Diplomatic Talks

Posted on Mon Oct 30th, 2023 @ 8:29am by Commodore Phoenix Lalor-Richardson & Consul Andrinn Orin & Teevs Dosivi

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Deck 2 :: Reception Room?
Timeline: S06E03 :: MD4, morning
2646 words - 5.3 OF Standard Post Measure

After a comfortable night's sleep, Teevs had awoken early to gather some items from the Spheia. The prior day's events left him exhausted, but he did remember that the vessel's captain, a "Phoenis Lalor," wanted to speak with him. Following the introductory conversation with Captain Taylor, the Lonia figured he could bring the same information, and perhaps a little more, in case there was interest. He was currently staring back-and-forth between two different objects, deciding on which one to bring with him, before he checked his vessel's time. "Tokelai!" Picking one of the items at random and wrapping it in cloth, he scooped up the two datapads he planned to bring, nearly tripping over one of them as it slipped out of his arms. He picked it back up and rushed out of the Spheia.

Upon exiting the shuttlebay, Teevs briskly walked to the turbolift, making sure the items in his hands wouldn't fall again. It was only after he got inside the lift that he realized he didn't know how to operate it. He only got down to this level because someone else was headed the same way. What did Mister Rosa do yesterday to get it to work? "Uh... level two?" He frowned when the turbolift didn't move. Hm, something wasn't right in how he said it... "oh, deck two, please!"

That seemed to do it, as he felt a momentary downward weight before the vessel's internal gravity mechanism kicked in. The lift made a couple stops, and each time Teevs gave a polite smile while making sure they had plenty of room. Eventually, it was his turn to get off the lift, and once he stepped out he looked both ways down the expansive hall. It was Reception Room four... right? It took a moment of wandering to locate the correct door, he recalled what Captain Taylor had told him about the doors and pressed the button that looked like the one he had described, pleased when it worked and the door opened.

Orin had been working in various parts of the Diplomatic Suites to make sure that they were back up and running as soon as possible. He knew that there were plenty of new species to meet and Orin wanted to make sure they made friends out of them instead of enemies.

Orin had walked into Reception Hall Four with a PADD in his hand as he was trying to finish up a few lists of much needed items for one of the main offices in the run of Deck Two. Once he looked up from his PADD, Orin happened to see an unknown person walking around the Hall without an escort and who happened to look rather lost.

Orin walked over to the stranger and asked, "Can I help you with something? Did you have an appointment? Oh, god. Please tell me I didn't have an appointment and forgot something?" Orin began to pull up his schedule for the day and scoured through it to make sure that he wasn't forgetting something or it wasn't added by one of his attaches.

Turning to address the voice, Teevs laid eyes on an incredibly tall figure. At first glance, he looked to be the same species as Mister Rosa and Captain Taylor, but there were faint markings that made him have doubts about his assumption. "I, uh... am not quite sure," Teevs answered. He stepped away from the door, watching it close shut now that nothing was in its way. "I apologize, I was asked to meet with your captain and one of her diplomats, but I'm not really sure where to go." He offered a sheepish smile, "your vessel is easy to get lost in."

"Well, I'm Andrinn Orin, the Chief Diplomatic Officer. I haven't heard of anyone new onboard, but that doesn't mean anything with the way that the ship is currently. As for Commodore Lalor, I'm not sure where she might be. Please, come on in and take a seat. Want something to eat or drink?" Orin asked, wavering for the new person to come in and take a seat at one of the large tables at the center of the room.

"I am Teevs Dosivi, Mister Orin." Teevs gave a polite nod as he followed Andrinn into the room. "Water, please." He carefully put his things down on the table before taking a seat, his toes just barely touching the floor. "My presence is quite recent. Your vessel rescued mine yesterday. I hope it's acceptable to show my appreciation to your Commodore." As he spoke, he was organizing the items he brought with him; the two datapads were side-by-side on the table, and the item wrapped in a blue-green cloth was placed directly in front of him. Teevs didn't want anything to happen to his gift.

