S2 M3: The Okekai

[Jada]

[Main Shuttlebay]

"Surely you don't want her to drown," he said of the runabout, "There is a surprising amount of preparation needed for a spacecraft to function properly in an aquatic environment."

'We couldn't just bring a boat?' Jada wondered aloud, playing up the mock crticism.

He eyed her briefly, adding, "You look very good, by the way."

Jada smiled, enjoying the compliment. 'I clean up nicely.' Indeed, she'd had a nurse remove the last traces of the black eye and other bruises on her face, so as not to frighten the locals too much.

Taking a deep breath, he leaned close to her, "I'm sorry about my presumptions earlier, about our..."  He frowned, not sure how to proceed. "I've never even openly discussed with you about whether you'd like to see our friendship evolve... into something more." Noting that Petty Officer Rylu was nearby, he nodded towards her, "I have to see if she needs anything, but I do hope we can talk soon.  I hope..." What did he hope? "For a great many things."

Once again, Jada was surprised by Solluk's words, and once again, she couldn't think of anything worthwhile to say before he made his getaway. 'Uh, sure. Me too.' she said lamely. Damn it. There were Orion women who were exquisite seductresses, charming and always knowing the perfect thing to say. That took a lobubyal's lifetime of training. Then there were the ordinary Orion women like Jada, who just muddled through romance like everyone else. She supposed the Vulcan was resistant, if not immune to her Orion pheromones (something she hadn't noticed before coming to the Federation and being classified as a Type-4 biohazard). Orion women led in romance. She'd always been able to make her feelings and desires known to her intendeds before, without too much effort or thought, and the minimum of violence, but Solluk seemed as clueless as he was blind to it. He seemed to have planned and overthought it all, while Jada had gone in with no plan, only instinct and desire. Maybe their cultures were too different? But they had their similarities too. The warp-9 flirting of the Orion slave-girl was for tourists and scratching an itch. Among themselves, Orions indulged in mental games and enticing deceits to fall in love with each other's minds. Cunning and deception were very attractive skills. Maybe Vulcans did something similar? Jada wondered which would work here. Or maybe she should just hunt him down and capture him the old-fashioned way?

Jada approached Julia Rellek, saying 'Captain.' Thinking of cultural differences still, she surveyed the personnel in the retinue: science, medical, security, flight, engineering, ops, a full hand. But there was something missing. Jada remembered, well, okay, had heard of, gold-class banquets among the clan patriarchs and CEOs, great displays of food, music, and dancing girls against subtle duels of manners, pride, and calculated insult, against the interplay of the hostÁ¢â,¬"œhostage relationship. It was dangerous for an outsider to walk into, oblivious of the serpents. Jada was department head now, she could speak her mind. 'Captain, I'm worried we might make a... error in custom or protocol, and insult our hosts.' Okay, Jada was mostly afraid she would mess up and insult someone. 'Perhaps there's a first-contact advisor, xenoanthropologist, or counsellor who could assist us?'

[Solluk]

[Main Shuttlebay]

"Chief," Solluk acknowledged, mentally chastising himself for having overlooked the obvious, "of course."  A smile lightly brushed his lips a second time as she made the standard Vulcan salute.   He returned the gesture.  "I regret that I do not have the appropriate training to properly approximate a greeting according to your own heritage."

When she mentioned problems with the hydrophone- particularly a synchronization error- he arched a brow.  Device protocols were both advanced and largely automated in the modern age.  For two ostensibly compatible devices, issued or manufactured by the same service, to have a synch error was... unusual.  "I will make every effort to diagnose the problem."

Producing a tricorder, he set to work on examining the devices.  One of the first things he did was link the tricorder via wireless protocols to her devices and seize dumps of their diagnostic files for review.  The fact that he was able to synch them to his tricorder for the purpose of a file transfer suggested to him that the problem did not lie in a hardware malfunction.

As he worked, he attempted to make small talk, "I have heard from Crewman Ambrose, who shared a course with you at the Starfleet Technical Academy, that your acumen in the biological field is particularly advanced," he said, scrolling through the data, "and that you might easily have obtained officer rank had you opted for the more lengthy and broad training process associated with officers at the Academy on Earth."  Having finally undertaken the Officer Candidate course himself, Solluk had become acutely aware of talented enlisted personnel aboard who might benefit from the change as well.

