Getting to Know You

Posted on Sat Feb 15th, 2025 @ 1:31am by Lieutenant (J.G.) Avir Yavan & Commodore Wilkan Targaryen & Commander Zhora zh'Roothi
Edited on on Sat Feb 22nd, 2025 @ 9:18pm

1,760 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Short Treks
Location: Ready Room, U.S.S. Enterprise
Timeline: 2439-03-10, 12:15

Twin cups of Vulcan Spice Tea appeared within the Replicator in the Captain's Ready Room of the Starship Enterprise, only to be quickly picked up by Commodore Wilkan Targaryen. Deftly the Commanding Officer of the Enterprise walked the short distance to his desk and placed the cups, one for him and one for his Executive Officer. He had only limited interaction with Commander zh'Roothi during the previous mission and after, which he hoped to rectify rather quickly on this mission. He and the XO had to be a functional team; it would help if they got to know each other.

This mission would give them ample opportunity with an intruder on board. The Commander had asked for an opportunity to meet with him about the situation and Wilkan had obliged. Leaving Lieutenant Toryn in command, the captain had asked the XO to meet with him in the Ready Room. He was eager to learn what happened.

Hearing the door chime he looked over at the door, "It's open."

Smoothly the door slid aside and the slender Commander zh'Roothi stepped inside the Ready Room for only perhaps the fourth time since taking the assignment as XO.

Two of those previous visits she'd been the sole occupant having taking command of the Enterprise while Targaryen had been incapacitated in Sickbay following the encounter with the alien in the atmosphere of the Brown Dwarf. Consequently, the Zhen knew very little about her Commanding Officer outside his encyclopedia sized file - even for an El-Aurian or hybrid combination granted a long lifespan Wilkan had not been idle with his time. It had been impressive reading, and yet, intimidating at the same time.

Or at least that was her first impression. Now having seen he was in laymen's terms human built with blood and emotions just like everyone else the Andorian's previous opinion of his Godliness had shifted down a couple of notches. The grueling session Veegg and Loatha Targaryen had brought into sharp focus the need for cohesive between them both in order for their mission to be successful.

This would hopefully be the first step towards this requirement.

"Commodore," she greeted the superior office with a polite smile and inhaled the warm aroma of spiced Vulcan tea that floated in the air. By deliberate choice or dumb luck, he'd replicated one of her favourite hot beverages for their meeting. Her lips twitched - clearly, he'd been done his own research and would properly deny doing so if challenged.

She crossed toward him at the desk wondering what else he already knew about her. "Our stowaway has been escorted to Sickbay as a precaution with Randall and mister Moore."

"Pretty impressive if I say so myself," Wilkan commented as he looked at the footage from the internal sensors on a datapad. "Enterprise hasn't even officially started its mission to the Gamma Quadrant and we already have one of their nationals hiding aboard ship. Have we been able to get much out of it?" The captain questioned before motioning toward the chair, "Sorry, where are my manners, please have a seat, Commander. I ordered you some tea. I hope that you like it. My Exec on the Tian An Men was a fan and it's been my go to for guests ever since then."

"Alas no, not yet," zh'Roothi bite back a sigh. "However, they've taken a shine to Commander Randall, I'm very hopeful she'll be able to learn more in a short while." She gently eased a seat from underneath the desk at his request and sat before bringing the hot tea closer. "Your previous Exec had good tastes," she commented.

The Commodore took a sip of the tea that he had replicated, grateful that his previous XO hadn't been a fan of the Vulcan mint tea. Vulcans had something that they called mint, but most Humans wouldn't recognize it as such. It was far easier to avoid it instead of going down that particular rabbit hole.

Setting aside his cup, "So, what do we know about our new friend?"

"Not a great deal at this point," the Andorian woman replied. "He's Tosk, and like many of his kin he's frightened due to the hunt. Whom is hunting him, however I cannot say. He associates uniforms with predators and has an elusive shroud which makes tracking him rather difficult. I would assume with this ability he was able to stride aboard without detection. Perhaps we left ourselves vulnerable having been distracted by repairs and updates," she shook her head frustrated at how the intruder was able to board so easily. "Something I'd like to take up with Starbase 419 and Lieutenant Moore."

"One challenge at a time, Exec," Wilkan answered as he played with the cup between his hands. "You said the magic word when you said Tosk, Commander, and they're never a good sign. I'm familiar with them from the early days of exploration of the Gamma Quadrant, back when I was assigned to the Armstrong. A Tosk was our first visitor from the Gamma Quadrant, and he was followed by a race of hunters known as the Drai. They demanded that the Tosk be returned, and Commander Sisko obliged. Chief O'Brien, rather than allow the alien to be captured alive though, helped the Tosk to escape to his ship and he was able to flee. The Drai made travel to the Alpha Quadrant out of bounds for their hunt, and the Federation - as part of an agreement with the Drai not to attack DS9 back then - agreed to abide by their terms. We're still duty bound to honor that agreement."

