Posted by Gamemaster CockRoach (Gamemaster) in Main Sim - Senior Officers Briefing - Conference Room-B, Deck 3
[snip]

William frowned “It’s difficult to guess at their current technological level, I’m certain that they are capable of faster-than-light travel but choose not to, their communications technology seems advanced. But this biotechnology they have is interesting, I don’t know of anything similar within the Federation, at least not anything widely used. I’d need a closer look at their homeworld for a better guess.”

OOC: We never got the results from the probe scans of the nebula, so I’ll take it that they support what we already know.

OOC: Sorry my bad! It slipped through the cracks, I’ll fix that below!

Joe finished his coffee and setting the cup down he listened and seemed to grow fidgety as he did. He stared at the tabletop with a frown on his face. Finally, as the captain paused Joe pursed his lips for a moment before speaking. “Sir they have if I remember right already claimed that they had no interest in space warp technology. If we believe that this is true , if it is then it would still leave you the bunny effect .As Australia found out so long ago cute , innocent cuddly things are often destructive . The cute little bunnies never wanted to learn how to sail but they certainly had something else in mind. Sir I would advise that we treat everything these people say or do with suspicion.”

“Well, I thought that I already was treating them with some wariness and prudence. I’ve even investigated their claim that the nebula is 600 years old,” said Glen, “but with the kind of pessimism they’re receiving here, I’m pretty sure they won’t get away with anything. We do need to give them some benefit of doubt, but caution is my middle name, especially since the Bolay Incident, when a few casual words resulted in war. Make no mistake, I’m not going to screw this First Contact up!”

Joe could only wish that he had a reason to lift his coffee cup to his lips to hide the slight smile there. “No problem, sir. With a grumpy Gus like me around there will be no chance of that. You can be the velvet glove and I’ll be the big boot.”

At the moment Cross was hearing her little voice saying Now remember behave, no running, no.. to which she blurted out ‘’Oh shut up!’’ realizing what the female doctor had done she raised her hand over her mouth ......Cross now wide eyed hoped no one had heard her.

Glen looked at Cross when she exclaimed. He looked at Joe. Was Cross talking to me, to him, or to herself? “Is everything okay?” Glen asked Cross.

She nodded furiously ,her face turning bright red ‘’Yes Captain ,nothing is wrong ,guess just that the three years I spent alone in the wilderness I took the habit of talking to myself ‘’ Cross wondered if by saying what she just said made her came across as someone who belonged in a mental asylum.

The doctor needed to put on the thinking cap and fast ‘’Captain are you and the rest of the team going down armed? A medical kit is always in a compartment of the shuttle, if anything happens would it be wise to expose its contents if the need arise ?’‘.

Glen was both puzzled and then confused by the questions. It had always been Starfleet standard procedure for a landing party to be armed with phasers, even on a first contact mission. He couldn’t see where the question came from. “Er… yes, just as usual. Is there something about the Dol and this mission that means we shouldn’t? And I don’t see a problem with a medical kit either?” Then a penny dropped, “…Ah! I see! You mean that if they were to take the phaser or medical tricorder from us, then they could back-engineer them? I really do think we are raising the fear of the Dol to a level of paranoia now!”

Cara said, “Even the peaceful Vulcans carry arms to first contacts. And Starfleet code isn’t very helpful. It merely states that before engaging alien species in battle, any and all attempts to make first contact and achieve non-military resolution must be made.”

Needing an alternative view on this, Glen asked his XO, “Joe, are you concerned about showing phasers and tricorders to the Dol, too?”

Joe sat rubbing his chin for a second before saying, “Sir all a person has to do is get hit in the head by anything with some weight behind it and you’ve lost your phaser. What these folk might do with it after they have it, we can’t say. They could turn the technology into anything from weapons to an energy source to make ice cream. But having recognized that we don’t know should help make our decision. I would say no. Leave them here. ” Frowning and taking a breath Joe said, “After all if they are as peaceful as they say they might be angered if we show up looking as though we don’t trust them?”

