Mission details

"Gentlebeings..."

The soft and deep voice of Captain Kheren brought everyone's attention back around the table. With Redding at his right and Oseno at his left, Sisko sitting behind them as a command grade advisor should, he looked to the left hand side of the triangular table where sat K'Leysha and both 011 and 110 with Yiral backing them up as science advisor; then to the right where newcomers Solius and Somers each side of Leône now looked at him with that strange mixture of calm patience in their faces and eager expectation in their eyes that was so typical of Starfleet officers.

Once again, the final frontier was calling out to all of them.

"Before I expose the details of our upcoming assignment, let me introduce everyone to everyone else. "

Standing up as was his habit when he started a meeting, his right hand indicated the large dark-haired man that sat on his right.

"Commander Neil Stanley Redding, executive officer; when I am not available, he is the master of this boat. Please report to him on a regular basis."

Then, his left hand went to the Bajoran on his other side.

"Commander Oseno Jureth, Chief Strategic Operations Officer; he commands the USS Polaris, our Aquarius class integrated escort ship and supervize all military-related activities on this vessel."

The Andorian shifted slighlty his athletic frame to let everyone see the third red-collared officer on their side of the table. The bearded half-Bajoran also wore three pips on the collar of his standard grey and black uniform.

"Commander Joey Daystrom Sisko, our former chief engineer and now cybernetics specialist. Although not officially heading any department, I would like all of you to consider him as our informal Technical Operations Officer and benefit from his expertise and experience whenever needed. I certainly will. That is why I asked him to join with us today."

Facing again the others around the table, the commanding officer of the flagship turned his silvery gaze to his left where sat the black-skinned pointy eared elfin woman in the only non-standard uniform on the entire ship; hers was white instead of grey on the shoulders and the combadge looked more like a star-shaped jewel than the usual delta-shaped communicator-monitor.

"Lieutenant-Commander Snowfire K'Leysha, Chief of Science. As an exchange officer from the Illythirii people, her presence alone will add tremendously to our chances of success in this upcoming endeavour."

His eyes and antennae went then to the small, blue, bald female Bynar pair sitting with her.

"Lieutenants 011 and 110, Chief Medical Officer. Of course you already know them since you had to go through the mandatory physical examination upon being assigned to this ship and coming to Starbase Lotus; hence you could not even have come aboard in the first place."

He then shifted all their attention with his to the calm, silent woman at the end of their side of the table.

"Lieutenant Adira Yiral serves Commander Oseno on the Polaris as he himself assists me here on the Horizon; being both a Starfleet officer and El-Aurian, she is also a most attentive listener and was asked to be part of this discussion for that very reason."

Now that was certainly deemed intriguing by some of them. El-Aurians were extremely long lived and had a kind of atunement to life and the universe that could reveal things beyond any perception or instrumentation or even reasoning and imagination. Her presence alone suggested that this was not going to be your run-of-the-mill exploration or patrol mission.

But Kheren was now looking at the third and last side of the conference table and the last three officers there, Yeoman Miramanee Blackbird standing a pace behind them, ready to attend to anyone's need so that the meeting would go uninterrupted... and recording it all on her PADD for the Captain's later needs.

"Lieutenant Elisha Leône, Chief of Operations. She is in charge of every management aspect of the ship, no small task considering alone her size and complement. Please go to her for any power, personnel or material need aboard... and to make sure that she knows about it."

Looking beyond the green-skinned woman, the commanding officer of the flagship of Lotus Fleet brought everyone's attention to the last pair of officers with them, both the only new faces to them all. First, he indicated the Romulan officer sitting with Vulcan-style discipline and Human-like intensity beside the Orion chief of Ops.

"Lieutenant Junior Grade S'Tan Solius, our new chief engineer. Like Lieutenant-Commander K'Leysha, he brings much more experience to this ship than his rank would let you beleive... and again, his sole presence also will be an asset in our next operation."

He did not let them ponder long again on this cryptic remark. His hand went to the tall, athletic, red-haired and blue-eyed pale-skinned woman who had announced herself earlier, the only green-collared person in the room.

