Diplomatic Mission Vein ll. Part 2.

Posted on Saturday July 30th, 2022 @ 1:05pm by Lieutenant Commander Niali Deval Dr & Lieutenant Finchley Kerr

Mission: New Worlds
Location: Planet Vein ll
Timeline: Current

Away Team 1: Temporary CO, Chief Diplomatic Officer, Assistant Chief Operations Officer (+ any NPC's/PNPC's).

They will meet with the Vein II First Minister and the governing officials and try to work out a way to stop the 2 tier system so that they can gain entry into the Federation.

[ON]

[High Ministry Building]

Security Minister Valev continued to lead Ensign Grant through a wide passageway back into the building. Double doors were opened and they entered into a spacious room with only one other doorway across from them. An enormous skylight lay overhead covering almost all of the room letting in hazy sunshine and fresh air. He indicated the ceiling. There is a forcefield across the ceiling and also enclosing the whole room. This is where the Quoram meet so it had to be totally secure but light and airy. We thought this would be the place to hold our negotiations. What do you think Ensign Grant?”

Ensign Grant ran her tricorder and took a scan, the force field would not only prevent an attack but also inhibit transporter activity. It was a 50 Gigawatt forcefield. There were no concealed listening devices and there was also a dampening field in effect for potential energy weapons.

"Yes, Minster this will be very appropriate and effective." Jo agreed.

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[Ministry Gardens]

Lieutenant Commander May, I ask what did my son do?”

"He attacked one of Oberon's officers, beating her badly...and I mean beating her" Finchley replied "He also forced her to give him her Command codes. We've no idea why he's done that, and until we do, he's not going anywhere and nobody is seeing him, not even you First Minister."

“Would you risk a diplomatic incident over this Lieutenant Commander, and perhaps the loss of our inclusion into the Federation?” Ara remonstrated. “I have told you how it is on our world and because of that …. Honesty could lose me my Premiership. Please, Lieutenant Commander Finchley!”

"Firstly it's Lieutenant Commander Kerr, what it is with people calling me Lieutenant Commander Finchley???" Finchley questioned rhetorically.

"Secondly, this is the second time you've called into question these negotiations, putting the blame at my feet" he continued "Frankly First Minister, I don't give a crap if you or your planet are brought into the Federation, you're the ones who caused the problems you have, and you're the ones who, quite frankly, are shitting themselves that if you don't get in, your little empire will fall."

He got up from the grass and stood before Ara and looked her straight in the eye "Get this into your head, your son attempted to murder a member of our crew" and now he pointed an accusing finger at her "if anyone has sabotaged these proposed negotiations, it's you and your fellow slave masters. He stays on our ship and in the brig till we get answers and you still don't get to see him, is that clear enough for you? I have no qualms whatsoever beaming back up to my ship, contacting Federation HQ and telling them exactly what's happened, who caused it to happen, and who the perpetrators were who caused this whole situation to be brought about in the first place. Your application will be dropped like the hot potato it is, and as for me and my crew mates, we'll be sent on our next mission whereas you and your planet will crumble into its next civil war, all caused by you!"

He paused for a moment, then said "If you wish to retract the statement you just made, now's your chance, and maybe...just maybe, we can get down to work."

Ara’s guards approached Kerr as if to arrest him. Ara could not speak but waved them back. In all her years as a politician and then as First Minister she had never been spoken to and disrespected like that. However, Vein ll badly needed Federation membership and she knew he had been right when he had mentioned civil war. She nodded swallowing. “Very well lieutenant Commander Kerr, I apologize for getting your name wrong and also for putting you in an untenable situation in asking to see my son and then pushing you on the subject. Shall we join the others?”

Finchley turned at the sound of Ara's guards approaching him as he spoke to her "Lay one finger on me and you'll cause a diplomatic incident that'll bring serious consequences to you, your government and your planet."

He turned back to Ara as she spoke to him "First Minister, I'm not your enemy, but you do know who your enemies are. Be rid of them and free your people. If you want us to join the others, then that's what we'll do."

