SIM:Lael Rosek - First Contact (Za)

((Bridge, USS Za))

::The last time Lael had encountered a situation like this, it had gone south quickly. She was already nervous, not wanting a repeat of the incident with the Tholians.::

::She was so absorbed in her own thoughts that she almost missed the excitement in the science officer's voice. She sighed. There had been a day years ago when she too would have been excited at the prospect of a first contact. But time and too many missions gone wrong had jaded her. The current situation with Alex and Chythar was doing nothing to improve her mood.:: Kaidun: ?

Vondaryan: Ready.

Rhani: Then I guess it’s show time. Mister Pandorn?

Any: Response

Pandorn: ::taps his console:: Channel is open.

Rhani: =/\= This is Captain Keelah Rhani of the USS Za, representing the United Federation of Planets. It’s a pleasure to meet you. =/\=

There was a response! Petras spoke up.::

Petras: Captain, I am tying in to the UT. However, this is a new language. Please use very simple words until I can get more of their language to translate. I am still trying to determine if they have video capability.

Kzan: =/\= This is General Kzan of the UHS Pathfinder, representing the united fronts of Hochin. We greet you in peace, as fellow spacefarers. We would know what brings you to our system. =/\=

Rhani: =/\= Curiosity, General. We are explorers, and this whole area – and the people in it - is new to us. =/\=

This first contact was actually fairly standard. It was like a dance. They were self-conscious, neither group knowing the other and what their motives might be. They seemed a hesitant people, like they'd been burned before. From what Lael had read of this area of space it wouldn't be a complete surprise.::

Petras: ::she muted the comm before she spoke aloud.:: Captain, I think it would be to our advantage to have Counselor Ruwon’s insight.

Rhani: Indeed. Get him up here, please. And Mister Vondaryan, if you could alert Mister Williams that he and his people might have some guests to welcome aboard, I’m sure he would appreciate it.

Vondaryan: Message sent to Commander Williams, Captain.

Pandorn: Shall I call for a security escort as well, ma'am?

Rhani: Response

Rosek: ::pauses:: While I don't think we need to intimidate our guests by going to the extreme, I think an escort with more diplomatic experience wouldn't go amiss. As always, we should do our due diligence in observing them while they are onboard Kaidun: ?

Rhani: For the moment, I thought we’d just chat and see how it goes. ::nodding to Petras to restore the audio:: =/\= As I said, General, we’re curious, and your vessel caught our eye. Warp capability is a major milestone in a culture’s development, and my congratulations on your own people’s reaching it. =/\=

Kzan: =/\= Your congratulations are appreciated, Captain. =/\= ::there was a small pause on the other end:: =/\= Perhaps there is some way we could meet in person? It would appear our communications are less... sophisticated than yours. =/\

Blair: It definitely is a unique approach to warp capability.

Vondaryan: We should have an officer exchange, Captain. I'd love to see their ship in person. ::tilting his head, smiling:: By the sounds of it, so would Commander Blair.

::Lael smiled wanly. She herself could love an opportunity to study their ship's systems. If their acquaintances were willing to exchange information, they might be able to form a strong bond with their new contacts.:: DeVeau: Count me among those interested!

Rosek: I'd happily volunteer, Captain. I have diplomatic training and would be useful in establishing relationships. Rhani/Petras/Kaidun/Blair: ?

Ruwon: Mm. I’m afraid most of my experiences with first contact are anecdotal.

Pandorn: And if we are sending an exchange group over, I'm afraid I must insist a security guard go along.

Rosek: ::nods:: Understandable. But the number of security personnel should be kept to a minimum. We don't want to alarm them. They're already skiddish as it is.

Rhani/Petras/Kaidun/Blair: ?

Ruwon: ::The counselor shrugged, loosely, as he sat in the chair to the left of the Captain’s.:: They’re a small, just barely warp-capable culture who’s found a very large ship claiming to be from an even larger Empire sitting on their doorstep. They’re probably quite concerned about our intentions.

Vondaryan: ::he scoffed:: Surely the Federation isn't an Empire.

DeVeau: Well, we know it’s not, but it may seem like one to them.

