[sb118-ops] Ensign A'Mayri - Cold Discussions.

[A'Mayri Y. Stark]

((Temurian Settlement - Kiro's Lab))

The Temurian fell quiet.

A’Mayri felt a deep set relief knowing that her fellow team mates had at least somewhat understood her intentions of carrying on the delicate conversation. Ross had granted her a small piece of mercy as he and Voss carried on with the next part of the negotiations. 

Voss: We can sweeten the deal if that’s what it takes.

A’Mayri:  Agreed, whether for a deal or for an exchange of knowledge. 

Ross: We brought some high level-equipment that might be of help. We can pay a bonus. Let's say as... rent for your lab and your expertise in this matter. Let's run some experiments. If nothing turns up -great, we have ourselves a deal. If something does turn up - no need to upset the apple cart. No pointing fingers. We'll figure a way out to fix this. Together.

Voss: We’ll show you our lab too - compare notes. See if there’s anything we’ve discovered that you haven’t and vice versa.

She found herself almost as still at the Temurian infront of them, the careful intimacy of sharing such delicate and exposing spaces a risky move that felt necessary to take. Then again— Kiro had been wiling to do the same. The fact that both his lab/showroom and the MTF had similar enough equipment and set up meant that they were off to a good start. 

It was funny how much a room could tell a story, or expose parts of a beings story. If this underground showroom was indeed crafted and ran by Kiro, then his skills were far from just the basic and necessary needs to survive. It was a mix of passion that was perhaps also mixed with the need to survive, especially with everything that him and his fellow Temurians must have been going through. 

A’Mayri: ::softly, with a softened neutral tone:: one might find that our discoveries and priorities are more aligned than one might think. 

Ross: Believe me, either way it's the better deal for you than sending us on our way with a danger neither of us understand. God knows, we might be selling these things to a primary school next week.

The silence that filled the room at the attempt of joke may had fallen a bit flat, Kiro still having remained silent since the start of this sudden confrontation and debate. She caught a glimpse of Ross exchanging a nod and an expression she couldn’t quite catch to Voss. The Betazoid grasped the moment between her hands with grace and a touch of humanity she almost envied and deeply admired. 

Voss: I know you love Leda, but you don’t trust her anymore. And you shouldn’t. How closely is she working with the Orions? How much is she keeping from you?

Ah, the exposing and vulnerable thoughts that must have echoed in the room. 

Kiro: oO So it is already known. Or guessed. Or seen. Oo

Voss: You suspected me already. Cards on the table. And we’re not bleeding heart altruists either - these cores are a hop, skip, and a jump away from being tiny Romulan singularity drives. If we can help you figure out a way to get them to work safely, we’ll be sitting on a mine so big, whatever profit-share we work out will hardly even matter. Lurtz has the resources, we have the manpower, and we aren’t here to hold anyone’s feet to the fire, which is a damn sight more than you can say about the Orions. We want to be partners. It’s worth a shot, isn’t it? 

A’Mayri could almost feel Voss’s pulse, could hear Ross hold his breath in the anticipation of Kiro’s response. Voss— Madam Voss for this very moment had layered out what little truth they could offer, heavy with the reality they all could potentially be facing very soon. If understanding the cores was Kiro’s motivation— their joined skills would offer the most benefit that if he remained alone. Safety and profit were blanket terms that any trade group or passing by organization could want—it connected everyone in ways that were most likely unexpected at first. 

Kiro: You are asking for trust in a situation built on instability. ::a pause:: That is… not a small request.

A’Mayri: We are currently stood in a room specifically built to withstand and contain the inherent instability of the cores you desire to know more about. ::gentle pause:: any scientist or engineer who is considerate enough to isolate the dangers of these experiments away from the rest of the settlement is enough to start with. 

Ross: You need some sort of insurance? We can pay in advance. Half now, half later.

Voss: ::trying to hold back a tiny bit of her palpable relief:: That’s a reasonable condition. Anything else you’d like us to consider?

Kiro: I want containment data shared immediately if anomalies increase.

Wise and reasonable enough. Kiro is already aware of how to activate the cores, it would make tracking and adjusting a better baseline for their containment much for efficient in both power and resources. If they could understand that the exact output off the core could be, then they wouldn’t risk a ship wide black out and power cascade every time they made a mistake. 

Kiro: And no core leaves this system without my authorization.

That would be a more complicated condition to meet— though she could tell that Voss and Ross seemed relieved by the conditions. The whole mission group to include the rest of the MTF crew and the Angry Pigeon were most likely well into their own missions by now.  

Ross: Fair enough.

A'Mayri: A most reasonable request. Minimizing the distribution of the cores would be most beneficial to the points that have been brought to light. 

Lyra had smiled, a good sign of relief and what A’Mayri interpreted as confidence. She was slowly starting to understand why Ross and Voss had found relief and perhaps even a reprieve in the familiarity they both seemed to share with each other. 

Voss: Well then, I think we’ve got ourselves a deal, Mr. Kiro! Let’s package some of these cores, grab your data readouts, and then we’ll introduce you to our laboratory and get to work. 

The process didn’t take very long. Each core went into a small, portable containment unit, which was packed tightly and securely into a chest, and then loaded onto a hover dolly. The longest part of the journey was navigating the dolly back through the twisting corridors and back up to the surface again. They eventually hit the frosted air and stepped out onto the asteroid’s cold, dusty regolith. 