"Lieutenant First Class Alexandria Lynne Somers, Marines Command officer and our new chief of tactical and security aboard the Horizon. She is in command of the new Marines unit that came aboard and will join us for this mission."

Now that was surely enough to raise eyebrows on more than a few faces. Having purely military crack units on anything but a warship in times of war was almost unprecedented; you almost had to go back to the historical trek of the NX-01 Enterprise against the Xindi, back in the days just before the very founding of the Federation, to find such a case. Not to mention that the Horizon already had one Marines squad attached to the Polaris... and that her own standard security personnel were in all intent and purposes as well-trained as standard Marines and already more experienced and battle-hardened than most, having being trained and put under fire by Captain Kheren himself during his eventful and unorthodox career.

Kheren stayed up as he addressed them all.

"Last week, standard Federation time, a subspace signal was transmitted to the attention of the Federation Council. It had been relayed by subspace relays to Sector 001 all the way back to the farthest one at the outward galactic rim of the Beta Quadrant."

He activated controls on his side of the table. In the center hovered the image of an old but well self-maintained twenty-fourth century subspace relay, obviously active. No one heard any signal... but Kheren knew that there was at least one person among them who was already picking up the signal and it's content it transmitted before he explained further.

"The signal was reconverted in standard comm transmission by the integrated universal translator of the relay from it's original format. The original message was... telepathic."

And switching on the translated version, they now could all hear the message.

"To the United Federation of Planets, we send our greetings and our wish to negociate peaceful and mutually beneficial relationship..."

As it continued, it was evidently an offer for a Peace Treaty. But everyone's attention fled from the mere words as the holographic view beyond the satellite relay shifted slowly around and leaving the sight of the last stars of the milky way until it brought in full view a luminous, greenish background that blotted out even the bluish line of the great galactic barrier most where now familiar with from their last mission... and  the source of the transmission.

It was an elongated yellow, green and grey form with bulbous protrusions at the back and branch-like appendages up front. It was hard to tell if it was either an odd-shaped starship or some huge alien life form living in outer space; but in truth, it was both. Even those in the room who had not yet actually experienced meeting such an organic-looking vessel instantly knew what it was... and who it belonged to.

The Undines.

Raising her hand "Excuse me sir, but I have to ask, apart from the peace ovetures, do we truly know why the Undine want peace? I only ask as this is a radical change in their ways as they consider all sentient life in our universe as weak and up until recently, so do we know what as actually changed? I am used to the other shoe dropping Captain and with my background, upbringing and training I am highly..." She paused looking down at the floor for the appropriate word, then when she had it looked up "...dubious of their true motives" She diplomatically said.

"No, we do not, Lieutenant Somers," admitted the Andorian, after sitting down to better listen to what was being said around the triangular table. " Although during Operation Horizon, some of us managed to come to a truce with some of them who had already experienced previous contact with our kind during the USS Voyager journey. "

His silver eyes glanced at the Bajoran to his left before he concluded his answer.

"That is why the Horizon is called to duty and not a vessel from the diplomatic corps... or a squadron of warships."

S'Tan nodded in agreement. Frowning, and not waiting to be recognized, he added, "Let me say what we are all thinking. No. No peace. This race has been far too detrimental to our societies to be just allowed peace. Have we all forgotten the fact that they can and have impersonated high ranking officials? Romulans have not. If a borg cube came floating around asking for peace, would we even consider it before firing every torpedo our ship had into it's hull? Of course not. Additionally, this is not the Borg. They are not more technologically advanced than us. If push came to shove, we could beat them back. Easily. There are far too many variables involved with the Undine to even take the risk of coming in contact with them."

"You may say freely what you believe to be what we're thinking." Snowfire replied in a tone that was barely above a whisper. Her eyes were shut, lips parted very slightly in an all but picture perfect appearance of rapture. "But the truth of my thoughts may surprise you." Her violet eyes slipped - as if unmeant - open, flicking to look across and up at Kheren and when she spoke it was not just as a Lieutenant Commander of Starfleet. "What crime is so horrific, so utterly terrible, as to be beyond forgiveness? None that the Undine have committed I would say. Remember that in their eyes they are the ones who were invaded. Every action they have taken has been to defend themselves from us, all of us. Polity, race, it does not matter. Our universe set itself upon theirs at the bidding of the Borg - who even at their most terrible some still offered an attempt at forgiveness." She shrugged. "How can we do anything less than simply go to hear their message in full? Yet," she frowned, "you are of course correct in one way."

