"Trust Exercises"

[Guest Laarell]

Joy proceeded first to the unconscious body in the corner. It was indeed J'ai. Joy was no expert on organic beings, but he seemed likely to remain unconscious for some time. Next, her eyes circled the walls of the cell. It was definitely a cell. Given these ghost's demonstrated mastery of their physical reality, it would likely enough prove to be an effective cell. This, of course, didn't matter. Joy had no desire to escape, or to start another physical confrontation.

 

Joy then examined her companions. Laarell was not exactly calm and under control. Restraining and confining an Orion female was not the smoothest of moves. Then, these ghosts were not of Alpha quad. If anything Atticus looked in a worse emotional state than Laarell, angry, upset, and.... ready to explode. It seemed best to defuse the potential emotional explosions, or at the very least divert it to a target that would take no harm... such as an android. She addressed the others. "Well, the first part of the mission is accomplished."

 

The diversion of emotion was apparently too subtle.. This became apparent as Atticus abruptly stalked across to J'ai and picked up his silent, motionless form, proceeding to roughly punch him three times in the face with a hard fist.

 

Laarell pulled the security officer around, whirling him to face her. "How dare you?" she asked, eyes flashing angrily. "You will not assault anyone without my express order, Lieutenant -- do I make myself understood?" she demanded.

 

Dropping the man to the floor with a casual thump he looked back at her and replied in a voice dripping with false sincerity and slightly menacing undertones, "Sorry chief" he said, "I was just trying to wake the poor guy up,". He walked away from the Orion, no real apology in his stance.

 

Joy was glad to see Laarell taking a firm stand. Her own directive to prevent injury to sentient beings had just triggered hew own emotion chip. "Your approach is flawed." Joy was beginning to get as emotional as the others. That seldom helped under these circumstances.

 

"I don't like your attitude, Segami," added Laarell, and you're bordering on insubordination."

 

Spinning round he snapped. "Look Commander Teykier, we're in a damn catastrophe and you know it. You also know that little git probably had something to do with it. Forgive me for being just a bit peeved at the situation!"

 

Joy interrupted. "It is not clear to me whether he escaped, was captured, or both. At any rate, does anyone disagree that we have encountered the 'ghosts?' This is only a damn catastrophe if we botch the first contact. I'd just as soon focus on not botching the first contact."

 

"This is not a first contact," Atticus insisted angrily. "This is a kidnapping!"

 

"By Alpha Quad standards, yes, one might describe it as a kidnapping," Joy acknowledged. "In the Alpha Quad, treating the representatives of a major power this way would be a high risk proposition, an invitation to trouble. Gamma Quad, in my scant experience, is less subtle. One wants to achieve absolute control of an encounter with the unknown. They seem to have achieved this. I don't like it, but we can't expect to export Alpha Quad behavior patterns quite so easily."

 

Her voice chillingly calm, Laarell lifted her hands to her hips. "The Ambassador is correct." She sighed. "Misunderstandings have been made in the past. And this could be one of them. Besides, if he is one of their operatives, do we want to anger them by harming him?"

 

"Perhaps he's outlived his usefulness to them", The Trill suggested.

 

"That's not our call to make," Laarell stated.

 

"They have made it our call," Joy said, "by putting him in our power. I would prefer, however, that we not abuse him further. We should represent Federation values."

 

"Alright, alright! I know, I know." The Security man gave into his conscience. "I just wanted to take a swing at the twerp for getting us into this... and I'm not going to deny it did feel good. But I seriously wasn't going to do any more harm to him. I'm sorry okay?"

 

Laarell eyed him dubiously, nodding slightly. "That's not very convincing. But I'll remind you to maintain the same presence of mind you would on a more diplomatically-oriented mission, Lieutenant."

 

With a glare given for her comment on his honesty he replied coldly. "Yes, Sir."

 

"I warn you again," she hissed, "I don't care for your attitude. And while I respect your extra... life experience... don't think for a second I'm going to let you run roughshod." She leaned against a bench next to the wall, looking at the android. "Now, do we have any idea how far from our "closet" we are? Any readings before our equipment was taken?"

 

The dispute seemed settled. Joy hoped a lecture on Asimov's First Law would prove unnecessary, but quietly placed herself between J'ai and Segami none the less. "I am not certain, but I believe we are still in the closet. The event horizon was a boundary between two... realities... compartments in space time. It is too soon to be certain, but as I understand it the closet is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. In some respects at least, they are well ahead of us in spatial physics."

 

The Orion looked up sharply. "So a dimensional wormhole?"

 

"That might be one way of describing it, yes, though wormholes generally open on two far distant points. I have seen no evidence of that. 'Pocket universe' might be a better label."

 

"So universe within universe," Laarell volunteered, lifting an eyebrow.

 

"This is one messed up puzzle in my opinion. How does it all link together?" Segami asked.

 

Joy turned to Segami. "We have a race, apparently tool users rather than energy beings, very advanced in physics. They would not submit to the Dominion, nor the Scorpiad. They have no reason to love major powers. They seem to be organized as a hidden resistance. I suspect their focus might be more towards survival than resistance. They have very interesting physical science, but I suspect the local mastery they have demonstrated can't overcome the sheer numbers that the Dominion or Scorpiad can put in the field. They seem to be on the defensive, and the Al-Ucard seem to think them important prey."

 

"That's another thing I found confusing. Why are the Al-Ucard involved like this?"

 

"Both the Dominion and the Scorpiad are highly xenophobic," Joy answered. "That which is not under their control must be destroyed. At best, the Ghosts want neither to be under anyone's control, or destroyed. At worst, they are as xenophobic as many other Gamma Quad races, unable to conceive of multiple races working together."

