Authors Notes: this is the last chapter. You might see this story at the
top of the board again at some point. Now that I've finished I'm going to
take time away to work on other stories and then I may come back to this
and make a few changes.
Chapter 10
Captain Larenzo made his way to ten forward. The crew were celebrating the end of their first mission and he had promised he would at least stop in for five minutes. He understood this was Dr Munroe's idea. He didn't object and was glad that the crew were getting to know each other better. He was pleased with the report Johnson had given back on Dr Munroe. It seems she handled herself well on Kenzato. All four officers handled themselves well and he was proud of them. He didn't yet know their full capabilities but he would learn and meanwhile he knew he could trust them.
After his crew had returned with Gul Sherat, President Makell had agreed to allow the Federation scientists to return to the planet. They would act as ambassadors until the real ambassadors arrived. The Kenzatons were essentially scientists anyway so they would probably relate to the scientists better. Larenzo had been reluctant to leave wanting to learn more about these people and to see their ship take off. Once communication lines had been restored with Starfleet they had ordered the Pegasus to escort the Cardassian ship to the nearest star base. This meant that staying much longer was out of the question. Still it was worth it to see the sullen Cardassian being escorted by Starfleet guards.
Alex Larenzo finally reached ten forward and stepped through the doors as they opened automatically before him. The room was crowded with officers and civilians. It was also quite noisy with all the chatter and he could just make out music playing gently in the background. He spotted Dr Munroe and Lt. Ber'an talking whilst standing next to the bar. Actually, Dr Munroe seemed to be doing most of the talking. Lt. Ber'an had that blank expression on her face. Larenzo chuckled to himself wonde4ring if he should rescue the Vulcan science officer. Before he could make up his mind Commander Johnson appeared at his side and handed him a glass of synthale.
"How did things go with Starfleet?" his first officer asked knowing that he had just spoken with Admiral Garland.
"Oh fine," Larenzo replied. "The Admiral seemed pleased that we managed to forge good relations with the Kenzatons. The Cardassian have requested that their ship be returned to them."
"I would have thought the Cardassians wouldn't have been in a position to request anything, "commented Johnson taking a sip of his drink.
Larenzo nodded in agreement, "That's what I thought too. It turns out that those Cardassians were a minority. They had refused to hand over their ship at the end of the war. Starfleet intelligence has since been able to confirm this."
"What I don't understand is how they found out about the Kenzatons in the first place."
"Dominion intelligence possibly. Starfleet is still working on that one," admitted Larenzo.
"I really don't know what made them think that it would work in the first place."
"Desperate times call for desperate measures." The truth was Larenzo wasn't so sure that members of Starfleet wouldn't have done the same thing had they been in that position. He also now understood why Starfleet was so adamant that they forge good relations with the Kenzatons. They wanted the organic technology on their side. The thought worried him a little.
Counsellor Trent approached them smiling bringing Larenzo out of his thoughts. Going by the look on his face Larenzo wondered if his old friend had been drinking something other than synthahol not that he objected. This was supposed to be a party after all.
"I hope you two aren't talking about work," he said happily. "We are supposed to be celebrating and work is the last thing you should be talking about."
"Wouldn't think of it," Larenzo replied.
"Alex, I've been meaning to speak to you about threatening world leaders and making my job difficult," Gordon Trent said jokingly.
"I thought we weren't allowed to talk about work," Larenzo said innocently and then headed over to save Lt. Ber'an from the chatty doctor and leaving behind a bemused counsellor and a laughing first officer.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------- President Makell had left the Federation people to speak with some of his people. He had spent many hours with them and had learned much about this Federation. He certainly learned enough to know that the cardassians had lied about everything they had said about them. They astounded him. There were so many cultures under that one title and each one remained unique. It saddened him that he wouldn't even learn half of them in his life time. He was also now wary thanks to the Cardassians. Oh, his people knew that there were other races out there. It seemed inevitable. They had just never thought any of them would wish to do them harm. Were they so naive? It wouldn't stop them from going out into the stars as they had planned to do. They would just have to be cautious when encountering other races. He was no longer enthralled at the ship going into space. It had lost its gleam for him. He would not let this get in the way of his people's hopes but his own dreams of exploration had faded after finding out the truth about the Cardassians. His people would no longer be the same.
He had decided to spend some time with his daughter and moved outside to find her. He had been making a lot of decisions over the last few days. He was going to step down as President so that he could spend more time with his daughter and time with the Federation scientists. He wasn't willing to visit other worlds although he was happy to learn of them here on his own world. He would stay on as an advisor but the position was best suited to someone who wished to reach out.
"Daddy," cried Marlianna as she raced along the grass and jumped into his arms. "I missed you."
"I missed you too," he said happily as he kissed her on the forehead and then swung his little daughter in the air.
She giggled and then jumped down again, "Come and play daddy."
