The Klingons Come to Dinner, Part III

Posted on Mon 31st Oct, 2022 @ 9:42pm by Lieutenant Commander Dallas Briggs & Lieutenant Commander Kiara Lena & Commander Zed & Miadze Palel & Daeren Iril & Krell House of Mer'uk & T'Vala & Tessanna (Tessa) Valeri

1,262 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: The Hunted
Location: Helicon III
Timeline: MD 2, 1900 hours

Previously ...

In spite of the earlier conference, Tessanna expected the dinner to be rather boring--and it was, until the Federation Ambassador arrived. She wasn't a telepath or even an empath, but she could feel the change in the room. She wished she had popcorn. No. She would be tempted to throw it, like she was at an old melodrama. No. it was better for her to remain unnoticed near the end of the table and watch. She carefully took out a PADD and began to take notes--even though she doubted T'Vala would miss anything.

T'Vala noted Tessa's actions and gave her an almost imperceptible nod of approval.

The dinner grew increasingly more tense as it progressed. Kiara hated to admit it, but she was enjoying watching everyone's reactions to her sudden arrival. She frequently engaged the representatives from the planet in conversation, asking them about their different colonies and how they were doing.

Marda was secretly amused at the Federation diplomat. She wasn't sure why the woman had been delayed so long, but she suspected there was a story she wanted to hear. She took a sip of her wine and pretended disinterest as she listened and tried to put the pieces together. But so far, there were too many missing ones for it to make sense.

When the meal was over, Kiara gave each of the ambassadors and faction leaders a copy of what she'd learned about the planet and the mountain. "When we meet tomorrow, we'll discuss this. Then I will tell you what caused my delay. Or should I say, who?" She smiled pleasantly, knowing she was stirring up a hornet's nest. But, after all she'd been through, she felt like causing a little trouble in return.

Lt. Regos stood back, watching Krell, listening to the ambassador, wondering what the story was. She had a plan for now, and hoped Krell would be amenable to having a chat when he was through with the diplomatic duties of the moment. That was as far as her plan went for now, but she had an idea that some of the people she had listened to this evening simply had an axe to grind ... or maybe being troublemakers was in their gene buffer, always waiting to be activated. She didn't feel good about a few of them.

Miadze observed the delegates and glanced at Iril. "What do you think of it all?"

"I think much is going unsaid and that I will have a lot of detailed reading to do tonight. Lena is going to drop a bombshell tomorrow, and Krell's contingent knows about it. At least my symbiont will be happy."

Miadze frowned. "So you aren't planning to sleep?"

"Not a bit." Iril slid the isolinear chip Commander Lena had given him into a pocket. "I might be walking the corridors, too."

Krell held back his emotions and resisted the urge to plunge his dagger into the chest of a couple of the delegates and simply smiled and wished them a good night to keep the peace, for now. The Captain of the Amar and his First Officer stood beside Krell remaining silent, watching.

Zed stood in the background listening and watching intently as the delegates departed one by one.

Kiara made eye contact with each of the representatives as they walked out of the room. She was enjoying this far more than she should. And, if it made her a target, all the better. She was tired of the games and tired of being used. When they were gone, she relaxed her vigil, although she doubted she'd sleep tonight.

Making her way through the Starfleet contingent, Lissi relaxed only slightly as all the delegates to the dinner were finally gone. There was still some tension in the room, and she felt it was justified. There were hinky things going on with these people, and she'd as soon have stayed home as take the opportunity to splash in a bigger pool. She came up on Krell's left side and waited for him to acknowledge her presence.

"It's good to see you, lieutenant," Krell said without looking at her. "What have you learned so far?" he then asked.

"Other than that I never want to be a diplomat?" she smiled slightly before continuing. "I've chatted casually with three different groups. They all seem to think they have a legitimate claim to the mountain in question. Even if it blew their top at them, and could have extinguished all three groups, they still want to argue who gets it. Why can't they just divide it into three sections, each take a part and get back to healthy trade and commerce, so we can go home?" It was really a rhetorical question, because no one ever in the history of her species had taken that peaceful approach, and she didn't expect these people would, either.

"Also, I think one group doesn't really have a good claim, and I think they know it, but they are purposely stirring the waters. To what end, I don't know, but something is not quite right. I can't exactly put my finger on which group's claim is bogus, though. You, being Klingon, probably understand this kind of political maneuvering much better than I do. Can you tell who is a natural-born troublemaker in this group?" Lissi asked, truly curious.

"We should put them in a ring and let them fight for it. The winner takes all. Unfortunately, that is not the way of the Federation even though it is much simpler. I could not reveal anything just yet, however, tomorrow’s meeting should be fruitful and give me some insight into the thinking of the delegates bringing us closer to the ones involved in the attack on Commander Lena. They will pay for that," Krell said.

Regos winced at Krell's tone. She definitely didn't want to be in the shoes of the person the Klingon decided was responsible for the diplomat's abduction.

Kiara glanced at Lissi and Krell, then went slowly around the table. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she wanted to see if anything was left behind. When she found nothing, she nodded to the others. She still had preparations to make before the meeting in the morning. If any of them had questions, they knew where to find her.

Krell followed Kiara's gaze, "Commander, perhaps we should contact New Zealand and have them send down a team to collect DNA samples from the delegate's glasses so we can verify their identities. Other than that, I'm not sure what it would accomplish."

"Oh, excellent thought, Ambassador! You know, not everything or everyone might be what appearances tell us. Wouldn't it be interesting if someone's identity didn't match the evidence you thought to collect? Shall I contact the ship, or will you? They'd probably work faster if you did than if I do," she shrugged, acknowledging how higher rank earned higher respect and faster service.

"That does sound very interesting," Zed said before she tapped her comm badge, =A=This is Commander Zed, send down a forensics team to sweep the room. I want verification of everyone's identity verified with the historical records, Zed out.=A= She glanced back to the others, "Sadly records can still be altered. I recommend testing the historical files for inconsistencies or any irregularities that may display that the files may have been tampered with. However, the dignitaries might just take this as an intrusion and find it insulting."

...What could happen to the diplomats next?

 

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