The three friends, T'Nia, Box, and Tony Moreaux, were now joined by a new friend, Doctor Rass Dorrin, whom Tony had already nicknamed 'Raz'. Although the doctor wasn't particularly fond of the nickname, he accepted it in stride.
As the four walked down the corridor, Tony peeked out the porthole. In the distance, he could see the hills of the planet despite the storm. He could also see hundreds of Vega's indigenous inhabitants. Although zoologists had given them an official name, they had been nicknamed 'scorpepedes', since they looked roughly like dog-sized scorpions with sixteen legs. They were camped all around the station. Tony whistled. "Would you look at those things? They're like something out of an old-style horror movie. I talked with one of the engineers here. He said the only reason why they don't chew the material is because they coated everything in boromite. I guess they don't like the taste. I bet those things are mean."
"Hhhhhhi bet they taste good with butter," Box replied with a large, toothy grin.
Tony laughed, shook his head and patted his friend on top of his abdomen. "Box, you are one sick spider." The Hamalki shook and chimed in reply.
As Tony and Box continued walking on towards the common room, T'Nia fell back with the doctor as he walked down the corridor. "Doctor, I must say you impressed me in the shuttle." She said quietly. She almost smiled.
"Thanks," he replied humbly. That was, perhaps, the first time she had heard something non-self inflating come from his mouth. "Honestly, I don't know why I get uncomfortable around non-humanoid aliens. Box is an incredible individual. His entire species is fascinating. Part of me would love to visit Hamal, but I know I wouldn't be able to handle being that badly outnumbered." He hung his head a bit.
"Well, not to persuade you one way or the other, Doctor," T'Nia replied. She paced her words. "There are many Federation embassies on Hamal. You would most certainly be welcome at one of them and you would be surrounded by mostly humanoids."
Doctor Rass shrugged his shoulders. "Hmmm...well, perhaps I will someday. Until then, I will be content to speak with Box. Thanks again, T'Nia."
"You are most welcome, Doctor." T'Nia nodded. "However I simply wanted to inform you that your willingness to go beyond your comfort level was noticed...and appreciated. There will, no doubt, be those aboard who will be uncomfortable around him. It will please him greatly to know you won't be one of them."
They stopped once they reached the common room. The other crewmen had suddenly stopped their discussions. Words were replaced with 'Oooo' and 'Ahhh' as well as a few explitives from who T'Nia often referred to as 'less cultured' crewmembers. They were all staring at a large viewscreen, displaying the docking station in orbit above Vega. As the two turned to look as well, the doctor gasped. T'Nia raised an eyebrow.
Slowly, silently gliding underneath a giant, spider-like docking facility was the largest vessel anyone had ever seen. It was a monstrous behemoth, nearly twice the size of the second largest vessel in the fleet. Where a Galaxy class starship would fit snuggly within the dock, the engines of this ship were almost completely outside. There were special extensions built onto the downward facing arms to allow easier access to the lower levels. The main saucer section was almost the size of the vessels most of these crew had served aboard. There was a short neck to the rear of the large saucer. The superstructure body came immediately below and was solid. Four giant appendages protruded from the body via sleek arms, one above, one immediately below, and two angled upwards on either side. The lower arm was much shorter than the other three. Ring after ring of red lined the top and bottom of the saucer section. Those were obviously phaser arrays. It was impossible to guess how many actual emitters were in each array, but an easy guess was 'several'. Along the starboard side of the superstructure, the side the crew could see, was a large tube, running almost its entire length. No one knew what that was for, but presumably, there was another one on the other side. As the ship slowly rose into the docking arms, they could see the letters 'NX 8000' and 'U.S.S. Warlord' written on the forward underside of the saucer.
"By the prophets," Doctor Rass finally exclaimed. "I've never seen anything like it." He slowly shook his head.
Tony made his way over to his friends. "I saw the design specs. A bunch of this ship is automated. Without that computer, I bet they can barely turn on a light."
T'Nia put in her opinion as well. "This is truly the Federations first warship. I wonder if the tubes running down the hull are part of the neutron cannon technology."
"Hhhhhhi hope the parts are waranteed." Box added with a large, toothy grin.