LtCmdr Jovenan – Gold can hide much dirt under it glimmer
Jovenan
((Conference room, Deck 1, USS Artemis))
Jovenan had to correct herself before taking a place a few seats away from the end of the table. As a senior officer and the Chief Science Officer, she had become accustomed to the occasional briefings in the room adjacent to the bridge, but her place had never been next to the Captain before. Jovenan gave Vitor a sweet smile as they both sought their correct places at the table. It had been a briefing when the two had first met each other, though not in this room nor on this ship. He had offered her – and everyone else – a drink from the replicator, but besides that, there wasn’t much else to say about their first meeting. She didn’t even know if he remembered it, since she had been just another new ensign to the ship and they were just about to start a new mission; it was her first briefing and the first time meeting most of her crewmates at that time, so she remembered a lot of it. How things had changed since then, the two of them being at the end of the table as the senior-most of the senior staff.
One other thing was in common with Jovenan’s first-ever briefing. It had been after the disappearance of Commander MacKenzie, and just like then, Fleet Captain MacKenzie was not present now. Instead, they were chaired by Commander Munro.
Munro: I've received an alert from New Hope that engineer Dariell has gone missing. Commander Silveira, you met them on the ship, any impressions?
Silveira: Well, I felt he was a little… Too inexperienced to be handling Engineering. A bit… Naive, is what it felt… Maybe, too naive…
Jovenan pursed her lips. A missing engineer was a worthy addition to their list of mysteries to solve. The possibility that they were hiding in somewhere or that they had been kidnapped had crossed Jovenan’s mind, but so had the fact that there were multiple dangers on a damaged ship, and for all she knew, he could have got trapped somewhere, been blown out to space or been vaporised by an erratic charge.
Munro: :: nods :: I want you to take Lt. Storm, and locate the engineer and find out more about the saboteur, I don't have to remind you to use a soft approach. I don't think the Boraxians will want us pointing or firing phasers at their sacred vessels.
Morgan: Not going to make it easy for us, are they?
Silveira: No… Certainly not. But that’s why we are here. If it was easy someone else would do it.
Their CTO and CMO were both correct with their remarks. The news from the other teams explained at least in part her and her team’s meeting with a Yurum individual on the New Hope. And yet, Lt Bergmen’s initial disbelief that the person was a Yurum was also justified from what she had heard from the others: the Boraxians indeed considered the third gender sacred and sacrosanct. That, however, as she had also learnt, didn’t mean the meeting would be guaranteed to be entirely devoid of danger.
Jovenan: The sacred status of the Yurum could mean that the Boraxians might be compelled to come to their aid, no matter the circumstance. A mistake or someone taking advantage of the situation could cause them both turn against us without our fault. ::pause:: The Yurum, as a group, have at least so far been peaceful, but there’s of course a possibility for individual actions.
Peaceful, yes. Suspicious… also yes, although Jovenan couldn’t yet see the connection between the exodus of the Yurum, the chemical research in the medbay and the disappearance of the engineer. She didn’t even know if that was the full list of mysteries so far.
Munro: I wonder if there are any Yurum that may not be as devoted to the cause as Luirétt and Vhaljean would have us believe? :: to Silveira :; Take Ensign Tho'Bi and Ensign Meris with you. Meris has a way of cutting through the noise that might be useful, and they are familiar with the Yurum from working with Luirétt. Tho'Bi is familiar with the ship.
Silveira: Understood Commander.
Munro: Doctor Morgan I'd like you to work with Sam Richards and Lt. Imril on the discovery they made on New Hope. Take Vhaljean with you, see if they know anything about it.
Jovenan turned to the Doctor with a kind of neutral smile on her face. Under normal circumstances, it might had been Jovenan herself who led the scientific study. She wasn’t at all worried, however, Doctor Morgan was a skilled physician and had the medical knowledge and skills required to examine the material from the sickbay. It consisted of mostly biological samples, after all, and it was likely related to some kind of biomedical research. Besides, Richards was there to offer her contribution – probably with the rock they found – and Lt Imril, a demonstratedly proficient investigator, would be invaluable with the other equipment and code they took with them.
Morgan: I’ll see what we can do.