"This is most certainly not the Borg. The Borg were, in the end, little more than a sentient plague upon our existence. And yet even when presented with that truth, some tried. And against all odds, some even succeeded. Captain Picard, Seven of Nine, Unimatrix Zero. Those are but a handful of names tied to such work. The Borg could not be reasoned with in any way that my people could find, so we learned to fight them. We learnt to wield weapons of terrifying power that, in the end, taught them that our borders were sacrosanct against their intrusion. I, we, cannot hope to understand what your peoples experienced at their hands. But they were not the Undine, whose only motive behind their crimes has been fear."

"But there is more even then that, that none of you here - I am afraid - can understand." She let her eyes slide shut again, immersing herself into the flow of the pulsing message and pointed at the display. "I cannot explain it, not properly, but one cannot speak mind to mind and thought to thought without some layer of emotion wending its way into the words. Those words that you hear with your ears, I feel in my being. And in them, although Empathy cannot be truly perfect, I find no deceit. In every way that I can analyse, the sender of this message sent it in good faith." She pulled herself free from the message again, blinking a few times to clear her mind. "And that, combined with the fact that the Undine are a race of sentient beings capable of change, would be enough if the message itself was not such already by the tenets of the organisation that we all serve...in one way or another."

S'Tan crossed his arms, momentarily defiant "And what, pray tell, shall we do when this does turn out to be a trap in some way? Mourn our dead, licking our wounds all the way back home?" He sighed, partly out of realization of what he was arguing as well as understanding he would not win in this room. He imagined the conversation & arguments at Starfleet HQ when his distress signal went out and the Dewpoint was ordered out of it's way to retrieve him. "Out of everyone here, I fully understand forgiveness the most. Starfleet accepted me with open arms. I am going to work to have some tricks up our sleeve in case of emergency...Captain, I apologize for my outburst."

"No need to apologize, Lieutenant Solius; this is not the bridge... and this mission has not started yet," answered Kheren. "If your honest opinion, as that of every senior officer present here, was not needed, I would not have called for such a meeting."

So saying, the commanding officer of the flagship was at the same time stating both what he expected of his officers and how he expected them to behave; now... and later.

And now, he became silent again, waiting for the rest of his people to do as Solius, K'Leysha and Somers were doing; help him come to a decision.

S'Tan shrugged his shoulders, "Understood. I just don't understand why they would want to contact us. As far as I have ever heard about the Undine, they have cared little about what we thought of them. Any time we have encountered them, it has ended in combat. What could have possibly changed to make them decide to come all the way to see us?"

To this point, Commander Joseph Daystrom Sisko had been silently observing the meeting from his seat near the edge of the conference room, until the assembled officers had all but forgotten about his presence. However, upon realizing that the new Chief Engineer had not heard about or even read up on the Azimuth Horizon mission that had resulted in the very olive branch they were discussing, he realized it would probably be helpful to provide a little perspective, to avoid unnecessary debate over the intentions of the Undine that had contacted them.

Sisko stood and cleared his throat. "Perhaps, Lieutenant, the fact that we saved their leader's ship, and he returned the favor by calling in a fleet to drive out the remaining attacking Klingons and Romulans..." he caught the Romulan Engineer's eye at that point to see if there was any recognition or anger there, but saw only interest reflected in the face, "... in order to save the lives of myself and those of half of the people in this room, might have something to do with it."

He continued to remain calm and spoke at an even keel, despite the emotions that had welled up while listening to S'Tan's tone. Sisko had to tell himself that he had befriended a Cardassian with similar tendencies and remember why he became best friends with him, despite being half Bajoran himself. It was for that reason and for the fact that the Romulan at their briefing table could speak freely, that they fought so hard for the Federation ideals... the very ones that Solius argued against.

