Game session: 4/30/18
Kimball follows Aaron and M’Belaa down to deck seven and the cargo bay. They enter to find the fifty-two Bajorans laid out in temporary cots, with the medical staff wending through them like a teal river. They note the definite age gap, there are young children and elderly adults, and they realize these aren’t colonists from Valo II, these are refugees being smuggled off of Bajor. They spot Darrah Mace directing the chaos; he’s on his feet and in the center of the room, and the Bajorans are looking at him with a heady mixture of gratitude and awe. Aaron heads over, and the Bajorans suddenly go quiet as he approaches.
Darrah spots their reactions and half-turns to see Aaron. He pivots and awkwardly holds out his hand. Aaron reciprocates with a firm handshake and formal introductions, and then informs him, “I have a message for you. Nechen Alla pays her debts.” Darrah looks at him blankly for a second before his memory kicks in and he smiles widely.1) He asks, “She’s still alive?” Aaron nods and replies, “I talked to her a few hours ago.” Darrah leans in and asks quietly, “Tell me something, what is her real name?” Aaron decides there’s no harm in telling, and replies, “Admiral Alynna Nechayev.” Darrah rolls the human name around for a few moments before remembering the traditional naming conventions and reverses it: Nechen Alla is Nechayev Alynna. He nods in satisfaction and then asks, “What was that thing that killed my man?” Aaron frowns and replies, “An ancient, malfunctioning alien booby trap, basically.”
Meanwhile, Kimball does a walk-through of the refugees and realizes most pose exactly zero security threat. An old crone grabs his arm with surprising force and demands, “You’re here now, but why won’t the Federation help Bajor?” She gets louder and more insistent, drawing a lot of attention, but Kimball replies in Bajoran, “I wish we could; the Cardassians took a lot of my friends too. But that decision is way above me.” Hearing sympathy in her native tongue from an off-worlder causes the old woman to step back in shock, allowing M’Belaa to cut in. She talks to the old woman in calm tones as she reaches out and pries Kimball’s arm free; Kimball winces and notes the red marks. The Caitan leads the Bajoran away, and Aaron admits silently that his counselor is very good at her job.
Aaron promises to return when he has more information to pass on but asks if the Bajorans have any immediate needs. Darrah looks uncomfortable, but admits, “I’d kill someone for access to a shower.” Aaron nods and says that can be arranged. He intercepts M’Belaa and appoints her the primary liaison between him and the refugees and compliments her on her work so far. Kimball decides on a minimal security presence, but M’Belaa asks him for the most “non-threatening” security officers. Kimball agrees, and decides Anjohl Meru will be on point here for that. Aaron and Kimball return to the bridge, and Ten and Eleven call out, “Starfleet Intelligence is holding for you, Captain Englyss.” Aaron nods and heads for his ready room while Kimball sends Anjohl down to the cargo bay.
Aaron settles in and receives the hail from Bjornson. He gives a full report and asks if they should try and retrieve the probe; Bjornson shakes his head and replies, “Don’t worry about it. Get the refugees back here as soon as possible; I’ll remote control the probe or detonate it. Oh, on an unrelated note, the royal families of Betazed are suddenly interested in a big red gem that went missing recently. Don’t suppose you’ve seen anything like that?” Aaron remains impassive and says he’ll start an investigation; Bjornson laughs and terminates the channel.
Aaron returns to the bridge and orders Eleven, “Set course for home, maximum warp.” He frowns and then turns to T’kora and asks, “The engines will hold, right?” T’kora eyes him and frostily replies, “Of course they will.” Eleven triggers the course, which will take twelve hours, and winces when a red indicator flickers on his station. T’kora informs him, “Ignore that,” and the Bynar looks helpless. Aaron shrugs, trusting his chief engineer, and decides to invite Darrah Mace to dinner with Shil’vala and M’Belaa. The senior officers remain on the bridge until the start of beta shift. Kimball pulls a few extra hours on beta shift, as Anjohl is with the Bajorans, but leaves the bridge around 2000 hours and retires to his cabin.
Kelly retires to his cabin and starts running data analysis of today’s findings on LV-397 – and comparisons to the dig on Malichor V. The Malichor data is nine years old, but Kelly is intrigued at the possible environmental protection offered by the Matruse devices, and if the first dig missed a second device. After several hours of analysis, he draws some conclusions. The first is that the Matruse devices on LV-397 were activated two years ago when Kimball’s team crash-landed on the planet; the energy spikes form their shuttles and escape pods triggered the sensors. The second is that the devices operate in pairs like airlocks to preserve whatever they are protecting. The third is that there were two devices on Malichor V, but the “inner” device and whatever it was protecting was lost to an ancient cataclysm. Finally, he concludes that there was some sort of technological adaptation from the Iconians using T’Kon devices.
