could've foreseen, "I guess we should start with assembling a diplomatic envoy. And I'd need to have all the files you have on these people, in order to prepare. I don't want to step on any toes." She mentally started to prepare herself for the task at hand. Were it not for the fact that she was woefully unprepared for it, it would've actually been something she might've looked forward to.

"Mister Broll, I'm putting you at Lieutenant Commander Taeler's disposal. Until we have an official Ambassador, you work for her," Kane explained. "We'll arrive at Paratus IV in less than 12 hours. Between the two of you I'd suggest putting together a landing party - preferably female - while the rest of us work on any leads that come out of those ships that attacked us."

With a nod towards Jacob, Santu agreed that this was the best course of action, "Do you have any suggestions as to who would be suitable for this team?" She was thinking of taking Dessame and Savin, for their expertise. She then also realised that taking Savin meant his aide would come along, which meant more men would be on the team than women, so she'd have to balance them out. "I was thinking Dessame, Savin and Thy'lissa."

"Agreed. We'll need Lt Commander Reisen here in case a senior female officer is required on the ship. Lieutenant Mortigar also has an experienced officer in his staff, should you need someone with an additional skill set," Kane noted. "I realise this is a lot more than you bargained for when you joined the crew, Santu; Know that I'm here to assist you as much as needed."

Hearing the commander call her by her given name gave Santu pause for a moment, she wondered if she should say something about it, but then decided against it, "Oh. I'll definitely make use of that, sir." She was just hoping she'd be able to transfer her experiences over to these negotiations, though it would probably be difficult to remain objective, "Are you ready to brief me, Mister Broll, or do you need some additional time to prepare?"

"N-now?" The young man scratched his head awkwardly. He glanced between the expectant officers. "I guess I can pull together our notes." He stood unsteadily. "Give me thirty minutes?"

"Remember, you've prepared for this," Santu gave him an encouraging smile, even though she didn't quite feel it herself either, "I'll be waiting in the conference lounge on deck one."

"Mmkay." Hamilton scurried out of the room as though being dismissed from the principal's office with a slap on the wrist.

"12 hours, Lieutenant Commander. Make it work," Kane nodded finally.

"As we used to say back home, 'what's the alternative?'" The implied response was 'to roll over and die', which each and every one of her resistance, and imprisoned, friends stubbornly refused to do. That's what earned them their freedom back.

[OFF]

Commander Jacob Kane
Commanding Officer
USS Athena

Lieutenant Commander Taeler Santu
Executive Officer
USS Athena

Hamilton Broll
Federation Envoy
(PNPC Kane)