D'Honaires and Diplomacy

"If we hadn't taken back the Enterprise with the aid of our friends," Uraha finishes softly, "I'd have known I was doomed....helpless. Helpless to stop what was to come."

Despite herself, she shudders a little bit at that thought.

I lean over and pat her on the shoulder, whispering that it's okay. If anything , I know what it is like to know of terrible things that are to happen and being helpless to do anything about them. Happy was the day that I was freed of those precognizant visions. Uhura, having learned more about me and my family, nods and pats my hand , grateful.

If nothing else, my ordeals have given a certain weight to my words for her...in understanding that I actually do understand her position.

Kirk and McCoy offer to pause this meeting for a moment if Uhura needs time to compose herself, but she waves that off. If nothing else, like so many of her analog "brothers" and "sisters", she's made of sterner stuff than that. It is understandable for her to shudder, but this woman is no "wilting lily".

"Now that we have gotten that out of the way perhaps we would be wise to play the diplomat?" I ask my wife, "That is what protocol demands in situations like this."

While the outward drive by those like the Military and such had slackened off to almost nil (after all, while they'd touched over a thousand universes...they still had so much to now explore there), there still a general joy of a new....friendly contact. A happy first contact that usually demanded that certain diplomatic protocol be followed in order for nobody to feel....slighted.

Annafrid

Usually it would be dear Astra who would take center stage in this presentation. She is, after all, basically the leader of this little group. Oh, Synizn might be the oldest member by far, but he shall concede that while the oldest....he may not always be one with the right answers. Sometimes being a leader means being something of a diplomat.....and that sometimes takes patience (which the demifox mage sometimes is in short supply of). However, with a nod by her, she wants me to be the one to put forth the laurel branch of welcome. Why? You see, without challenge there is no growth....and as a challenge I had decided awhile ago to sharpen my diplomatic skills.

"That and if the beginning of some kind of formal diplomatic ties can be established here then I and the others can call in....well....political favors if needed," I begin , putting off any complaints at the sudden change in subject, "Why, if nothing else it will mean the mages will be able to call upon more resources than what they are currently supplied with."

"You are saying that in order to fully help us you have to formally open diplomatic ties with us?" Doctor McCoy asks, sounding a touch incredulous at such a thing.

"Oh, we shall aid you.....with resources we have back on Terra Prime, diplomatic ties or not," I say with a slight smile, "But let us just say that the political flack we would get from certain political corners, especially from our version of the Federation Council of Planets.... Let us just say that they would have no real say so in such matters, the bickering we would get from them later..... I and the others would rather just avoid such political headaches."

"Ounces of prevention and pounds of curse, Bones." Kirk adds with a small chuckle, understanding well indeed how huffy some bureaucrats can get (and how difficult they can make one's life) sometimes. Right now Terra Prime was still a probationary member of the Federation of Planets (and only that due to the demands of the Military Protectorate). Soon she'd come up for full membership (and all that such a step up entailed). Slights now might mean delays later, if you catch my meaning. Goodness knows that I and the others had our hands full enough as it was in calming outraged shouts at the trade and travel we of Terra Prime had set up with Dr. Vincent's magical/scientific based transporter! They'd only allowed that provision in the last round of negotiations with us because they'd thought that Vincent would never be able to get it to work. Indeed, some who'd met the man thought him utterly..... Well, they laughed at the thought of this latest scheme at ever bearing fruit and thus had secretly laughed when we'd demanded such trade rights and such through such means..... Turns out that the joke was on them.

Indeed, through the magic/science teleportation system we have ties now to such places as Xanth, Nantucket Earth (boy, do a lot of folks in Star Fleet want their hands on that one Janeway there), and limited travel with Joan's homeworld.

Anyhow, as it stood, if I remember correctly from what Ragan told me of the TV character named James T. Kirk, the man had an interesting ways at bending the rules in order to get his way in things. Be that as it may, a political person might be upset about that....but not as much as if their precious rules and laws got broken with impudence. Liable to take it out on you later on, when they can.....at the least wanted times....

McCoy sighs, bowing to the need. He had his own dealings with such matters, himself...in his own field of work.

So that done, I break the diplomatic ice between this reality's United Federation of Planets (represented here by one Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise) and "my" United Federation of Planets (represented through the probationary member planet, my home, Terra Prime). Needless to say there is going to be miles and miles of more meetings between the two powers and such , later, but for now we are golden.

