p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: DE;"Issor's hands were shaking as he left the building, walking next to Emeryx. He simply did not know what to do, but it was obvious how insulted and offended the Asalooq were. They set their feet with the toes pointing inward, looked past their counterparts instead of at the ground before them. It was all there, and his Starfleet colleagues were emmissing /emit. He tried to gesture to the Captain, but stopped after one or two attempts. The damage was done, it was all hopeless. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: DE;" /span/p
div style="mso-element: para-border-div; border: none; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;"
p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0cm; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: DE;"The transport had already pulled up, another gesture of disdain. As the group approached the vehicle, the driver turned and looked at them. Teldac felt like he was staring just at him, and the theme was set, the future clear: they would blame him. As an Asalooq, even a technically clanless one, he should have seen Dhawan's indiscretion earlier - and as a Starfleet officer, he should have known what to do about it. His former good mood made it all the more brutal, all the more depressing. Issor got on the bus and overheard the Captain and Commander Robinson exchange positive remarks. It was all going downhill, there couldn't be any doubt./span/p
/div
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: DE;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: DE;"Their misgivings about the number of military types notwithstanding, Emeryx had actually been enjoying themselves. The Asalooq had proven to be curious, open for new ideas and learning, and it had been a joy to talk to them, to try and give them ideas and inspiration. Sure, their reservedness and insistence on protocol had been a little trying, but Emeryx had spent most of their adult life navigating a foreign culture, so they found it comparatively easy to adapt. They had still regretted the lack of proper, trained scientists to talk to - they resolved to ask if such a meeting could be arranged in the future - but even so it had been a rewarding experience./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: DE;"Now, however, as the meeting was wrapping up and they were preparing to leave, something was bothering them. They couldn't really put it into proper, scientific terms, not yet, but they didn't share some scientists' misgivings about intuition and gut feelings. Most of the time, it was just a kind of observation that hadn't been given enough time to become a conscious certainty, and in dealing with lots of unfamiliar people, such instincts had proven to be vital. Emeryx withdrew a little from the conversation - something the Asalooq invariably respected if you did it right - and focused on observing the goings-on. The more they looked and listened, the more certain they became: Something was… off. Not quite right. The atmosphere of eager curiosity, so pronounced, and so inspiring, earlier, had all but vanished. The Asalooq were too reserved, too formal, even by their standards. It felt almost hostile to Emeryx. Why, they didn't know yet. Nor did they see much of a chance of figuring it out without some additional facts. But nevertheless, it might be an important observation./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: DE;"Of course, Emeryx wouldn't have been a very good scientist if they hadn't always tried to test their theories. Right now, the only realistic way to do this was to discuss their impression with someone else who appeared competent in that sort of thing and see what they had to say about it. Emeryx considered the Captain, who, apart from his considerable life and professional experience, had a background in the humanities. But Peña was too busy interacting with the Asalooq and keeping the Starfleet delegation together. Emeryx therefore decided on the counsellor, Jamila Al-Qamari. She was young, but she had seemed competent enough to Emeryx and her professional background should give her some skills in observing sentients and their interaction./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: DE;"Without getting undue attention from the Asalooq, Emeryx made their way over to Al-Qamari. "Excuse me, Counsellor? Could I have a word?," they asked politely. Al-Qamari immediately obliged, following the doctor to a somewhat more private spot. She looked interested, eager almost. "Thank you. I would like to ask you something, if you don't mind," Emeryx said politely. When Al-Qamari signalled them to go ahead, they continued: "Counsellor, from a professional point of view, how would you describe your impression of how the meeting went? Harmonious? Successful? And what do you make of the Asalooqs' behaviour during the farewell ceremony?"/span/p
div style="mso-element: para-border-div; border-top: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-right: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 1.0pt 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;"
