Snip

It was all a remarkable, unique experience for Zavey. She, like the other officers, had been glued to her tricorder watching for changes. But now the Shiarians were communicating through comm badges, it was another ball game. The harmonic conversation was beautiful and did a lot to ease some of the anxiety the team might possibly be feeling about the encounter. Looking around, Elyss could see shoulders relaxing and deep breaths being taken. As professional Star Fleet officers, no one would let their guard completely down, but relaxing a body’s stance a bit was only a positive move.

Lieutenant Elyss Zavey
Chief Science Officer USS Merrimack

Lieutenant Junior Grade John Reeves remained slightly behind the senior officers, his tricorder held low as he continued to monitor the chamber. The security readings had remained remarkably consistent. No concealed weapons, no energy buildup associated with an attack, and no indication that the Shiarians were preparing to alter the situation by force. That did not mean Reeves was prepared to lower his guard completely, but it did change how he viewed the people surrounding them.

He glanced briefly toward Captain Glen before looking back toward the elder Shiarian.

“Captain, I think there’s another important distinction here,” Reeves said quietly. “They haven’t simply tolerated our presence. They’ve actively adjusted their communication system so that we can understand them. That’s cooperation, not merely restraint.”

His eyes dropped to the tricorder as another series of harmonic readings passed across the display. Reeves studied them for a moment before continuing.

“From a security standpoint, I still recommend we maintain our current posture. Passive scans, weapons secured, and no sudden movements unless something changes. But I don’t see a reason to treat this as a hostile contact unless they give us one.”

He looked around the vast crystalline chamber, taking in the synchronized movements of the Shiarians and the way the entire structure seemed to participate in their communication.

“And if their entire civilization is connected through this harmonic network, then we should probably assume that everything we do here is being observed by more than just the people standing in this room.”

Reeves lowered the tricorder slightly.

“That isn’t necessarily a threat. It just means we should remember that, from their perspective, there may not be any such thing as a private conversation.”

He paused, considering the Shiarians’ final statement.

Then our purposes are alike.

“That part interests me more than the intelligence report, sir. If they have been waiting for people who seek the unknown, then they may already know something about what brought us here.”

Reeves returned his attention to the elder Shiarian.

“For now, I’d let them decide what comes next.”

Lieutenant Junior Grade John Reeves
Security Division
USS Merrimack (NCC-2346)
Starfleet Command

Now the communicators were attuned and working with the alien tech Captain Glen had already appreciated that everything they now said would be heard by all. They couldn’t really have private conversations any longer. Not that they had anything to hide from the Shiarians, it was just Glen’s own fixation on the Bolay fiasco, and that a single unguarded sentence spoken by a young inexperienced crewman could result in a war. And the Shiarians had met more aggressive outsiders before, they just had the ultimate defense system - the Expanse itself.

Glen replied to the Shiarian elder, =/\= We have many questions. Maybe you would like to ask your questions first? In regards to the earlier visitors you have had, we weren’t sure ourselves whether your efforts to protect us weren’t an attack, we simply took a chance that they weren’t. =/\=

• Glen, CO

Thalos remained quietly attentive as Captain Glen addressed the elder Shiarian.

The chamber seemed almost to breathe around them, its harmonics flowing gently through the crystalline structure.

His tricorder continued its passive monitoring.

The readings remained unchanged.

No indication of hostility.

No change in the Shiarian disposition.

He lowered the device slightly, his attention returning fully to the elder.

“Captain.”

His voice was kept deliberately low, intended only for those nearby.

“I concur with Lieutenant Reeves’ assessment.”

His silver eyes briefly swept the chamber before returning to the assembled Shiarians.

“Every indication suggests they have been transparent with us from the moment we entered Vey’lan.”

He paused for a moment.

“Security recommends maintaining our present posture.”

His antennae shifted slightly.

“Alert, respectful, and without unnecessary provocation.”

Thalos inclined his head fractionally.

“Until they give us reason to do otherwise, I believe that is the most appropriate way to proceed.”

With that, he fell silent once more.

His attention remained fixed upon the elder Shiarian, waiting to hear what questions a civilisation that had waited so long for visitors would choose to ask first.

Lieutenant Thalos ch’Ravik
Chief Of Security
USS Merrimack

Grahams was studying his tricorder readings with absolute fascination with everything he was seeing. When the Shiarians spoke through their comms he’s attention immediately drifted away and he stood careful to listen to what they were saying. Since joining StarFleet he had seen many things that a simple country boy like him could never have even imagined, but this was going well beyond even that. “Mate this is awesome,” he said quietly to absolutely nobody in particular then fell silent listening as the others did to the captain’s conversation with their new friends.

Lt. Kahu Grahams, Chief Medical Officer

The crystalline chamber remained filled with the gentle harmonic resonance of Vey’lan as Captain Glen’s words passed through the newly synchronized communicators. For the first time, the exchange no longer felt like two species struggling across an impossible barrier. The city itself seemed to carry the conversation around them.

Elyss Zavey’s tricorder registered another subtle shift in the surrounding harmonics. The patterns accompanying the elder’s communication were becoming increasingly distinct from the background resonance of the city, giving Science its first opportunity to begin separating what appeared to be deliberate Shiarian speech from the constant harmonic activity of Vey’lan.

Beside her, Lieutenant M’Mera’s engineering readings confirmed that the translation was not originating from any single transmitter. Every crystalline surface surrounding the away team participated in carrying the signal. Vey’lan itself appeared to be adapting the exchange, with the Merrimack’s communicators serving as little more than the final bridge between two fundamentally different technological systems.

Doctor Grahams’ medical tricorder continued monitoring the Shiarians nearest the away team. Their physiological readings remained stable, with no obvious stress response accompanying Glen’s admission that the Merrimack crew had initially been uncertain whether the Shiarian intervention had been hostile. Whatever the elder thought of the admission, there was no immediately measurable sign of agitation among those gathered nearby.

Reeves and Thalos likewise found nothing to contradict their assessments. There was no sudden movement among the Shiarians, no change in energy readings, and no indication that the Captain’s words had altered the peaceful character of the encounter. The chamber remained calm. For several seconds, the elder remained silent.

The crystalline formations surrounding him shimmered faintly, their illumination spreading outward through the chamber in slow waves. Then the harmonics returned.

This time, the Merrimack’s communicators translated them almost immediately.

=/= Your uncertainty was understood. =/=

The elder inclined his head toward Glen.

=/= Others who came before you also believed our protection to be aggression. They answered fear with force. You did not. You questioned what you perceived, and therefore you remained long enough for understanding to begin. =/=

Another soft harmonic pulse passed through the chamber.

=/= You offer us the first questions. Then we shall ask what we have wondered since your vessel entered our reach. =/=

The elder’s gaze moved slowly across the entire away team before returning to Captain Glen.

=/= What do the Shiarians wish to know? We wish to know you. =/=

The surrounding light brightened almost imperceptibly.

=/= Why do your people cross the darkness between stars? Why do you enter places unknown to you when you know that what waits beyond your understanding may bring danger? What do you seek when you leave the safety of your own worlds? =/=

The elder regarded Glen for another moment.

=/= And when you encounter a people unlike yourselves… what do you hope to find? =/=

The question lingered within the gentle resonance of Vey’lan.

For all the extraordinary technology surrounding them, the Shiarians’ first true question was remarkably simple.

They wanted to understand the people who had come to them.

GM Nosferatu
Your Darkest Nightmare