That was not the answer Glen had expected. He had never gone on any landing party without a phaser at his side and several burly redshirts to boot. He couldn’t consider going down without any weapons at all. Discretely hidden sidearms possibly, maybe only weapons for the security personnel. Not at all just wouldn’t happen. He really didn’t know what to say. Gobsmacked!

Cross jaw fell open ‘’What! Are you seriously thinking of meeting them without having your weapons? ‘’she asked dumbfounded as she looked at Joe ‘’How about saying its an order from the Federation that at no point should an away team be without them’’ she ran her fingers through her hair making it more dishevelled. ‘’Its what Dol said, how do we know if they are truly peaceful …of course we don’t trust them, guys we haven’t even met them in person’‘.

Now Glen was very confused. He had thought that Cross was arguing to leave weapons and tricorders behind, but now she seemed to be arguing to take them. Glen could feel a headache coming on. This is what happened when you let a committee decided things. It was much easier if he just dictated his orders.

“It is completely out of the question not to take down any weapons at all,” Glen stated. “We would be open to capture, and to being held hostage. Yes, we could be beamed back to the ship, but we’d need to leave the shuttlecraft behind, and the shuttlecraft is a much bigger source of technology than the phasers or tricorders. Plus, they even have some aboard in their lockers. I am however, open to other suggestions that are not quite as extraordinary!”

The CMO begun pacing and started talking not actually looking at anyone in particular ‘’The boy said that they do not have prisons ,those who break the rules are taken to a place where they are made to reform, others who are deemed to much gone are taken to work with constant supervision..it..it reminds me of certain dictators we had on Earth a long time ago’‘.

Now her gaze fell on the Captain ‘’The Dol is someone with authority over his people,Franz said a Dol may want to step down or a Dol will stay until dead before he is replaced doesn’t that ring a bell? Aren’t you familiar with history?’‘.

“I agree,” said Glen. “That tends to imply a system of government which is authoritarian, autocratic and possibly dictatorial. I have to say that on Earth in the past, states and regions were often ruled by appointed officials or even monarchs, and those officials could still rule on the basis of a constitution or with an elected parliament. However, there is a strong possibility here that the Dol rules a totalitarian state and for that reason, we cannot go down unprepared and undefended. In any case, strong rulers welcome and tend to admire the strength of other rulers. If we go there without weapons, he will think us to be weak. If he thinks us to be weak, then we will have much greater problems with him than if he thinks us to be strong.”

William cocked his head, was there some sort of subtext of the conversation he was missing, perhaps some sort of interpersonal conflict he didn’t or more likely couldn’t understand, he wrote some notes on the matter without looking at his PaDD and said aloud “This is not a pre-industrial planet, losing a few sidearms is not going to catapult their technology to a new level, reverse engineering something as complex as a phaser or a tricorder takes time and most likely would need them to keep the devices for the entirety of that time. Standard procedure would be to take any technology that belongs to us back.” He said in his usual calm tone “Regarding the shuttlecraft, keeping it locked and staffed is not unreasonable, two security officers guarding it and keeping it closed until they hear from the ship or us might be a solution.”

He looked down at his PaDD and nodded to himself in a satisfied manner “Regarding their political structure it’s impossible to guess with only the words of a child raised by the state and a single conversation with the governing body, a totalitarian regime is not unheard of and despite our moral objection to it as a state of government it is the way that they evolved.”

Cara Meow nodded her head vigorously during everything that was said regarding the limited investigation and about the state of development of the planet, but made no further comments.

Joe smiled, relieved at the decision the CO had made about the phasers. He slapped the table with the flat of his palm and said, “Sounds like we’re ready Cap !”

