JDL|aCO,Chelm,CINT,CSCI,CMO,CTAC/CSEC|Cmdr. Dhej, Lt. sh'Thrass, Ltcmdr. Rinehart, Lt. Cooper, Arrain tr'Verelan, Lt Quoicho|"First Steps" Part 1

Posted on 241501.28 @ 2:23am by Commander Tierney Rinehart & Lieutenant Zhyalla sh'Thrass & Lieutenant Sarah Cooper PhD & Arrain Maec tr'Verelan
Edited on on 241501.28 @ 2:26am

Mission: Holy Cow
Location: Shuttlebay/Nirua Homeworld

=/\=Shuttlebay 1=/\=

Karim smiled as he walked the corridors towards the shuttlebay. Tapping his combadge he said "Dhej to Rinehart, sh'Thrass, Cooper, Quoicho and tr'Verelan. Please report to Shuttlebay 1 for the away team." Closing the com, he walked into the bay, and over to the Lovelace. While waiting for the group to arrive, he called up some information on the padd he was carrying, and began confirming some details of the mission.

Nanee walked into the shuttle bay noting the acting commanding officer not thrilled that he was going on this away mission. But kept her mouth quiet knowing it would do no good, "Commander." Nanee said professionally.

Nodding in response to her greeting, Karim replied "It's nice to see you Doctor. I trust everything is going well in Sickbay currently?"

"I wouldn't say well we're still working out the bugs that have seemed to bopping up every few days. And they're getting worse and worse. And yet engineering has no idea how, where or why." Nanee said frustrated with the fact that she couldn't even trust her own sickbay.

Sighing, he said "Hopefully engineering will be able to get things working properly. If there are any unresolved issues, please let me know."

"I well."You better believe you'll hear from me Nanee thought to herself as she started double checking her kit.

Like an anthem of metallic drums the thunderous jangle of several marching boots echoed into the shuttle bay from the adjacent corridor moments before the doors hissed and split open. Entering the bay in his glistening silver-plated chainmail Maec led a small retinue of two yellow shirted security personnel who flanked him on either side. Both men nodded their head in the direction of the Romulan as he read to them from a PADD which he randomly stabbed at with his free hand while walking. Only when he reached the gathering point did he finally look away from the device to offer the commanding officer a respectful nod “Arrain tr’Verelan reporting.” There was a terse edge to Maec’s tone as he turned a set of serpentine eyes onto the Trill woman nearby. He easily recognized her face from his recent liberal perusal of the Enterprise’s personnel files and dipped his head slightly at her “Greetings maenek (doctor).”

Nanee looked up and saw the Romulan completely decked out shaking her head as she watched the Romulan. "Arrain." Nanee also did her homework on the Arrain finding it intriguing that one was allowed to serve on a Starfleet vessel as well as able to keep his Romulan rank.

"And then he walked away without even returning my introduction!" Zhyalla exclaimed as she entered the shuttlebay next to Tierney. She glanced up to see who'd arrived already, noting Karim, Dr Quoicho, two security officers... and him. The Romulan could only be the one that Tierney had come storming into her quarters to rant about after her encounter, and Zhyalla could see why he left her in such a tizzy. There was no denying that his presence could command a room, but even without taking his race into account, there was just something.

"I told you! They're rude." The Starling chirped in response as she dug through a messenger bag that rested against her left hip. Everything was there, including the a copy of a PADD that the blue woman had given her earlier that morning as a little bed time reading. Something crackled in the air, snapping and popping like electricity and radiated from the tip of the strange little woman's nose on through the rest of her delicate little body. She'd know the feeling anywhere, it was that sixth sense of self preservation that seemed to follow her like a dark cloud. Snapping her eyes up from the bag, she was instantly rewarded with the reason why.

Him.

Zhyalla leaned close to Tierney and lowered her voice. "He gives me a woody."

