The Art of Diplomacy

Posted on Sat Oct 12th, 2024 @ 8:08pm by Captain Dr. Nairut Noxi & Commander Damian Morgan & Lieutenant Commander Andrew "Drew" Chandler & Ambassador Devon Harrison

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: To Boldly Go...
Location: Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: TBD

Ambassador Devon Harrison stepped out of the turbolift onto the bridge and spotted Drew at one of the aft bulkhead stations. He stepped up to him. "Mister Chandler. I was wondering if the Captain and XO would have a minute to speak with me."

Drew stepped away from the console as he tapped his commbadge. Noxi and Damian were both in the Ready Room going over final preparations for their scheduled departure in an hour. "Captain, Chandler here. Ambassador Harrison just arrived and would like a few minutes of your time."

Noxi looked at her Badge, which was actually sitting on the desk to her left. She picked it up, and nodded. =/\=Yes, that's fine, send him through. Thanks!=/\= The Fleet would need to sort her out a yeoman soon. She couldn't rely on the Senior Staff to do that; it wasn't fair to them. She'd put in that request as soon as she was done meeting with the menfolk that day.

"Commander, more coffee? Apparently, it's not going to be a relaxing morning," she said. Noxi's never were; ever since she'd had Benny, it was always up at five to prep herself, her husband and kid for the day, drop him off at the school/daycare/wherever, work out, shower, eat, go to work, rinse, repeat for eighteen years. Well. She'd stopped dropping him off when he turned fourteen and she'd decided it was time for him to learn some self-responsibility, but still. She was up that morning at 5, did her workout, had her breakfast, gone over her pre-launch nonsense, and had even managed to squeeze in a final call to her mother. She didn't know how long it'd be before they were back in the Beta quadrant, and she'd miss Bajor.

“Thank you, Captain. Yes-black, please. Isn’t it usual for a Federation Ambassador to just drop in? I wonder why he’s here. Like it or not, we’ll find out shortly,” Morgan said.

Noxi shrugged. "Probably it is, but I don't mind. Still learning the ropes here," she said, replicating Morgan's coffee order and handing it over. "Here you go," she said. She fixed herself a third cup of coffee, as well-but she took hers with cream and sugar. She'd never fully adjusted to the taste of Sol coffee black.

The doors to the Ready Room opened and Devon stepped through the threshold. "Captain Nairut, Commander Morgan. It's an honor and privilege to finally meet you both. I hope I am not interrupting."

Noxi shook her head. "Nope, we were just wrapping up the important parts and were headed for the bullshitting," she said, frankly. "Please, have a seat," she said.

“Just the minutiae of ship’s business. Welcome aboard, Ambassador. Looking forward to getting underway here soon,” Damian said as he stood and briskly shook Harrison’s hand.

Devon gripped Damian's hand. "I look forward to working with you Commander."
He glanced at Noxi. " You as well Captain."

Noxi nodded once. "Same. What brings you in today? Actually, what brings you to the Deliverance in general?" She asked, frankly. "Excuse my frankness, but we didn't have one before. I assume it's because our mission has changed but our first assignment doesn't require your...skills, so. I am a bit confused as to the why now," she explained, hoping he wouldn't think her rude. She was just a more casual person, and operated that most people preferred a "no BS" policy, too.

Devon nodded slowly. "True, you don't need my presence or skill set for this particular mission, but the Federation Council has been debating trying to open diplomatic talks with Gamma Quadrant factions not aligned to the Dominion. Starfleet Command is also looking into the feasibility of establishing a permanent base of operations on the far side of the wormhole. I volunteered to head up the diplomatic angles and have heard that Deliverance is at the top of the list for vessels to make exploration and first contact efforts in the Gamma Quadrant."

“Pardon my modesty, Ambassador, Captain, but we’re far from the first vessel to explore the Gamma Quadrant. Sisko and the Defiant were out here long before us. Granted, there was a war on the last few years before he left, but still his crew and staff on DS9 did a lot of the legwork already. Now I don’t presume to speak for the Captain, but, for myself, we should continue the work already started. I think maintaining a presence out there beyond the wormhole is a good idea. Our job is to make contact and work closely with the uncharted worlds and form alliances with new species. That’s the…. fun part,” Morgan explained. He turned to his Commanding Officer. “Captain?”

She nodded. "That makes sense," she conceded. "I did some of that legwork myself," she noted. "What kind of...species should we expect to encounter? Besides anything new we discover," she said.

Devon turned to Damian. "True, the Deliverance would not be the first exploratory vessel to the Gamma Quadrant, however, the Treaty of Bajor that ended the Dominion War five years ago stated that no Alpha Quadrant power would conduct deep exploration missions of more than three months duration in that time. We've hit that mark and longer duration missions are now going to be allowed."