((Outside Temurian Settlement))

A’Mayri had taken the initiative be the one to cart the hovering dolly when it was clear that the journey back to the surface with its many winding pathways would prove either somewhat amusing to the Temurians who would watch from the edges or inconvenient the the larger outsiders who very much wished to avoid jostling the precious cargo even in their inactive state. 

The cold immediately struck the group once more, A’Mayri mentally fortified to embrace the negative temperatures despite still finding it deeply unpleasant. Her nose and ears prickled and instantly picked up the green tint against, the half Vulcan noting and offering Ross a small nod of acknowledgment and a smaller look of appreciation when he had stepped beside her in solidarity. 

Voss: Um… where the hell is our ship?

A’Mayri’s attention shot forward, eyes quickly scanning the environment for signs of scrap metal or blasted ship parts as she rushed forward to stand beside the shocked Voss. 

Kiro and Ross looked upon the empty bay. 

Kiro: ::quietly:: That… is not supposed to happen.

Ross: Wait... didn't we park here?!

Ross’s gaze snapped towards A'Mayri, the engineering officer looking back at him and Kiro with contemplation and quiet deductive reasoning. 

A’Mayri: This is exactly where our freighter had been originally located. The pattern distribution of the reshaped frost on the ground indicates that the ship has taken off recently— perhaps within the past hour or so. ::careful addition towards Voss:: and a lack of ship debris shows no sign of altercation within the Astroids immediate area. 

She quickly redirected her observational report towards Voss to maintain the positional hierarchy. 

Ross: I'll reach out to ::short pause, keeping himself from pulling rank:: - Mr. Foster. They can't be far, right? 

A’Mayri visually checked in with Voss before carefully walking back to secure the hovering dolly and be ready for carting to back to the settlement in case they weren’t able to reach the MTF. 

A’Mayri: Yes Mr. Ross, Mr. Foster and the rest of the team should be somewhat nearby. 

Voss/Kiro: ? 

Ross pulled his communicator - old school, unbranded - and tried to reach the MTF.

Ross: =/\= Ross to Foster. What's going on? We... ::he threw an awkward side-glance at the rest of the group:: ...we kinda need our lab back. =/\= 

Voss/Kiro: =/\= (If any?)

Foster: =/\=You need a what?=/\=

The invisible tension near her temples had eased at hearing the commanding officers voice. 

With or without sensitive hearing, A’Mayri could hear barely hear the chatter and sounds of alarms through the old school communicator Ross had pulled out to reach the team. 

Ross: =/\= Listen, if now is a bad time - but... we're kinda onto something here. I could use some of the instruments aboard if you don't mind. =/\=

Voss/Kiro: =/\= (if any?) 

Foster: =/\= We’re kind of in a fight right now, protecting the Pidgeon and trying not to get blown apart… can you hang on for a few minutes?=/\=

At the mention of a fight and the vulnerability the Pigeon was under, A’Mayri exchanged looked between Voss and Ross. Her attention then went to Kiro. 

Ross: =/\= ...sure. Just... - call me back. =/\= 

The commline closed and Ross turned back around towards A'Mayri, Lyra and Kiro. He shrugged.

Ross: Well... sounds like we're gonna have to work with what we have. At least for now. 

A’Mayri stood mostly still for a moment, she readjusted her shawl to sit better around her shoulders to block as much of the chilled breeze and air from her skin as much as possible. 

A’Mayri: oO This may grant us some time to better prepare Kiro and ourselves for what we can reveal. Oo Mr. Foster and the others should be with us shortly, yes? 

Voss/Kiro: ? 

Ross: Why don't we start with our most recent findings? The energy spikes? 

Just as A’Mayri had attempted to accept the fact that they would be in the cold for longer than originally calculated, she was momentarily surprised that their intelligence officer had offered his cost to her, though it wasn’t as much of a surprise seeing the care he had shown his team through the small amount of time she had known him for so far. She carefully accepted the coat with a quiet ‘thank you’, the instant warmth offered her some relief. 

Carefully, she slipped off her shawl to offer it to him like a scarf around his neck and shoulders before stepping through the cold to stand by Voss and offer her an arm to guide her back to the small group, a precaution to minimize slippage of course. 

A’Mayri: From an engineering standpoint, we know that it would take complex and industrial level equipment to even begin the process of mining and refining the materials needed to encompass the cores. This would entail large enough spaces to hold such equipment and would require quite a bit of power and maintenance. On the scale of Electron Beam furnaces with a power grid on scale to match. 

She looked to Voss beside her, recalling that the science officer had discovered an important detail just before they left the ship. 

Voss/Kiro: ?

A’Mayri: Madam Voss is most skilled in her line of work, and it has come into fruition during our… ::small catch:: during our tour to try and trade these cores with you Kiro. 

Ross/Voss/Kiro: ? 

A’Mayri: We utilized our own containment systems to track these results, yes. They are very similar to the units you have back in your show room. After the Madam had noticed the cores in an almost reactive state to the other surrounding cores as she mentioned, it had opened a fascinating yet newly concerning discovery. 

A’Mayri looked towards Kiro, careful to note their reactions and how the Temurian was either reacting or faring with this information. From what she could see so far, the only traits she could confirm visually were small but dexterous clawed hands, large observant eyes and tufts of fur that seemed to puff out from his cloak and between gaps in his wraps. 

Ross/Voss/Kiro: ? 

A’Mayri: Yes…but what would cause them to display above baseline levels of output even when inert? 

Ross/Voss/Kiro: ? 

—

V/R,

Ensign A’Mayri Ych’a Stark

Engineering Officer

StarBase 118 Ops

O240303A11