Negotiations: seconds away round two

Posted on Sun Apr 28th, 2019 @ 1:10pm by Captain Taliserra Tigran & Lieutenant Commander Radak & Lieutenant Anthony Edwards Ph. D

2,821 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Negotiations and Apothecaries
Location: Conference room - Deck 4
Timeline: An hour after 'the first meeting'

ON:

Having taken a break from the negotiations to get some lunch with Radak Taliserra came back into the conference room and after replicating a mug of tea sat down waiting for the ambassadors and her staff to return.

Radak was close behind her. He had spent his break having, what he considered, to be a very good lunch. He felt almost sleepy from the meal, but he was glad that he was no longer distracted by hunger. He sat down next to Taliserra and nodded. "Thank you for lunch, Captain."

Ambassador Al'mek was the next to return. He didn't look like he'd had as good of a lunch break as the captain and the executive officer, but his head was still held high. He no long had an aide to attend him, so he was on his own. He sat down at the table and took a deep breath, rubbed his face and smiled at the captain and her executive officer. "Was your lunch acceptable, Captain?"

As Ambassador Al’mek took his seat and asked his question Anthony took his seat he was nearly able to grab something in the Mess and get back to the ambassadors room before he was ready to return, he was a little surprised Al’mek’s Aide hadn’t come back to the negotiations with the ambassador after the break but that was someone else’s department.

"It was. Thank you ambassador, were you able to update your government on what was discussed?" Taliserra replied.

Al'mek nodded. "I was. So far they are agreeable, although I worry for continued peace," he admitted. "My people decide things very slowly, but not everyone feels that time is necessary. How to put it... Some people are more... reactionary. They are not willing to wait for governments to make decisions. It will be a struggle to make everyone listen." He rubbed at his face. "None of which is the fault of the Kurai." He looked toward the door, briefly.

"You will have to do your best to persuade people to let you diplomats do your jobs and give you the time you need, especially high chief Tarieal," Taliserra replied.

Al'mek nodded again. "I agree, Captain. I also wanted to thank you again for acting as a neutral party in all of this. I know that it hasn't been easy for your crew as well. Thankfully, these talks are going better than I expected and better than my government expected."

"Even with these 'hardliners' like Tarieal having a say in matters?" She asked.

Al'mek shook his head. "It has been a struggle against him and his supporters. Some people..." he paused and sighed deeply. "... Some people thrive on conflict. If they cannot satisfy their need then they will create conflict. It actually horrifies me, especially when things seem so simple and clear now..."

Taliserra nodded slightly. "Your other chiefs must keep him and his supporters in line if you want this peace to last longer than until we leave your space."

Radak nodded in agreement. "In some ways it may become more difficult for your people. This has uncovered quite a bit of inner turmoil."

Al'mek nodded in agreement. "Yes... hopefully it will not lead to any sort of civil conflict. If we can squash Tarieal and his supporters then we might have a chance at making this peace last. Without that... I don't see how internal conflict would be avoidable."

A moment later the other door to the conference room opened and both T'ekko and Chakax came through and took their seats.

"Excuse our delay Captain," T'ekko said as he sat down "We are still waiting the response from our government."

"Welcome ambassador, do you know why there is a such a delay?" Taliserra asked.

"Our communications technology is not as advanced as the Yatal, it takes a little longer, even at this distance from our homeworld," T'ekko replied.

"I understand," Taliserra said, she knew that both species were nowhere near as advanced as the Federation. "How long do you think it will take until we receive a response?"

"Not much longer, we are told a relay ship is being positioned between us and the homeworld, it should make communication a little easier."

Al'mek offered a small smile. "It is alright. I am patient. My people are patient. At least some of us."

Taliserra was glad Al'mek was willing to be patient. "Do you believe your king will accept what has been proposed?"

"I believe so, we are getting what we want from these negotiations. the return of any prisoners and for the Yatal to not bury their dead on sacred ground."

"Good," Taliserra replied smiling. "Are there any other subjects that you think must be raised while we wait for the Kurai's response?"

Al'mek shook his head. There were things that he wanted to talk about, but he was unsure that he should. It was difficult for him to be in such a quandry. On one hand, he liked T'ekko and wanted to tell the Kurai Ambassador everything that was going on with his people... about the deception and the virus. On the other hand, if he did reveal these things it could potentially backfire on him and instead of appreciating the honesty, it would throw these talks right out the window. For the time being he chose to keep his mouth shut.

Al'mek turned his gaze to T'ekko with a warm smile. "Perhaps, once we've established this beginning peace, we can share technology with each other. I believe that we are very close to the same tech in many ways. I believe that we could definitely benefit each other... and not just in communications and weaponry."