Targaryen sighed after his explanation. The captain continued, "Did the Tosk happen to share its intentions? What does it want?"

Her lips thinned: "Asylum and protection from the hunters."

"I was afraid of that. The Drai agreement makes the Tosk coming here a direct violation of their laws and he'd be a criminal in their eyes for coming to the Alpha Quadrant, let alone a Federation starship. If I would approve him for asylum, it would be cause for an interstellar incident." The Enterprise's Captain explained. "We'd be on the brink of another war before we even had time to cause any real trouble," Wilkan said as a joke. Then he added, "With a race that's a member of the Dominion no less. Not exactly an appealing prospect, is it?"

"No, it isn't." zh'Roothi admitted. Drawing her hands around the warm teacup she continued: "Completely the opposite reason to why we're heading to the Gamma Quadrant in the first place. What will you do?"

Wilkan smirked, "Same thing I do every night, Exec, make it up as I go along."

"I see," she replied making note of the Commodore's preference. "Remembering to stay within the guidelines I trust?" She met his eye, yet the corner of lips curled into a smile.

"Something like that," Wilkan answered. "Starfleet protocols are fairly clear with this mission and our overall guidelines are still out there keeping us preoccupied. We can't forget that encroaching on the territory of an alien species is strictly prohibited by regulation, but I'm curious to see just how far we can go with that. The Dominion's invited us, true they've limited exactly where we can go, but I'm sure that reg'll get called into question more a lot."

"Let's not push our luck," zh'Roothi replied. "The last thing we want is to antagonise them into warfare again."

The captain was getting ready to take a drink of the tea when his comlink beeped. "Bridge to the Captain."

Targaryen reached to the keypad and accepted the message, "What is it Avir?"

The Angosian woman's voice came through clear as day, "Captain, sensors are reading elevated neutrino levels at the wormhole. Something's coming through."

Instinctively, Wilkan looked toward the window before remembering they were docked within 419's spacedock. He smirked before continuing, "What's 419's tactical posture?"

"They've maintained Condition Green for now," the Lieutenant answered.

"Reach out to them and find out if they need our involvement. I'll be in the Ready Room with the XO for now. Call us if you need us. Targaryen out," the captain closed the channel and looked back to the XO. "I wonder if..."

"Bridge to the Captain."

Using the pause in their meeting to drink from her own tea zh'Roothi glanced over the rim at the second interruption.

Wilkan sighed, "Yes, Lieutenant?"

"A Dominion Scout has come through the wormhole and is requesting permission to dock."

"I have no control over who docks with the station, Lieutenant," the Commodore said looking at his XO.

The Andorian smirked at the Lieutenant's persistence.

There was a pause, "Sorry, Sir, but they're requesting permission to dock with us. They report they're transporting a passenger, an Administrator Kuzos, who will be joining us at the Dominion's direction."

The Commodore sat silently, letting the words sink in.

"Commodore?"

He pulled out of its remembrance of the past, "Give them permission to land. The XO and I will greet them."

"Aye Sir. Bridge out."

"Looks like we have a passenger coming aboard," Wilkan said to the Executive Officer.

Replacing the cup zh'Roothi felt the mood shift at the announcement. They knew they'd been transporting a Dominion representative throughout their mission; however she hadn't expected them to join on this side of the wormhole.

"More than one I suspect, and much sooner than I'd expected," she felt a sigh emerge. "Are we prepared for the song we must dance?" the XO asked wondering how crisscrossed the Dominion and Vorta was with Wilkan's past. Lieutenant Toryn had already displayed a certain level of hostility with the pact, was the Commodore next? And who else would follow?

"I don't think anyone is ever really prepared for the song and dance that the Dominion call for, Commander. The people on the Odyssey, Sarajevo, Maryland, the New Bajor Colony, so many others that I can't even begin to list - none of them were prepared for the Dominion and what they brought to the galaxy." The Captain of the Enterprise paused, "We better not keep them waiting, Commander."

She held his eye as he listed the names noting how he like Toryn were not ready to allow sleeping dogs lay just yet. This assignment was about to become a lot more complicated if Wilkan couldn't set aside his personal feelings zh'Roothi thought bitterly looking away.

"Indeed," the XO rose to her feet. "First impressions speak volumes after all."

Targaryen nodded as he stood, "Indeed."

 

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