The Union Delegation

Posted on 25 Feb 2020 @ 5:28pm by Captain Mallory Thorne & Lieutenant JG Aleina Sun & Elynda McConnell

2,144 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Changing Faces
Timeline: MD 02 - 1530 hours

=/\= Begin Log =/\=

Curses be upon all the gods, she was late!

Helena stumbled over who-knew-what that had been left in the hallway as she rushed onward toward the office of Ambassador Elynda McConnell. Although the ambassador wasn't the blowhard that some of her colleagues were, and thus less likely to fly off the handle, Helena prided herself on her professionalism and punctuality. To be running late for anything was a personal affront, and she would at least do her best to minimize the offense.

Her soft-shoed feet all but slid her around the corner as she reached the door and she stopped, taking a moment to smooth herself before pressing the chime to announce her arrival. Hearing the call to enter, Helena walked through and nodded politely to the other members of the ambassador's staff already present. "I'm sorry I'm late," the diplomatic attache said as the door slid shut behind her.

"I'll say it again, Ambassador," DSS Agent Issadri said with a smile, "I can have her held in protective custody to make sure she arrives on time." He dropped a wink to Helena at the running gag. "Then maybe we can arrive on time for our transports."

Mireille Prideaux arrived she was a lovely looking young Terran women. And one of the ambassador's aides she was also skilled in anything programming. "So sorry that I am late." Mireille said apologetically as she worked on catching her breath and straightening her uniform.

Helena held up her hands with an expression of innocence. "Hey, at least I'm not the last one here," she bantered at Talrian before chuckling and turning to Mireille. "Apparently, it's going around, but I had not idea it was contagious."

"That's okay, I'll book the deluxe brig suite, you two can share a room, right?" He asked as he glanced at his tablet and the messages that just arrived. He grinned again, this time at something private before he turned back to the group. "The transports are prepped and ready, if we're all here now?"

Mireille looked around the group, "...ready. Umm....but," Mireille wasn't good with this small talk/banter or was it flirting thing that apparently these two had going on. "So sorry I must've missed something. Contagious?"

Elynda was not like most of her contemporaries who would have made the other two stay on task. No, she let her people banter a bit for several reasons only one of which was that such banter gave her insight into them. Oh, she was aware that insight only went so far, but it was useful nonetheless. And yet, it could only be allowed to go so far.

The chuckle she had given at their banter stopped, and her eyes became completely serious as did the rest of her manner. "I will take that under advisement, Mr. Issadri," she said, for all the world sounding as if she meant it. Waiting a beat, she smiled slightly, showing that she had a sense of humor too. "Now if everyone is ready, we can get to business."

"Ready, Ambassador," Helena said smartly, already Back to Business. She looked at the top data-tablet against her arm for a moment. "The...Odin reports that it is ready to receive us, and the shuttle is being prepped in the bay as we speak."

Elynda liked Helena. She was efficient but not such a stick-up-her-ass that Elynda wanted to introduce her to the local star cluster up close and personal. She nodded to the woman then looked at the rest. "Let's get moving then." And she left the room. They would either follow her or they wouldn't, but it was now time to get to work.

It did not take the Ambassador's team long to reach the shuttle bay. A short conversation with the deck chief told her where their shuttle was. When they had boarded, Elynda looked to Helena. "Did they, by chance, inform you as to who was piloting us there?"

As they walked Mireille was busy listening and working on something on her PaDD. Problem was she wasn't great at the whole walking, listening and working. And she ended up walking into the door frame with an audile oof and ouch she rubbed her head where she bonked it.

"That would be..." Helena began, scrolling through her tablet. "First Lieutenant Aleina Sun, Ambassador."

Elynda thought about that a moment. "If they sent you her Dossier, I would like to review it."

As she spoke to her Aide, another person entered the shuttle. This lady was not overly tall, standing at only five feet and five inches, but she carried herself with an air of command... or of someone who had been in command. She nodded to the entourage and then to the Ambassador before moving farther into the ship to take the pilot's chair and begin the preflight checks.

"Well, I'll give her points for efficiency," she commented to her staff with a smirk.

"Indeed," Helena agreed, warily eyeing the woman who had just walked past. She shook her head slightly and turned back. "Her record should be on your tablet now, Ambassador." At this, she looked at the others. "I have also forwarded the text version of the briefing on the USS Odin to both of you as well."

"I've studied it and, from accounts, we are in good hands. They are a good choice for neutrality. Based on the information Helene was able to put together, they're not exactly fans of the Alliance, but are not expected to be sympathetic to the Seelie either. Their ship is comparable to our own for security and defenses. I look forward to meeting with their security department to coordinate for our needs." He kept from looking at the pilot only because it would be easier to study her if she wasn't aware of the scrutiny. "To that end, I'm sure we're expected to attend some administrative function hosted by the ship's captain."

Aleina was a Peacekeeper, and an officer no less. Or rather, she had been. She had used that watch without your subordinate knowing you were watching trick. Therefore, she knew she was being observed, or suspected it. This Terran Union was not so different from her home in many ways, though it did have many differences as well. Well, let them watch. It would not affect her in any way.