p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0cm; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Jamila found she liked the direct, no-nonsense approach Emeryx took to their conversation. Straight shooters were so delightfully easy to deal with. She considered the latter half of the Uwnehi. While she was far from understanding, let alone intuitively navigating Asalooq culture, she felt she was gaining some observational traction. "Well," she smiled, "until you asked, I wasn't giving it too much thought. I noticed an extra bit of … Asalooqness, for want of a better word, when they said goodbye. I think I got a micro-expression from one of the military officers - the tall male with the earring. When he parted from Commander Parker-Takeno, he moved his lips in a way that would indicate concealed disgust in a Cardassian, but I don't know if it works the same way with the Asalooq. There was the driver, too." She looked thoughtfully in the direction of his cabin. "You don't stare at people like that around here. It simply isn't done. Even if the driver isn't as high-status as the people we spoke to, that's a pretty firm rule." When she saw Emeryx nod slowly, she continued: "The Asalooq have so many levels of escalation in their interactions - I don't know of a culture that has more. They're very group-oriented yet respectful of others… I think it isn't easy here to start something recognizable as a fight in human terms." Her heart started beating uncomfortably fast when her and Emeryx's eyes met - were they both thinking the same thing? "Tell me... what do you think of that Councilmember … what was her name? Wahne? … leaving in the middle of the evening?"/span/p
/div
div style="mso-element: para-border-div; border: none; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;"
p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0cm; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; mso-border-between: .75pt solid windowtext; mso-padding-between: 1.0pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Jamila found she liked the direct, no-nonsense approach Emeryx took to their conversation. Straight shooters were so delightfully easy to deal with. She considered the latter half of the Uwnehi. While she was far from understanding, let alone intuitively navigating Asalooq culture, she felt she was gaining some observational traction. "Well," she smiled, "until you asked, I wasn't giving it too much thought. I noticed an extra bit of … Asalooqness, for want of a better word, when they said goodbye. I think I got a micro-expression from one of the military officers - the tall male with the earring. When he parted from Commander Parker-Takeno, he moved his lips in a way that would indicate concealed disgust in a Cardassian, but I don't know if it works the same way with the Asalooq. There was the driver, too." She looked thoughtfully in the direction of his cabin. "You don't stare at people like that around here. It simply isn't done. Even if the driver isn't as high-status as the people we spoke to, that's a pretty firm rule." When she saw Emeryx nod slowly, she continued: "The Asalooq have so many levels of escalation in their interactions - I don't know of a culture that has more. They're very group-oriented yet respectful of others… I think it isn't easy here to start something recognizable as a fight in human terms." Her heart started beating uncomfortably fast when her and Emeryx's eyes met - were they both thinking the same thing? "Tell me... what do you think of that Councilmember … what was her name? Wahne? … leaving in the middle of the evening?"/span/p
/div
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: DE;"Emeryx hadn't misjudged Al-Qamari - she was a good observer and, so far, a pleasure to work with. However, her words filled Emeryx with even more misgivings about this whole business than they had already had. There were moments when even a scientist, proud of their intellectual abilities, wanted to be wrong, and this was one of them. However, it didn't look as if Emeryx would be granted their wish./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: DE;"Despite the seriousness of the situation, Emeryx had grinned briefly at Al-Qamari's description of the delegation's behaviour as "extra Asalooqness" and resolved to steal it for further use. The counsellor had a good sense of humour. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: DE;"However, Emeryx soon became serious again as they considered Al-Qamari's last question. "Wahne Feurna," they replied automatically, "Let me think about it for a moment. I didn't attach any real significance to her leaving early, but now that you mention it, maybe I should have." After a thoughtful pause, they added: "Well, I overheard her making her excuses... She did cite a legitimate reason for leaving - she said that there were urgent family matters to attend to. However, she didn't give any details. Obviously, she was under no obligation to do that - but still, it doesn't exactly make the whole thing more convincing. It just might have been a made-up excuse. She did appear relieved to get away, as far as I'm able to tell with the Asalooq. Besides, if she had something important coming up, why didn't she say so beforehand? She didn't get any message, as far as I can tell, so it can't have been unexpected. But if she knew beforehand, why not inform everyone before the talks? It would have been more organised and polite, so it would have been the Asalooq way to do it, don't you think?"/span/p
