Lieutenant Amelia Semara - Let Hope Lead a little More

[Max]

(( Timestamp: Prior to departure ))

(( Bridge, Deck 1 - USS Khitomer, Ceram Archipelago))

Was it so wrong of Amelia to find hope in the fact that the Khitomer managed to make a peaceful, friendly first contact when it could have easily gone so wrong?  If only it hadn't come at the expense of lives - albeit the lives of a wartime enemy.  Glowing pride and withering guilt twisted her about strangely, but for the moment at least her eternal enthusiasm for meeting someone new was winning out in welcoming Rana and Vidya to the bridge.

Her eyes swept from one woman to the next, and the next, and the next.  Vidya in particular had the look of someone who was taking in everything.  Something told Amelia that the next time the Alliance or anyone else visited this nebula, it would be armed with filament-filled projectiles inspired by their tactics today.  Her eyes briefly went back to the viewscreen.  The largest piece of debris was still burning in several spots and in several colors.  One, a green plasma fire.  Another, the blue of slow bleed-off radiation from a fractured subspace driver coil.

Semara: I've been takin' some scans a' the Leviathan, as well as other wrecks nearby. It'll take some time to go through the data, but there's already some interestin' details... :: Beat :: I hope it ain't somethin' that ever happens again. :: A slower breath, turning back to the guests :: How have you been findin' your tour?

Vidya: ::looking at the view screen while she talked:: I am well. Is that ::gesturing at the shipwreck graveyard:: the results of the torpedo? The one with thread masses that Lieutenant Michaels and myself assisted?

Amelia gave a nod in the affirmative.

Rana: Fascinating. I had not considered that such a device might be used. Is this type of weapon common among your people?

Naturally, the captain and her first whatever-she-was were curious about the nature of their apparent spectacular salvation.

Semara: As common as any starship weapon...  But it ain't typically carryin' a payload like yours.  Normally a Leviathan-class would require a significant portion of our inventory to achieve the same end.

The sheer mass alone made the monsters terrifyingly tough.  The more she read about the battle at DS33, the more she wished this whole thing was over.  Never mind all the other skirmishes where the ships appeared with their enormous Sencha emitters.

Vidya: I see. Seeing our threads working with your torpedo, it gives the Velithari hope that we may one day use your torpedo technological to deliver our threads as we have on your Khitomer. If any more of this alliance should return, we will be well prepared.

Amelia hummed at that.  Given what she'd learned of the reclusive, self-protective nature of the Velithari and their history with 'the takers' - perhaps some even more terrifying species that still existed, perhaps simply raiders with technology the Velithari weren't capable of defending against - made it natural to reach for weapons... And lots of them.  Heavens how she wished it needn't be.  From what little she'd seen, Velithari had a stunningly beautiful grasp of biology and a style of engineering diversity that bordered on art.  Seemed a shame that a culture would focus in another direction because of today's events.

Rana: As we may have to be. It seems their instinct is to attack, and attack again.

She gave a nod.  In the end, their captain Rana was right.  The Alliance had thrown themselves at this nebula, not once but twice and with a tenacity that might be seen as bordering on desperation.  Her eyes stuck to the curving carapace of Rana's shoulders for a moment, mind wandering in the abstract for a moment before answering with a thought smile.

Semara: Sadly, it would seem so.  Though I'm hopin' they think long and hard 'fore comin' here a third time. :: Beat :: I ain't able to disclose the design or specifications of our weapons at this time, but... When you talk to 'em, our diplomatic corps might just be willin' to give you enough to work with if it stops the Alliance from openin' another line of attack. :: Beat :: Perhaps I can offer you somethin' else?

Vidya: Yes of course, with your permission. ::to Rana:: To which I am confident our two Captains can make such an arrangement? ::turning to Semara:: The data? Would you permit sharing its contents with us? It would aid us greatly to know more about what is left of their vessels.

Michaels: The remnants are within easy reach. Your shuttles should have little difficulty in collecting them.

Rana: Keeping track of all the data we can about the incident in its entirety is priceless to us Velithari. And our students.

Amelia's smile came quicker and easier than she feared it would.  Here she'd been thinking about intelligence, all while Rana was thinking about students.  A whole next generation.

Semara: I imagine sharin' what we know with each other will be a mighty fine step.  I'll arrange to send all our raw data, and any analysis that ain't classified.

Michaels: I do have one question concerning our recent encounter with the Lattice Alliance. Perhaps one of you, Vidya, Rana, Miss Semara can answer it for me. Our previous experience with Sencha radiation is that it is a fearsome, dangerous weapon. The nebula and your ships appear to have handled it reasonably well. Do we know why that happened?

