Envoy Keehani Ukinix - That's My Cousin, Part 1
Wil Ukinix
((Situation Room, Copernicus Center - Level 6, Amity Outpost))
Keehani’s held her hands over her face. She couldn’t watch…
But she could peek out from between her fingers to watch if she needed to, which is exactly what she was doing right at that moment.
Paak News Report: ...the aliens were quickly arrested following their insults and threats to the Paak and Paak people. The Paak officially announced that she was unperturbed by the threat posed and has mobilized the Paak military to prepare all defenses against this "United Federation of Planets" should they seek to follow through on the male alien's words.
Paak (leader): I declare to this United Federation that you will not succeed in your Paak. We have captured your Paak and will obtain the Paak we need to survive.
Keehani: ::Quiet groan::
Paak News Report: We here at Paak have obtained exclusive footage by a local Paak who was at Paak during the initial encounter.
The video changed to grainy footage of a gathering of officials. And there was Wil. Keehani wanted to close her fingers, but she couldn’t.
Ukinix: It is an honour, Paak, to be welcomed to Paak, and to meet the leading representative of the Paak people. Paak “Paak” of the Paak people, my commanding officer is an Ambassador,
and I’m sure-
Paak #3: You *dare* insult our Paak with such *words*?
Ukinix: ::To Robin:: What’d I say?
Hopper: ::To Wil:: You said “Pa–” ::cutting herself off:: You said the word. Their word.
Ukinix: “Paak”. I said “Paak”, right?
Paak #6: Make him stop… make him stop!
That was it. She couldn’t watch anymore. Envoy Ukinix closed her fingers and squinted her eyes shut. What the hell was Wil doing anywhere near the planet in the first place? If they detected a new civilisation, he should have come straight back to Amity.
Reade: Ah, what happened there?
Blackwood: A breakdown in communication, to put it lightly.
Moore: Well, clearly someone Paaked up.
Veers: That’s bad taste…
There was a moment of silence, before Bec finally spoke up.
Iko: Good on ya mate.
Keehani could have cut Bec’s sarcasm with a huge sword. The funny thing was, Keehani nodded in slight agreement with Bec.
Anyone: Response
Keehani: Question. How in The Four did we get this footage?
Vataix: The USS Kitty Hawk was studying a pulsar and picked up this signal from the third planet of the system that Wil and Robin were surveying. There’s no sign of their shuttle, which means they likely landed… or crashed.
Richards: oO Wonderful Oo
Keehani once again gave a small nod in agreement with Lieutenant Richard’s stray thought.
Kizat: That could be answered with probes.
Carter: A probe might be considered a hostile act by them.
Keehani: Yes. We will have to tread carefully. If word of this breaks out…
Keehani glanced to Rivi for a moment, concerned what the reputational damage to the FDC mission in the Delta Quadrant might be if things got worse.
Jolara: Response
Reade: Interesting Ambassador. Was there any transmission sent by Wil or Robin before we lost contact with their shuttle?
Keehani wondered that too. She understood that standard Starfleet protocol was to send a distress signal in such circumstances. She wondered how that got missed… unless things went so bad that Wil and/or Robin couldn’t even do that.
Iovianus: I wonder though why we haven’t heard of or encountered this species before now
It had been drilled into Keehani from day one on Amity that the Nebula was… well, nebulous, and thick, and some areas of it couldn’t be read sufficiently enough to detect everything. Including potential civilisations, it seemed.
Iko: ::To Scotty:: What do you think? ::To Iovianus:: Maybe because they’re pre-warp or something?
Richards: ::Absentmindedly tapping the table:: Do we have anything to go off of?
Nadeshiko: Our long range sensors picked up a burst of gravimetric and high electromagnetic wave activity from the area, before it subsided. ::Nadeshiko nodded, her dark eyes distantly focused on the frozen video:: Projections indicate crashing, to a very high degree of significance.
Keehani wasn’t exactly sure what most of those words meant, but it didn’t sound good.
Blackwood: It’s also possible they were shot down, until we know the true nature of these activities, we can’t rule anything out.
Carter: Possibly, but we should have picked up traces of ionized gasses from weapons fire, I would think.
Moore: Do we have any tactical information on them? What kind of weapon systems, orbital platforms, stellar navy? They seem kind of… ::He thought for a moment about what to say:: Young as a species
Wong: Maybe they didn’t even know they were even there? Unless they were actually looking for alien life I mean “alien” being a rather relative term here.
Kiani/Gray: Response
Vataix: We’ve never encountered this species before. It’s a First Contact situation. Or rather, at this point Second Contact given that Wil and Robin have already made an… impression on the planet.
Keehani exhaled and rolled her eyes a little. The first chance at a real first contact scenario… and her cousin may have messed it up.
Kizat: The UT is going to be an issue from the way that video went.
Carter: Yeah…it seems it has nothing to go on, at least not enough to render a translation which makes sense to us and the Paak.
Keehani: That word seems significant to these people. We must treat it with respect.
