Check your Pah at the door, Part One

Posted on Sun Jun 23rd, 2024 @ 10:25am by Consul Andrinn Orin

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Bajor Sector
Timeline: 2369
1087 words - 2.2 OF Standard Post Measure

[ON:]

Orin stood aboard one of the newest innovations in ship design from Starfleet...the Danube-Class Runabout. It was something that Starfleet had come out with the year prior and wanted more officers of the fleet to try using to test their durability and their viability within the confines of space itself.

Orin had requested the use of a Runabout to fly himself and his diplomatic team from Trill to the newly liberated Bajor for a conference between them and the new provisional government that the Bajorans had formed after after the Cardassians withdrew from the planet. While Starfleet had already made their presence known and taken up command on the former Cardassian starbase, there were still some discussions that were going on between the Federation Council and the Bajorans themselves, and the Federation wanted boots on the ground.

The travel between the USS Bravo and Bajor was only a few days travel at warp 3, which gave Andrinn some time to read through some of the material that the Federation had sent over. The Bajorans had such a rich cultural History, including their strong religious beliefs. While Andrinn wasn't a religious man himself, he appreciated the Bajorans and their belief in whatever higher powers they believed in.

However, something that Andrinn had read as he went through the report was that there was a stable wormhole that had been found near the Bajoran homeworld. Commander Sisko and Lieutenant Dax went through it and Commander Sisko interacted with a species that could only be described as the Prophets from the Bajoran religion. While Andrinn didn't wholly understand it quite yet, he was interested in learning more about this species that helped to shape the Bajoran system and beyond.

While he was reading through the Federation report on Bajor, the comm system came alive from the front and the pilot replied, "We're almost to Bajor everyone. I'm dropping us out of warp in 5...4...3...2...1...NOW!" The ship shuttered for a moment before the deck plates finally calmed down.

The pilot came over the comms and said, "We should be arriving to Deep Space Nine within the hour. We'll dock there and see what the station's new diplomatic crew has to say to help fill us in."

Andrinn tapped his combadge and said, "Thank you chief for flying us from the Bravo to Deep Space Nine. It wouldn't be the same without you flying us around." All Andrinn could hear was a chuckle before the chief replied, "Oh, you know you'd miss me too much if you went on this mission alone. Plus, who would keep you guys company at this new Starbase that the Federation set up on Deep Space Nine?"

Andrinn just chuckled himself and said before closing the comm line, "Just fly the ship, Chief." Andrinn was curious as to how this station would stand up against some of the other Cardassian stations that were littered throughout Cardassian space. Andrinn had been on a handful of them throughout his time as a diplomat, but none that had been taken over by the Federation or Starfleet itself.

Fiddling around for the time that they had left to get over to Deep Space Nine, Andrinn finished reading the reports that he had and worked on a few more that he had to finish up that needed to be sent off at Deep Space Nine. When the ship was on their final approach to the station, the Chief came over comms again and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, we're about to dock at the station. If you'd like to take a look at her on the outside, now is your chance."

Everyone that wasn't piloting the ship or helping with making sure the ship didn't explode was in the back section getting a bite to eat or getting a bit of something to drink. Andrinn himself wanted to wait for a little bit until they got to the station to try out some of the local foods and drinks, made by the people who knew them the best. There was something called 'Hasperat' that was supposed to be amazing and delicious beyond words.

When everyone got up and looked out the window, they were 'oohing' and 'awwing' at how the station was designed. Apparently, there were docking ports that went above and below the main ring of the station. Once they were all done gawking over the design of the station, Andrinn made his way over to the window to take a look at it for himself. It was truly beautiful, but he also remembered what brutality came from it.

Reports came in from Bajor and the Federation about how the Cardassians brutally used the Bajorans for their own gains. They used the Bajorans to mine the ore that came naturally from the planet and even used some of them as sex slaves, or at least that's what the reports claimed. Andrinn was sure that it happened, but the reports were still being validated.

The rest of the trip to the station was rather uneventful and once they were onboard, the diplomats went straight to work before even getting their temporary room assignments. Andrinn was going to be a more senior diplomat on this mission, so he wanted to make sure that they could at least introduce themselves to the Bajoran delegation onboard before going forward with anything else.

Andrinn and two fellow diplomats made their way to conference room 4, where the three most major delegates from the Bajoran Provisional Government had been waiting and working for the better part of an hour. Before they got out of the turbolift and made it the rest of the way to the conference room, the chief diplomat amongst them pull Andrinn and the other diplomat aside and asked, "Have either one of you met a Bajoran before or talked to anyone about the Bajoran religion before?"

Both men shook their heads in the negative, so the chief diplomat continued, "Well, these people are a very religious people and they have been through a sh*t storm that you wouldn't believe. We shall let them lead the discussion and see what they need from us before we do anything else. Understood gentlemen?"

Andrinn and his fellow diplomat looked at each other before looking back at the chief and replied, "Yes, sir." The chief began leading the way after that and before long, they were about to enter the room and begin talking with the Bajoran delegation.

[OFF:]

Consul Andrinn Orin
Chief Diplomatic Officer
USS Elysium