“Good,” replied Captain Glen, “So, to sum up, as regards security, we will treat this as any normal landing party, however, we will be as vigilant as we can be. Although we will take the shuttle, the Transporter is available for a quick escape. Everyone must be careful what they say and not to divulge any technological details that the Dol may not have. We must try to better assess their technological level and find the reason why they aren’t on the planet surface. After we know those details, then we can offer them tech in exchange for tech that is equivalent. We are especially interested in the technology behind the Spheres. We won’t take the child right now, but we will leave him behind when we go. And this is a meet and greet and fact-finding mission only. The nuts and bolts can be fixed later with a diplomatic mission. The most important thing today is that we don’t upset anyone. Anything that I missed?”

Glen looked at the time. They had best get down to the waiting shuttle if they were to arrive at the Habitat on time.

• Glen, CO

The CMO looked on ,she was ready to follow the Captain’s orders what ever they might be, secure in the knowledge that those present would cover her back should anything happen while that little voice reminded her that the previous Cross was gone .

With the boy under the watchful eyes of Hunter made her more at ease.

Cross Dr.

Just as the meeting was wrapping up two science NEs entered with PADDs, “..Sir! We just got a full report from the probe we sent back to that nebula. Pretty much confirms what those aliens on the habitat said, 600 years ago it was larger, but still likely declining even then, cause is unknown but we suspect there is possibly a tiny hole in subspace that is acting like a ‘drain’ on the nebula, there is also evidence that in even larger times past there could have been some kind of explosion that also hastened this along. Likely those aliens back then and even now could barely make out the nebula must less then or now detect any indications of subspace events. Or other events for that matter at that distance, based on your comm call I’d say technology wise back then and to some degree even now have a technology level of late 21st to early 22nd century Earth. Some things might be earlier then that or later. The only stand out is their organic power cell tech, but given they said they have had some interaction with other aliens in this region its possible they traded, or adapted tech given to them in their past..” the first said.

The second nodded then handed over his own report, “..We’ve also done a compilation of scans of the habitat, reviewed local public comm traffic and radio signals we can easily pick up and the like. Going off this I would say these aliens are lead by a single figure head, as Dr Cross said who takes up the title of Dol. They then are supported and in turn elected when needed by a central council body which in turn is itself elected when openings happen by the general populace by popularity vote of those who run. Based on what traffic we picked up they generally seem peaceful, though as the alien leader mentioned on the bridge to you Captain, some time further then 600 years ago in their past they had been slaves to others on another planet not of this system. These slaves were called the Dol, and back then the label was derogatory but now we’d say is used as a symbol of pride of their escape and past leaders. Again at some point in their past before 600 years ago they somehow overthrew their masters and made off into space like old Earth gypsies using sublight capable crafts and sleeper ships to go from system to system to get supplies, and find a home which would let them escape from any pursuit of their former Masters. Eventually sometime over 600 years ago again they settled here.” the second began to explain.

The first nodded, then picked up the tale, “..Again going off public traffic and records they seem to prefer living in space, as they feel that if they lived on a planet it would risk putting them back into a mindset of being slaves again. While we don’t think this would happen it just seems to be something deeply rooted in their culture, hence the massive space habitat which every couple of hundred years is expanded. I’d say they’re generally a peaceful sort, but willing to fit for their freedoms if pushed, as well as being inquisitive of others cautiously, hence their whole Seed Pod thing. It’s actually not a bad way to help orphans in their society I guess, the children get a family, learn new things, and if they can return here, can help their own people. Why many don’t return we can’t say though..” he finished up.

GM CockRoach

Tia had remained quiet in the back of the room, having slipped in late because of checking in on engineering after seeing the boy was settled. She was glad they would be checking on these folks before leaving the boy. But she knew from the Captain’s time, the child would be remaining here. Somewhere do inside, Tia felt a pang of loss already. But she knew it was best for him. Franz didn’t belong on her ship any more than she belonged in a parental position. Grateful they would at least be exchanging like for like technology, she started tapping on her PaDD for engineering to gather various technology pieces they could use that for twenty first and second century technology as well as early warp tech. It was a short list, but she hoped it would suffice. She then turned her attention back to the two who had come to report. It was interesting, indeed. To remain space bound for fear of acting like a slave if land bound.

Tia
CE
((Sorry, apparently mixed up timelines on various threads))