He looked up from the data, "Your precision with these salinity and pressure settings- precisely accounting for the conditions at the appropriate depth of likely communication- suggests that Crewman Ambrose was correct in his observations about your intellectual prowess."   He made some adjustments to his tricorder, and then began transmitting a file back into her translator.  "And in fact, as I suspected from your reputation, you have made no errors in the assembly or configuration of this device.

He turned his tricorder- which he was now using as a simple file bridge between the ship's computer and her translator, so that she could see it.  He could have done this as easily with a PADD, but saw no reason to swap devices.  "One of the off-the-shelf components used in this assembly is somewhat dated.  A bios error in the 2388 edition of this chipset causes the device to drop out of custom diagnostic mode and switch over to the factory default test condition when test mode is engaged."

He gestured with his free hand, "This flaw does not usually impact function, except when a translator unit is tested for exotic environments.  Of course, there is no reason for you to have been aware of the bios problem unless you spend a great deal of time reading software update reports and technical journals.  When your unit dropped out of the custom diagnostic environment, a distortion was created that seemed very similar to a synchronization error.  And when you checked your custom protocols, they were all correct.  You had no way to know it was incorrectly defaulting to factory specifications and ignoring your custom settings."

He touched the wireless activity display indicator, "I am updating the bios to the current version, and that should solve the problem.  I will recommend running the software certification tool that Engineering stores in the public 'Software compatibility' folder in the future, whenever making assemblies on any components which have been in physical storage for more than 30 days.   These types of software updates and corrections are issued with somewhat alarming regularity.  Even our certification tool itself often receives updates, though we make sure to keep it current."

When the update was complete, he activated her device so that she could confirm the error had disappeared.

[James H. Hawk]

[Shuttlebay]

James was already ready to go, dress uniform and everything by the time the captain ordered him to the Shuttlebay. He hadn't worn this uniform before and it had been a while since he wore his old tactical one so it felt odd at first to wear the much more formal uniform. He liked it though and got used to it soon enough.

Once he arrived at the Shuttlebay he let the captain know he was ready before taking a look at the modified runabout. He was impressed at how the engineers had managed to modify it so quickly. The Tempest certainly had a skilled crew.

This mission was sure to be interesting. Starfleet had only very limited information of Okekai and the two species inhabiting it and they had only been seen outside of their small territory a few times. One of the few things that was known was that they were a major part of supplying the Dominion war effort with ships during the war. According to Starfleet Intelligence and the Diplomatic Corps they actually supported the Dominion out of choice as it was advantageous to them, rather than due to fear or force like many other species. This made their new King's invitation curious to James. He wasn't sure what to expect.

[Kintiss]

Dr. Kintiss, can you please report to the Bridge and take command.

[Ten Forward]

So much for a decent lunch. Time stopped for no snake, after all, and if they needed Kintiss in command, then he was at their disposal.

Hang on, did they say command? Things must be desperate if they wanted a neurotic reptile in the captain's chair. Surely there were more qualified candidates. Still, a command to take command was a command.

"On my way, Captain," he said, standing up and swiftly devouring his lunch in a single gulp. "Unfortunately, I'll have to go." A shame, too. He didn't get to socialise with the crew as much as he liked.

[Bridge]

One turbolift ride later, Kintiss arrived at the bridge, relieving Lieutenant Parks of duty. Naturally, his first act on the bridge was to get a Raktajino from the closest replicator. If anyone tried to challenge him on it, he had the excuse of being low on caffeine. Raktajino in hand, he finally took his seat in the captain's chair. It was comfortable to a degree, but, not being the Captain, he wasn't used to it.

"Ssstatusss report," was his first command. He was eager to know how the diplomatic party was doing. Hopefully, this whole thing was going to go off without a hitch. Of course, in his experience, it never did.

[Naga Rylu]

[Main Shuttlebay]

"Chief," Solluk acknowledged, mentally chastising himself for having overlooked the obvious, "of course."  A smile lightly brushed his lips a second time as she made the standard Vulcan salute.   He returned the gesture.  "I regret that I do not have the appropriate training to properly approximate a greeting according to your own heritage." 

She shook her head.  "It is quite alright.  I was not raised by my own species, so I likely would not recognize it at any rate."

When she mentioned problems with the hydrophone- particularly a synchronization error- he arched a brow.  Device protocols were both advanced and largely automated in the modern age.  For two ostensibly compatible devices, issued or manufactured by the same service, to have a synch error was... unusual.  "I will make every effort to diagnose the problem."

