Chapter 11

Daniel Mamao'lani couldn't deny that he got some satisfaction out of annoying Commodore North, but only because the stony-faced Starfleet officer made it so easy. North was very rigid and formal, while Mamao'lani favoured a more casual, laidback attitude which rankled the other man.

There was a certain "schoolyard crush" element to the glee with which Mamao'lani frequently disrupted North's air of authority, this he could also not deny, but that's as far as it went. North was a tall, handsome, elder statesman type, certainly, but much too stuffy for Mamao'lani's tastes.

Lately though, North had been on his mind a lot. At first he put it down to the Orion pheromones provoking a harmless physical reaction in him, leading to their almost steamy encounter in Mamao'lani's quarters last night, but such thoughts had lingered even after the baser urges faded.

Right now, he was almost giddy with excitement as he walked into North's office to deliver good news.

"The United Earth Parliament has voted to grant the Orions their asylum!" he announced, his arms wide.

North, sat behind his desk, actually smiled at this. "Excellent! Vyla will be so pleased."

Mamao'lani felt warmed by both North's approval and the thought of Vyla's.

"I must admit though," said North, "I'm surprised they decided so quickly."

"I made the case that we needed an outcome soon, to get the refugees as far from Syndicate territory as possible," Mamao'lani said, strutting smugly up to the desk. "The Prime Minister himself called an emergency session."

North leaned back in his chair, grinning. "Well done, Mr. Ambassador."

Mamao'lani beamed proudly. "All in a day's work, Commodore, all in a day's work."

"So what will happen to our guests now?"

"A nearby Vulcan ship, the Tar'Hana, has kindly agreed to be redirected to us. They will be here by the end of the day to pick up the refugees, who'll then be taken to Vega Colony to be granted asylum-seeker status and temporary accommodation. Where they go after that is up to them."

"The end of the day? Today?" North said, almost disappointed. "That's so soon."

Mamao'lani knew exactly what the Commodore was feeling. "Yeah," he said with resignation. "I'm afraid we're going to have to say goodbye to Vyla and the others."

North nodded solemnly. "Strange as it seems, I'll miss her. Er, them." Mamao'lani smirked at the Freudian slip, but North quickly moved on. "They'll be better off though. Away from the Syndicate, starting their own lives."

"Mhmm," Mamao'lani murmured in agreement. "There were some concerns on Earth that we'd be earning the Syndicate's ire, but the refugees should be safe within Coalition space."

"I've been reading up on the Orion Syndicate actually," North said, nodding to his desktop monitor. "Given their practice of slavery, the UE government officially has no dealings with them, instead mainly doing business with their rivals, the Rigellian Trade Commission. However, there's no law stopping individual Humans engaging with the Syndicate, and it does happen."

Mamao'lani shrugged. "It's an unfortunate fact of life, but the Syndicate and the RTC dominate trade in the quadrant. Sooner or later, you have to do business with one of them, and not everyone can afford to be so discerning."

"Well, hopefully, if the Syndicate does kick up a fuss, we can rely on humanity's newfound reputation in the galaxy to ward them off." North smiled thinly.

Mamao'lani chuckled, then something on North's monitor caught his eye. Leaning over the desk to get a closer look, he saw the image of a bearded, muscular man posing shirtless with a bow and arrow. North swiftly hit a key to change the screen to a sector report, but Mamao'lani looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Orion the hunter," North said quickly, flustered. "I was just… inspired to look up the mythological comparisons."

"Oh?" said Mamao'lani, smirking.

"Yes," said North. "I'm hoping that the Syndicate are not as good at hunting as their namesake."

Mamao'lani smiled and was suddenly very aware of how close he and North's faces were. "It will be a shame to see Vyla go either way," he said softly. "I was getting used to the idea of our little dinners. Just the three of us…"

North maintained the closeness, also speaking in hushed tones. "I… I suppose we could… keep it going…"

"That… That might be…"

"Vaughn to North." They were interrupted by a cheerful Welsh accent over the comm.

Mamao'lani immediately stood up again while North, with equal haste, moved back in his chair, hitting the intercom button.

The Commodore cleared his throat. "Go ahead, Lieutenant."

"Colonel Kostopoulos is here to see you, sir. She says it's important."

"Send her in."

When Kostopoulos entered the vestibule before North's office, she found Lieutenant Vaughn in a passionate embrace with his fiancée Angie. Both were quite red-faced and flustered at being caught in the act, although smirking quite happily. Clearly, the Orion pheromones were getting around.

Angie quickly departed and Vaughn was profusely apologetic. As he wasn't in Kostopoulos' chain of command, him being Starfleet and her being MACO, she assured him the incident was already forgotten. She could also hardly blame anyone else for feeling overly amorous, she thought.

She advised the blushing lieutenant that she needed to speak to North on a matter of importance, and she was soon granted an audience.

There was an odd tension in the Commodore's office that Kostopoulos felt as soon as she entered. She knew how to read people for such things, and, while North and Mamao'lani were often harmlessly antagonistic towards each other, this was different. Almost like a palpable embarrassment.

"Uh, thank you, Ambassador, I shall speak to you later," North said.

Mamao'lani nodded to them both as he exited in a hurry. "Commodore. Colonel."

The door shut and Kostopoulos put the curiosity behind her, standing to attention. "Sir, I have to report an event in one of the mess halls that I think you should be aware of."

North seemed to be looking through her, obviously distracted, then his eyes focused on her. "Hm? Sorry, Colonel, go on."

She was unsure if she had North's full focus, but Kostopoulos briefly surmised the events from earlier today regarding her confrontation with the smoking Orions and the ensuing crowd reaction.

"I'm not here to debate cultural tolerance though, sir," she concluded. "That's not my place. But, if this response is going to be typical when the Orions are asked to comply with base regulations, perhaps we should consider posting more security. As a deterrent."

North stroked his chin, still seeming distant. Kostopoulos had prepared for him to disagree, and proceeded as such.

"If you're concerned about appearing too aggressive though, sir, may I suggest my own people? Starfleet has a reputation to maintain, the MACO not so much. Although, I assure you, my troops would be fair and restrained."

North said nothing for a while, and Kostopoulos wondered if he'd drifted off again, then he sighed. "Permission granted. See to it."

"Thank you, sir," she said, although she wasn't fully convinced North knew what he'd agreed to.