Tell Me About Your People

Posted on 30 Mar 2023 @ 10:16am by Commander Lucsa Myan & Commander Kristiana Petrova

1,043 words; about a 5 minute read

Kris trusted Ensign Walker and Lieutenant Veera to handle the scan of the lunar station. While that was underway she headed down to find Commander Myan, the mission advisor. "Hey, got a moment to chat?" she asked.

Lucsa was not difficult to find, sequestered in the small office that had been granted to her during her stay aboard the Odin. She glanced up from the Arrkun tablet she'd been reading from and saw the first officer walk in. "Hello, Commander," she greeted with a polite nod. "How can I help you?"

"Was just curious, Commander. I've got a few moments to spare, was wondering if you could tellme a bit about your people," she mused, leaning against a bulkhead. "Your history, what made you join the Federation, what makes you, you?"

"You'd need more than a few moments, Commander, for that," Lucsa said with wry humor. She set the tablet on her desk and blinked long, white lashes a few times. Although seeming translucent at times, the right catch of the light would show the very pale, fine hair that covered her skin. "There are four distinct groups of Sal'kiirans. I am Arrkun, which has been compared to the...air version of us. We live at high altitudes, cities high up on the mountains, and are the most advanced technologically of the four of us."

"Arrkun," Kristiana repeated the word, getting it mostly right - though her accent shone through. "Fascinating. There are stories of similar - .. divisions, in Earth literature. What are the other three groups of Sal'kiirans?"

"There are the Qaiin, who live in the lowlands and the marsh areas. They have chosen to live without much technology and are suited for the water as much as the land. There are the Hylcin, advanced but they live inside the mountains while we live atop them. They are a small, dense, dark people, but very skilled. Finally, the Chaaran. They live in the deserts and are all as hot as the random flame spouts that occur there."

She smiled dryly. "You see, Sal'kiir is a planet of extremes. Where it is is hot and dry, it is very hot and dry. Where it is wet, it is very wet. The mountains are tall and the valleys are very low. We are a people so diverse that many of us cannot stand the others. Those who are able often live in the cities, where you see a merging of all four of us. Few of us, like myself, have chosen to leave all together. That is not a common choice for a Sal'kiiran, though."

"Fascinating," Kris spoke, honestly. She smiled, as she tended to do when she was glued to someone's words, taking it all in as much as she could. "You're all Sal'kiiran, are you all - related? Genetically? Or just by proximity and existence on the same planet? I hope I'm not being rude by asking."

"Not at all," Lucsa said easily. "It's been, as you can imagine, a very common question in our dealings with the UFP and Starfleet, as we each come to understand one another." She inclined her head slightly. There was always something very austere and economical about her gestures and expressions. "We are genetically related, though there are variations related to the environmental adaptation for each group.

"Though it is very uncommon, we can have children between two different region's peoples, though it usually takes a little medical intervention to make sure the child is healthy." She paused. "And the Chaarans are typically not ones any other Sal'kiiran would be encouraged to attempt to mate with."

"The Chaarans, those are the hot desert ones, right? Yeah, I can imagine that would be - less than comfortable to mate with," Petrova shuddered. "You said the different types of Sal'kiirans often can't stand the others, but can interbreed. That would lead to halfbreeds. How do they fit into society?"

Lucsa offered a half-shrug, just one shoulder, and a look that was part wry and part ambivalent. "Not comfortably," she said. "But really, it is very rare. You will only find them in the cities, usually the capital since it is in the most integrated, and even if you live in the city, you may go an entire life and never meet someone who is of mixed heritage."

"Makes sense," Kris agreed. "Why'd you leave your home world? How'd you end up in Starfleet?" she asked, genuinely interested, especially after the Commander had said not many left to begin with.

"While I said it's uncommon for us to choose to leave our home system," the Arkkun woman replied easily, "you will find that of those who do, the majority--maybe even as much as eighty percent of us--are Arkkun. Our cultural appreciation of technology drives us to want to know more, to learn more, to make more. Once the Sal'kiiran government began talks with the Federation, it opened the opportunity for that on a broader scale. Then came the plans for Unity Station and the need for mission advisors. I followed my Arkkun mentality to learn more about your technology while helping you to learn about us."

"That makes a lot of sense," Kristiana agreed. "When'd your people discover FTL travel? Was that also the Arkkun?"

Lucsa inclined her head again with another austere smile. "It was, indeed. The Chaaran and the Qaiin would likely never have wanted to, if given the choice. The Hylcin would've been interested in the technology, but living inside the mountains doesn't show them the stars too often. The Arrkun are closest to the sky. We ascended to space approximately five hundred Sol years ago. We did not encounter humanity until approximately fifty years ago."

"So you grew up with the knowledge you could see the stars and meet the people who lived there. I can't even imagine what it would be like to grow up not knowing th - " at that moment Kristiana's comm badge chirped.

"Veera to Commander Petrova, we have an emergency. Kat is down. No sign of weapon discharge, I suspect it's electronic warfare."

"What th - fuck!" Kris cursed, turning around to rush back to the bridge right away. "Sound yellow alert! I'm on my way!"

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