Producing a tricorder, he set to work on examining the devices.  One of the first things he did was link the tricorder via wireless protocols to her devices and seize dumps of their diagnostic files for review.  The fact that he was able to synch them to his tricorder for the purpose of a file transfer suggested to him that the problem did not lie in a hardware malfunction.

As he worked, he attempted to make small talk, "I have heard from Crewman Ambrose, who shared a course with you at the Starfleet Technical Academy, that your acumen in the biological field is particularly advanced," he said, scrolling through the data, "and that you might easily have obtained officer rank had you opted for the more lengthy and broad training process associated with officers at the Academy on Earth."  Having finally undertaken the Officer Candidate course himself, Solluk had become acutely aware of talented enlisted personnel aboard who might benefit from the change as well.

He looked up from the data, "Your precision with these salinity and pressure settings- precisely accounting for the conditions at the appropriate depth of likely communication- suggests that Crewman Ambrose was correct in his observations about your intellectual prowess."   He made some adjustments to his tricorder, and then began transmitting a file back into her translator.  "And in fact, as I suspected from your reputation, you have made no errors in the assembly or configuration of this device.

Well!  Naga was slightly surprised by the man's compliments, but very pleased.  "Thank you."  She replied.  "Actually, to be quite honest, I never expected to achieve the station I have now.  I expected to work quietly in the background, and perhaps I could find a way to make up for my... lack of power in the past.  The Humans here, for the most part, are nothing like what I grew up with, something that took me a while to grow accustomed to."

He turned his tricorder- which he was now using as a simple file bridge between the ship's computer and her translator, so that she could see it.  He could have done this as easily with a PADD, but saw no reason to swap devices.  "One of the off-the-shelf components used in this assembly is somewhat dated.  A bios error in the 2388 edition of this chipset causes the device to drop out of custom diagnostic mode and switch over to the factory default test condition when test mode is engaged."

He gestured with his free hand, "This flaw does not usually impact function, except when a translator unit is tested for exotic environments.  Of course, there is no reason for you to have been aware of the bios problem unless you spend a great deal of time reading software update reports and technical journals.  When your unit dropped out of the custom diagnostic environment, a distortion was created that seemed very similar to a synchronization error.  And when you checked your custom protocols, they were all correct.  You had no way to know it was incorrectly defaulting to factory specifications and ignoring your custom settings."

He touched the wireless activity display indicator, "I am updating the bios to the current version, and that should solve the problem.  I will recommend running the software certification tool that Engineering stores in the public 'Software compatibility' folder in the future, whenever making assemblies on any components which have been in physical storage for more than 30 days.   These types of software updates and corrections are issued with somewhat alarming regularity.  Even our certification tool itself often receives updates, though we make sure to keep it current."

When the update was complete, he activated her device so that she could confirm the error had disappeared.[/size]

She did test it promptly, and nodded in satisfaction, her tail swaying once behind her.  "Thank you very much, Lieutenant."  She said, tapping a claw next to her ear hole on the left side of her head.  "Part of traditional Gorn communication is subsonic, and it can be quite difficult to get technologies to weed out what is organic and what is merely ambient noise, so I admit apprehension when it comes to getting it adjusted.  This will work splendidly."

[Julia Rellek]

[Main Shuttlebay]

'We couldn't just bring a boat?' Jada wondered aloud, playing up the mock crticism.

Jada smiled, enjoying the compliment. 'I clean up nicely.' Indeed, she'd had a nurse remove the last traces of the black eye and other bruises on her face, so as not to frighten the locals too much.

Once again, Jada was surprised by Solluk's words, and once again, she couldn't think of anything worthwhile to say before he made his getaway. 'Uh, sure. Me too.' she said lamely. Damn it. There were Orion women who were exquisite seductresses, charming and always knowing the perfect thing to say. That took a lobubyal's lifetime of training. Then there were the ordinary Orion women like Jada, who just muddled through romance like everyone else. She supposed the Vulcan was resistant, if not immune to her Orion pheromones (something she hadn't noticed before coming to the Federation and being classified as a Type-4 biohazard). Orion women led in romance. She'd always been able to make her feelings and desires known to her intendeds before, without too much effort or thought, and the minimum of violence, but Solluk seemed as clueless as he was blind to it. He seemed to have planned and overthought it all, while Jada had gone in with no plan, only instinct and desire. Maybe their cultures were too different? But they had their similarities too. The warp-9 flirting of the Orion slave-girl was for tourists and scratching an itch. Among themselves, Orions indulged in mental games and enticing deceits to fall in love with each other's minds. Cunning and deception were very attractive skills. Maybe Vulcans did something similar? Jada wondered which would work here. Or maybe she should just hunt him down and capture him the old-fashioned way?

