The Visitor

Posted on 07 Aug 2012 @ 10:46am by Captain Jonathan Holliday & Ambassador Si'tar Del'an

1,312 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: USS Galileo - Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: MD-08: 0730 hours

[ON]

Being in the Captain's ready room still didn't feel at all right to John, after all, up until a few hours ago, this had been the office of his CO, and at present, he felt like he was walking over someone's grave rather than simply occupying their work space.

Damage reports had been cascading in, not that the XO turned CO had been given much chance to work through them with the debris and damage that had been given to the Ready Room already. The replicator was offline, the desk was covered in debris and shards from a ceiling conduit that had blown out during the Klingon asssault.

The door to the ready room slid open without provocation and the Tarkannan elder walked in like she owned the place. She had a certain felinity to her attitude in that way. She wore a loose black outfit that was very unlike her robes. The material was still light and elegant, but plain. The fabric was loose but fit her form well, the legs reaching almost to the floor and the sleeves not quite touching her elbows. A small diamond of revealed skin centered around her navel and her hair was loose. The outfit almost resembled pajamas.

Her serene, knowing eyes fell on John and she positioned herself before his desk, folding her hands over her stomach. "You are troubled."

The XO had still not gotten used to people simple walking into his office, but at least in this case it wasn't a member of his crew, and therefore not something he would be able to discipline effectively without the rulebook of Starfleet to follow and enforce. That said, even if De'lan had been one of his crew, his response would have been exactly the same - she was right, he was troubled.

"I have a ship that's being held together by goodwill, a captain who might not even be alive, and a Bird of Prey sat outside the nebula waiting to shoot at us the moment we leave... that's reason to be troubled enough wouldn't you agree?"

"Perhaps," Del'an replied with a noncommittal air. She waited in that same position, looking at him as if expecting him to continue.

"That's not an answer - that's an evasion - I would have thought someone of your experience would be a little more committed with their answers... now, if you're staying, take a seat, if not, use the door."

John realised that his own stress was getting to the same degree as the damage to his ship, and in fact, at the rate things were going, he would have to put himself in for repairs before Galileo managed to get back to a starbase. That said, he was more than busy, and didn't feel that he had the time for unnecessary interruptions.

"I think under normal circumstances," she replied, giving him a pointed look as she took a seat, "you would in turn be more diplomatic with me, even if I were not representing my people. But I did not come here to distract you, I came here because others often forget what must be endured by those upon whom the weight of fate is placed, and because I would help you if I could."

The offer of help wasn't something that he had been expecting, in fact, it was the last thing on his mind. As far as he was concerned, it was his job to keep this crew alive and get the ship back to the Federation, not to rely on the civillian attachment to a cadet under his command. Regardless of her knowledge or experience, she was not Starfleet, she didn't understand their ways, protocols or procedures, no matter how much he would love extra officers to be available right now.

She was right about one thing however - the stress was certainly gettng to him, usually, he would have indeed held his tongue and been a little more diplomatic, but that was not coming easily to him right now.

"Help me? I beg your pardon ma'am but I don't see how you can help me right now unless you happen to have a fleet of starships hidden in this nebula?"

That seemed to amuse her, for her eyes sparked with a wild light. "And if I did," she said lightly, "would it please you any more? It is not ships you need, John, it is something else. Something you already have but do not yet realize." She stopped, giving him a look that clearly said he should make some attempt at solving her little riddle.

"Ah... a really big torpedo... yes I've always wanted one of those..." John replied with a smirk of his own as he continued working on the PADD in his hand, slowly working his way through the never-ending list of destroyed ODN relays and ruptured EPS conduits.

"I'm a soldier ma'am, right now even a single Sovereign class starship would make me the happiest XO in the fleet if it came to the rescue with phasers firing."

The Takannan woman rose from her seat and drifted to stand beside the first officer. Her long, slender hands went out and she covered the top of the PADD. "Battles are not fought with weapons and ships and technology, John, they are fought with the mind. Your Federation's greatest captain's knew that, if they did not, there would be no Federation, only empty Borg space. A cold, lifeless, devouring, single-minded void of the Hive Mind. The Hive Mind versus the Human Mind, that was the real battle your people fought."

Having his PADD covered up was a little more than a minor annoyance, in fact it was downright frustrating, after all, it wasn't as if he had the liberty of spending several hours completing his work, he had a ship to get back out onto the battlefield. The human mind? An absurd reference, as far as John thought anyway, the battle against the Borg had been won by ingenuity and sacrifice, nothing more.

"Forgive me... the battle being fought was won by ships, with blood and sweat and sacrifice, not by some mental ability... I do not see your point here?"

"My point is," Del'an repeated, "that though you may not believe me, there is a solution to your problem if you can find it. For that, you need your mind. A torpedo will not blast a whole to the solution. Your ships, your weapons, they are all tools, nothing more. Tell me this, if another man besides Captain Picard had led the fight against the Borg, if other, lesser men had walked the bridge of your Enterprise, would there be a Federation today? Who makes the sacrifice if not the men behind the blood and sweat? Why do they make those sacrifices? No, battles are fought and won by people, and people are driven by their thoughts, reason, and will. They won because they were able to see the solution to their problems. Whatever else I may think of the Federation, I can admire the quality of those you choose as your captains for that."

The words she spoke rang true within Jonathan's mind, he knew full well of the quality and dedication of captains like Picard, a man he had once had the pleasure of meeting during his time as an Academy Instructor when the captain was a visiting lecturer for a seminar. If he had not been there, John was in no doubt that the Federation would have been destroyed long ago.

"Then perhaps... it is time for me to become one of those men... in order to save my captain, and my crew."

Del'an smiled, just the tiniest smile that teased the corner of her lips. "Now you have your weapon."

[OFF]

Si'tar Del'an
VIP
USS Galileo

Lt Cmdr Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

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