Oh, I know that a lot of surprises are in store (probably on both sides). Especially when more is learned by Kirk's Federation about such matters as Terra Prime and the Military (who owes it's existence, in part, to a rather odd Ferrrengi time travel accident that lead up to the Roswell Incident). That and other awkward questions didn't come up so need not be broached at this point in time. Right now, we are making plans on how to actually go about rescuing Uhura. Not concrete plans, mind you, but plans as far as plans can be made without data gathered on the lobotimized alien entity (the only one left aboard, others got "flushed" off the ship by the annoyed Engineering staff at Kirk's orders by some kind of energy beam or some such).

The plans we come up is this. A landing party shall be beaming back down onto the planet where the Enterprise women got impregnated composed of my group, Captain Kirk, Spock, and Uhura. The mages will cast protection spells (a long process) on us females on the off chance that the alien entity below decides to do a repeat performance. Spock, who's psionic powers are on the alien's frequency range, will be given anti-possession medallions to protect them from mental attack. Hopefully, we'll get lucky and find some kind of discarded scrying devices of some type left by the mage who switched Uhuras. See, this situation smells of something not just done off the cuff. Some kind of scrying and study must have gone into it before it got sprung on Kirk's Uhura. The mage must have spied upon her and the goings on with the alien entity. Hey, it's possible that the mage was allied with the alien entity....somehow.....

Much to see on what we find....if we find anything. Got a real mystery here, I fear.

I don't say it aloud but I also fear what we shall find if we do manage to track down the "real" Uhura. This mage seems to have a fondness for transformation..... Seems that magical transformations of one sort or another and those named "Fred" are always meeting ("our" Uhura being the latest I know of).

There was that business about that female faerie pendant that Doctor Who and his bunch went off to fix. Something inside me tells me....some kind of strange magic is involved beyond a mere (albeit ultra-powerful) stasis spell!

Will have to ask Duke and Duchess D'Honaire about that somewhere in the conversation when I contact him via the Enterprise's subspace communication system (when hooked up to our shuttlecraft's inter-reality subspace radio....possible since we had been able to get the coordinates from the shuttlecraft's computers (re: 19623) to make such a connection possible). See, after much discussion with my fellow adventurers we had decided the elder D'Honaires would be the best folks to contact....being that they were situated so near the right officials who needed to be brought in the loop after we talked with them (i.e. they would contact those in the Star Fleet ambassador and such who's embassy was in Wallants as well as the rest of the clan....including those who were the head of state like Queen Astra). After that, I and the others are going to bed for a deserved rest. In the morning the mages will do their stuff in Sickbay (finding out what they can from the entity still there). Then, off onto that planet....I hope. We've been speeding back to it at top warp ever since we'd regained control of the Enterprise, after all....

Well, that's the plan. Seems that right now they are just getting around to fixing some of the more esoteric fiddling done to the comm system by "our" Uhura. Would go much quicker if the present Comm officer, a felinoid lady called Lieutenant M'Ress, wasn't so....stand offish with here after it was revealed Uhura wasn't who she appeared. Some long time friends of "their" Uhura were a bit....put off by the thought that she'd been replaced by this stranger who looked like....

Author note: for info on this character, you need to go to this website. http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Stargate/3751/MRess.html While it turns out that this particular reality might somewhat follow that the animated series of Star Trek.....not all is like it. We still have Checkov here (who hadn't been in the cartoon version of Star Trek). Back to the story....

Well, you get the idea.

Finally, the frustrated comm officer unbends enough to ask what Uhura did....and purrs a rather annoyed purr as Uhura opens the comm pannel and switches out one circuit card for another.

That done, she then makes adjustments to her board....and then after a bit of a wait a somewhat grainy image of the Duke appears...

"Annafrid?" the elder D'Honaire asks, looking about the bridge through his side of viewing screen, "Where have you been? We had been worried sick when your shuttlecraft was late!"

Ah, family! Can get you right in the heart sometimes. Brings a warm glow and all (like on par with a small, private discussion awhile ago I and the others had with Uhura on the way up here where she'd said she'd decided to take us up on the offer to come to Terra Prime to live and raise her child with the family)....

1. Sometimes family concerns will override normal modes of operation. The Duke didn't even bother to address an annoyed looking Kirk....but ME (the only family member in view) instead, first....

Add New Option

Go Back

View Forward Story Tree
View Back Story Tree