Rosek: Isn't that why we're out here? To educate people about what the Federation is and what it means to be a part of it?

Rhani/Petras/Kaidun/Blair: Response Ruwon: ::He smiled slightly.:: I’d say it’s safe to assume they’ll consider us an Empire until they can be educated otherwise. We have the bigger stick, so to speak. As much as we’d like to believe it, we are not equals in this exchange, Captain.

Pandorn: Federation, Empire. It is semantics. Wouldn't matter if we were either to me. We are definitely the more advanced.

Rosek: ::nods:: I agree with Lieutenant Pandorn. We need to approach this cautiously...understand their customs and their society before we try to set up a formal meeting. And offer them the chance to do the same with us. Vondaryan: Again, I'd like to suggest an exchange. Though perhaps without taking phasers. ::he frowned:: I know Alex will say it's against protocol but they may be more inclined to believe our friendly intentions if we do not appear armed.

Pandorn: ::frowning:: All due respect, Commander, I share that same opinion. And if they sent over military specification, I think it would be weakness not to at least go with a lightly armed escort.

Rosek: ::pauses:: A couple of phasers that we allow them to inspect in our sight. If we try to hide anything, it will definitely be seen as hostile. Blair: Captain, we may want to consider the Prime Directive as well.

DeVeau: In this case, just meeting with them wouldn’t violate the Prime Directive as they have developed warp capabilities on their own.

Petras/Kzan/Rhani/Vondaryan/Kaidun/Blair/Ruwon/Any: Response

Blair: Yes, we can all see that this species is warp capable, but as I’ve been looking over their ship it’s obvious that we are on vastly different technological levels. ::Alex took a breath.:: I’m not against bringing them aboard, or us going to their ship, but we need to consider how seeing our technology will affect them.

DeVeau: You do have a point.

Rosek: ::nods:: It's definitely an issue worth considering. I'd say we limit our technology to combadges a couple of phasers and a couple of tricorders. The combadges aren't as big of a deal in this case. But we need to reduce the risk of them getting ahold of our weapons and reverse engineering them. We have no idea what they're capable of as a species. Petras/Kzan/Rhani/Vondaryan/Kaidun/Blair/Ruwon/Any: Response

Blair: ::shaking his head:: Exactly, one example is our transporters. I don’t see any evidence of a transporter system on their ship. I can’t help but think of how exposing them to our transporters or any other technologies might affect their technological development.

Rosek: I don't think the transporters are as big of a threat as our weapons. But we could always use a shuttle and use transporters only in an emergency. DeVeau: Keep in mind that this isn’t a unique situation. Starfleet has protocols in place, but as long as we don’t just hand over technological information to them, having them experience such technology isn’t a violation of the Prime Directive. After all, think of Earth’s experience with Vulcan’s back when we had First Contact with them. They didn’t share any information with us, but forced us to learn and develop the technology on our own.

Rosek: ::nods:: Agreed. So long as they don't get their hands on a physical piece of technology to reverse engineer it.

Petras/Kzan/Rhani/Vondaryan/Kaidun/Blair/Ruwon/Any: Response

Blair: Well, for starters I would recommend using one of our shuttles in place of the transporters for the time being.

Rosek: ::nods:: I agree. Except if an emergency beam out is required. Petras/Kzan/Rhani/Vondaryan

/Kaidun/Blair/Ruwon/Any: Response DeVeau: I’d like to volunteer to go, Captain.

Rosek: ::nods:: I would as well. I have to admit, I'm curious about these people. Petras/Kzan/Rhani/Vondaryan/Kaidun/Blair/Ruwon/Any: Response

DeVeau: Yes Captain.

Petras/Kzan/Rhani/Vondaryan/Kaidun/Blair/Ruwon/Any: Response

::Lael was strangely excited about the mission, though she couldn't deny she was nervous. With her recent spinal surgery, she only hoped that this first contact would come down to a firefight and being cornered in Jeffries tubes as the prey of a manhunt from a delusional Starfleet crew.:: Petras/Kzan/Rhani/Vondaryan/Kaidun/Blair/Ruwon/Any: Response --- Lieutenant Lael Rosek HCO Officer USS Za I238110RH0

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