Tierney's lips pursed as she regarded him standing there in his full regalia and her chin tipped imperceptibly higher in an unconscious show of strength. She could taste a quip about knights in armor and Romulans in tin-foil buttering along her tongue, inching its way out into reality when the sound of the Andorian's words literally made her hit the brakes, choke, and grab her blue wrist. "Willies, Zhyalla, the saying is that he gives you the willies." She managed in a whisper, both of her eyebrows lifted high in a syrupy mixture of amusement and shock. Her smart assed quip was gone and buried six feet under. "You'd have to possess male plumbing, you know, a twig and blueberries, in order for him to give you a woody." She grinned and nodded, trying to impart the lesson as gently as possible as she recovered from that particular shock.

A considering look, and a quirked antenna indicated that Zhyalla was pondering Tierney's response. She stared at the hobgoblin again, considering long and hard as she seemed to do some mental calculations. "You pink skins are weird, who gets a rise out of someone making them feel unsettled?" She shook her head, as if her question settled the matter.

For a split second, Tierney stood there slack jawed and astonished and a quick gutteral noise heralded the start of a response, before she shut her mouth and simply shook her head. The hand she'd held the Andorian's wrist with quickly came loose and found its way to the woman's shoulder, patting lightly. "We'll talk it out later." She sighed softly. That particular moment wasn't the right one. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

Stepping away, the flustered little Starling nodded to the CO with a welcoming smile, then to the doctor — they would prove to be fallible fodder as her eyes soon found the Arrain again

Nanee nodded to what for her now was the most intriguing women on the ship. Walking over to the commander she whispered, "how are you feeling?"

"Pretty good." The Starling grinned brightly to the Trill doctor, happy for the friendly company as they mulled about waiting for the dog and pony show to begin. If it didn't start soon, she'd be given a chance to think about the Andorian's latest parse error... and that wouldn't bode well.

Smiling as almost everyone had arrived, Karim said "Thank you all for coming. Lieutenant Cooper should be along soon, then I will go over our itinerary for our meeting with First Mother Barula. While we are waiting, does anyone have any initial questions?"

"I'm sorry for being late sir," said Lt Cooper showing up with her tricorder on her belt and a shoulder bag of other scanners on her shoulder.

It would have taken a great deal of discipline even for one of his logic-stewed cousins to ignore the abrasive prattle between the Enterprise’ Intelligence Officer and her ultramarine tinted pet. Pretending to keep his attention on the PADD in front him Maec's eyes focused over the top edge of the device at the arriving pair. He knew from the passing glances that the topic of their conversation centered on him even if he couldn’t decipher the complete meaning behind the gibberish abusing his sensitive ears. Raising the PADD into the air he gently shoved the device into the abdomen of one of his assistants and tossed a smoldering glare towards Tierney. Two sweeping steps brought him within an arm’s reach of the female intelligence officer but instead of grasping for her throat Maec instead bowed his head deeply. “It seems we meet again Commander Rinehart. I must compliment you on your ability…” he paused and lifted his head just enough to be eye level with the short statured woman “to further marginalize my opinion of that uniform you wear. Prior to my arrival I had expected to find a certain level of dignity here but it seems that at least one officer suffers a deficiency of said trait.”

There was a flurry of sound, the claging on metal and the slap of a PADD meeting someone's belly mainly, that caught Tierney's own acoustically inclined sensitivities. They were soon followed up by the heavy foot steps of the Arrain, the vibrations of them against the deck plate alerting her of his trajectory long before she spied him from the corner of her eye. Ducking her head away from the doctor, the Starling pivoted sharply on one delicate little foot to swing her hips and vulnerable back away from him and stood square. She didn't need to duck her her head to meet his advances, instead she tipped her chin upwards in something akin to sheer defiance as he found rest just a breath away from her -- and raw electricity trickled up and down along her spine and through each and every nerve ending connecting to her tiny, elegant fingers. She wouldn't dare touch him. He wouldn't dare touch her. The song and dance routine would continue until eventually the bough they'd sought purchase on broke and they'd either tumble to one another's ruin or learn how to fly in harmony. For now she simply smirked and tossed an errant lock of crimson from her eyes. "Good seeing you again too." The Commander chuckled low and killed the distance between them, putting them toe to toe with mere centimeters of cold bay air whistling between the shining luster of his garb and the savage gunmetal gray of her intel uniform. In that position it became so brutally apparent that she was so very tiny and fragile in appearance compared to the strength of his Romulan soldier physique -- but she was unafraid. Bold. Savage. "You wouldn't know the definition of dignity if it came and bit you in the ass." She grinned as she spoke soft and low, sweet nothings meant for the pointed shells of his verdant ears and his alone. "I could highlight it for you in a dictionary along with the words sarcasm and humor, if you'd like. I always aim to be helpful."