"We do not shoot first and ask questions later, and when we are given the chance to make peace with an enemy, as Starfleet Officers, it is not only an opportunity, but an obligation," he added, stressing the last word sternly.

"You will have to forgive my lack of knowledge about recent activities. I've spent the past few months in Starfleet Intelligence's 'Academy.' No information in or out. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if you told me I was the last Romulan. And, Sir, there is a reason I left my family behind. I understand how needlessly aggressive they have become. If you say that the Undine are here only for peace, then I will have to assume your history with their leader supersedes my knowledge of prior Undine activities." S'Tan once again crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat, deep in thought about the possibility of actually stepping foot on an Undine ship. Their computers would be his to play with...If they even used computers...

Redding watched the conviction in the faces of his fellow crew mates, and although interesting it was ultimately pointless to him. On his own ship he rarely made time for meetings such as this preferring to outline a mission and give out assignments to his people.

He did of course encourage them to speak their minds on the issue if they felt they needed to, but he had never felt compelled to ask for an opinion.

"I think it's a dangerous stance to think you understand your enemies motivation, just because a cannibal greets you doesn't mean he's not planning to eat you." He said this with a shrug.

He took a breath "Personally, I think it's a trap in one form or another, even if they themselves don't think of it as one. But in the end it doesn't matter if it is or not, we have to take this chance and find out. Because even a lie, if properly handled, might become the truth."

Jureth listened intently to his colleagues discussion, gathering his thoughts. Next to him he could sense that Adira Yiral was doing the same. Finally after Commander Redding had said his peace the Bajoran spoke

"I am of a mind to agree with Commander Sisko. Most of us present saw with our own eyes Undine vessels wiping out the flotilla that besieged our home starbase. I personally experienced the Undine first hand. Thanks to Lieutenant Lyrya I can tell you that it was our own actions that have given credit to the Federation in the eyes of the Undine. Even after their initial encounters with Admiral Janeway and the Voyager they saw us as a threat equal to the Borg. When we eliminated the Borg their fear of us grew, we were no longer just a threat...we were the threat to their home. Yet I believe that it was one act, and I am not saying this simply because I was directly involved, the act of the Alsea saving their vessel just we would one of our own despite the fact they were an enemy who had attacked us first...that is what has led to this. I believe that they understand now that we do not simply wish to destroy them out of hand like the Borg. Could it be a trap? Of course it could, but consider this:  if the Undine were seeking to attack us why wouldn't they simply just do so? They have the ability to open portals from fluidic space at will and could bring immense numbers against us. Why go through the trouble of asking us to a meeting? Should we take precautions...yes, but those precautions don't have to include a battery of quantum torpedoes primed in their tubes. I said something recently to another officer that I'd like to repeat here...I was, not long ago at all, the prototypical Starfleet security officer. I believed that phasers were for tact and quantum torpedoes for diplomacy. Facing the Undine during Operation Horizon changed my way of thinking...this galaxy has seen far to much war and destruction in its recent history, this is an opportunity for peace and I think that we have to take it."

Beside him Adira Yiral was nodding her head and did not have much to add to her superior's statement, but what she did say resounded in the room "My people were all but wiped out by the Borg, and those of us that survived were scattered across the galaxy. How do you think the Undine felt, when we did the same thing to the Borg?"

Trust an El-Aurian to put your nose in your own dung, Kheren inwardly said to himself. His wife Lyrya had done the same thing once; pointing out that their final disposal of the Collective had been so near the line between animalistic self-preservation and determined genocide that it would not take much of a moral shove to send them over the brink and make all of their proud morality a farce. From the former Section 31 to the actions of individuals like Sorripto, who all tought anything was justified once they chose to call someone else "the bad guy," showed it plainly enough.

Yes, they had given several opportunities for the Borg to stop and desist; Captain Onia of the USS Wisconsin had even almost convinced their Queen with a sharing of love and compassion... but even that had ultimately failed. And for sure, they had not all been exterminated utterly; there was a whole colony of liberated Borg even here in the Hromi sector, living in peace under the protection of Lotus Starbase... Not many knew of this; not many today were so willing to forgive and to respect the right of all life to existence in this universe as they outwardly boasted to.