"Okay, you go hide and I'll come and look for you."
"Yeah," she cried and ran off across the grass again."
Chapter 10
Captain Larenzo made his way to ten forward. The crew were celebrating the end of their first mission and he had promised he would at least stop in for five minutes. He understood this was Dr Munroe's idea. He didn't object and was glad that the crew were getting to know each other better. He was pleased with the report Johnson had given back on Dr Munroe. It seems she handled herself well on Kenzato. All four officers handled themselves well and he was proud of them. He didn't yet know their full capabilities but he would learn and meanwhile he knew he could trust them.
After his crew had returned with Gul Sherat, President Makell had agreed to allow the Federation scientists to return to the planet. They would act as ambassadors until the real ambassadors arrived. The Kenzatons were essentially scientists anyway so they would probably relate to the scientists better. Larenzo had been reluctant to leave wanting to learn more about these people and to see their ship take off. Once communication lines had been restored with Starfleet they had ordered the Pegasus to escort the Cardassian ship to the nearest star base. This meant that staying much longer was out of the question. Still it was worth it to see the sullen Cardassian being escorted by Starfleet guards.
Alex Larenzo finally reached ten forward and stepped through the doors as they opened automatically before him. The room was crowded with officers and civilians. It was also quite noisy with all the chatter and he could just make out music playing gently in the background. He spotted Dr Munroe and Lt. Ber'an talking whilst standing next to the bar. Actually, Dr Munroe seemed to be doing most of the talking. Lt. Ber'an had that blank expression on her face. Larenzo chuckled to himself wonde4ring if he should rescue the Vulcan science officer. Before he could make up his mind Commander Johnson appeared at his side and handed him a glass of synthale.
"How did things go with Starfleet?" his first officer asked knowing that he had just spoken with Admiral Garland.
"Oh fine," Larenzo replied. "The Admiral seemed pleased that we managed to forge good relations with the Kenzatons. The Cardassian have requested that their ship be returned to them."
"I would have thought the Cardassians wouldn't have been in a position to request anything, "commented Johnson taking a sip of his drink.
Larenzo nodded in agreement, "That's what I thought too. It turns out that those Cardassians were a minority. They had refused to hand over their ship at the end of the war. Starfleet intelligence has since been able to confirm this."
"What I don't understand is how they found out about the Kenzatons in the first place."
"Dominion intelligence possibly. Starfleet is still working on that one," admitted Larenzo.
"I really don't know what made them think that it would work in the first place."
"Desperate times call for desperate measures." The truth was Larenzo wasn't so sure that members of Starfleet wouldn't have done the same thing had they been in that position. He also now understood why Starfleet was so adamant that they forge good relations with the Kenzatons. They wanted the organic technology on their side. The thought worried him a little.
Counsellor Trent approached them smiling bringing Larenzo out of his thoughts. Going by the look on his face Larenzo wondered if his old friend had been drinking something other than synthahol not that he objected. This was supposed to be a party after all.
"I hope you two aren't talking about work," he said happily. "We are supposed to be celebrating and work is the last thing you should be talking about."
"Wouldn't think of it," Larenzo replied.
"Alex, I've been meaning to speak to you about threatening world leaders and making my job difficult," Gordon Trent said jokingly.
"I thought we weren't allowed to talk about work," Larenzo said innocently and then headed over to save Lt. Ber'an from the chatty doctor and leaving behind a bemused counsellor and a laughing first officer.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------- President Makell had left the Federation people to speak with some of his people. He had spent many hours with them and had learned much about this Federation. He certainly learned enough to know that the cardassians had lied about everything they had said about them. They astounded him. There were so many cultures under that one title and each one remained unique. It saddened him that he wouldn't even learn half of them in his life time. He was also now wary thanks to the Cardassians. Oh, his people knew that there were other races out there. It seemed inevitable. They had just never thought any of them would wish to do them harm. Were they so naive? It wouldn't stop them from going out into the stars as they had planned to do. They would just have to be cautious when encountering other races. He was no longer enthralled at the ship going into space. It had lost its gleam for him. He would not let this get in the way of his people's hopes but his own dreams of exploration had faded after finding out the truth about the Cardassians. His people would no longer be the same.
He had decided to spend some time with his daughter and moved outside to find her. He had been making a lot of decisions over the last few days. He was going to step down as President so that he could spend more time with his daughter and time with the Federation scientists. He wasn't willing to visit other worlds although he was happy to learn of them here on his own world. He would stay on as an advisor but the position was best suited to someone who wished to reach out.
"Daddy," cried Marlianna as she raced along the grass and jumped into his arms. "I missed you."
"I missed you too," he said happily as he kissed her on the forehead and then swung his little daughter in the air.
She giggled and then jumped down again, "Come and play daddy."
"Okay, you go hide and I'll come and look for you."
"Yeah," she cried and ran off across the grass again."