Rana: I was informed by your Chief Medical Officer that the Velithari exoskeleton has some natural resistance to Sen-sha radiation.

Semara: I thought I heard 'bout that... :: A pleasantly pleased smirk :: I'm sure it helped.

Once she got over her interest in the find, she pulled up a diagram of sensor scans for one of the older pieces of wreckage, comparing it to the new.

Semara: Best I can tell, the first Alliance attack group entered the nebula 'fore chargin' weapons.  There's a lotta micro-fracturin' in the subspace amplifier coils for their Sencha arrays, prolly from the filaments.  They never reached peak output, or even close.  Natural resistance might'a let you ignore whatever damage they'd otherwise do. :: Beat :: Interestin', that you'd have that resistance.

On the Leviathan, filament damage was much less pervasive.  An entire section of the wave pre-former was simply... Gone.  Reduced to Atoms.  Could the ship's fate have been the equivalent of a magazine explosion?

For a moment, Amelia wondered if whatever was in their carapace had bearing on how telepathically quiet the Velithari were.  If Sencha was deleteriously 'loud' to a telepath, perhaps their protection offered them a natural barrier to dampen what she could feel from them...

Vidya: Response

Rana: I am not altogether certain how such a resistance developed, as we were previously unaware of the existence of Sencha radiation.

Semara: Maybe exaptation? Or neofunctionalization? :: Beat :: It ain't uncommon for a trait or protein randomly evolved for one purpose to suddenly prove very useful for another.

If her rapt smile was anything to go by, the former ecologist inside of her was clamoring to get out and ask a million questions.

Vidya / Michaels: Response

Rana: I believe one of the more junior officers posited that it could be an adaptation to previous encounters, though I am not certain how...it has certainly become useful for us now, in any case.

Semara: That is certainly true.  I'm glad your people ain't among those at greater risk.  Maybe it'll give y'all some peace of mind.  Some Federation species are quite the opposite.

She opted to leave unsaid what it could do to a Betazoid.  Tori unavoidably came to Amelia's mind.  The unstable way her daughter's telepathy struck like lightning one moment and hid cowering underground the next was a result of the way repeated Sencha exposure damaged her body, bones, and brain.  Or there was the Rodulan from the SCE who didn't survive even a single dose.  The Velithari were unbelievably fortunate...

Vidya / Michaels: Response

Rana: This could be an excellent area for future research. Along with the...tor-ped-doughs.

Semara: I'm sure... :: Beat :: Though I pray, in time, violence ain't the only thing we learn about from each other.

Her lips slowly curved again, this time forming a softer, warmer smile.

Vidya / Michaels: Response

It occurred to her then that in Tori's timeline, the Khitomer never came to the Ceram Archipelago.  Perhaps no one ever did - after all, Tori didn't seem to have any knowledge of them.  What were the odds that their timely intervention stopped a bloody catastrophe?

Semara: I s'pose I already have, now I'm thinkin' about it. :: Beat :: Perhaps I should'a let hope lead a little more than fear when we met.  The Alliance ain't the rule, and all meetin's have gotta start somewhere...

The deception they'd played wasn't her proudest moment, in retrospect.

Rana / Vidya / Michaels: Response

What would the Velithari do next, besides arm themselves?  Amelia wondered.  There were men in their society.  Somewhere.  How much of what Rana and Vidya saw and felt today would stick with them?  What possibilities would it stir?  Amelia's eyes slid sideways to a man working quietly at a console, obviously trying not to sneak a peek while he obviously failed to get any real work done.  She had to huff to herself in amusement.

Semara: I know I ain't gonna soon forget this meetin'.  :: A small, smiling glance to Michaels :: I expect none of us will.  I'm grateful to you, cap'n Rana.  For everything.

Rana / Vidya / Michaels: Response

The main engineering display refreshed with several new repairs logged.  A few minutes ago, the mission seemed to have dragged out forever into exhaustion.  Now it was coming time to part, it seemed the time spent getting to know the Velithari was entirely too short and Amelia was bubbling inside with energy again to know everything about the two women in front of her.  But the Khitomer needed inspection stem-to-stern after this, or the ship would be of no use to anyone.  This time, Amelia's smile pinched down at her eyes.

Semara: A final farewell, then.  :: Beat, a happier crinkle at her eyes. ::  In old Semizadi, we say somethin' like...  :: A graceful curtsy. :: 'Til we gather together again 'neath the same sunrise.

Rana / Vidya / Michaels: Response?

There was a notion in Betazoid spiritualism that no two people ever truly parted from each other after meeting.  An imprint always stayed behind.

Amelia could see why the mystics felt that way.

Tag / END!

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Lieutenant Amelia Magnolia Semara

Intelligence Officer

USS Khitomer - NCC-62400

A239710MA0