A blue arrival

Posted on Tue Jun 18th, 2024 @ 12:23pm by Lieutenant JG Amari & Commander Cornelius 'Kit' Hanlon

2,305 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: To Boldly Go
Location: Various
Timeline: Md 5

Three weeks of travelling, three months of waiting and another three months of trying to persuade her own clan chief and the second most important clan chief of her entire species that this was a good idea had all led to this moment as Engineering Sub official Amari of the Lesrai looked out of a transport ships window as the fourth planet in the United Federation Of Planets capital system loomed closer and closer.

Her entire voyage had been spent nose deep in manuals, technical diagrams and when she could persuade the crew to let her helping with repairs and maintenance of the ship. Though she had already spent months before nosing through technical manuals there was always more she felt she needed to learn before she stepped onto the ship that had very graciously accepted the proposal from the officer exchange program that she be assigned there as an engineer.

As the transport came closer the vastness of the shipyard complex came into view, berths as far as the eye could see held ships of all sizes from the almost titanic Odyssey to the small Saber; even that dwarfed the majority of the ships of her own navy.

She was pulled from her train of thought by the combadge now pinned to her chest chirping before the voice of the transport ships Captain burst forth.

=/\= Amari we are almost in transporter range if you want to get your belongings and come up to the bridge.=/\=

=/\= I'm on my way =/\= Amari replied and turned away from the window.

Only a few minutes later she emerged onto the bridge of the small transport with a small duffle bag in hand. "Thank you for letting me help with the running of your ship Captain, the hands on experience with your technology has been very useful."

"You're welcome." The Captain replied. "Just remember, Starfleet ships are more advanced that this old barge but the fundamentals are still the same old technology we have here just improved and made more complicated. You'll do fine."

Amari smiled "I hope so." She put the bag down on the transporter pad then stepped on herself before adjusting the gold and black pips on the collar of her white uniform that displayed her equivalent starfleet rank, Lieutenant Junior Grade.

===== USS Fenrir =====

Commander Hanlon watched the transporter pad as the tell-tale sound and sparkling light signaled the incoming new member of the team. The Operations officer keeping an eye had been silent, clearly trying to figure out what to expect.

Kit knew what to expect. Amari was Lesrai, an exchange officer rather than Starfleet. It had seemed a good idea for some to do officer exchanges and, having looked at what information was available, they were lucky to get Lieutenant Junior Grade Amari on the Fenrir. Not just for her technological implants - although they were impressive and Kit may have felt a little envious - but her species' natural understanding of technology and machinery. And as an Engineer, Kit found that exciting.

The woman who materialised was striking. Green eyes, really light hair, skin markings and blue-skinned. His human brain thought of Elves, although that might be the slightly pointed ears. "Lieutenant Amari, welcome to the USS Fenrir. I'm Commander Kit Hanlon, the First Officer."

Amari took in her surroundings for a moment then stepped off the transporter pad. "Thank you Commander." She offered him her hand in what she'd learned was a typical human greeting.

He looked at the hand with surprise but took it, giving her a respectful nod. "I was excited to learn you'd be our exchange officer. I've not encountered any of your species before but your grasp on technology is remarkable. I hope we learn a lot from you, and that you get something in return from us."

"You have done some research into the Lesrai?" Amari asked, though she wasn't too surprised. Several starfleet ships had visited Lesra over the years and though they weren't allies they were not strangers otherwise she wouldn't be standing here right now.

"I felt I should at least read the headlines," he said as he looked at her before motioning for her to walk with him. "I should perhaps have spent more time looking into your culture and customs, truth is the moment I heard you had implanted tech I got...interested. I have an Engineering background myself."

"All Lesrai have tech implants when we reach adulthood." Amari replied as they left the transporter room. "Several are standard throughout all the clans, some specialise in certain bits of tech."

"And your clan?" Kit asked, leading her through. Perhaps it was the remnants of being an Engineer, but it was where he took her: Engineering. To see the warp core. There were still personnel around installing panels and making the ship ready. And they still haven't done a full systems test in Engineering. But even with that, he wanted to show it off.

"Clan Sisra focus more on enhancing our ability to 'feel' technology, to us technology is just as alive as me and you, with feelings to express if you know how to listen to it." She paused for a moment as they passed through a doorway. "It is not easy to explain."

"I suspect not," he led them to the turbolift. "Deck 7," he said before he met her green eyes. "Main Engineering is on deck 7. You have level 2 of engineering on deck 8. Your quarters are on deck 3. Mess is on deck 4 and...there's a bar on deck 6. They serve food there too."

"Good to know. I'm sure there will be plenty of time for me to get my bearings on the ship." Amari said as the turbolift began to move. "I've read the specifications of the Norway class but it's much different seeing it all in person."

"It is, isn't it?" he nodded, the smile still there. "It's always exciting seeing a new ship. There's always minor differences in the specifications, but I always find that the implementation of systems throws up its own little...quirks. One ship I was on, I swear, the warp core would not go to warp 9 unless someone sweet talked it. Which is...illogical. And most likely a coincidence. A lot of humans are superstitious though so...to this day...as far as I know, everyone always asks nicely to go to warp 9 on that ship." He stepped out of the turbolift when the doors opened, leading her down the corridor to Engineering.