Aaron, Shil’vala, M’Belaa, and Darrah gather in the officer’s mess on deck three. Darrah looks uncomfortable as he eyes the replicators and tentatively orders, “Hasperat?” The replicator hums as it prepares the Bajoran dish, and he gingerly takes it to their table. The others replicate their dinners and settle in, and Aaron tells Darrah his orders to bring them all to Starbase 211. Darrah finally tries the hasperat and winces as the spicy flatbread hits him. He starts devouring it and goes for seconds. He admits, “It’s good, but slightly off.” Aaron replies, “That’s replicated food for you.” He asks Darrah how long he’s been smuggling people off of Bajor; Darrah looks guarded, but replies, “Since the formal annexation forty years ago.”
An ensign walks by their table and hands Aaron a bottle. Aaron isn’t familiar with the vintage – or the writing – but Darrah’s eyes light up and he asks, “Where did you get Bajoran springwine?” Aaron looks up at the ensign, who shrugs and replies, “I found it in the back.” Aaron tasks the hapless junior officer with a full inventory of exactly what spirits the Boston is carrying and sends him on his way. Darrah eyes Aaron and asks, “How old is this ship?” Aaron admits, “She’s well-seasoned,” and reveals the Boston’s age. Darrah is startled to be on a ship that dates to before the Occupation but isn’t falling apart. Aaron alludes to the fact his chief engineer has been onboard since the ship was launched.
Darrah pours some springwine for the others and recalls humans favor toasts. Aaron nods, so Darrah awkwardly toasts, “To fortuitous encounters.” They drink, and then Aaron advises Darrah to take the chance to recharge. They talk for a bit, and it’s clear Darrah’s tolerance for springwine has dropped over the decades. The ensign returns and whispers something into Shil’vala’s ear; she growls but dismisses him with a wave of her hand. She informs Aaron, “We have a case of this… stuff in the back that’s not on the manifest.” Aaron smirks as he realizes Shil’vala is still nursing her first glass of the Bajoran wine and remembers Andorians don’t typically care for sweet food or drink. He gravely asks Darrah for help on making the case disappear before the Boston docks at Starbase 211; Darrah brightens and says, “Oh, I think we can make that happen.”
They talk a bit more, and Darrah eventually reveals he was bringing the refugees to Valo II, but they were ambushed and harassed along the border by a Cardassian warship. They were forced way off course and made a run for the nearby Argolis Cluster, but had to make an emergency landing on LV-397. Aaron asks how they were located, and Darrah admits, “I suspect collaborators.”2) He also confirms with Aaron that the Cardassians have stepped up their patrols and are much more aggressive. He goes silent for several minutes, and then says, “It took me a while, but I understand why the Federation hasn’t directly intervened. You must protect your own, and obey your laws, and focus on the bigger picture. But it’s a bitter pill to swallow.” He tells them of how the Cardassians are careful in their oppression, never crossing the line to overt genocide as to not provoke the Federation.
Sutok hails Aaron, and dryly informs him, “Captain, we’ve just received word that for aiding and abetting Bajoran terrorists, you have been formally named as an enemy of the Cardassian Union. Should we add that to the ship’s registry?” As Darrah boggles at the Vulcan’s dry sense of humor, Aaron deadpans, “Nah, just put it on a plaque.” Sutok signs off and Darrah realizes he’s had too much to drink. Aaron asks M’Belaa to escort him back to the cargo bay, and the Caitan agrees and helps Darrah to his feet. The older Bajoran leans heavily on her and as they leave, he drunkenly observes, “You are furry.” Aaron snorts as the door slides shut behind them and turns to Shil’vala. She makes a face as she pushes her glass away and asks, “I assume we’re bringing this gunk to the cargo bay?” Aaron nods and puts her in charge of that, knowing there’s zero chance she’ll make off with any.
Aaron makes his way back to The Ring but stops and starts laughing when he sees a plaque on the wall outside his cabin. The plaque is bronze and reads, “On Stardate 44224.37, Captain Aaron Englyss of the USS Boston was declared an enemy of the Cardassian Union,” and has a tiny Federation seal on the bottom. He brings the plaque inside and idly makes a note to look up Sutok’s birthday. He checks his messages and finds T’kora sent him a note detailing the need for a two-day layover at the starbase for repairs and realignment of the upgrades. He retroactively approves and notes that the senior staff has been scheduled for a debriefing with Admiral Shafiq the following morning at 0800 hours. The Boston is on track to reach Starbase 211 at 0215 hours, so Aaron heads to bed.