Five Months Ago
Varian Presidential Palace
The plenary session began with a long speech by the lowest ranking government minister and slowly moved up a level with each new presenter. As they spoke Aalin listened to the speaker while simultaneously translating for Pike, then interpreting his compliments or posing his questions in Varian.
As the morning wore on, the Varian participants began telegraphing impatience, whispering among themselves, at times chuckling when Aalin spoke in their language. From the fragments of their conversations she had time to analyze, they were chiding her translations as simplistic, her vocabulary as limited, and her word choices as off-kilter. During a speaker change she bowed her head trying to work out the errors made and making a mental list of questions for her indigenous language instructor, including phrases this audience had singled out.
Pike leaned toward her, and whispered, "Need a minute? You're working harder than anyone else in the room."
A negative head shake answered his question and was accompanied by the explanation, "There are three speakers to go before the scheduled break."
A quick smile for her was quickly replaced by his serious 'senior representative of the Federation' expression. "Wanna see me change that?"
She favored him with a smile of her own. "Thanks, but I'm fine. Really. Between the speeches and the side conversations, it's just a lot to take in and sort through."
He nodded, but she noticed for the next ninety minutes a slice of his attention remained focused on her.
When the break finally came, Pike escorted Aalin from the room with a hand resting on the small of her back. If called on it, he would carefully explain, in detail, this gesture retarded unprofessional advances from the Varian males. Which wasn't entirely fiction. He motioned for John to follow, instructing in a quiet voice "hot tea" once they reached the hallway, then inclining his head at Aalin before stepping into an empty alcove in order to call Enterprise.
On returning from his errand, the security guard handed Aalin a warmed, filled cup and positioned himself at her side while also keeping his commander in sight.
"Thanks," Aalin said. Then added after a sip, "You don't have to stay here with me."
"Actually, I do." John pointed towards his Captain. "I don't have the balls to countermand his orders, are yours big enough?"
For a second Aalin feared tea would spray out of her mouth. She quickly placed a hand over it. "Excuse me?" Then giving in to laughter she shook her head. "You said that on purpose."
John shrugged and flashed a grin. Then glanced in her direction. "You always this pale?" There was a clear note of concern in his voice.
Aalin rubbed a temple. "The bright lights wash out my complexion."
"Hmmm," John mused. "Not sure I buy that." He dug into a zippered leg pocket then handed her a packet. "This will help your headache." Answering the unspoken question in her eyes he quoted his current chief, "A security professional is always prepared for their principal's needs."
She swallowed the pills. "I'm grateful, thank you."
His eyes constantly moved: watching, evaluating. A local official approached Aalin, stepping so close she pressed against the wall in an effort to reestablish a modicum of personal space. After a pointed glare from John, the Varian reluctantly walked away.
"Isak wasn't kidding when he briefed the local males are ill-behaved," John observed.
"You mean misogynist, harassing assholes?"
His eyebrow rose then he chuckled. "Nice interpretation, though I've got to admit, based on scuttlebutt, never expected to hear you utter that last word.."
She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, finding the lighting painful. "Yes, my bad. Referring to our hosts in such a manner, especially on their soil, is unprofessional, and inexcusable."
"No matter if the assessment is true?" he countered.
"No matter," she repeated firmly. "And I apologize. Guess I'm not quite myself today."
Not once during their conversation did John's eyes stop sweeping the room. He rubbed his chin. "I take your meaning, but personally, I have a mind to escort those who should be labeled as you so succinctly and elegantly did, in particular the one who just shoved himself at you, out to the woodshed."
"Are you always this protective?"
"Explaining good manners to a male behaving inappropriately is, in my neck of the woods, the right thing to do. But yes, and I would willingly step in front of the metaphorical bullet for any member of my crew." His eyes glanced to the side, "And those on loan to it. That's the job I signed up for and I'd enlist and request it again."
Aalin decided no response was the best way of honoring his commitment to service, as no words adequately conveyed her regard for this. She interpreted his slight smile as approval.
John gestured over his shoulder at the meeting room. "This going to go on all day?"