They walked slowly back through the garden, Ara stopped and turned to him. “Is there anything you want to know before we join the other Lieutenant Commander Kerr?”

"Yes First Minister," Finchley said "How much do you and your fellow Ministers know about the geneticists who created your 'super soldiers, as in, their story of how they got here? Did you or your Ministers try to persuade them to help you win the war with the Ba'Hi, or did they offer to help you? Why didn't you reverse the enhancements once the war against the Ba'Hi was won, thus stopping what then became your two-tier system of 'slaves'?"

“We never knew where they came from, they arrived at the turn of the war, and we were losing badly. The enemy had more firepower, and more troops, they never stopped. One of the lead geneticists told our military they were experimenting with a genetic therapy that would turn the ordinary soldier into a super soldier. Our military, Minister Valev persuaded the Quorum to approve it and a huge recruitment drive was organized. That was when Tor volunteered, he left home a day later and now he is a prisoner in your brig.” She took a glass from an offered tray and drained it. “One of the promises we made, in fact, they insisted on it was that we would not pin them down to one place, they moved around a lot and, for some reason our sensors could never find them, we never found out what race they were as they wore dark clothing with masks that looked a lot like respirators to me.

“But it worked and we won the peace. Some of our soldiers began to come home but from the beginning there were problems, crime increased and murders became normal. Prior to this, crime was petty and low, and taking a life happened maybe once a year, maybe less.”

Ara looked disgusted. “What happened next broke our society, Lieutenant Commander. There was a new election and, although I was reinstated some of the Quorum were not. There was an increase in those who wanted the soldiers to remain just that. A law was passed that made it illegal for gene-enhanced beings to stay in the city. They were rounded up and placed in camps. These camps became towns and then cities. I have been trying to change these laws so these men and women can come home. We NEED to find these geneticists so we can hold them to their promise. There are families without fathers and mothers all over this world which used to be so peaceful and lovely.” Ara sighed heavily, “so now you know, I managed to persuade the Quorum to apply to the Federation for help and one day possibly membership.”

“You know First Minister, I make no apology your son is a prisoner under arrest on our ship, he attempted to murder one of our Officers” Finchley replied “If it were the other way round and one of our crew attempted to murder one of your Ministers, you would have no qualms having them arrested and imprisoned here. As for the Federation application situation, we currently have an Away Team about to try and locate the geneticists. ‘If’ we can find and capture them, there’s every possibility they’ll stand trial on the breaking of Federation eugenics laws…but, they may not…make it back to the Oberon if there’s an intervention if you get my meaning?” he finished.

Ara nodded, “I do indeed Lieutenant Commander, but we do not know what race they are we do not want to start another interplanetary war”. They had walked into the building by this time entering the room designated for the meeting. Ensign Grant was talking to Minister Valev and she looked happy. Valev however looked like he wanted to be somewhere else. “Ensign Grant” Ara called, “is everything all right, May we go ahead?”

"First Minister, Mr. Kerr, The security arrangements are more than acceptable, We can proceed at your convenience," Ensign Grant reported.

"First Minister Ara, up till now you've kept saying you don't know what race these geneticists are," Finchley said "Neither do we, but I can reveal that they left from Deep Space Three, a Federation station at the edge of what we refer to as 'The Shackleton Expanse'. I don't know the whole story myself, as something happened to DS3 and the information is difficult to come by."

“I can only tell you what they looked like, they obviously did not want to be identified as a race. I would presume that the soldiers won’t have seen them at the camp they were enhanced in. Maybe Tor could be asked? We have no enhancements in custody.”

"That's the curious thing First Minister" Finchley replied "The fact that they kept on some kind of breathing apparatus is a mystery, and I don't particularly like mysteries. Of course, it could all have been as a ruse, they may not have needed them at all, they were convenient so as to keep their identities a secret. I'll pass that question along to the Senior Officer on the Oberon, they can ask him and report back."

He thought for a moment before he asked Ara the next question "Is there a message you'd like passed onto your son from yourself First Minister?"

Ara thought for a moment. “Only to co-operate fully and tell the truth, Lieutenant Commander Kerr. That is all.”

[OFF]