Walkin’ and Talkin’
Posted on Thu Oct 12th, 2023 @ 2:44am by Lieutenant Commander Kevin Lance
Mission:
The Return
Location: Federation Outpost 382
Timeline: Current
on:
“Commander Rodale? A word, if you please?”
The executive officer took a drink from her canteen as she considered Kevin, “You’re the new Flight Control Officer, aren’t you?”
“Yes, ma’am”
“What are you doing here instead of on the ship,” Mira asked before taking drink.
Kevin shrugged, “No, idea. I was off duty when I was assigned to the Hazard team. I assume that someone or the computer read my personnel file and saw that I was formerly in Security division.”
“So what can I do for you?”
Kevin paused to consider his next words. He has always been nervous around women, especially beautiful women and Lt Commander Rodale was by all objective measures beautiful. “I…think that we are going about this the wrong way,” he began rather awkwardly.
Mira gave him a flat stare. “Do tell.”
“Well, it has been my observation,” he continued while gathering his thoughts, “that when you have a hammer, all problems start to look like nails.”
“Meaning?”
“The Norris is a warship manned by warrior and other aggressive personalities,” Kevin indicated the Klingon leader of the Hazard Team, “It is in their nature to attack anything perceived as a threat.”
“You don’t think that the Undine here are a threat?” Mira asked incredulously.
“I admit that I have never faced the Undine before”, Kevin replied, his nervousness fading as he applied critical thought to the problem he was addressing, “but some of their behavior is at odds with the reports of a devious and highly intelligent species. Based on what I saw, I don’t think that the Undine at the warehouse were trying to ambush us.”
“In case you missed it,” K’ner interjected, “They tried to kill us.”
“Granted,” Kevin admitted, “but we shot first. Three years ago, when I was aboard the USS Independence, we encountered an intelligent virus that had infected Federation personnel on Starbase 945. They demonstrated their desire to communicate with us and that they didn’t pose a threat by purposely putting themselves in a vulernable position. Being that the final meeting between Admiral Janeways and the representatives from Species 8472 ended so cordially, the Undine at the warehouse might have been trying to express their willingness to negotiate.”
Mira considered this in silence.
Kevin continued, “We haven’t tried to communicate with the Undine since we beamed down. Knowing what they want could be helpful.”
:off
Lieutenant Kevin Lance
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Chuck Norris