Jolara: Response
Reade: ::Nodding:: I agree, we should proceed with caution.
Iovianus: Without a doubt but we aren’t going to just leave them there.
Iko: Unfortunately, we care about them.
Keehani turned to looked at Bec. Her brows pulled togather a little, not sure if she was offended or if she was in agreement with the Lieutenant.
Richards: oO If only you knew Oo We can’t… We won’t leave them there. We will get them back…
Moore: Paak yeah, we’re not. No one left behind.
That made Keehani raise her eyebrows. oO Note to self – Diplomatic training program for *all* Starfleet crew. Oo
Blackwood: ::Mutters to himself:: Sorry, commander. Not quite what we discussed.
Wong: No. We shouldn’t leave them behind. We just have to be cautious about extraction. I think they’re pretty riled up as it is. This is their First Contact day and unlike what happened on Earth, this isn’t going so smoothly. I’m doubtful they’d be up for some fresh salmon.
Keehani simply crossed her arms, and then her legs, annoyed at the situation. A smooth, historic, First Contact scenario for the FDC gone begging…
Kiani/Gray: Response
Vataix: Everyone, this is Lieutenant Commander Rune Jolara. She’s our new strategic operations and intelligence officer.
Jolara: Response
Reade: Welcome, aboard, Commander Jolara. Great to have you with us.
Nathan crossed his arms, nodding at the Commander with a small smile.
Kizat: A pleasure to meet you.
Iovianus: ::Nodding his head:: I am sure we will be working together a lot.
Blackwood: Good to have you, sir.
Moore: Welcome aboard, sir.
Carter: Welcome to our brand of chaos, Commander…
Wong: Aloha! Good to meet you. I only wish it would have been under more pleasant circumstances.
Keehani leaned forward in her seat to look at Amity’s newest addition.
Keehani: Welcome to Amity, Lieutenant Commander. ::Warm smile:: I am Envoy Keehani Ukinix, FDC Chief of Staff.
Anyone: Response
Vataix: Rune, does Starfleet Intelligence know anything more about this… “Paak species?
Jolara: Response
Vataix: Ensign Blackwood, given the chief issue here seems to be one of communication–or rather *mis*communication–we need to understand the nuances of the Paak language if we’re to find a diplomatic solution.
Blackwood: I agree, Madam Ambassador. I’m sure we can find a work around.
Vataix: I want you, Cara, and Nadeshiko to work on analyzing the news report and other transmissions detected by the Kitty Hawk to see if we can figure out what exactly Wil said to offend them. We don’t want to repeat the mistake or make things worse.
Nadeshiko: ::deadpan:: Don’t use the word Paak, or apparently identification of any kind. As long as they are not lying in their physiological responses - which is entirely possible, if very unlikely - you can spot the initial reactions. It would be remiss of me not to point out there’s something amiss here - the UT reads brainwaves to accelerate translation between species, and languages that have the concept of individual identification tend not to be hive or communal mind species.. But the use of the word has also used for conceptual nouns. And interesting inconsistency.
Keehani quietly “hmm’d” for a moment. The FDC position was to always give new species the benefit of the doubt. She found it unlikely they were lying to trick Wil and Robin. The Paak’s responses at least looked genuine.
But the word “Paak” and the lack of translation by the UT did seem odd – if, in fact, that was the issue.
Veers: I mean… yeah, that would be the most surefire way to not screw anything up… Also, I believe humans had similar words in their 21st century… I’m sure you would have already theorized with that…
Blackwood: it’s definitely something of an anomaly for the UT. We should convene after the meeting, figure out what different approaches we can use. I have one or two things in mind.
Vataix: Ikaia, much of how we communicate is affected by our biology and evolution is it not?
Wong: Oh! Plenty! Evolution plays a lot into how the structure of vocal cords and how sound is produced. Some species actually don’t produce sound at all like some species of empaths who lack vocal cords altogether. In short - biology and evolution play a lot in how different species communicate, Ambassador. But by all means, it isn’t the only factor. Social mores, cultural and regional differences as well as history can shape language.
Vataix: ::Nods:: I want you to work with the science team. Consider yourself assigned as a science officer for the mission.
Wong: Alright. I’ll help out with Science and see what I can do.
Vataix: ::Looking to Harrison Kiani:: I trust Dr. Kiani you can handle any medical duties with Petty Officer Gray in the mean time?
Kiani: Response
Gray: Response
Vataix: Wil and Robin could be hurt. I want you two to prepare to be on standby for a rescue mission.
That made Keehani swallow a little. Her annoyance with Wil shifted to concern, and she also began to feel guilty for being annoyed at him in the first place. Until she had all the facts, her primary concern was to diplomatically find a solution to safely retrieve Wil and Robin, unharmed.
Kiani: Response
Gray: Response
TBC…
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Envoy Keehani Ukinix
Chief of Staff, Amity Outpost
Federation Diplomatic Corps, United Federation of Planets
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