Jada approached Julia Rellek, saying 'Captain.' Thinking of cultural differences still, she surveyed the personnel in the retinue: science, medical, security, flight, engineering, ops, a full hand. But there was something missing. Jada remembered, well, okay, had heard of, gold-class banquets among the clan patriarchs and CEOs, great displays of food, music, and dancing girls against subtle duels of manners, pride, and calculated insult, against the interplay of the hostÁ¢â,¬"œhostage relationship. It was dangerous for an outsider to walk into, oblivious of the serpents. Jada was department head now, she could speak her mind. 'Captain, I'm worried we might make a... error in custom or protocol, and insult our hosts.' Okay, Jada was mostly afraid she would mess up and insult someone. 'Perhaps there's a first-contact advisor, xenoanthropologist, or counsellor who could assist us?'

[Shuttlebay]

"Excellent idea. Please contact Waters and have her join us, we need to get her down here quickly. Ian is ready to go." Julia chuckled at Ian's enthusiasm. "Go ahead and settle into pilots seat and start preflight. I want to leave when the Councilor arrives." She ordered.

[Shuttlebay]

After a relatively short turbo lift ride, Olivia stood outside the main door to the Shuttlebay suddenly feeling a little nervous about joining the away team until it swished open and she soon spotted a familiar figure near one of the shuttles. Happy that he was here especially when she realised that the Captain was amongst the group and decided that it was probably just as good a time as any to meet her properly.

Walking over she tried to calm her nerves but then again Kyle always had a calming influence over her and stopped in front of them and smiled " Captain, Commander " she said calling her husband by his official title then continued " Mrs Briggs reporting as requested".

"Olivia, I presume, you look stunning." Julia said as the volume of her voice raised. She extended her arms for a hug. "You look absolutely stunning. I hope your family is settling in okay." Julia asked.

[Jada]

[Main Shuttlebay]

'Ma'am.' Jada acknowledged, then stepped away. Finding a computer, she checked crew rosters and found that Waters was Doctor Isabella Waters, an ensign and counsellor, and currently on duty. And, as the picture showed, the woman who'd caught her eye earlier. 'Chief Jada to Doctor Waters. The captain needs you as an advisor at a diplomatic function on Okekai. Please meet us in Main Shuttlebay, ASAP. Dress uniform.'=/\=

She also commed to Bex speaking casually 'Hey, Bex. Jada here. The captain's asked me to tag along to this gig on Okekai. Good news: you're in charge until I get back. Bad news: you don't get a chair. Please send a few guys with aquatics training to provide security, just in case.'=/\= Regrettably, there were too few truly aquatic races in Starfleet, owing to the impracticality of the environment. Jada would've loved to have an armoured, sabre-tooth-turtle Chelon on her squad.

[Olivia Briggs]

[Shuttlebay]
"Olivia, I presume, you look stunning." Julia said as the volume of her voice raised. She extended her arms for a hug. "You look absolutely stunning. I hope your family is settling in okay." Julia asked.

[Shuttlebay]

Olivia had moved to her husband's side as more of the away team and other officers appeared not wanting to get in the way and still feeling a little bit out of place but as always having Kyle there beside her made things a whole lot better and knew she could handle pretty much anything with him being at her side.

Smiling when the Captain greeted her and complimented her outfit before reaching out to give her a hug which Olivia immediately accepted." Thank you Captain and please call me Liv" she replied looking to her husband for a moment " We are settling in very well, our son in particular loves the Daycare facility and you'll have to meet him sometime".

[Klizh]

She shook her head.  "It is quite alright.  I was not raised by my own species, so I likely would not recognize it at any rate."

Well!  Naga was slightly surprised by the man's compliments, but very pleased.  "Thank you."  She replied.  "Actually, to be quite honest, I never expected to achieve the station I have now.  I expected to work quietly in the background, and perhaps I could find a way to make up for my... lack of power in the past.  The Humans here, for the most part, are nothing like what I grew up with, something that took me a while to grow accustomed to."

She did test it promptly, and nodded in satisfaction, her tail swaying once behind her.  "Thank you very much, Lieutenant."  She said, tapping a claw next to her ear hole on the left side of her head.  "Part of traditional Gorn communication is subsonic, and it can be quite difficult to get technologies to weed out what is organic and what is merely ambient noise, so I admit apprehension when it comes to getting it adjusted.  This will work splendidly."