Zhyalla pushed between the Romulan and her friend, grinning wide as her hand found his. "Lieutenant Zhyalla sh'Thrass, good to meet you Centurion."

Indignant would have been the proper response but Maec’s steeled expression only showed cold amusement in the form a knife-laced smirk. Standing to his full height he looked down at the woman “perhaps I am mistaken but I believe that even among your people such puerile gossiping would be considered far from-” he paused as the blue tinted creature inserted her form between him and the Intelligence Officer grabbing his hand in the process. A generous step back preceded him shaking away the Andorian’s grasp like water staining his hand. “Dignified.” He finished and turned away from the pair completely ignoring the Andorian’s intrusive gesture.

Nanee just shook her head, "Whip them out and measure them and get this over with." She sighed as she took a few steps back sick of this routine. Hell she did this on a daily basis on Zetari with the CinC, CO and any other high ranking officer she could do it with.

"Funny comment about dignity, coming from someone who just pulled away from me like I was Typhoon Larry," Zhyalla observed, shaking her head and moving to stand next to Dr. Quoicho. "How's tricks, Doc?"

Nanee had to smirk at the Andorian's remarks, "well this away team mission is gonna be interesting seeing as we haven't even left yet and I may need to pull my med kit out already."

Thrust aside by the sudden intrusion, Tierney crab stepped and hopped a couple times to keep from hitting the deck completely. Part of her was beyond amused. The other part was irritated with the move -- but she understood why it had been done. The Andorian was a clever clever creature, far wiser than her young, and often reckless, counterpart. Her eyes followed the interaction, watching the Arrain twist away as if he'd been scalded by the Andorian's touch, and she couldn't help but grin, draw breath, and begin to fire off her retreating quip when the blue skinned's timing killed her once again. She froze, staring at the her friend, and choked on a chortled shred of laughter that somehow, miraculously, was caught before it could do any further harm to the situation. Instead the opened flat of Tierney's palm quickly met her freckled forehead and slid down the rest of her pixie-like face with an audible smack. "Typhoid Mary, Zhyalla, Typhoid... Mary." This... Was going to be a long trip.

Watching the exchange with a mixture of amusement and frustration, Karim cleared his throat and said "If everyone is done exchanging pleasantries, I'd like to get to work. Before we get into details, I know some of you are concerned about me leading the away mission, I've already explained my reasons, but appreciate your concerns." Pausing, he added "Now to business, this first meeting with First Mother Barula will also be our first contact with the Nirua. Please try to keep any discussions of our technology and culture to a minimum until we determine their level of technology. I am hopeful this initial meeting will allow us to get a thorough sense of what we are dealing with in terms of their ... difficulties. Please keep your ears open for any clues to the nature of the trouble. Does anyone have any questions before we board the runabout and start our way down?"

Tugging down on the hemline of her uniform, Tierney almost cringed at the sound of Karim's voice. He was her friend, perhaps her closest, but he was still her commanding officer and she knew the little display he'd just witnessed would come up in later chit chats. Finally dragging her eyes away from the Andorian and the Romulan alike, she looked over at the Commander and nodded. He seemed more amused than anything else... Amused and maybe concerned. As he spoke, the why became crystal clear; this was dicey. First contact with an unknown source and, of course, being the CO he wasn't supposed to step foot off the ship. The Starling, however, wasn't about to begin to try and persuade him to the contrary-- especially since she was only there as a ghost, answering to a power far higher than the command team of a single ship. It was his boat and his command style, all she could do was stand with him in support. "No sir, none here." She replied.