div style="mso-element: para-border-div; border: none; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;"
p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0cm; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: DE;"Al-Qamari nodded emphatically. "I quite agree. It doesn't seem like typical Asalooq behaviour, except maybe as a socially acceptable way to get out of an unpleasant situation. Who was she talking to?" "Ensign Dhawan, the OPS Officer," Emeryx replied automatically. It made them wonder. They had worked together with Dhawan a couple of times - she was clever, talented, but utterly inexperienced and prone to making mistakes under pressure. Besides, she seemed shy about interacting with people she didn't know - even if they weren't an important delegation from a completely unfamiliar planet. Personally, Emeryx wouldn't have taken her on this kind of mission. Not yet, anyway. Not before she had gained some confidence. Emeryx didn't want to voice their misgivings aloud just yet, but they considered it quite possible that Dhawan had, inadvertently, of course, upset Wahne Feurna and caused the meeting to deteriorate. So far, it was just a theory. But Emeryx thought it was an uncomfortably plausible one./span/p
/div
p class="MsoNoSpacing"Jamila scratched her head. For some reason, her hair always itched when there was trouble. "We have to bring that up in the debriefing! Maybe Commander Robinson will want to follow this session up with the Asalooq." She slapped the back row of seats in frustration. "If only we were farther along! I'm not sure how bad something like this could blow up in our faces. Maybe something went wrong, maybe our side has to do something, to react somehow. The Asalooq seem to be trying to accommodate us, but we can't expect them to go too far with that…" Emeryx nodded darkly. "Commander Robinson definitely needs to hear this. Starfleet should not get caught with their pants down if this is some kind of problem. I'm not even slightly interested in the strategic implications, but I do know the Federation needs this mission to work, and it's not going to work without the goodwill of the Asalooq." They grinned slightly and shook their head. "Look at me, making political speeches. Where have I gone wrong?"/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"Jamila chuckled. Emeryx was a fun person to be around, and their obvious intelligence made them a great conversationalist. "Okay, we'll bring it up in the debrief," she concluded, put a little at ease by the older scientist's flippant remark./p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: DE;" /span/p
div style="mso-element: para-border-div; border: none; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;"
p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0cm; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: DE;"The transport had already pulled up, another gesture of disdain. As the group approached the vehicle, the driver turned and looked at them. Teldac felt like he was staring just at him, and the theme was set, the future clear: they would blame him. As an Asalooq, even a technically clanless one, he should have seen Dhawan's indiscretion earlier - and as a Starfleet officer, he should have known what to do about it. His former good mood made it all the more brutal, all the more depressing. Issor got on the bus and overheard the Captain and Commander Robinson exchange positive remarks. It was all going downhill, there couldn't be any doubt./span/p
/div
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: DE;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: DE;"Their misgivings about the number of military types notwithstanding, Emeryx had actually been enjoying themselves. The Asalooq had proven to be curious, open for new ideas and learning, and it had been a joy to talk to them, to try and give them ideas and inspiration. Sure, their reservedness and insistence on protocol had been a little trying, but Emeryx had spent most of their adult life navigating a foreign culture, so they found it comparatively easy to adapt. They had still regretted the lack of proper, trained scientists to talk to - they resolved to ask if such a meeting could be arranged in the future - but even so it had been a rewarding experience./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: DE;"Now, however, as the meeting was wrapping up and they were preparing to leave, something was bothering them. They couldn't really put it into proper, scientific terms, not yet, but they didn't share some scientists' misgivings about intuition and gut feelings. Most of the time, it was just a kind of observation that hadn't been given enough time to become a conscious certainty, and in dealing with lots of unfamiliar people, such instincts had proven to be vital. Emeryx withdrew a little from the conversation - something the Asalooq invariably respected if you did it right - and focused on observing the goings-on. The more they looked and listened, the more certain they became: Something was… off. Not quite right. The atmosphere of eager curiosity, so pronounced, and so inspiring, earlier, had all but vanished. The Asalooq were too reserved, too formal, even by their standards. It felt almost hostile to Emeryx. Why, they didn't know yet. Nor did they see much of a chance of figuring it out without some additional facts. But nevertheless, it might be an important observation./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: DE;"Of course, Emeryx wouldn't have been a very good scientist if they hadn't always tried to test their theories. Right now, the only realistic way to do this was to discuss their impression with someone else who appeared competent in that sort of thing and see what they had to say about it. Emeryx considered the Captain, who, apart from his considerable life and professional experience, had a background in the humanities. But Peña was too busy interacting with the Asalooq and keeping the Starfleet delegation together. Emeryx therefore decided on the counsellor, Jamila Al-Qamari. She was young, but she had seemed competent enough to Emeryx and her professional background should give her some skills in observing sentients and their interaction./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: DE;"Without getting undue attention from the Asalooq, Emeryx made their way over to Al-Qamari. "Excuse me, Counsellor? Could I have a word?," they asked politely. Al-Qamari immediately obliged, following the doctor to a somewhat more private spot. She looked interested, eager almost. "Thank you. I would like to ask you something, if you don't mind," Emeryx said politely. When Al-Qamari signalled them to go ahead, they continued: "Counsellor, from a professional point of view, how would you describe your impression of how the meeting went? Harmonious? Successful? And what do you make of the Asalooqs' behaviour during the farewell ceremony?"/span/p
div style="mso-element: para-border-div; border-top: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-right: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 1.0pt 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;"
p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0cm; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Jamila found she liked the direct, no-nonsense approach Emeryx took to their conversation. Straight shooters were so delightfully easy to deal with. She considered the latter half of the Uwnehi. While she was far from understanding, let alone intuitively navigating Asalooq culture, she felt she was gaining some observational traction. "Well," she smiled, "until you asked, I wasn't giving it too much thought. I noticed an extra bit of … Asalooqness, for want of a better word, when they said goodbye. I think I got a micro-expression from one of the military officers - the tall male with the earring. When he parted from Commander Parker-Takeno, he moved his lips in a way that would indicate concealed disgust in a Cardassian, but I don't know if it works the same way with the Asalooq. There was the driver, too." She looked thoughtfully in the direction of his cabin. "You don't stare at people like that around here. It simply isn't done. Even if the driver isn't as high-status as the people we spoke to, that's a pretty firm rule." When she saw Emeryx nod slowly, she continued: "The Asalooq have so many levels of escalation in their interactions - I don't know of a culture that has more. They're very group-oriented yet respectful of others… I think it isn't easy here to start something recognizable as a fight in human terms." Her heart started beating uncomfortably fast when her and Emeryx's eyes met - were they both thinking the same thing? "Tell me... what do you think of that Councilmember … what was her name? Wahne? … leaving in the middle of the evening?"/span/p
/div
div style="mso-element: para-border-div; border: none; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;"
p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0cm; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; mso-border-between: .75pt solid windowtext; mso-padding-between: 1.0pt;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"Jamila found she liked the direct, no-nonsense approach Emeryx took to their conversation. Straight shooters were so delightfully easy to deal with. She considered the latter half of the Uwnehi. While she was far from understanding, let alone intuitively navigating Asalooq culture, she felt she was gaining some observational traction. "Well," she smiled, "until you asked, I wasn't giving it too much thought. I noticed an extra bit of … Asalooqness, for want of a better word, when they said goodbye. I think I got a micro-expression from one of the military officers - the tall male with the earring. When he parted from Commander Parker-Takeno, he moved his lips in a way that would indicate concealed disgust in a Cardassian, but I don't know if it works the same way with the Asalooq. There was the driver, too." She looked thoughtfully in the direction of his cabin. "You don't stare at people like that around here. It simply isn't done. Even if the driver isn't as high-status as the people we spoke to, that's a pretty firm rule." When she saw Emeryx nod slowly, she continued: "The Asalooq have so many levels of escalation in their interactions - I don't know of a culture that has more. They're very group-oriented yet respectful of others… I think it isn't easy here to start something recognizable as a fight in human terms." Her heart started beating uncomfortably fast when her and Emeryx's eyes met - were they both thinking the same thing? "Tell me... what do you think of that Councilmember … what was her name? Wahne? … leaving in the middle of the evening?"/span/p
