Unusual
by Starsinger
Everyone meets a member of the Gagarin crew they're just not prepared to meet. Don't own them.
The mess of the Gagarin was spare, like much of the ship. The only difference between it and the Enterprise's mess was it had a very peculiar looking coffee machine sitting in the corner. It looked and kind of smelled like coffee anyway. After several crew members poured themselves a cup, including the First Officer, Elizabeth Webber, Uhura got herself some. "Oh, this is strong," was her response. Then she kept drinking it.
Elizabeth joined them, "I see you found the Raktajino."
The four people surrounding the table blinked and looked up at her. "The vhat?" Chekov asked.
The other woman grinned as she sat down, "The Raktajino, it's the Klingon equivalent of coffee. We've had to adjust some of our foodstuffs in the past month." Everyone at the table stared at her as she started eating. "Oh, come on, it's not like we actually serve live Gakh to everyone!"
These seemingly unrelated statements were followed by the entrance of a very unusual person. Tall, dark, and very Klingon, she strode decisively into the room, ordered lunch, and joined some other crew members sitting at another table. "Liz," a voice intruded. They looked up to find Kris standing there. "I think I should probably explain about Dumark." The First Officer nodded her head and got up.
Sarek looked at the black, leather and metal clad figure doing nothing more than eating three tables away. "The Chancellor's daughter?"
Kris nodded, "Their women can be just as fierce as their men, and just as strong." She rubbed the side of her face in an obviously vivid memory. "The passenger ship she was aboard was destroyed by pirates. She was aboard the only shuttle that managed to survive and one of the first things we did after blundering across the Klingon border was answer her distress call. What the Federation doesn't realize is that the Klingon 'Empire' is actually a bunch of squabbling clans, held together in a loose confederation, and power can turn on a dime. Dumark is not a warrior, she's actually an astrophysicist. Oh, she can handle a Bat'leth like any other." Kris pulled out a PADD and pulled up a picture of a serious looking curved weapon that Uhura recognized from the fight on Qo'noS. Her father asked us to keep her, she wasn't very happy about that. She's also kept us out of trouble a few times. You have no idea what I had to do to keep Admiral Archer from ordering her back to Klingon space and certain death." Kris paused, gauging the reactions of those around her. "Did you know that the potential Klingon lifespan is comparable to that of humans today at 150? Dumark's great grandfather died at 178. Her brother died at 22, not of natural causes. Well, natural causes as we consider them anyway."
They all glanced at Dumark. She was debating some properties of a nearby yellow dwarf with a science officer. They resumed their own lunch, it was, after all, rude to stare. Kris soon left the table for other duties, "A date with my bed and my cat."
Dumark got up and came over, "May I join you?" she asked. This brought an immediate chorus of sures and go aheads. "I've never met a Vulcan before," she commented. Her dark brown eyes met those of Sarek's.
It didn't take long for the questions to start. Everything from her Clan and its status to the current conditions of New Vulcan were discussed. They found her a highly intelligent speaker who was just as curious about them as they were about her. She even managed questions in Russian to Chekov's delight. Unfortunately, Chekov also tried the Raktajino and was soon bouncing off the walls. "Give him a mild sedative and let him sleep it off," was Dumark's reply. "Reminds me of my seven year old son," she muttered as she walked away. Uhura swallowed at this revelation. Whatever had occurred to cause her exile, she had obviously left behind a family she cared deeply about.
Six long tedious weeks passed as they cautiously approached Bajor. They were more worried about the Cardassians than the Klingons, and weren't taking any chances. They approached the mining platform around the outer giant cautiously but scanned nothing but Bajoran vessels anywhere as they dropped out of warp. Kris had the Gagarin just sit there, waiting to be noticed. It didn't take long. Sarek and Spock stood to the left of the command chair as Uhura announced, "Captain, we're being hailed."
"Patch them through, Lieutenant," Kris responded.
An unknown language filtered through the speakers as Uhura quickly worked to decipher it. The universal translator was trying its best to keep up. Finally, the words filtered back through, "Alien ship, this is the Vedek Ejdu, please state your intentions."
The mining platform orbited Titan class moon orbiting a Neptune class planet. They pulled the dilithium ore from the very rocks of the moon itself before transporting it up to the platform where it was refined and sent on to Bajor. "This is Captain Kris McDaniel of the USS Gagarin. We come from the Starfleet Command at the behest of the United Federation of Planets. We wish to exchange information."
The silence stretched out as they translated and absorbed this information. "What kind of information do you seek?"
"What do you know of Cardassians?" Kris asked. Sarek stared at the Captain thoughtfully. She was the straightforward type, obviously.
The silence that followed was filled with the normal beeping of machines that filled the bridge. Kris only hoped she hadn't said anything wrong. "Captain," the helmsman said suddenly, "Coordinates are being transmitted with the suggestion that a shuttle would be better used than a transporter."
Kris turned to look at Sarek, "They wish to talk."
"Indeed," Sarek replied. "How good is that Universal Translator?"
Uhura spoke up, "It was the newest version out of Starfleet Intelligence as far as I can tell, Ambassador. It's just that the Bajoran language is new to Starfleet."
Sarek nodded, "Captain, I'd like you to join us as well. You did introduce yourself first." Kris nodded. "Spock, you and Chekov will accompany me. Remember, we need to be diplomatic here."
As long as they don't go down to find themselves facing the barrels of guns, anyway. Just kidding. We'll be getting into action later on. There's a lot of groundwork to be laid out here, especially for those who are not familiar with the Barjorans and Cardassians as they were laid out in Star Trek Deep Space 9. Cookies to anyone who can tell me who the Gagarin is named for. Hint: It makes Chekov proud.