Lt. Lhandon Nilsen - A diplomatic canary
Lhandon Nilsen
(( Diplomatic Conference Room 1, Deep Space 14 ))
He had figured he made the right choice by separating the Chey'd and taking the group with Dolce. Loq knew what he was doing. Loq had more experience than him, had been there first, and while Lhando was the higher ranked officer, he trusted Loq and knew Loq would be able to handle whatever they threw at him.
But...
On paper it was the right decision - take the less experienced member of the team, in this case himself, and give him the easier, friendlier party, and let the more experienced diplomat go ahead and deal with the trickier customer...
But...
Lhando figured he had made a mistake... and it wasn't that Loq was unable to do the role, far from it; but rather, in his excitement, he had never really considered who he assigned to what group. He had just proverbially pointed to the crew and placed them in their teams.
Lhandon had asked about the castes and wanted to build on his understanding of their current status. He had learned that the King's Path was no more, something which he was happy to hear (no matter how unbecoming that might be) and that many of the former members had been transferred to the Mognar, but he was interested to know more about the answer.
Nilsen: Is there anything these ones can do to help those ones? To help all the Cheydalanga?
Dolce had almost not made it to the meeting, but beyond the euphemism, Dolce made a comment which made Lhandon's skin crawl.
Dolce: This one would need an indoctrination camp to help all the Cheydalanga. These ones need an almost complete cultural shift.
Lohkina: (dry) That would certainly violate several Starfleet tenets.
Lhandon could not comment — any remark he made could jeopardize the entire thing. The whole point of the mission had been to gather as much information as possible and explore the possibility for diplomatic relationships, regardless of what form that would take, before the more experienced diplomats would hammer home the deal.
A diplomatic canary.
This canary however didn’t know fully how to handle this comment, so he moved the conversation on.
Nilsen: And please forgive all the questions — what has the United Dominion of Planets' relationship been like with those ones' people?
Dolce: Those ones…Those ones have been trying to come back like those had been before. This one is not a fan of those ones.
Lohkina: (still dry) Yes, this one got that sense.
Dolce: This one apologizes. This one did not mean to bring down the mood.
He stumbled just slightly before getting back on track.
Nilsen: Yes, yes. Erm I, yes we are here to learn and to understand.
Lohkina: These ones are here to listen and learn, that's all.
Dolce: This one thanks those ones. Like this one said, things have not been easy. The King’s Path may be gone, yes, but ones who still think like those ones are still around.
Nilsen: People do tend to, erm, take their time coming around to new ideas. This one thinks that often trailblazers, perhaps as that one ::gesturing to Dolce:: need to lead the way.
Dolce: Did those ones completely stop thinking of the Dominion as enemies after the war?
Lohkina: Not likely. Even now, decades after the armistice, it's difficult for these ones to liaise with the United Dominion of Planets.
Lhandon then spoke, with his pride leading the way before his brain finished thinking.
Nilsen: Not for lack of trying, however, those ones ::referring to the chey’d:: people did play host to the first ever joint operation between our two peoples
And the second catalyst for Lhandon's new purple drip.
Dolce: Responses
Lohkina: Then, Lower Tenente, let this one again be bold. What do you want here? Why have you come to Deep Space 14?
Dolce: Response
Lhandon nodded, he let Dolce speak.
Lohkina: (with an eyebrow raised at Nilsen) A laudable goal, to be sure.
Nilsen: Certainly, and this one wonders if these ones can perhaps help that one?
Dolce/Lohkina: Responses
Nilsen: This one is sure that there are resources that these ones can offer to help with that ::beat:: reading and lectures perhaps?
Dolce/Lohkina: Responses
Nilsen: This one must ask, however — is such a move on your part one to be, erm, embraced by those ones' people?
Dolce/Lohkina: Responses
Tags/TBC
Lieutenant Lhandon Joseph Nilsen
Diplomatic Officer
USS Octavia E Butler
O240007LN1
He/Him/His (Both player and character)