"Perhaps." T'ekko replied. "But I think it will be a while before either of us are ready for that level of cooperation. Your technology is certainly interesting when compared to our own though."

"I believe that my people also feel that way about your technology." Al'mek smiled and nodded in confirmation. "Your people can do some rather amazing things. You have made a formidable opponent, not that I want to remain opponents."

=/\= Bridge to conference room,=/\= came Lt. Binea's voice.

=/\= Go ahead bridge,=/\= Taliserra replied.

=/\= A small Kurai ship just approached the Kurai cruiser, it transmitted a data package to the cruiser and to us, I'm routing it down to your monitor.=/\=

=/\= Thank you, Lieutenant.=/\=

The monitor on the back wall of the conference room came to life with the image of another Kurai.

"That is Krox'gar," T'ekko announced, to anyone else Krox'gar would have been indistinguishable from himself, but he could tell the difference. "He speaks for the king."

"Ambassador T'ekko," Krox'gar started to speak. "The king finds the terms outlined in your message acceptable, proceed at your discretion. May the old ones guide you." The screen turned black a moment later.

"We are ready to commit to this peace treaty, Captain," T'ekko announced.

"Excellent, Ambassador Al'mek?"

Al'mek nodded. "As are we. Our ruling council has decided, in majority, that our best interests are served with peace." He didn't want to bring up that a few had voted against peace, but that those few were also in the pocket of Tarieal. It would take time for his people to weed out the high chief's supporters. Hopefully, it would not affect their beginnings here.

Taliserra smiled. "Good. then as a final recap, both of your governments have agreed to the following points. One: All hostility between your people will cease within 24hrs of this agreement being signed. Two: The Yatal can take their dead to Tequocia, but only in places the Kurai have designated and nowhere else without consulting them first. Three: All prisoners taken during the conflict will be returned to their people at the earliest opportunity that it can be arranged.

Al'mek nodded in agreement. "Yes," he said simply. It was rather exciting to be coming to the end of the meeting. Al'mek felt, as nice as the Federation ship was, he was more than ready to get back to his own people and start working on the next stage of this conflict.

T'ekko nodded as well. "We agree."

"Excellent, Miranda." Taliserra motioned to Miranda. "Ambassador T'ekko, given the technology difference between you, and with translation help from your aide, we prepared a physical copy of this agreement for you to put your name to. Please read it, and if you are satisfied, mark it in some fashion where your name is."

Miranda put the document and a pen in front of T'ekko.

Taking a few moments to carefully read the document for any mistakes that either side could potentially take advantage of later T'ekko chirped happily. "This is agreeable." He picked up the pen and made an unusual mark on it.

"Now you Ambassador Al'mek," Taliserra said, Miranda moved the document across to Al'mek and pointed out where he should sign it.

Al'mek looked at the paper for a moment. He couldn't read it. It wasn't in his language, but it was still amazing. He had never really seen a full document of the Kurai's writing. After a moment to examine and marvel he picked up the pen and signed his name with a flourish. He also had a small stamp with him, much like a Japanese kanji stamp and made a small mark next to his name with the stamp.

"This copy is in the Yatal language and is identical to the other copy," Miranda said giving the Yatal data pad she'd been given to draft the agreement on to Al'mek.

Al'mek looked the document over carefully, nodding and smiling. "Perfectly agreeable and no more or less than we spoke of here." He pressed his thumb to the pad on the device and it chirped to signify that the fingerprint signature was accepted. "This will be the beginning of a new future for both of our people, I hope..."

"And finally you must also sign this copy Ambassador." Miranda gave the pad to T'ekko and replaced the pen with a pad stylus.

T'ekko made an identical mark to the other document.

"With the signing of these documents I hereby close these proceedings, let peace now be restored between your two worlds and may it last forever," Taliserra announced.

Radak had mostly been silent for the meeting and talks. He had felt that everything had gone smoothly enough that his voice or opinions had not been needed. It was best to just let this unfold. However, he did lean back in his seat a little with a tiny smile curling at one corner of his mouth. He also reached over and put one hand on the back of the captain's chair. The Vulcan back pat of "good game".

Al'mek breathed a sigh of relief and grinned. He clapped his hands together for just a second, almost like an excited child. "I'm so glad this has come to a positive conclusion. Thank you Ambassador T'ekko... and thank you Captain." He stood and bowed deeply to both.

"You are welcome Ambassador," Taliserra replied. "Now it is up to both of you to keep this peace. If you wish it, the Federation will provide assistance if anything further is required."