Even the admirable Jean-Luc Picard had once called the Borg "without redemption."

That might have been true... but once you accepted that, it was way too easy afterwards to state the same about any other perceived or declared enemy. And once you did that, you were just as the Klingons, as the Romulans, as the Dominion... as anyone else you might think of... but then, there was no longer a United Federation of Planets but in name only.

Kheren certainly knew that; he was Andorian. But even he, born and raised of a passionate, violent race on an unforgiving planet, in a culture where cold-blooded murder was the social norm, had learned to do better, to be better; that peace and life were what was worth any risk.

But what about the others now pretending to share the same values, wearing the same uniform as he did?

That was why he had really called this meeting for.

And so, he kept silent, waiting for the rest of his officers to speak out.

Then he would make a decision.

The Bynar doctors then spoke, 011 followed by 110, as was their custom... "The biological and medical knowledge that we could learn alone... is worth the possible risk to one ship and her crew."

To assist in their explanation, 011, who was in the center seat reached her almost childlike arm up to the console in front of them, with some effort, and entered a few commands to bring up the physiological overview of the Undine species.

"Doctor Joe, the Voyager's Medical Hologram discovered that... their immune system is able to instantly adapt... to any foreign substance that enters their system... whether viral, biological, or chemical. Our medical knowledge has advanced to... the point where we can treat... almost any disease, even those as deadly as cancer. However, there are still a few maladies that we... have not yet been able to cure: Darnay's Disease, Sakuro's Disease, and Iverson's Disease, just to name a few. If we could harness and synthesize, or at least study... this phenomenon, it would advance... treatment of illness beyond anything... we could imagine!"

There was a moment of silence before Kheren looked at the only  officer who had yet to give an opinion about the situation. 

"What are your thoughts on the matter, Lieutenant Leône?

Elisha Leône sat there silently as the opinions regarding their upcoming mission were volleyed around by the various officers present in this briefing. She listened to their words very attentively, but was also a little put-off at moments due to the earlier conversation that occurred with the Vulcan in the Arboretum. As has transpired many times in her life, she knew what it was like to be prejudged and have assumptions made about her based primarily on her gender and species. But she swiftly pushed these troubling thoughts to the side for the time being and focused on the discussion at hand.

In this particular case, she understood the concerns being raised regarding the Undine and the shaky history that members within the Federation have had in their dealings with them. She was mentally weighing all of the statements and opinions being presented as the conversation progressed. There was passion and logic interweaving among a mixture of aspiration and apprehension as the words flowed back and forth across the triangular table.

When all of the others had finished speaking, Elisha saw the eyes of the Andorian Captain fall upon her as he directly inquired about her thoughts on the matter. After taking a few moments to collect her own thoughts, she offered her perspective.

"Preconceived notions are the locks on the door to wisdom" the Orion woman began, as she gazed watchfully to those around her as she continued speaking.

"Many of us sitting here around this table would not have even been invited to be a part of a meeting such as this at an earlier point in time because of our origins alone... had it not been for someone among the doubtful and suspicious who accepted the risk to look past the paradigm of the day in order to see into the potential of someone different than what was deemed acceptable."

Elisha did see a need to elaborate on the substantiality of this statement any further, so she proceed on.  

"As has been pointed out already, the Federations' initial encounters with this species were not the most productive or even beneficial. Yet this is often the case when strangers from different worlds come across each other in less than ideal circumstances. Yet our recent encounter with the Undine demonstrated that we could work cooperatively together; even under dire circumstances, to our mutual benefit."

The Orion woman leaned back slightly in her chair while she reflected a bit deeper.

"While attending the Academy, like many of you here, I had the opportunity to read  a variety historical references from many different worlds. For some reason, the words of a human from more than a half a millennia ago came to my mind as I was processing a variety of thoughts as everyone spoke. This human stated I destroy my enemy when I make him my friend."

Elisha looked directly at the Andorian commanding officer.