Noxi nodded again. "Of course...I was part of the voting faction that opted into the Federation. I think that exploration beyond our borders is the only way we'll be able to rebuild. Speaking frankly, and off the record-I don't quite care about the Fleet's opinions. They dropped the ball with my people, but I will ensure that that WILL NOT happen to anyone else if I can do anything about it," she said, plainly. Her opinions about the Fleet's rules of engagement/First Prime were quite...contradictory to her oath as Captain, but she had no doubt that the Fleet knew exactly how she felt. She'd been loud and clear about it throughout the years.

"I will expect you, as a civilian, to look after yourself. We don't have a Counselor or Mental Wellness person Fleetside yet, so you'll have no one to answer to except me. I will see what we can do to get you an office of some kind, as well. Commander, can you handle that, please?" She asked.

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll get right on it,” Morgan answered. “Ambassador, until I get your space squared away, please make use of our auxiliary conference room on Deck 3. Should be more than sufficient, at least temporarily.”

Devon shook his head. "I appreciate the offer, but my quarters are quite sufficient for my professional needs at the moment. I don't have a staff as of yet and probably won't be getting one until we return to Deep Space Nine after the current mission is completed. I would only ask for part time use of one of your yeoman for administrative duties and perhaps an officer to act as liaison should the need arise."

Noxi snorted. "We don't currently HAVE a yeoman pool," she said. "But I can request someone from Counseling or perhaps the embedded reporter to assist you, if you'd like. She's technically a Civilian, too, though," she turned to Morgan. "OH! I forgot to mention that, sorry. We have an embedded reporter onboard from FNN. Commander Chandler's sister," she said. "But you know her, don't you?" Noxi grinned wickedly.

“That’s right. We met at our….call it a mixer….to break the ice on the station. You met her the same time, I did, Captain. I’ve had the opportunity to get to know her a little better, as we were able to spend some time together in the holosuite,” Morgan replied tongue planted firmly in cheek.

“Ambassador, Miss Chandler is a journalist, not an administrative assistant, so I’m not sure she would be the right choice in my opinion. That being said, I’ll entertain any and all suggestions.”

Noxi shook her head just a bit. Just as she'd suspected, but she'd tease him more about it later. She turned serious, and then nodded. "General Hunel is supposed to be requisitioning a few people for the Yeoman pool, but it might take up to three or four weeks," she explained. "In the meantime, I suppose someone from Ops could assist. Commander Morgan, perhaps you can coordinate with Lt. Dalton about that? A junior officer, maybe, or even someone enlisted would do fine," she said. She drummed her fingers on the desk for a moment. "OH! What about Petty Officer Jones? He's new but supposedly really good at his job," she said. The young man was assigned to Ops as the Transporter Specialist, freshly arrived from Basic.

Devon shrugged. He wasn't particularly worried about a staff at this point in time. He was joining this mission strictly as an observer. While the planet was outside Federation Space and not a sanctioned colony world. It was the home to a number of Federation citizens, well, former Federation citizens. "Don't worry. I will do my best to fade into the background until I have something meaningful to contribute. Fair?"

Nairut nodded simply. "I don't mean that!!" She hoped he hadn't thought her rude. "We will work together to figure something out. I don't mind loaning out staff when we can," she clarified. "Commander Morgan doesn't, either, do you?" She raised an eyebrow at the man.

“Of course not, Captain. The duty rosters aren’t quite finalized, at least for the next week or so. Some departments are a little top-heavy, so some tweaks shouldn’t disrupt things too much. No worries, Ambassador. We’ll get you squared away in no time. Captain, any other business?” Morgan asked.

Noxi shook her head once. "I can't think of anything, unless Mr. Harrison has something else?" She asked. "I will push HQ for a Yeoman pool," she said. She had an idea-she could probably recall Brix Saad, the Orion girl she'd had at DS9 for the past three weeks.

Devon stood and nodded to Noxi and Damian. "Thank you both for sparing your time for me to introduce myself. I know you are both very busy. I will take my leave."

Noxi just nodded as the man left. "Thank you for introducing yourself," she said. She smiled a half smile. Was he cute or what?

“Make yourself at home, Ambassador. I’ll send someone down to check on you. And please don’t hesitate to call if you need anything. We should getting to our destination shortly,” Morgan said as Harrison left the Ready Room.

Damian turned to the Captain and reacted to her smile. “We haven’t known each other long, but that look makes it appear that you’re up to something. What are you thinking?”

A Mission Post by:
Capt. Dr. Nairut Noxi
Commanding Officer
USS Deliverance

Commander Damian Morgan
Executive Officer
USS Deliverance

Devon Harrison
Ambassador
United Federation of Planets

 

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