"We will do our best Captain." T'ekko face twitched into something that resembled a smile. "We would welcome Federation assistance, there are a great many differences between our people so someone neutral to help in discussions would be useful."

Al'mek nodded in agreement and took his seat again. "We would also welcome any Federation assistance. We've have moved forward quickly in an amazingly peaceful fashion mostly due to your assistance, Captain. We definitely wish to keep the peace we have accomplished here."

Radak nodded as well, leaning back from the table. He looked at Taliserra. "We can offer some supplies. If anyone needs them," he offered.

"We could use some help...." a series of chirps was heard by everyone. It took T'ekko a moment to realise what he said was not translated by this unusual device the Federation had. "With food, our world has suffered by spending so much time and effort on this war."

Al'mek frowned and tipped his head. "Do you mean that you're having a food shortage? Or something else?" he asked. He wanted to make sure he understood the concept more than the words. "We could assist with agricultural things. We have some technology that we are willing to share in the name of cooperation that would help crop yields. If we worked on something like that together. I think it might harbor a sense of community among our people." He smiled.

T'ekko thought for a moment before speaking again, he was a little unsure about mentioning how close the Kurai could have been to disaster if the fighting had continued much longer. "Yes. The king directed a lot of resources at the military and not enough at our people." Chakax shot him a bad look. "We would appreciate both long and short term help with this."

Radak nodded to both Ambassadors. "Then we can help in the short term and the Yatal can help you long term. Perhaps in the process you can find ways to help each other. It is important, now that you have had this interaction with another species, as well as this ship, that you can both take the importance of understanding and cooperation back to your people."

T'ekko turned to Al'mek. "I can provide some information on the resources we would need short term but anything longer we will need to contact the department of food production."

Al'mek nodded with a smile. "Of course, Ambassador. My government is more than willing to help with agricultural needs."

"And we can assist for short term solutions," Radak added. "We can't really provide sustainable resources, but we will make sure that you have food in the meantime."

"Any assistance will be useful Commander, thank you." T'ekko bowed his head a little.

"Good. Now I recommend you go and inform your governments about the agreement being signed and then we will see to these needs." Taliserra stood up. "Anthony, Miranda, please go with the ambassadors."

Both Chakax and T'ekko stood. "Thank you for all of your help Captain," T'ekko said, both then turned and followed Miranda out of the conference room.

Al'mek stood as well and bowed to the room. "Thank you, Captain and your fine crew." He also followed people from the room.

"That seemed too easy," Taliserra said sitting back down after both ambassadors had left. "I think eventually, after they solved the communication difficulties, they would have had no problems in handling the negotiations."

Radak nodded in agreement. "I believe so, as well. Although, I think for the Yatal, at least, it would have remained difficult. Without all of this, the deception in their government might have become worse."

Taliserra sipped her now mostly cold tea. "True, and they may have been able to carry out their virus plan if we had not been mediating for them."

Radak was silent for a moment. He took a deep breath. "I think sometimes, Captain, that things really do happen the way they happen for a reason."

"A Vulcan that believes in fate." Taliserra chuckled slightly. "Surely that's illogical for a Vulcan, fate doesn't have a scientific value."

"Highly illogical, Captain," Radak responded. "Yet, as the puzzle pieces have fallen into place... I cannot help but see a series of events whose order and action seem circumstantial, but whose outcome seems to the best of everyone involved. It was not merely our good work, or the Ambassadors' willingness toward peace, but timing. Who am I to say that circumstance and timing are not what most define as fate?"

"It certainly does sound like fate, I'll agree with you there." Taliserra stood again and took her mug over to the replicator for recycling. "Now then, I will see to the short term needs of the Kurai, get me a full report on our status so we can get underway. I would imagine we will need to return Al'mek to the Yatal homeworld or at least one of their ships, then we can get back to some exploring."

Radak stood, unable to hide the tiniest of smiles at one corner of his mouth. "Yes, Sir. I will send you the data shortly." He turned toward the door of the conference room. "Will that be all, Captain?"

"I think so, Commander." Taliserra took a few steps towards the door. "If you need me I will be with my daughter."

"Of course, Captain. I will contact you if necessary." Radak left the conference room and went to prepare the list of supplies the Kurai people would be needing.

OFF:

Captain Taliserra Tigran
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Commander Radak
Executive Officer

Ambassador Al'mek
(Radak NPC)

Ambassadors T'ekko and Chakax
(Taliserra NPC)

Lt(jg) Anthony Edwards, Ph.D
Chief Science Officer

 

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