Unity

Posted on 27 Jul 2025 @ 4:02pm by Captain Brynhild Kleim & Commander Kristiana Petrova
Edited on on 26 Aug 2025 @ 7:46pm

1,040 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Unity

"Captain and First Officer to the bridge. We are approaching Unity Station."

When the call came in, Brynhild was in her ready room. Truth be told, that's where she usually was. A couple of nights, she had ended up sleeping on her couch because it had gotten so late...which was no small feat given it was not a couch made for a six-foot-long body to sleep on.

Now, she rose from her seat, finished the last of her coffee, and strode onto the bridge.

Petrova looked up as Captain Kleim strode in, she'd arrived only a moment earlier. "Captain," she greeted the other woman as she took her seat, letting Brynna take command as befitting her station and rank.

"Commander," Brynna replied with a nod as she sat.

"We are on approach to Unity Station."

"Let's see our new home," the captain said. "On screen. Please hail the station."

A moment later, the view screen lit up with the image of a space station--mostly complete, although with several places obviously still in process. It didn't look like a standard Federation base, and yet there were elements to it that were reminiscent enough to not feel totally alien.

The image was replaced after a few moments with the image of a Sal'kiiran woman. She looked a lot like Lucsa Myan in terms of being the same sub-group of Sal'kiiran, with the faintly elongated features, very page coloring, and the traces of fur lining her skin. She was wearing a long blue vest-robe over a white jumpsuit. "I am Governor Nya, leader of the civilian populace. Welcome to Unity."

Brynna returned the polite smile. "Thank you for your welcome, Governor. We are glad to be here."

Smiling was difficult, Kristiana had concluded, so her expression remained mostly just neutral. "Governor Nya. Kristiana Petrova, executive officer on USS Odin. It's a pleasure meeting another Arrkun. Though I look forward to meeting Qaiin, Hylcin and Chaaran too, when the opportunity presents itself," Petrova's pronunciation was almost spot on, it was obvious that she'd put effort into learning the proper way of saying those names and learning a bit about the various groups of Sal'kiiran.

The governor inclined her head with a light, placid smile. "We are pleased to meet you as well. You will predominantly see the Arrkun aboard the station, as our sibling groups are less inclined to leave the planet. However, we do have a few members of each group representing. Mostly the rebellious ones, so I'm sure it will be interesting for everyone." Although her expression didn't markedly change, there was a definite note of amusement in her pale eyes. "I would warn you about the Chaaran, however. They are a...fierce group of Sal'kiirans."

"I've heard that they can be - .. fiery, yes," It made sense to Kris. Desert tribes and people even on earth were known to be fierce and strongwilled people. You kind of had to be, to be able to survive in the deserts, much less to evolve there. The whole distinction between the various Sal'kiiran people struck her as interesting, reminding her of stories she used to hear about various different almost-human tribes and peoples on Earth, peoples like the Denisovans, the Neanderthals and Florensiensis. Of course, those were all sister species to humans and 99% similar, rather than the more diverse Sal'kiirans, but the similarities were interesting. "We'll be arriving shortly and are looking forward to any assistance we can give you."

"We look forward to it as well," Nya said. "We Arrkun are always fascinated to expand our knowledge, and the United Federation of Planets has created a sort of singular creation that is still as diverse as my people." She smiled and then briefly glanced to one side, listening to someone that the people on the Odin couldn't quite here, then turned back to the humans. "We welcome you to docking port three. Our navigation controller will take it from here."

"Thank you, Governor," Brynna said, inclining her head in response. "We look forward to meeting you in person shortly."

The screen blipped off, and the captain settled back in her seat. "Do you have connection with Unity Station's navigation controller?"

After a moment, "Yes, sir."

"Then bring us in." She gave it a moment and then glanced at her first officer. Although the two had not yet had the time to form any sort of casual connection, she did feel safe commenting. "This suggests an interesting time. If most of the Sal'kiirans are less interested than the Arrkun to leave the planet, I'm interested to meet those who did. Hopefully it still manages to be a peaceful coexistence...on a station called Unity."

"Have you had a chance to talk with Commander Lucsa?" Petrova asked, pulling up various bits of data and information on Unity station. There was still some time for some refreshing of her memory; she'd read the brief before of course but figured it would do no harm to remind herself of the basics on the station. "Or read up on the various subspecies of Sal'kiiran?"

Brynna nodded sparingly. "I have read the briefs on the different sub-groups, although my conversations with the good commander have so far been brief. I imagine you've had a few more opportunities to speak with her before now. Any thoughts?"

"It's fascinating," Kristiana began, leaning back and steepling her fingers in thought. "These people have achieved a level of equilibrium and coexistence that our own ancestors have not been able to. Instead of outcompeting or just outright genociding others who are not quite the same, like us with the Neanderthals, Denisovans, Naledi and Florensiensis, they've managed to evolve alongside the others. It's worth admiring and researching - almost makes me regret not being a historian."

"Or an anthropologist," Brynna replied with a faint smile.

"Docking complete," came the announcement a moment later. "We are now at Unity Station."

Nodding once and getting to her feet, the captain looked back to her first officer. "Let's go meet the new neighbors."

"And let's go see our new home for the foreseeable future," Kris nodded, rising to her feet as well. A slight wince as she rolled her shoulders before following the captain our.

 

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