Subject: Grail: "The Great Brightness"- Paranoid Assistance (Brinn/ Firespray)
<<OOC: For those of you who don't like wordiness, the title says it all.>>
Athalya Anne was sprawled out in the command chair, like a half interested
school girl. And like a half interested school girl, she was scrolling
through a PADD entirely too fast to actually read what was written there.
Stifling a yawn, she slumped down some more. Not for the first time, she
wondered about the meaning of life. *Cripes! If sitting in your quarters
or sitting on the bridge is all there is, I just may kill myself and several
people, too.* A small smile twitched at Athalya Anne's lips. She then
remembered what the meaning of life was: the experience of as many emotions
at the maximum possible intensity. *Oh, yeah.* How easy it was to lose
sight of the things that were important.
"Major," the Tactical officer addressed her, "we're picking up a distress
signal. Audio only."
Athalya Anne sat straight up. "Play transmission, by all means." Her
curiosity was more than piqued.
"This is Ambassador T'Nek Destazio of the mighty Torillion Empire." the
transmission began, "I require immediate assistance. I am not hostile. I
repeat, I am not hostile. I need your help now...."
Athalya Anne didn't really think about the orders she issued. Oddly, for
someone who hated command, they came as naturally as breathing. "Helm, plot
an intercept course. Tactical, power up shields, weapons and the tractor
beam. Ops, how many life forms are on that ship?" Two, 'Aye, sir's' and
a 'One, sir.' came back at her. She acknowledged them with a nod. "Brinn to
Terrakian."
"Go ahead."
"Listen to this, sir." Athalya Anne stated, trying hard to keep the
excitement out of her voice and tapping the necessary buttons that would play
the message. She waited patiently as Terrakian listened to the message and
then thought about what to do. "Handle it, Major. Consult Ambassador
Firespray on his knowledge of the Torrilion Empire. I will be in my Ready
Room should anything warrant my consideration. Terrakian out."
"Aye, sir." Athalya Anne said out of habit, more than anything else.
"Ambassador Firespray to the bridge." She winced, hoping that Kyp had
recovered from that nasty phaser wound by now. *Well, of course he has.*
Athalya Anne told herself. It had been a little over a week since the
accident. Hypothetically, he would be up and about before this. *Well, he's
just a kid...* Another part of her psyche countered. *Aw, sheddup.* The
first part said back. *He's just a kid. Not even one you know that well.*
The softer side of her won this debate though, *Case in point.*
Kyp was resting in his quarters when he was summoned to the bridge.
"Probably, wondering about some sort of weird Delta Quadrant
phenomenon, like a comet or something." he muttered to himself before
getting out of bed. He reached over to his commbadge on the table. He held
it in his hand a squeezed it.
"Firespray to mo...er Brinn, Acknowledged."
He got out of bed and got dressed. He had to cover the wound he had
on his side. That PHASER really did a number on him. Of course their
medical facility wasn't equipped to treat Alterians but he didn't mind the
natural healing process, it attuned him back to nature. He dressed himself
in a black kimono with matching pants. He also put on a black glove to
cover the scare on his right hand. He looked at himself in the mirror.
*Still missing something. What would a leader where? Ah-ha* he thought to
himself as he put on a black cape. He fixed his hair and then left for the
bridge.
<<Bridge>>
The Turbolift doors opened and the bridge sprawled out in front of
him. He walked over to Brinn.
"What's up?" he asked.
"How are you?" she asked.
"Fine, I'm feeling a lot better, but I'm sure you didn't call me all
the way up here to ask how I was, so like I just said, what's up?"
"You're right. We just got a distress from an ambassador from the
Torrilion Empire. I was hoping you could inform me of what to expect from
him."
"The Torrilion Empire, huh? Haven't heard from them in a while.
Well, let's see. The Torillions are quite aggressive to unknown ships, and
even more so to their enemies. I feel it is crucial to get off to a good
start with the with this guy. If we can prove that we can be powerful
allies he can help us once we reach the Delta Quadrant. The Torrilion
Empire is *very* powerful in it's substantial region of space, and is not a
force to ignore. I suggest we treat this guy like gold.
"The Alterian Hierarchy had trade relations with them, although we
were more like competitors. Nevertheless, if this guy knows anything of the
Delta Quadrant he'll remember the hospitality the Alterians offered to all,
and as the only present Alterian on board I'm sure I can convince him that
we can be allies."
Athalya Anne nodded appreciatively when Kyp came to the end of his speech.
"Thank you, dear." She absently said. Later, Athalya Anne would remember
what she had said. But now, there was more on her mind.
"Sir, we're approaching the ship at...." DeMontigny rattled off a bunch of
numbers she didn't quite catch.
"Acknowledged. Tactical, lock weapons on ships engines and put a tractor
beam lock on the ship as well."
"Aye, sir." The tac officer behind her chimed. Athalya Anne stood. "Open
hailing frequencies."
There was a chime. "Hailing frequencies open."
"This is LMaj Athalya Anne Brinn, Executive Officer of the USS Grail, of the
United Federation of Planets." She paused. Saying that felt weird. "How
may we be of assistance?"
LMaj Athalya Anne Brinn and Ambassador Kyp Firespray