 

"And aren't they -- at least most of them -- bent on the thrill of the hunt? That alone would make these... "ghosts" rather appealing as quarry?"

 

Joy nodded to Laarell. "It seems the Scorpiad use the Al-Ucard effectively. This hunt does seem an effective match."

 

"I don't know." The Trill spoke up again. "The chain of events we've followed, including the attack on J'Ai's ship seems a bit too complex for a simple hunt. Besides even if it was so, I'd suspect the Al-Ucardians would be likely to sympathize with the ghosts' cause rather than keep with their orders."

 

"The Al Ucard have submitted their culture to the control of the Scorpiad," Joy answered. "These 'ghosts' apparently never surrendered their independence to either Dominion or Scorpiads."

 

Laarell tilted her head towards Atticus. "Why would you see that? With the exception of our own fanged one... they don't seem sympathetic to non-Ucardian races." Or to their own, for that matter, she thought, considering the old Lucam of Al-Ucard itself.

 

"Both races are either being or going to be ruled over," he insisted. "The strongest bond that slaves can have is with each other. It is known that many Al-Ucard aren't as happy with the status quo as much as we'd think. So a group like these ghosts, given enough strength, could be quite tempting to support. But I digress... The important thing is staying alive today. We can figure out details tomorrow. Plan?"

 

"Yes," Joy agreed. "I don't think we are in a position to win over the Al-Ucard just now, but we might play the 'enemy of our enemy' card. If they know the Federation has resisted then worked with the Dominion, and is resisting the Scorpiad, this at the very least should make them curious. I suspect that is why they arranged this meeting. For a hard to find underground civilization, we picked up on them very quickly."

 

"I agree. Our own technological knowhow and busy-bodiness may impress them alone." Laarell shrugged. "After a future meeting with their higher echelon, it may be clearer to us."

 

"I was hoping on a more 'active' plan. How can you be so optimistic?" Segami said, slumping down to the floor.

 

Laarell shrugged. "My opinion, Mr. Segami, based on fact. I prefer to focus on the positive aspects for the sake of mental well-being."

 

Joy wasn't quite sure Laarell had it entirely right. "After walking through their event horizon, I'm not sure our technology will greatly impress. Our culture and numbers and diversity might prove more important. Who but the Federation would send out an away team representing this many races?"

 

"They've only put us in a prison, you'll notice!" Atticus insisted. "In my opinion they just see our 'diversity' as more people to cause trouble in their lives."

 

"I believe both civilizations wanted this contact," Joy stated. "Yes, all such contacts involve some trouble. I think, however, that not working together might result in more trouble."

 

"And some more trouble than others." The green one appeared thoughtful a moment. "Good thing we have a 'registered ambassador' around, too."

 

Joy smiled. "Hopefully, I will be able to do some good. First, however, they will have to stop their learning by eavesdropping routine, and join the conversation." At least Joy hoped they were listening. She had been talking as much to the ghosts as the away team, and hoped she wouldn't have to repeat the basics again while doing diplomatic fencing at the same time. "We try to distinguish our behavior from that of the Dominion, Scorpiad and Al Ucard," she said with a mild glare at Segami. "Violence as a last resort. We appear friendly. Thoughtful. The next problem, is after I tell them how open and sharing and cooperative the Federation is, Corizon will show up angry with a small horde of security types."

 

"That doesn't sound so bad to me," Segami said with a chuckle. "Even better if he brings Victria along. She could take out the lot of them and never break a sweat." He grinned.

 

Laarell shot him a double-take followed by a slightly venomous glare. "Oh, could she, Lieutenant?" she asked, barely smirking. "I'm glad you're well up-to-date on your officers' physical stamina." Looking back to the android, she nodded. "I agree."

 

Atticus's face darkened. Knowing a personal attack when he heard one, he responded in force. His voice was sickeningly sugary. "Yes Laarell, Victria and I have had a lot of training together recently. I do wish I could be more like you and have the time to spend rolling around on barfloors-

 

He paused long enough to make his point clear as crystal before faking a huge overly innocent gasp of error.

 

"Oh did I say that? Surely I simply meant sitting on a barstool. Silly me." he corrected for spite's sake. Gleeful malice in a grin, sensing his suspicions on the Orion's previous activities were correct.

 

Laarell stared at him for a moment. "Don't we all wish that we could be me?" she asked, deadpan.

 

Joy decided that declaring 'no' loudly wouldn't be wise.

 

"It's worth a shot, and I think we have something of a plan of action for starters." She looked back over to Segami. "You clear on what we're aiming for, Chief?"

 

Atticus understood. His face instantly changed to a blank slate since the topic was their future actions. Though this would be disturbing to outsiders this was completely normal to a Starfleet Officer. Jobs themselves and their entailed orders had to be kept seperate from feelings even if they were painfully apparent. He spoke clearly and professionally. "Yeah, we go along with plain old cheeriness. We act nice, we don't cause trouble, and we don't try to break free on any account. A few 'Trust exercises' so to speak. If that's how you want us to play it boss, I won't do otherwise."

 

"Good." She leaned back again, mumbling quietly. "Now let's not forget that once the sport begins..."

 

Joy remembered an old problem involving a river, a small boat, a farmer, a fox, a goose and some grain. How could she keep between Segami and J'ai, Segami and Laarell, and Segami and the ghosts, all at the same time? Step one, knock the fox unconscious?

 

Joy sighed. Trust exercises....