Shuttlebay

With everyone else preoccupied with the final tasks before setting out, K'lizh took the liberty of wandering away from the captain's side to drift over towards the science side of the expedition, coming up behind his best friend and brushing the back of his hand against hers and offering her a fond smile. Naga was chatting animatedly with friends and colleagues of her own; he was happy to see her social circle expanding. "Subsonic for humans, maybe. Every now and then you make a pitched noise in your sleep that wakes me up and puts my fur on end," he interjected.

[Isabella Waters]

'Ma'am.' Jada acknowledged, then stepped away. Finding a computer, she checked crew rosters and found that Waters was Doctor Isabella Waters, an ensign and counsellor, and currently on duty. And, as the picture showed, the woman who'd caught her eye earlier. 'Chief Jada to Doctor Waters. The captain needs you as an advisor at a diplomatic function on Okekai. Please meet us in Main Shuttlebay, ASAP. Dress uniform.'=/\=

[Mess Hall]

Izzy had barely picked up her PADD again when a call for her came through. She sat the PADD back down and looked around for a moment. Uh....yeah, okay. I'll be there in a moment. She stood immediately and left for her quarters to get changed into a dress uniform.

[Shuttlebay]

Izzy had always hated dress uniforms, they were uncomfortable and warm. She tugged at the tight uniform as she quickly made her way over to the group that had already been preparing to leave. Once near the group Waters came to the back of the group, waiting be addressed so as not to interrupt.

[Kyle Briggs]

[Shuttlebay]

Kyle took Liv by the hand. "You look amazing." he said to his wife before turning toward the CO. "Captain? Should the rest of us go a head and board?" he asked.

[Ian Galloway]

[Shuttle Eurphrates]

Ian sat at the conn station with all systems ready for departure as soon as everyone was aboard. He glanced out the windshield and noticed that there were several extraordinarily beautiful women aboard the Tempest.

He rolled his eyes at whatever Jada had done to her uniform, but if the captain and the first officer weren't going to do anything about it, it wasn't his place to say anything.

"One has ta wonder about that planet's customs ta turn a person into that. I'll take my women on the toned and feminine side. Speakin' of which, tis a shame that Jess couldn't make this trip. You want a woman that could outshine all the stars in the night sky, it would be her in a dress uniform."

He thought as he waited, rather bored at that. He hadn't been off the ship since he'd come aboard as a cadet and he was more than a little excited to be on an away mission.

"Cool yer jets Ian lad, not much longer."

He muttered and rechecked the flight plan from the Okekai for the lack of anything better to do.

[Jada]

[Main Shuttlebay]

Jada came over to greet the counsellor, finally making good on her attempt to say hi earlier and surreptitiously straightening her dress uniform. 'Dr Waters, hello. I'm Jada, Chief of Security. I'm afraid I might be the one who got you into this.' she admitted. 'We're going to meet the king of Okekai, there'll be, I don't know, banquets and ceremonies and stuff. I said to the captain a counsellor might save us from offending anybody.'

[Olivia Briggs]

[Shuttlebay]

Kyle took Liv by the hand. "You look amazing." he said to his wife before turning toward the CO. "Captain? Should the rest of us go a head and board?" he asked.

[Shuttlebay]

Liv smiled when Kyle then took her by the hand and complimented her " Thank you my love " she replied happily suddenly feeling a lot better at being here not only with the Captain's warm reception and hug but with the way her husband always made her feel so reassured and safe. Listening as he asked if they should go ahead and board the shuttle and for Liv this was certainly going to be different than the other shuttle journeys she had been on and actually started to look forward to reaching their destination.

[Naga Rylu]

Shuttlebay

With everyone else preoccupied with the final tasks before setting out, K'lizh took the liberty of wandering away from the captain's side to drift over towards the science side of the expedition, coming up behind his best friend and brushing the back of his hand against hers and offering her a fond smile. Naga was chatting animatedly with friends and colleagues of her own; he was happy to see her social circle expanding. "Subsonic for humans, maybe. Every now and then you make a pitched noise in your sleep that wakes me up and puts my fur on end," he interjected.

Naga looked down at her Caitian friend.  Typically, social conventions would demand she lightly shove his shoulder for teasing, but on the other hand, they were on duty, and he did outrank her.  "Maybe if you didn't sleep with your head on my chest, that wouldn't be as much of a problem."  She replied casually.