Amari chuckled slightly when Kit mentioned having to 'sweet talk' a warp core. She'd done her fair share of talking to various bits of technology while she worked appealing to the machinery to work to its full potential, apologizing to it when she had to cut off its lifeblood power supply. "Technology can be a very mixed thing to work with, some parts work well with others, some refuse until their demands are met."

He led her into Engineering, smiling as he stepped to the side to let her take it in. "It's part of what I love about it," he admitted before he looked around. There were no techs in here right now but he knew more work needed to be done before they set off.

"Impressive." Was Amari's first remark as she took in the sights of the engineering bay, the currently inactive warp core dominated the room. "The power cores of our ships are barely a quarter of the size of this one "

"We're still working on finding ways to make them smaller," Kit said as he smiled, looking around for a moment. "But for now, this is the size of the warp core. I suspect with your people's help, in the future, it may become...more condensed."

Amari wasn't sure what she had said translated quite right, part of her wrist lit up as a computer display projected itself milimeters away from her skin and she checked that her translator implant was working right; everything it said was right. "Scaled to the size of our ships they're a good size. I bet this generates power many greater than several of ours combined."

He watched with fascination, unable to tear his eyes away. "I misunderstood and...wow, that is amazing. You activate it with your thoughts?" he asked, moving a little closer to get a better look.

"A mix of thought and hand motions." Amari replied, she could tell Kit was immediately interested in the implant. Touching the display she flicked her fingers upwards and the display increased in size and projected itself further out. "It has a lot of different functions."

He let out a shaky breath, shaking his head with awe. "That is remarkable. I've never seen anything as...smooth as that. Small. Yet it looks...flawless in how you operate it," he let out a low whistle. "I was born into the wrong species, that is awesome."

"To get the best use out of it I would need to link it to your ships computer system." Amari mentally flicked the computer display between several screens before closing it. "I believe I should get the chief engineers permission for that first though, I imagine they will want a lot of information about how it works and if there are any security concerns."

"Yes, and the Captain's," he said, before he smiled to her. "Not that I can see any issue with it. But best to have everything in order, right?" he met her eyes, holding them. "I guess that once linked you can only access what you'd normally do with your clearance?"

"Once they're connected I should be able to set up a self limiting program." Amari hesitated for a moment unsure of the answer. "I won't know for certain until the two of them start talking to each other... We'll figure it out."

Kit laughed at that, more because there was something so reassuring about her admitting she wasn't certain. "Figuring things out is what we do," he said, meaning it. "You think you can be happy here, Lieutenant Amari?" it was said lightly, yet he meant the question.

"We will see. It will be interesting to adjust to not being around my own species for a while." Amari replied. "And integrating my technology with yours but that is what this whole program is for right? to see how different groups work."

"And to see what you get from it as well," he said, his voice gentle. He was of the opinion that any officer on an exchange programme was there to learn, not just about technology, but about people. And themselves, and teaching others. It was how you built an equal and accepting society, by learning from each other. By not judging, but exploring.

"The Federation is a mix of many many different species." Amari said as if reading it from a mission statement. "How you all manage to get along despite all your differences will be interesting to see. A lot of Lesrai clans have very long histories of disagreements with other clans, grudges about technology exchanges and marriage rejections, things like that."

"Well, it has been a long road of diplomacy," Kit said thoughtfully, a small chuckle escaping him. "And the Federation has enemies too. Not everyone wants to join us, which is their right. We don't force people. But some see the size of the Federation as a threat towards them. And we do have some infighting too..."

"Your infighting probably never involved weapons that can kill a person by stripping them apart atom by atom, extremely painfully. Or a weapon designed to slowly make the infected reject their implants or even take over someone's implants and use them against their host." Amari explained, luckily there had been much less interclan fighting over the last few decades. "We make very good technology but not all of us use it for good."

"Humanity...doesn't have the best track record either," Kit said with an almost sad smile. "But we learn and we improve. All we can do is better than we did yesterday. It's why I am in Starfleet."

"That is a very interesting outlook on things Commander." Amari remarked.

"Ah, that is me, Mister Interesting Outlook," Kit said and the smile became one of good humour. "But hopefully, you can take what you know and help us improve, and maybe we can find helps to enrich your knowledge in return. What, I have no idea yet."

"I hope so, when I return to my clan I will have a lot of things to discuss." Amari smiled back. "Oh, there appears to be no time limit given on this assignment in the data packet I was given. So I hope unless my clan want me back sooner I can remain here as long as your Captain will allow it."

"I am sure she will be impressed by what you can bring," he said, meaning it as he watched her. "I need to return to a...long list of things. But please, take the time you need here, on this ship."

"I certainly will take some time to explore this ship, you said my quarters were on deck 3 right?" Amari asked, wanting to unpack and maybe freshen up a little before setting about exploring.

"Yes, correct," Kit said before he gave her a nod. "I will see you soon. I hope that you like your quarters. It'll be where you rest your head for a while after all."

"Thank you for taking the time to welcome be onboard Commander." Amari said. She watched as he left then turned to look at the inactive warp core for a few more seconds before heading out the same door they had entered.

OFF:

Commander Kit Hanlon
First Officer

LTjg Amari
Engineer
[pnpc Masters]

 

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