"Oh, we're nowhere close to the important speeches. Sixteen hour plus work shifts are the norm in this culture and Varians love preening before an audience. This session will run well into the night, a fully daylit one as the sun never sets, which takes some getting used to."
"It's an interesting language. And Varian's speech is almost monotone," John observed.
Aalin tilted her head considering his assessment. He's right. My hearing is more sensitive to pitch and trained to hear its differences, but for most humans, Varian inflections are few. His insight nudged at her, reminding of previous instinctive feelings that an important connection remained just out of reach, one on which the success or failure of these negotiations hinged. Realizing her inattention, she tuned into John's words.
"... I lobbied Isak to get out of wearing the monkey suit, arguing the better mobility of a standard uniform, but he insisted on the whole get-up since tonight's reception is formal."
"At least you don't have to wear heels," Aalin pointed out, her forehead creasing to match a frown. "Dresses and five-inch stilettos are the local custom for females."
"True, But then I don't have the legs for it," John replied with a deadpan expression while angling his left calf out as if for inspection.
She smiled, an amused, some tension just rolled off my shoulders, smile. "You're quite cheeky. Which I like. I've noticed Enterprise's crew is relaxed, interacting casually despite rank or position. Is that common in the fleet?"
"Not always," he replied. "The atmosphere of a ship flows from its commander. Some captains are formal, some distant, some business-like, some military. I've served under those." He paused as if searching for the right words. "And I don't speak ill of those commanders. As for the flagship's leader … well … situations may require detachment, formality, or soldier. When the moment calls for this, Captain Pike meets it. Otherwise, and mostly, he's the genial and devoted mentor, teacher, and friend who doesn't take himself too seriously. That trickles down."
"I've never heard any member of the crew refer to him as simply Pike," Aalin remarked.
"And you won't. Anything else doesn't voice the esteem we feel for him. Yes, he's one of us and likes to run the ship and it's missions with input and consensus. And we, his crew, are a family, with all the good and rough that comes with that. But at the end of the day, he's also the man we'd follow through hell, back, and repeat. Our address to and of him echoes this respect.
"Sometimes …" her voice drifted off.
"Go on," he prompted. "There are few secrets on a starship. Or among an away team."
"The rapport, the family as you put it, sometimes I wish I could be a part of it."
ooooo
As the day wore on, the speeches grew longer and more Varians joined the audience. Aalin's headache inched back, strengthening hour by hour. Additional pain relievers didn't lessen the discomfort, nor food or caffeine. She suppressed visible distress.
Half-way through the afternoon, intermittent, mild dizzy spells began, swimming the room and its occupants before her eyes.
By the time the President, General Ablick, approached the podium for the last speech of this plenary meeting, bright flashes of light in her peripheral vision stabbed like tiny knives. He began with an apology for his officials monopolizing the day, promising Pike an opportunity to address the group tomorrow.
And then told an off-color joke which Aalin didn't translate into Federation standard. The other Varians in the room guffawed or snickered. The leer Ablick flashed in her direction after finishing the remark required no interpretation and did not go unnoticed by Pike. He rapped knuckles on the table five times in succession. Which did not go unnoted by the General. Nor the audience. The room quieted. The other Varians scrutinized Pike throughout their leader's speech.
Ablick spoke for two hours. About a rich future for Varia. About cooperation between his world and the Federation as friends, but more importantly as peers. Other than a slight smile, Pike offered no additional reaction to this hubris.
The Varians came to their feet three times during the presentation, and again at the end in a fifteen-minute standing ovation including enthusiastic clapping. Pike and Aalin remained seated, politely waiting until the commotion subsided. John stood mute and rooted in his spot behind them. Ablick's eyes found Pike, the Captain nodded almost imperceptivity.
Applause cracked and boomed like lightning striking too close. Aalin wasn't able to prevent a shudder and called on every ounce of discipline she possessed to keep from fleeing the room. Her fingers gripped the edge of the table, their knuckles white and tense.
After the Varians filed out, she inhaled and exhaled slowly hoping to regain equilibrium and quell the returned dizziness with a breathing exercise. Pike said to her, "That was quite the spectacle." His eyes narrowed. "You're nearing the bad side of pale, feeling alright?"
