Diplomatic Talks

Posted on Sat 15th Apr, 2017 @ 9:22pm by Commander Zachary Hunt & Lieutenant Sianna Dal

884 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night
Location: Deck 12: XO's Office

Carefully applied make-up, a few tricks of the trade, and Sianna Dal looked as fresh and rested as she always had - in spite of the past few days, sleepless nights and the incessant demands of puffed-up pretenders trying to make themselves seem important and powerful when they were anything but. Some symptoms couldn't be covered up, so the Orion kept her hands firmly clasped behind her back - that no-one could see them shaking.

An unfortunate crewman scurried out of the way of the diplomat - dress billowing in ways that shouldn't be possible on a station, looking more like a storm-cloud than a person. It was theatre for the most part, though Sianna was ... annoyed. The strictures of Starfleet cutting into her own time by endless reports and command hierarchies when all she wanted was to get to a bed.

Still, when in Rome - the diplomat presented herself before the Commander with a humourless smile.

"Ahh, Lieutenant Dal, I've been eagerly awaiting you. How are we with the talks?" Hunt asked the diplomat.

"The talks are over - most of our guests should be leaving in the morning." the Orion kept her tone neutral, "The important ones, at least."

Hunt let out a smile, "Least they're finally over, we have had enough problems to last for the rest of the year. Problems seem to find Vanguard. Anyway, how did the talks go?" He had pretty much handed the talks to Dal to handle. He felt a little bad about it considering how long they took, but still, that's what they were all there for.

The Orion looked like she'd bitten into a lemon, "As well as could be expected. A great deal of posturing, numerous issues of culture and approach. It will take years to get anything out of the barbarians." there was a bit more heat to the last word than intended - Sianna paused, her expression forced back to neutrality, "A document will be crossing your desk for approval - they requested space on the station for a consulate. Our proverbial foot in the door."

"Yeah that should be approved. Were there any difficulties between the two species?"

"Some. Isolationism tends to produce rather narrow view-points. The consulate was our proposal, in fact, a way to gradually expose their citizens to the galactic community in a more controlled environment than simply depositing them on Earth. A cure for xenophobia via exposure, so to speak. Even if a station is but a pale echo of Earth's splendour." the diplomat let out a wistful sigh - made a note to visit next time she could, "The issue of convergent evolution is also to be investigated by a joint commission. Any results will take years and, depending on the results, we might find a few additional citizens on the station, particularly if the results are public and uncomfortable enough."

Hunt nodded as Dal spoke, taking it all in, "So what do you think the future will be like for them? And do you think any other issues will come up later on down the line?"

The diplomat shrugged, "Only time will tell. They might grow and adapt or the exposure to foreign cultures makes their civil disturbances worse. They already had problems with militant isolationists, those could grow a great deal worse." Even with Federation aid, and there would be Federation aid - never operating openly, there was never any shortage of rumours of such operations, but never evidence, "It might be wise to advise Security to keep a close eye on the consulate and anyone visiting. Someone might choose to couch their objections to a changing world in high explosives and shrapnel."

"God, security is always stretched so thin on this station," Hunt said his thoughts out loud, quickly bringing the subject matter back on track. "I hate the phrase only time will tell. It means I have to wait to see and also means we don't know the long term affect of everything until it happens. I thought these talks might have provided more excitement." He mused.

"I sometimes wish I had chosen engineering. They say that a warp core is a hundred thousand interlocking parts, each of which can break with catastrophic consequences." it was a rare moment of honesty - possibly driven by exhaustion, "Societies are much the same way, except there is no manual, no possibility of knowing which parts are inside and no way to assess their condition before everything explodes. All I can advise is wait and prepare for the worst." Sianna offered a dry, humourless smile, "That way, we can only be pleasantly surprised."

"That would provide more excitement anyhow, in a different kind of way. By that point of waiting I could be long gone by then!" He let out a wry smile. "Was there anything else that needed discussing today Lieutenant?"

The diplomat pursed her lips in thought, "Nothing that can't wait until tomorrow." after a moment's pause, she added, hands tightening behind her back until the knuckles were almost white, "Late tomorrow - I believe I will rather sleep the first shift and take the second. Talks can be rather exhausting and I don't have a human's endurance."

"Thank you Lieutenant," Hunt closed the conversation, watching as Sianna left his office.

 

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