A brief family crisis had stalled Phoenix's attempt to get to the meeting but now the doors to the area opened and she strode in, looking around. "Ah Consul, I see you have met our newest guest" she said brightly. She turned to their guest and held out her hand, human fashion, "I am Commodore Phoenix Lalor-Richardson."

Orin looked over at Commodore Lalor and smiled as he said, "Oh, good to see you Commodore. I take it that you know our welcomed guest? Apparently, we saved our guest here recently?"

Teevs stood when he heard the door open and saw one of the many faces from the viewscreen enter. His study of her features was brief enough to recognize that he should shift his gaze to not look at her directly, and he decided to focus on the hand extending to him. The concept of a human handshake went way over his head as he stared at the hand offered to him with a puzzled expression. Did she want something? "I am Teevs Dosivi," he said, awkwardly holding out his hand like hers but not making contact, his hand instead hovering a few centimeters away from hers.

Orin recognized that exchange seemed a bit awkward. He interjected himself into the conversation and said, "Teevs, what the Commodore was doing was called a handshake. It's customary within many cultures around from our Federation to shake hakes when you meet someone and before leaving sometimes. It's almost like a hello and goodbye. Do you have anything within your culture or where you're from that might be similar?"

Ah, it was a greeting. What a confusing action, offering a hand in the same way one would reach for an object. "We do," Teevs replied, looking to Orin. The completion of this 'hand shake' promptly forgotten, Teevs took a small step back so he could address both of them. Crossing his right arm over his left in front of him, he turned his palms so they were facing outward, the four fingers on each hand slightly separated. He then offered a slight bow. "My species is called Lonia. Our greeting is both symbolic and literal, but it shows there are no bad intentions."

Phoenix smiled. "It is good to know such things." She repeated his gesture. "Are your quarters suitable?" she asked after doing so. "If you require temperature or gravity changes please let us know."

Andrinn took note of the greeting that their guest performed to greet them. He took both mental and physical notes, by grabbing a PADD nearby and putting some notes into the cultural database for later cataloging. Andrinn wanted to make sure that he could research the species called Lonia later on. Andrinn kept the PADD handy because he wanted to make the notes for the type of gravity and everything that he could learn from their guest.

Teevs gave a smile when she returned the greeting. This species seemed quick to learn, and enthusiastic about understanding new cultures, which was a plus in his mind. "They are, thank you," he responded. "Kerilia and I are still adjusting to your atmosphere, facilitated by your doctor, but the temperature and gravity are close to what we are used to." Turning back to the table, he grabbed the item wrapped in blue-green cloth and presented it to her with both hands. "I hope you'll accept this gift, a symbol of our gratitude for rescuing us and our vessel."

Phoenix smiled and accepted the gift. "Thank you but we were pleased to help." She held it very carefully and bowed in response. "We do hope we can prevail on your knowledge of this area of space. We have very little to go on."

"Yeah, anything that you can give to us would be much appreciated because while all of us within this room and on this ship are friendly, we've had our fair share of others being not so friendly. So, any knowledge would be much appreciated and we would give in kind. Within reason, though. No security codes or anything!" Orin said as well, looking between the guest and the Commodore, hoping he didn't overstep on anything.

Looking between them, Orin asked them both, "Would either of you like something to eat or drink?"

"I am good thank you" Phoenix replied with a smile.

"I have the water from earlier, thank you," Teevs replied to Orin. Back to the matter at hand, Teevs looked in the direction of the Commodore, missing the joke from the diplomat. "I will gladly provide such information, Commodore. From the few individuals I met yesterday, I gathered that you aren't from any part of space I'm familiar with, and helping a traveler on their journey is the least I can do in return after such an act of kindness." Turning to the table again, he picked up the two datapads and briefly glanced over their contents. "I also have an inventory of the Spheia's cargo, if any of it can be of use to you. I trade for a living, so I do business with many of the species in this area of space. Well, not quite by Gadus --nobody lives out here-- but this sector and surrounding areas. What would aid your journey, Commodore?"

Gently leaning over to the Commodore, Andrinn whispered, "There have been several requests from various departments, such as engineering, for spare parts. It wouldn't hurt to have a trader onboard that would know about the local area and its population to help aid in that. Be like a Neelix for the Elysium?"