Munro: Commander Jovenan, we will be taking a team to the city ship. Advocate Chavrainne has invited us to join them at the Yurum Sanctuary Spire and Luirétt has agreed to come with us as a representative of the Yurum. This might give us a chance to see what their living conditions are like.
That was more or less what Jovenan had expected. That was the place for the Captain and the First Officer. Diplomacy – she just hoped she had had the chance to improve her competence in the field before having to assume the role. The brief chat with the clearly belligerent Orions hardly constituted as relevant experience for this task.
Jovenan: Aye, Captain. ::to Silveira and Morgan:: Good luck.
Commander Munro turned to look out of the window, towards the vast City Ship that had appeared besides them while Jovenan and the others had been on the New Hope. The long pause seemed to indicate the end of the meeting. Vitor turned to Jovenan, giving her a smile and a nod. She understood the meaning of it. They both stood up, as did Doctor Morgan after a moment of hesitation. The Doctor directed his course straight out of the room, and Jovenan followed slowly behind, but before reaching the door, she stopped. Vitor rested his hand on her arm for a short moment, accompanied by a wink. Another wordless message received gave her comfort. After giving Vitor a goodbye wave, she remained standing there. Clasping her hands behind her back, she looked at the Captain in her thoughts and waited for the order of her new superior officer.
((Short time later))
((Transporter room 1, Deck 2, USS Artemis))
Jovenan followed the Acting Captain a step or two behind as they entered the transporter room. The junior officers had all arrived already as the two commanders made it there. Lt Bergmen had already become a familiar face, and Ensigns Cole and Bancroft had also been invaluable additions to her teams in the past. Lt K’Wara, a recent transferee, was someone Jovenan had sadly not yet had an opportunity to work with before, but she was sure they were also a skilled officer. Then, there was another face, one that Jovenan had only seen on a screen briefly. The leader of the Yurum faction, Luirétt, represented the other side of the dispute – a hero of the oppressed or an opportunistic separatist, Jovenan didn’t know yet. It was their task to figure that out.
Munro: I'm glad you are all gathered :: nods respectfully :: Luirétt, thank you for agreeing to accompany us. Your experience will be invaluable. If there is anything you can let us know about your customs or ways that would be useful, please do share?
Luirétt: ... Of course. As a people, diplomacy and rhetoric have always been our preferred tactics. When Great Mother Andorenne - may her soul find Ellet - made contact with the Klingons, she managed to turn them into allies and trading partners, and Great Mother Elirielle is every bit her mother’s equal in eloquence and shrewd negotiation, if not in temperament. ::brief pause:: This situation is unprecedented, but my people will take peaceful negotiations very seriously. Your words will hold weight in that space, so make sure to consider them carefully.
It was easy to be impressed by the description provided by someone who could very well be seen as the opponent of the individuals in question. Jovenan nodded but pressed her lips tight together. Their willingness to negotiate was promising, but she also wondered if the Starfleet crew and the Yurum were perhaps outmatched at the negotiation table.
K’Wara/Bergmen/Bancroft: Response
Munro: Does anyone have any questions before we beam over?
Jovenan’s gaze shifted between each of their teammates before landing on Luirétt.
Jovenan: If I may… Leader Luirétt, what do you know of this Advocate Chavrainne?
K’Wara/Bergmen/Bancroft: Response
Luirétt: … Advocate Chavrainne is one of the most trusted Ceremonialists, and a loyalist to the Matriarchs. I’ve had little personal dealings with her, but I have the utmost faith in her wisdom. She knows scripture, folklore and traditions better than any other Boraxian alive, and you can be assured that she will know your laws sufficiently to argue her case.
Nodding again, Jovenan considered again what their strengths were in the upcoming negotiations. Captain MacKenzie was of course an experience diplomat, but she was not here. She couldn’t yet say anything about Commander Munro’s fortes in that field, but their opponents sounded a lot like a debater. If Luirétt’s description was correct, the Boraxian Advocate had the advantage of knowing them better than vice versa. The Starfleet team simply didn’t have all the facts yet, and it could turn out to be a problem.
Munro/K’Wara/Bergmen/Bancroft: Response
((OOC: as with others, open to backsimming if needed or desired.))
