An Opportunity To Shine

Posted on Mon 23rd Jul, 2012 @ 7:31am by

1,189 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: http://sb109.sim-station.net/index.php/sim/missions/id/2
Location: Orchids & Jazz, Deck 400
Timeline: Diplomat Arrival Minus One Day

As the merchants from the Promenade Association filed upstairs to the loft of her jazz club, Jade counted heads, and made mental notes of who was attending. It looked like a full house, including the book store owner, the jeweler, the Romulan restauranteur, and even the Marine bar manager. She wasn't quite sure why the pet groomer had come, but perhaps he was hoping to sell some animals to the visitors. She tried to picture one of the aliens whose picture she had seen, at home in their water environment, petting a Terran cat or an Altairian wilderbeaste. It caused a slight smile as she waited for the attendees to settle in their seats.

Reon and Kaz'Dek had arranged chairs in rows for the meeting, with much complaint from the Klingon about such duties not being mentioned in his contract, and being beneath a Warrior. He'd done his share, however, and she suspected it was mostly for form's sake that he'd complained at all.

Serena and Jenna passed among the proprietors and managers, handing out lemon cokes, the standard non-alcoholic beverage served by Jade at meetings. No one had yet complained about it. When everyone had settled in their seats and quieted, the meeting began.

"I thought I'd share with you the little information available on our diplomatic visitors," she began. "If you'll direct your attention to the wall on your left, I'll project a picture Starfleet provided of an Emorite." Heads swiveled to the left and the picture went up on the wall. "As you can see, though they are considered semi-aquatic, they do walk upright, and they can breathe air with a small device which is hardly noticeable. Both the visiting races look about the same, with minor differences in coloration. Speculation is that there was a common ancestor, and they are essentially the same race."

Jade projected another computer image onto the wall next to the first. "This is a Caliburnite, and you can see for yourselves that there are minor differences. I haven't heard that they particularly mind being mistaken for one another, and they are, in fact, discussing a merger of the two groups. That's part of the reason for this conference. That and a discussion of Federation membership."

Though the slides remained projected on the wall, Jade moved on with the remaining information she had to impart. "One absolute rule during the time the visitors are on Protector is that no alcohol of any kind is to be served to anyone. Nothing that will inebriate anyone." A groan went up from half a dozen members. Lantz held up a hand to calm them. "I know, I know, but we have plenty of synthahol alternatives, as well as non-alcoholic beverages from many cultures. We cannot afford an incident during the meetings. Marines were mentioned particularly," she grinned at the manager of the most affected bar.

The other delegates hooted and catcalled, but settled down again, so Jade could continue. "We want to avoid any incidents that would negatively impact relations between these two people and Starfleet, or even between the two races themselves. Fortunately, there are no known allergies to foods, and if there are any unknown to us, hopefully the Emorites and Caliburnites know them and will avoid them." She checked her notes. "There is no restriction on games, such as Dabo, or the girls who run them, nor on the holosuites. Just use good judgment with all things. There's bound to be misunderstandings with the best of efforts, so we don't need to try for any. Any questions before I talk about the reception?"

A voice from the back called out, "Do they use Federation credits or latinum or something I don't want to take in?"

Jade smiled, "Good question. As far as I know, the delegates have all traded something the Federation wants for enough credits to last the time of these meetings. Beyond that, I suppose it's up to you to decide what you'll take. Please, no inter-species incidents. If there's a problem, come to me and we'll work out some kind of exchange." Jade knew she had enough resources to bail out a few incidents, should they arise, but she hoped they wouldn't. Out here on the edge of forever, sometimes cold hard metals were the best resources. Or jewels. Jewels seemed popular everywhere.

No one else seemed to have any questions, so Jade flipped documents to all the PADDs of those in attendance. "This is the plan for the initial reception. It will be held here in Orchids & Jazz, simply because it's large enough and better than a cargo bay. We want them to feel that we are honoring them, and this seemed the best choice currently available. However, each of the restaurants and drinking establishments is invited to prepare some specialty which we will serve tomorrow night. I'll be sure that you are all reimbursed for expenses, just flip me an invoice or send it by computer message, after the party." She paused to think for a moment.

"I'd like to have other businesses also involved. What do you think of the idea of having visual presentations of your products and businesses on a rotating computer display? Tasteful, of course. Which reminds me, we know of no gender or sexual taboos among the visiting races, but please keep all displays and ads moderately clothed. There's a lot we don't know about them yet!"

"You're thinking about some kind of holographic display, maybe one ad fading into another?" asked the blue Andorian who owned the technology shop.

"That sort of thing is more your talent than mine," Jade answered. "Would you be willing to be in charge of working with those who want to be included in a display and figuring out the best way to do it?"

The Andorian nodded. "No problemo." That caused Jade to smile. Where would the Andorian have picked up the Terran Spanglish? No telling. The blue folk got around quite a bit.

"Great!" the jazz club owner said. "That's one problem off the table. Now, those who'd like to bring food or drinks, please let Serena know by 1800 tonight, so we can see where to fill in. Have your contributions here by 1600 tomorrow afternoon. Any other issues?"

"Are these folks going to have enough time to actually explore the Promenade and our businesses?" asked the jeweler anxiously.

"I'm positive they will," Jade assured her. "No one can be political more than twelve hours a day."

A general laugh came in response, all of them knowing that there were some who lived on politics many more hours than that. Still, it was to be hoped that these people were taking advantage of a vacation and a chance to meet strangers, too, to see what the Federation had to offer.

"If there's nothing else, I think we're finished. Shoot me a message if anything else comes up. I'll be here," Jade promised. She mingled for a few minutes with those who wanted to mingle, and listened to conversations of those walking down the stairs. The atmosphere seemed positive. She hoped things stayed that way.

 

RSS Feed