While Aleina flew them toward this Odin, Elynda nodded to Talrian. "Indeed we are, and as a member of an ambassadorial entourage, you should be used to that by now, Mr. Issadri." She smirked. To her knowledge, there was no such thing planned, and she should know if it had been. But she couldn't help but to poke the man to see what his reaction would be. It kept her people on their toes to occasionally take a poke at them.

Aleina, from her place at helm, chuckled softly. She recognized that for what it was too. Scorpius liked to poke Braca just to watch the poor man twitch, and this felt like that to her. However, she couldn't be one hundred percent certain as she could not read the ambassador's mind. She was just fortunate that she was only the pilot. Even if the woman were serious, it would not be Aleina's problem.

"Oh, no, Madame Ambassador, I'm very much looking forward to wearing the stiff, uncomfortable, rash-inducing formal uniform at a bland, inoffensive meal designed to be bland, inoffensive and...polite. Nothing makes me happier than stilted formality and listening to people talk around issues." Talrian smiled as he spoke, belying the attempted harshness of his words. He really just didn't have it in him to be that snarky though. He left the snark for his wife. Usually when he informed her he had to go on long term missions, such as this one. "Though, thinking about it, it's still better than Luxnar with the in-laws, so for that I must thank you."

Helena stifled a giggle behind her hand, pretending that she was very intent on reading her tablet.

"Go ahead and snicker, little aide," Talrian said with a shake of his head, "Someday some guy is going to find a way to obtain your attention and we'll see how well in-laws settle with you." He grabbed the tablet from her hands. "Or, maybe some guy already has, you got love letters on here from some smitten scientist?"

Elynda frowned. She let her people have more rope than most in her position did, but there were lines, and Talrian had just crossed one. "Issadri, give her back her tablet and find something constructive to do with your excess energy." Her tone was not angry or hard, merely strong, a tone not to be challenged.

Meanwhile, the shuttle arrived at the USS Odin--which had not been very far away from the station as it was--and they were cleared to land. The shuttlebay door opened for them and they landed, where the captain was standing with her chief of security and reasonable contingent of security and relevant officers. Mal managed to put on a small smile as everything finished and the shuttle door opened.

Talrian stood next to the captain, resisting the urge to pull at the collar. This was sheer torture. He hated his Marine dress blues and the Fleeter dress uniform was even worse. And, because this was a formal greeting and ambassadorial function he wasn't carrying his sidearm. At the same time he felt stiffly overdressed in a much too starched, itchy and yet he also felt vulnerable and naked. Worse than everything, he really did feel as if the dress uniform was giving him a rash. Which was driving him nearly insane from using all his willpower to keep from scratching.

She watched the small group emerge and seeing no overt malicious behavior, she took a step forward toward the woman who looked In Charge. "Ambassador," she said. "Welcome to the Odin."

"Oh what fresh frelling hell is this!?" Talrian Bran said as he watched the ambassadorial staff disembark. "I thought this was the Union delegation, not the Seelies?"

"We are from the Union," Talrian Issadri said, staring into the dark mirror that was his security counterpart on the ship. "What the hell?" He looked around, from the Odin representatives to his own party. "Is this possible?" His hand was on the grip of his sidearm, resting naturally but also disengaging the holster retention. The other accused them of being the Seelie delegation, but a shapeshifter infiltrating them would make sense. But why him? Surely the deception would be immediately noticed?

"Captain?" Talrian asked Thorne, at a loss as how to proceed.

Meanwhile, Captain Thorne stared between the two. The gods hate me, was her first thought, of course. Two of them?!

"In theory..." she began, "any one of us could still have come to exist despite the changes we created in the timeline, and with the Odin separated from time..." She held her hands up. "I'm not a temporal expert, but I'm pretty sure you're not a shapeshifter." She gestured at "her" Talrian.

"No, Captain, I am not," Bran said as he continued to glare at the reflection in the different uniform. But his itch to have his gun was much more pronounced at the moment. But...if this was really him...a different him, how much of the upbringing was the same as his?

"I assure you, I am not a member of the Seelie coalition, I'm from Trill just as, I suspect, my...counterpart is. Oh, this should be fun," Issadri said, ending it with a smile and a shrug. And judging from the other Talrian's stiffness, he may be the Talrian his mother always wanted. "And I apologize, we are breaking protocol. Captain," he looked at his notes, "Captain Thorne, may I present the Honorable Elynda McConnel, Union Ambassador."

Elynda smiled slightly and nodded to the captain. "Pleased to meet you, Captain Thorne. And may I say, we appreciate your hosting these talks. This is my staff. You've met my security adviser. This is my aide Helena. And that" she indicated Aleina who was now exiting the shuttle after finishing the post-flight checks "is our pilot Aleina Sun."

"It is a...pleasure to meet you all," Mal said with all the grace Starfleet had trained her to have. "We have arranged guest quarters for you all and provided a conference room for your delegations to meet."

With that, the captain led the group away from the shuttlebay. En route, she learned that the Terran Union "insisted" on providing her a helm officer to steer them to the meeting place. "Security concerns," were the words used, but Mallory just grumbled and accepted...

This was going to be a long mission.

=/\= End Log =/\=

 

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