((Reception Room, Halls of Andorenne, The Golden Spire))
The blue shimmer faded away and was replaced with the glimmer of gold. Jovenan’s eyes were drawn to the high vaults above them, arching over them like an alien sky. A sky and the natural world were one of the few applicable reference points for comparison for her. Rarely had she seen such a demonstration of wealth – a strange concept to her in the first place – and certainly not a ship. This wasn’t a mere ship, she had to remind herself, but a city. A city of golden spires, sailing out in the everlasting space.
Leader Luirétt raised two of their hands in apparent reverence to another spire Jovenan could see further out. She observed the Yurum individual for a moment before looking out to the city itself through the crystalline windows. They indeed knew very little of these people, their rituals and the very way of life was still a mystery to them – a poor starting point for a negotiation of this scale.
Luirétt: ::thick voice:: Welcome to the Halls of Andorenne.
Jovenan: This is a very impressive place.
Munro/K’Wara/Bergmen/Bancroft: Response
Cole: ::looking around:: Quite the first impression.
Jovenan kept looking out to the city below them, even as Luirétt turned away. She had not visited a city often during her service, or, in all honesty, in her life. Seeing crowds, even from a distance, was rare when one had dedicated themselves to a life on a starship. She thought of the other cities she had been to in the last couple of years, Paris, Oxeania, Tecra, Ki Baratan… She turned away quickly, focusing again on the faction leader.
Luirétt: I am pleased to hear you say this. The Golden Spire is the home to our most important halls, and seat of the Matriarchy. ::looks around:: It feels like ages since I last visited.
A palace of a kind, then, or the seat of the Boraxian government. Jovenan didn’t know if the place for their discussions was chosen to impress them or to express the respect the Boraxian vested upon them… or if this was just what the local government conference rooms looked like.
Cole: ;;to Monroe:: Sir, If I may ::to Luirétt:: Some of us grew up being told what we couldn’t be. And yet, here we are. Luirétt, you’ve already walked a path most would have said was impossible. That’s the kind of strength no title or tradition can take away. The matriarch will see that, whether she admits it or not.
Jovenan glanced at the Captain. The Ensign’s heart was in the right place – metaphorically, she didn’t actually know about her individual anatomy – and she was correct to say that, of course. At the same time, Jovenan didn’t know how far into taking the side with the Yurum they were willing to go at this time. Politics, sadly, didn’t always have the privilege of moral considerations.
Munro/K’Wara/Bergmen/Bancroft/Luirétt: Response
It was almost the time for the meeting to begin, at least so Jovenan assumed. However, the question about the imbalance of information kept pressing her. They had, as she saw it, an opportunity and a duty to investigate further before committing too much into the discussion and relying on to either side for the facts. She looked at the Yurum leader; another problem came to her mind as well.
For a brief moment, she hesitated. As a senior officer, she was more than permitted to express her doubts, opinions and ideas to the Captain. Now, as the Acting First Officer, it was her duty, so far so as the Captain made their decision, at which point it became her duty to execute those orders without a question. She stepped closer to Commander Munro.
Jovenan: Captain, I think it might be wiser to meet with the Advocate without Luirétt at first. Presenting a representative of the sacrosanct community as an equal party might alter their perspective of us and hinder our standing in the negotiations. Besides, we could take the opportunity for further fact-finding.
Munro: Response?
Jovenan: I could take a team to investigate the living conditions of the Yurum. Luirétt could guide us there ::to Luirétt:: if that is acceptable to you, of course.
Munro/K’Wara/Bergmen/Bancroft/Cole/Luirétt: Response
Jovenan looked around the team of Starfleet officers. Lt Bergmen had proven a valuable member in her previous investigations, as had Doctor Bancroft. Ensign Cole’s abilities and insight had saved them during the battle with the Orion ships, but at the same time, Jovenan didn’t want to take the only security officer from the Captain’s team – after all, the security of the CO was the XO’s responsibility.
Jovenan: Lieutenant Bergmen and Doctor Bancroft, if you would come with me. ::to Munro:: Good luck, sir. Hopefully we can provide you with further clarity when we join you again.
Munro/K’Wara/Bergmen/Bancroft/Cole/Luirétt: Response
((OOC: For the purpose of this part of the act, my team consists of Jovenan, Bergmen, Bancroft and Luirétt. Liv’s team has Munro, K’Wara, Cole and Advocate Chavrainne.))
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Lieutenant Commander Jovenan
Acting XO (Chief Science Officer)
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11