"Yes. Fine. Really." she reassured, speaking slowly to keep her tone of voice measured, hoping it sounded normal. "Though I could use a break, a few minutes of peace and quiet."
"Take all the time you need," he replied and moved to stand in front of her presenting an impenetrable wall to any intent on engaging Aalin in conversation or approaching her.
Ten minutes later she tentatively rose from her seat, testing for a fresh wave of dizziness.
"Okay?" Pike asked again.
She nodded.
"There's not enough time for changing before the reception," he said, tilting his head at the door and again placing a hand on the small of her back.
Thank heavens for small mercies, Aalin thought. She nodded and smoothed her hair which was pinned in its usual bun at the nape of her neck.
He continued, "So let's make our appearance and then get back to the ship." John followed a two steps behind.
ooooo
Aalin's discomfort continued during the reception held in a hot, stuffy room, then amplified from the dozens of simultaneous, disparate conversations surrounding her. The Varians were a loud and expressive people. This characteristic increased bordering on exaggeration after ingestion of their version of alcohol. Soon glasses were smashing against the walls after being drained of their contents amid encouraging and triumphant shouts.
Once Ablick stood alone, without aides or companions, Pike walked towards him with a determined stride. When Aalin hurried to catch up, he turned and shook his head. "This conversation is between the two of us." Pike flipped on his universal translator, continued towards his quarry, and soon had the General metaphorically treed.
Waiters roamed the crowded room. Aromas from the bite-sized appetizers on their trays nauseated her. She wiped the back of a hand across a perspiring forehead, then sought a spot away from the fray, hurrying to a quiet, darkened corner, unaware of anything happening around her, and once there sagged against a wall.
The stifling temperature felt claustrophobic. Aalin tugged at her blouse, pulling the damp fabric away from her chest hard enough to pop off two buttons, then pushing its sides further apart. She fanned her face with a hand. Panic threatened. The speed of her breathing increased.
"You shouldn't run off like that," John scolded, now standing at her side. His gaze raked her head to toe. Trying and failing to keep urgency out of his voice, he asked, "What do you need?"
"Fresh air," she gulped in a tone near begging. Multi-colored lights danced in her vision. She shivered despite the heat. Dizziness left her teetering. One hand pressed tightly against an ear, too hard, leaving bruising red marks where fingertips bored into temple and cheek, but the agonizing roar drowning all other sounds continued. Her skin crawled as if covered in marching ants and her other hand frantically clawed at the phantom insects.
John crooked his arm. She clung to it, grateful for support. He gestured at Pike, motioning him over.
While making their way to the open French doors at the far end of the room, not yet half-way there, Aalin fainted. John caught her body before it hit the floor.
A second later Pike kneeled at her side, communicator in hand. When he spoke his voice carried over the now hushed room in a steely tone, "Drop the blocking shield or Enterprise will drill through it." Without pausing he ordered his bridge crew, "Prepare for emergency transport. One directly to Sickbay. Then two immediately following to the main transporter room. Tell Kyle to have a turbolift standing by."
John gently laid Aalin onto the ground and cleared a three-foot perimeter around her insistently shooing away bystanders crowding in. Pike hesitated, deeply reluctant to leave her, then stood and moved away as well, just enough for clearing the required beaming radius.
Ablick issued his own orders. "Do it. Turn off the shield. No arguments." As one set of aides scurried, he barked to another, "Once their transport is complete and confirmation received, reengage the shield and seal the room. No one leaves until it is determined if a virological agent is involved. Call for reinforcements. Put planetary defenses on stand-by alert." As Aalin dematerialized, he reached Pike's side and quietly said, "If an agent wanted to disrupt the talks between Varia and the Federation …"
"Eliminating our translator is the most effective way," Pike finished. "See to your house."
"Yes. You as well," Ablick replied. "Please keep me informed of her condition."
Pike nodded then instructed his crew, "Energize. Raise shields. Tell Isak and Number One to meet us in Sickbay."