Nodding, Karim said "Thank you Commander, anyone else?"

Nanee sighed again about the captain leading the away team but again remained silent about it, "None here."

Looking around at the group, and not seeing any further response from the group Karim said "Ok then, let's get to work. Everyone please find a seat. Lieutenant sh'Thrass, start pre-flight procedures." Entering the runabout, he quickly took a seat in the co-pilots chair.

One more glance at the hobgoblin, and Zhyalla made her way to the pilot's chair. The final preflight check ran smoothly, and the exchange for clearance from shuttlebay control was quickly acquired. After just a quick glance to the commander to confirm, and a look to make sure everyone was seated, Zhyalla started to guide the craft out of the bay.

Soon the runabout was clearing the bay, and was en route to the planet. Checking the information again, Karim entered a few commands and looked over to sh'Thrass and said "Please put us down at the coordinates I just sent to your console. First Mother Barula has indicated it is a empty unused field nearby the main meeting place for her government."

"We should be thinking ahead about setting up base camp and using the runabout as the center." Tierney leaned close to speak in Karim's ear, "That way we're contained, not on their dime, and can beat it quick if the going gets tough." She added with a slight nod as if to reaffirm her point.

Smiling slightly, Karim replied quietly "Exactly what I was thinking Tierney. Thanks for the reminder though." After a short flight, the Lovelace was coming within range. Looking out a window, he saw Barula and a small group standing just outside of the designated landing area. After the runabout landed, Karim turned in his chair and said "Here we go everyone. Please confirm your phasers are on, but at your side. I don't want to frighten our hosts."

Cooper adjusted her phaser, but hoped to not have to use it. She was ready for an away mission, she was ready to stretch her legs.

Calmly Karim opened the hatch and stepped out. He was immediately greeted by Barula who said "Thank the Creator you came so quickly. Welcome to he Nirua Homeworld. Please follow me to our meeting area."

Karim nodded in greeting and said "Thank you for the welcome First Mother Barula. On behalf of the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet, I am pleased to be able to make first contact with you species. I am hopeful that we can assist you with your struggles, and work towards getting to know your people better."

Barula smiled, and replied "Thank you for your kind words Commander. Now please, we have prepared a welcoming reception for you and your people. You are the first visitors we've had in centuries." Gesturing with a hoof-like hand towards a nearby structure she added "Now please come with me, I am eager to introduce you to my colleagues."

Following her, and hoping the away team had heard her instructions, he walked down a short path to an open air amphitheater. After arriving he saw that there had been low cushion chairs arranged in a semi circle.

Barula said "Let us eat the meager reception we have prepared." Pausing, she said "I know you are probably concerned about our foods as you are new to our planet. Feel free to take any precautions you require"

Smiling, Karim looked to Quoicho and said "Doctor, do you think any of these foods would pose a risk to our health?"

Nanee had he CPaDD out looking over the data it had been collecting, "Everything looks fine but Arrain I would refrain from eating that dish. It might notary with your Roman digestive system."

Nodding, Karim replied "Thank you Doctor. Everyone please enjoy the refreshments and the Nirua hospitality." Then, slightly quieter, he added "Also, attempt to find out more about their situation."

<>

Lieutenant Nanee Quoicho
Chief Medical Officer
USS Enterprise, NCC 1701-F

Lt Commander Tierney Rinehart
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Enterprise, NCC 7101-F

Lieutenant Sarah Cooper
Chief Science Officer
USS Enterprise

Lieutenant Zhyalla sh'Thrass
Chief Helm Officer
USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-F

Arrain Maec tr'Verelan
Chief Tactical Officer/Chief Security Officer
USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-F

Commander Karim Dhej
Acting Commanding Officer
USS Enterprise, NCC 1701-F