"I realize that there are many legitimate causes for concern and great risk involved in proceeding with this mission. Nevertheless, this is a very unique opportunity for us alone Captain, and that ideal in that simple statement from that long gone Human seems to be focusing and channeling my advocacy to proceed. I therefore recommend that we should open our closed fist along with our minds and seize this chance, despite any apprehension or suspicion we may harbor."

S'Tan placed his elbows on the table as he leaned in. He clasped his fingers together and put his hands to his nose, making only his eyes peer out over them. It was time to be serious. "If we are going to quote dead Humans, then let us also include their Military Leaders:

'All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.'"

Continuing, he added "We have already discussed, ad nasuem, what we Feel we should do as good little Starfleet officers, but we have not heard what, exactly, Starfleet Wants us to do about this visitor to our Quadrant. Our orders will override any personal feelings and we will be able to adapt to any.....situations....positive or negative."

He put stress on the words Feel and Want because they all knew why they were here. This wasn't about grudges or personal feelings. It was about getting the job done and making sure you arrive home alive. S'Tan suspected that a few of the crewmen around him would even sacrifice themselves for the mission. Foolish, of course, but noble. It was time, in his mind, to hear what their mission was to be.

And at worst case, I will do what I have to do to get my new boat home safely, He concluded to himself.

Our orders are both simple and difficult," Kheren answered. "Investigate and proceed. We have discretionary powers, within the guidelines of our General Orders, to determine from this situation what is best in regard to what the Federation stand for; the inherent right of every species to exist in this universe in peace and prosperity, to promote the brotherhood of sentience and mutual sharing of space, goods and knowledge and to ensure it all wihout compromising the safety of our own people."

He looked around. His face was as expressioneless as ever but nevertheless, everyone felt that he was smiling. His curving antennae certainly told as much.

"To add my contribution to the quoting game, I will give you the words of Garth of Izar; give the other the chance to become your friend before you force him to become your enemy."

Kheren had chosen his quote deliberately; , Captain Garth was the Human who had become the benchmark of all great starship captains from James Kirk onward and who had written Starfleet's Rules of Engagement, still in force more than twon hundred years later. But although they all knew about his illustrious career in the early days of the twenty-third century, they also knew how that great life had ended; in a asylum for the criminally insane before revolutionary neuro-treatment finally cured him in the last days of his life in a penal colony.

If there was one example of what could be the cost of their dedication to Federation ideals, this was it. And he wanted that on everyone's mind when he next spoke. His gaze went from Leône to K'Leysha then Yiral, down to 011 and 110 to end on Oseno and Sisko.

"As a starship captain, I am empowered with ambassadorial status to evaluate and begin relations with a foreign power, to be later ratified by the Federation Council; with a full diplomatic corps already on board, the Horizon is as capable as any official diplomatic delegation to respond to this offer, investigate it  for as long as needed with her full ten years of complete autonomy and attempt to lay the foundations for anything lasting and worthwhile for both parties."

His silvery eyes then focused in turn on Redding, Somers and Solius.

"However, Starfleet is well aware of the inherent dangers in such a situation, especially considering that, so far away from Federation Space, there will be no support available. That is why the Horizon is sent to this rendez-vous; sending one ship will not be interpreted as a threatening response... but the Horizon has almost the firepower of a space station, capable of tactical saucer separation and with a support combat vessel, a full wing of fighter and stealth shuttles and now two squads of Starfleet Marines that make her capable of best facing alone those possible dangers."

Now he lifted his head and looked at everyone.

"And make no mistake people; the perils are as great as the promises here. In that regard, all of you are quite right.  And it will be weeks, maybe months, possibly even years before we may get back home... if at all. "

He made a pause to allow that to sink in before he continued.

"That is why, for this mission, only volunteers will come; even among civilians and family members. There will be a general assembly of every crew member, personnel and resident of the ship to fully present what we are about to embark upon. There will be no negative mention on anyone's record for deciding to relinquish to come and all efforts will be made to relocate or reassign every individual choosing so to everyone's best interest; but once committed and underway, it will be for both better and worse."

Still sitting, he nevertheless straightened himself and his uniform before concluding.

"But first, now that you know and offered each other both sides of the situation, I want to know who among you will accept this challenge."