Posted by Captain Kelly Bordeaux (Commanding Officer) in Back on the Atlantis…Peter Sigmundsson and Hekla Odinsondottir…when the past does not match the present or the future on USS Atlantis on USS Atlantis

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Peter Sigmundsson (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Back on the Atlantis…Peter Sigmundsson and Hekla Odinsondottir…when the past does not match the present or the future on USS Atlantis on USS Atlantis

Posted by Captain Kelly Bordeaux (Commanding Officer) in Back on the Atlantis…Peter Sigmundsson and Helka Odinsondottir…when the past does not match the present or the future on USS Atlantis on USS Atlantis
Pellan Vell motioned the next Galactic Union officer forward as he approached Peter. “Lieutenant Commander Sigmundsson I would like to present Hekla Odinsondottir. She is part of our data analysis team.”

Peter blinked in mild surprise at the introduction. That was one hell of a coincidence, and when he turned to look at her he blinked in surprise again.

“Pleasure,” the woman extended her hand. Even though she was rather tall for an average human, Peter’s height dwarfed her five foot 8 inch frame. She had a classic nordic appearance with dirty blonde hair pulled back into a loose braid that hung on one side of her head. The braid did not match the formality of her uniform. It was looser with small wisps of hair framing her face. Her eyes matched the iced blue of the glaciers of Iceland. Her uniform was in stark contrast to her pale skin tone. The uniform was a coat and pants set made of what looked like black leather. The cut however wasn’t the sleek lines many others wore but looked more like a functional coat one would wear outdoors. “Please call me Helka,” she stated and gestured to one of the nearby shuttles.

It took a lot to pull Peter out of his rhythm and everything about their Data Analyst seemed designed to throw him off his game but he simply moved on, slightly unfocusing his eyes and smiling and joining her.

“This should be fun,” she said as they walked to the vessel. “Do you like jokes,” she asked him. “If so I have one.”

Peter raised an eyebrow as he looked at her, his smile still there “Love a good joke”

“Two spies walk into a shuttle. They don’t say anything. Just exchange glances.” The joke ended by her reaching the shuttle entrance and giving him a subtle eye glance to take two seats in the back. There was nothing hostile or deceitful in the act. In fact it was far more playful making fun of the odd situation they were in. Both Hekla’s career path and Peter’s tended to be more cloak and dagger. She had never been introduced to another spy so blatantly and then told to go play nice and answer questions. Usually it was the other way around were she found a target, earned their trust, and got the information she needed.

Peter snorted lightly at the joke, it wasn’t really funny but it did sound like something a group of operatives would think of.

Moving to the back of the shuttle in the seats she indicated, Helka sat down. “I do hope we will talk over the next few hours. Random eye glances can be so hard to interpret.”

Hekla Odinsondottir

Peter shrugged, “I don’t mind asking and answering, it’ll certainly save on time. Tell me, does your intelligence service have lectures on the different languages you need to learn? Like six hours spent listening to an instructor from three generations ago telling you the importance of reading any and all languages important to your job?

CIO

“See right there. We do have a similarity between our cultures. In the Galactic Union all members are required to speak Galactic Standard which,” she leaned closer to Peter slightly, “is quite the conundrum in our hallowed halls that you speak it.” She was stating the obvious. Federation Universal translators could decipher any language as long as it was programed into the linguistic files. “See in the Union every citizen learns Galactic Standard as part of their formal education. To preserve cultural identity, planets are allowed to retain their own languages. Our Regional Governors all hail from that region and tend to know more than one language. Due to our size we have several planets dedicated to linguistics to ensure communication is fluid throughout the Union. The mystery is how do you speak our language?” The question had the self confidence those in the intelligence field mastered. She did not give the root of their common language equal footing but claimed it as their own with the Federation using it. It was subtle but subtle things tended to sink into minds more easily than overt bragging.

Peter raised an eyebrow at her explanation. he was always surprised, and not so much at where the Union did not have technological advancements. They could apparently traverse galaxies but couldn’t figure out something, at least to him, as simple as instantaneous translation. A lingua Franca was certainly useful, but not enough to innovate. “I am Oz the great and powerful” He muttered and stretched “I don’t speak your galactic standard” They didn’t have enough data to support a true study of the standard language of the union, but hopefully, when this was all over, they’d have more information “We have a piece of technology called a universal translator, the UT creates a translation matrix from oral or written examples. Some languages are more difficult than others but each language improves the formation of a matrix, heuristic technology.”

While they talked the shuttle made its way to the hangar of the Altantis. Everyone came off the shuttle in their respective pairs. She watched as the Atlantis crew led her fellow officers off the shuttle and down various corridors. She was vague interested in where Peter was going to take her since he was her tour guide. “So where to,” she asked with an eager smile. It wasn’t false but natural. It was not often one got to participate in a First Meeting like this. She herself had only been on one other one and it was within her own galaxy.

Peter shrugged massive shoulders “We can start with my office, I can show you how my side does our work, perhaps you’ll learn something or perhaps you’ll teach me something”

CIO