Chapter 2
Commander William T. Riker was highly irritated, and more importantly he was on the verge of being bored. After giving the Captain a hard time about leading away team missions, he'd spent the last five thrilling days surveying planets for an elusive, but supposedly valuable mineral called Andurine. So far, he'd found hardly any significant deposits, but Captain Picard had assured him of the value of this assignment. The man is punishing me with boring away team missions he would never in a million years want to lead himself, he thought as he strode through the ship corridors. Years of officer training and I'm out collecting rocks. At least this is the last survey planet before the next mission. "Riker to Yar," he snapped tapping his com badge.
"Yar here," came the quick reply.
"Is the uh…the mineral guy there with you?"
"The mineralogist sir? Yes, Doctor Francis is here with me in transporter one. Ready when you are sir."
"Acknowledged. I need to check in with Captain Picard, and then I'm on my way to meet you."
"Aye sir."
He nodded to an attractive ensign who smiled at him in passing and then took a deep breath. "Riker to Captain Picard."
"Commander, weren't you scheduled for departure to Trana IV at 0800 hours?"
When it came to making sure that orders were being followed, no one would ever accuse Picard of being shy.
Riker leaned against the computer panel and the ship's clock appeared. It was three minutes past his scheduled departure time. "Yes, sir, we've entered orbit and I just wanted to let you know we're ready to beam down."
"Of course you are."
At times like this Riker recalled the advice of his former captain prior to his transfer to the Enterprise. "Picard is going to be hard on you at first. That's his way, and no one escapes early difficulty with him, Will. Just ride the storm out for a few months, gain his trust, and you will be pleasantly surprised."
Riker was careful to keep his voice even in his reply. "Yes sir. I'll report back as soon as we're ready to beam up from the planet's surface."
"Be safe Commander; no unnecessary risks. Picard out."
"Right…no unnecessary risks down on the big rock expedition," Riker murmured, making steps to the transporter room.
"The Ciapathians are a highly advanced people, Counselor. And yet this is the first petition they have filed for entry into the Federation."
Counselor Troi placed her data pad down on the conference table. She had spent the last hour with Captain Picard preparing for a delegation from the planet Ciapathia to come aboard the ship. It was a rare chance for her to communicate directly with the Captain with no one else in the room. Such opportunities had been few and far between since she had joined the new crew of the Enterprise, and she wasn't about to waste her chance to get to know him. "Captain, may I speak freely?"
Picard stopped tapping his fingers on the tabletop and looked up at her with a frown. "Yes, of course."
"This is the second time you have mentioned that the Ciapathians are latecomers to the Federation, despite their advances particularly in the field of medical science. Might I ask what your concerns are?"
He merely looked at her. She had already learned that his facial expressions held the key to interpreting his inner emotional state. While of course her empathic abilities could allow her to probe further, she knew that he found such things to be intrusive. So for now she approached him with caution, and as much as possible avoided direct contact with his mind. Sometimes his expressions were so deliberately unrevealing that she could tell he was guarding something very private, very dear to him. Other times, he made a point of showing the person he was speaking to that he intended to hide nothing. Usually this is when he was most passionate about a subject. He had been so when they faced trial before the Q entity, and she would never forget experiencing that introduction into the mind of her new superior officer.
Momentarily he spoke. "It seems rather odd that they would choose to enter the Federation without so much as a murmur of interest during the last century, Counselor. The question is, what do we have to offer a society that views itself as nearly perfect?"
"Protection perhaps," Troi offered.
Picard shook his head. "They have virtually no enemies that we know of."
"They are a humanoid race, so they may feel a kinship with us and the other founding races of the Federation. Or perhaps they simply want opportunities to share technology and collaborate with other advanced societies."
Picard sat back in his chair and laced his fingers over his stomach. "At this point, one can only postulate, Counselor. We have prepared ourselves as best we can with the information available to us," he said quietly.
She smiled inwardly. He was now prepared, and as a result, largely unconcerned about negotiations. "But you are suspicious of the Ciapathians," she pressed.
He smiled thinly and leaned forward with his hands clasped in front of him on the table. "Counselor, are you attempting to read my mind?"
He still doesn't understand why Starfleet has assigned a ship's counselor to the Enterprise, and he may never truly trust my empathic abilities. She smiled with genuine warmth. "Of course not, sir. But you have expressed some doubt in this regard, as we have been discussing."
He sighed and got up from his seat, smoothing out the waistband of the form-fitting uniform. He walked to the viewport and leaned on his forearm looking out at the stars. "There was another factor Command included in my orders that you weren't privy to Counselor, which I feel inclined to share with you now."
Oh my what a pleasant surprise…he is in a sharing mood.
He turned back to face her seriously. "As you know, the two delegations of Ciapathians coming on board are representatives of the two dominant political parties of the Ciapathian planetary council. But Premier Fon is actually the driving force behind his planet's entry into the Federation, while Representative Del has been more reticent to say the least."
Troi frowned. "So one political faction is fighting for entry into the Federation and the other is attempting to prevent it? Those are issues they should have worked out before they submitted a collective petition."
He nodded. "Hmm, that is how it typically works. However, Starfleet has ordered that in this case I personally make every effort to heal the rift between these two factions so that the petition can be processed without delay."
"Someone at Command must really want the Ciapathians to enter the Federation."
He looked out the window again. "My guess is that Ciapathian medical advances will be of considerable use to the Federation."
"Have you asked Doctor Crusher her opinion on the matter, Captain?" Her eyebrows shot up involuntarily at the visceral reaction his mind threw back at her. It was a jumble of raw emotion and yet his posture didn't change as he continued to stare out the view port. Deanna quickly pushed the burst of emotion back at him, unable to interpret it in this setting, at this time.
"No," he said simply. "But perhaps I will," he said, turning back around to face her.
Change the subject, Deanna shouted at herself internally. "Now about the seating arrangements at dinner," she said.
The look on his face was priceless.
"Dinner, what dinner?"
"Dinner is customary as an ice breaker in Ciapathian society, although I am told they eat very little. But the seating arrangements may be problematic."
Picard appeared annoyed. "How so?"
"Representative Del has a large family, and traditionally they should be permitted to accompany him to dinner."
"How…large?"
"He has five wives," said Troi carefully. Picard raised his eyebrows. "And twenty-two children—"
"Oh…Counselor, there is no way in hell—"
"Captain, I would suggest a compromise—"
"No children," he said looking rather pale.
"Captain that would be a grave insult to Representative Del. Perhaps just half of Del's children could be permitted to attend the dinner."
Picard folded his arms over his chest and closed his eyes briefly. "And Premier Fon? Does he happen to have an immense family as well?"
Deanna smiled. "No. Oddly enough Fon and the members of the ruling party typically have rather small families."
"How convenient for me," Picard murmured, still clearly annoyed. "Very well…let's have the hospitality staff replicate a very large table."