/div
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: DE;"Emeryx hadn't misjudged Al-Qamari - she was a good observer and, so far, a pleasure to work with. However, her words filled Emeryx with even more misgivings about this whole business than they had already had. There were moments when even a scientist, proud of their intellectual abilities, wanted to be wrong, and this was one of them. However, it didn't look as if Emeryx would be granted their wish./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: DE;"Despite the seriousness of the situation, Emeryx had grinned briefly at Al-Qamari's description of the delegation's behaviour as "extra Asalooqness" and resolved to steal it for further use. The counsellor had a good sense of humour. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: DE;"However, Emeryx soon became serious again as they considered Al-Qamari's last question. "Wahne Feurna," they replied automatically, "Let me think about it for a moment. I didn't attach any real significance to her leaving early, but now that you mention it, maybe I should have." After a thoughtful pause, they added: "Well, I overheard her making her excuses... She did cite a legitimate reason for leaving - she said that there were urgent family matters to attend to. However, she didn't give any details. Obviously, she was under no obligation to do that - but still, it doesn't exactly make the whole thing more convincing. It just might have been a made-up excuse. She did appear relieved to get away, as far as I'm able to tell with the Asalooq. Besides, if she had something important coming up, why didn't she say so beforehand? She didn't get any message, as far as I can tell, so it can't have been unexpected. But if she knew beforehand, why not inform everyone before the talks? It would have been more organised and polite, so it would have been the Asalooq way to do it, don't you think?"/span/p
div style="mso-element: para-border-div; border: none; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;"
p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0cm; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;"span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: DE;"Al-Qamari nodded emphatically. "I quite agree. It doesn't seem like typical Asalooq behaviour, except maybe as a socially acceptable way to get out of an unpleasant situation. Who was she talking to?" "Ensign Dhawan, the OPS Officer," Emeryx replied automatically. It made them wonder. They had worked together with Dhawan a couple of times - she was clever, talented, but utterly inexperienced and prone to making mistakes under pressure. Besides, she seemed shy about interacting with people she didn't know - even if they weren't an important delegation from a completely unfamiliar planet. Personally, Emeryx wouldn't have taken her on this kind of mission. Not yet, anyway. Not before she had gained some confidence. Emeryx didn't want to voice their misgivings aloud just yet, but they considered it quite possible that Dhawan had, inadvertently, of course, upset Wahne Feurna and caused the meeting to deteriorate. So far, it was just a theory. But Emeryx thought it was an uncomfortably plausible one./span/p
/div
p class="MsoNoSpacing"Jamila scratched her head. For some reason, her hair always itched when there was trouble. "We have to bring that up in the debriefing! Maybe Commander Robinson will want to follow this session up with the Asalooq." She slapped the back row of seats in frustration. "If only we were farther along! I'm not sure how bad something like this could blow up in our faces. Maybe something went wrong, maybe our side has to do something, to react somehow. The Asalooq seem to be trying to accommodate us, but we can't expect them to go too far with that…" Emeryx nodded darkly. "Commander Robinson definitely needs to hear this. Starfleet should not get caught with their pants down if this is some kind of problem. I'm not even slightly interested in the strategic implications, but I do know the Federation needs this mission to work, and it's not going to work without the goodwill of the Asalooq." They grinned slightly and shook their head. "Look at me, making political speeches. Where have I gone wrong?"/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"Jamila chuckled. Emeryx was a fun person to be around, and their obvious intelligence made them a great conversationalist. "Okay, we'll bring it up in the debrief," she concluded, put a little at ease by the older scientist's flippant remark./p