Banter on the Bridge

Posted on Tue Feb 16th, 2021 @ 6:45pm by Lieutenant JG Shaille Levine & Lieutenant Mica Rue & Linza (Lin) Esni & Lieutenant Commander Nathan Octavian & Lieutenant JG Alistair Fletcher

Mission: New Beginnings

Shaille stood on the bridge at the tactical station, eyes firmly on the large window in front of them. Finally, she cast a glance around the bridge and shook her head. "I should have known that Pathstone would be big and opulent, the Dalacari definitely don't do things by halves," she remarked, ignoring the cold shiver that ran down her spine.

LT Rue felt out of place on the bridge, though she hovered by the engineering station, which was already manned. A crossover between engineering and medical was a go-between, never fully in one place, but belonging to both. A new position meant a sort of awkward transition, until the Norms were put into place. Still, when Pathstone came into view, the uncertainty faded rapidly. THIS was why Mica had returned to star fleet, and THIS was why she needed to be with the Astrae. She heard the remarks of the officer at tactical and shifted closer to her.

“So this elaborate design is typical of the Dalacari?” She asked. She resisted the urge to let her mind wander into deconstructing the mechanics of the structure.

“I have to admit Lieutenant, many of us are a little in the dark when it comes to the Dalacari. We have much to learn, this whole thing is something of a leap of faith. Usually great partnerships start with such a leap. But, I agree. The mega-structure is something. It certainly looks impressive. But as my mother once said, you should never judge a race by their mega-structures,” Lieutenant Command Nathan Octavian flashed a smile. “Anyway, it looks like none of us were invited to dinner.” The man lowered himself into the command chair ready to start his shift, “Let’s keep the structure on the view screen. Give us something to look at.”

Nathan cocked his head to the blonde female security officer, “Lieutenant Levine, we are in the company friends - but let us not forget that we are in the jaws of the Delta Quadrant. Things here can truly turn on a dime. Please watch your monitor closely, no observance is too small to report. While the cats are away, let’s ensure the mice do not get eaten,” Nathan joked in reference to many of the senior staff being off the ship.

"Actually, Commander, the Dalacari are an extremely hospitable species, they would consider it a personal failing should anything happen to us while we are in their company," Shaille spoke quietly, her words carefully measured. "They pride themselves on being welcoming and gracious toward friends, and it seems Captain Laurens has earned the title of friend among them."

“No doubt,” Nathan replied. “Put one can never be too prepared.”

Nathan finally turned towards the Enaran, “I suppose in a way this is something of a homecoming for you. Welcome to the Delta Quadrant Lieutenant Rue. What do you make of the whole experience thus far?” He smiled gently and motioned his hand toward her, “While on the Equinox, I met a few Enaran’s on a Turei trading post. They were a long way from the Fima System.”

Mica was taken aback by the conversation. It wasn't often that people could identify her as Enaran, most assumed she was trill. But seeing that he had met them before... "It's..." she struggled for a word. Inside, she cringed. the Lt couldn't help but reflect on his words. She hadn't thought about how they would be in the delta quadrant. For that matter, she hadn't even thought abut whether she was from here at all. For all she knew, she had been born in the Alpha quadrant. As for other Enaran's, she hadn't actually met another one before. She took a deeper breath. "It's interesting, sir. Big. Different than the Alpha system, I'm sure." Focusing back on the screen, she watched the drones around their grand home...

Sensing a bit of awkwardness, Alistair used the magnification feature of the main viewscreen to zoom in on one of the drones in a portion of the screen, then whistled, "Not manned, that's for sure, too small... I wonder what they use them for? They're not large enough for cargo."

Nathan immediately noticed her discomfort and ultimately decided not to press. He did not know much about the Enarans except the report he had read about the Regressives. Some could curl up with a good book; but, he enjoyed nothing more than to curl up and read the reports and the logs of the Voyager crew. He followed his Engineering Officer’s lead and changed the subject. “Umm, interesting question Lieutenant Fletcher. Repair or defensive drone perhaps?”

Shaille cast a quick smile toward Alistair. "They use drones for most everything. On the Dalacari homeworld they use drones for pretty much everything. Hospitality, service work, deliveries, general information, repairs, maintenance, you name it and the drones do it. They're also all interlinked, and they have this impressive self learning algorithm that is constantly running. They learn, and as they learn, every other drone learns what they learn. On the homeworld, once you've registered on their systems, which every visitor does, they learn everything about you. Eating habits, sleeping habits, preferences, entertainment choices, everything. The Dalacari lifestyle is very unique."

Nathan blinked, “Nothing scary about that. Nah… That all sounds perfectly wonderful. Nothing could go wrong.” The man passed everything Levine had just reported off as a joke; but, it did trouble him some. It all sounded rather invasive and maybe even a little Borg-ish. “And the drones... Well, there you have it. Mystery solved. So... who can tell me about the system we are headed into? Who can retell some missions in the area? How far will we be from Voyager's route? Who here did their homework?" A small smile again appeared on the human's face as he looked again at the mega-structure to pass the time.

"Not I, said the cow." Alistair shook his head with a smile as well, "This is going to be my first time in the Delta Quadrant itself and I'm just a wrench-monkey, so who am I to need t' know about what we're going to run into out there?"

Shaille paused a few moments before responding, feeling disappointed by the disparaging way her input had been handled. "Actually, the Dalacari home world is a solid 140 light years from Voyagers route. Though, ironically, they were observing humans, specifically Voyager, and determined humanity to be unenlightened and not worth interacting with. Thankfully for the Federation, real first contact happened a few years later. The system itself is mostly dead, it was mined to death to create Pathstone." She offered a sweet smile as she glanced at Nathan. "Sorry, my lover and life partner is Ts'usugi and I have spent a bunch of time on Dalacar while on shore leave with my last assignment in the Delta Quadrant. I actually got to meet Administrator Kelig who is the Dalacari head of security and in charge of maintenance of their thinking engines and I got to discuss their drones." She offered a slight shrug. "It is a very interesting society."

"A very interesting species indeed," Nathan said with a nod.

"I might be a bit interested in their drones." Alistair admitted, "I'm more a small-craft engineer in my own right. Heck, the Boss will need someone with a leash keeping her from haranguing any of the Dalacari engineers to death trying to dig into what makes those things tick. If she gets one of them off into a room by themselves, she'll drive them to insanity with all her questions."

Linza had just stood there and let the others talk. She might be taking on the security roll, but otherwise she felt out of place. Not that she minded listening, as it helped her learn a bit about not only how the others reacted but what might actually be going on. She wasn't an officer, just someone on the security team. Besides, it was good to know these things, right?

Shaille shook her head slightly. "The drones shut down if they believe they have been compromised or are at risk," she said quietly. "A built in failsafe to prevent the technology and information falling into the wrong hands." She shrugged. "Once we get to Dalacar you'll see it first hand. I'm sure Captain Laurens will be able to organise some 'down time' for everyone on the planet."

"I'll admit seeing a completely different world and culture not within the Federation would be interesting, though after a couple weeks at home, I've had about as much shore leave as I can handle at the moment." Alistair shook his head, "But definitely a good idea all the same for their tech. I would say that they're a few steps ahead of us most across the board."

Shaille smirked. "In that case I'm sure I'll see you around the ship while everyone else is on Dalacar. Trust me, I plan to seriously limit how much time I spend planet side. Been there, done that, got the tshirt. This ship on the other hand... " She turned her attention back to the tactical console. "Hey, anyone know what the rule is for drinks on the bridge? I'd kill for a coffee right now!"