The Commodore nodded in agreement. 'Maps, and resources. Every department will have lists i am sure."

Andrinn leaned out and turned back to the guest and said, "Well, maps and any knowledge on the species in the area would be a good start. Our ship is also in need of several bits of raw material to help in the repair of the ship. You wouldn't happen to know any ports nearby that would be friendly to outsiders, would you?"

Teevs gave a nod. "Of course. I can copy from my vessel's computer maps and species information." He paused to type on the second datapad before turning it around to show them both. It was a map of their current location in space, with the Elysium marked in yellow, what resembled a star system in blue, and another dot in green, with a curved vertical line separating the blue and green markers. The text on the screen was in Lonian, a series of characters looking vaguely similar to Brahmic, but it would be a reasonable guess to say that the vertical line served as a border between the blue and green markers. "Lacerta Station may be the most useful to you. It's at the border to this sector, past Phides Major. It's one of the larger trading stations, and I've never had an issue finding what I need for my own repairs. Granted, my vessel is far simpler in design. There are other ports, of course, but they are much further away."

"How many light years away is it?" Andrinn asked.

Teevs frowned a little at the computer's translation, and looked back to his datapad. "Light... year..." he muttered, typing it into the device. A look of recognition soon appeared in his expression as his datapad tried another translation of the term, and he looked at his map. One of the issues he ran into shortly after coming aboard was the difference in time, namely what this vessel referred to as a year, so he had to do some math to make sure he gave the right number. "I believe Lacerta is... 8 light years away, if my conversion to your years is correct. My vessel’s highest speed, about 340 times the speed of light, can make the one-way trip in 9 days."

"It shouldn't take us too long for us to get there, Commodore. I don't know the direct conversions for warp speeds, but I don't think that it should take us too long to get there. Assuming that you'd like for us to head out there," Andrinn said, looking over at the Commodore, waiting to see what she was thinking.

"Staying in this area certainly won't benefit you," Teevs pointed out. "Resources are sparse, and it will take longer for you to continue your journey."

"Yeah, with our ship being limited to warp 4, it'll take us a bit longer. But, like Mr. Teevs pointed out, it's important for us to head out sooner rather than later if we wanted to get more resources," Orin replied, smiling at the idea of getting some resources for the ship.

"I will speak with the XO and flight Control. I believe it is a good solid idea." Phoenix agreed.

Orin looked at Commodore Lalor and Teevs as he said, "Well, I can work with Mr. Teevs and see about uploading the star charts, if that's okay with the both of you?"

Phoenix nodded. "Of Course"

Teevs gave a polite nod of agreement. "I would be happy to work with you, Mister Orin." He paused for a moment before adding, "I hope this isn't too much to ask, since saving us was incredibly generous, but if it's not out of your way, can you help Kerilia and I return to our home planet? It's about three months of travel for my vessel, but with the Spheia as damaged as it is, it would take much longer to make the journey. You would be able to trade for far better materials there, too. I will, of course, assist you however I can in return for such a favor."

Phoenix smiled. "We can indeed get you back there as soon as we can."

Orin smiled as well before saying, "I'm assuming that your homeworld has some places for rest and relaxation as well? We could use some of it as well."

"There are many such places," Teevs answered with a smile. "I would be happy to show your people around, too."

"That sounds absolutely perfect! With the permission of the Commodore, once we arrived, could we use a bit of R/R?" Orin asked, looking over at the commodore once more.

"That sounds nice"

Orin smiled once she answered before replying, "Awesome! Well, if you two don't have anything more in mind or to discuss, I'd love to take Mr. Teevs down to Astrometrics to be able to upload those maps and see what we can't get going. If you guys are down for that?"

Teevs nodded to the agreement before turning toward the Commodore. "The only thing I would like to do first is complete your earlier greeting. You learned mine, it would be rude of me to not learn yours." With that, he stuck out his right hand, like how she did earlier, hoping that she would show him the correct form of this 'hand shake.'

Phoenix shook his hand easily with a warm smile.

OFF