Divided We Fall

[Sirol]

"œWar does not determine who is right, only who is left"

*     *     *

PROLOGUE

The sun was already about to sink, offering an astonishing view of the two moons and a clear night sky covered in a blue hexagonal pattern, as the dark, hooded figure scampered through the ruins of one of the ancient surface towns, making their way to the old junkyard.
A huge lump was to be seen on their back. Hidden underneath their dark coat was a large backpack, filled to the brim with goods.
This figure was no ordinary traveller, he was a trader bearing the insignias of clan Dathuu.

Much could be said about the Dathuu's traders who undoubtedly inherited one of the lowest authorities, not just among their own clan members but also among the northern hemisphere's patchwork of clans and societies as a whole.
Crooks, swindlers, thieves and robbers"¦ Known to steal a child's last drops of clean water if it served their own purpose"¦
These were just a few of the charming ways they were seen and actively portrayed within the public consciousness.
Yet their low status also came with unexpected benefits. Benefits the officials may or may not even have been aware of, yet definitely would do their best to not openly mention and evoke the idea of "˜security leaks'"¦
No one expected a sticky-fingered Dathuu trader to actually look beyond the boundaries of their own clan's supposed dogmatic, backwards and self-centered interests"¦.

Yet here he stood, very well aware of the great discovery he held in his hands.
By the agreement with his own clan's rules, he was actually expected to destroy the artifact.
According to the regulations of the government officials, he was expected to deliver it to the nearest security post.
Neither was an acceptable option to the business savvy Dathuu.
Instead he had decided to directly walk into the advar's den to say so"¦

His "˜contact' critically eyed the object he had brought, examined it with a little lamp, a magnifying glass and eventually with a handheld, clunky mechanical device which took a photography of the object and then - via shifting through dozens of little pictures on a flickering green screen - began to seek for matches"¦

The trader became seemingly impatient, constantly looking over his shoulder.
This abandoned scrap yard did not feel safe. At all. He could almost even feel the cold breath of a Kollaar agent in his neck. But of course that was just fearful thinking"¦
"œIs it"¦ Is it legit?!" He quickly hissed at her - maybe a tad too demanding.
His contact just looked up to him, smacking her lips in a thoughtful manner.
"œHard to tell without active power cells. I could take it to someone who knows someone who could look at it..."
"œ...And I assume I would have to "˜take your word' that you'd come back and play me later?"
She shrugged casually, which made her metallic chest armour give off a clunking noise.
"œWell, that's the rules, Dathuu. Didn't make them, didn't break them..."

The trader grew seemingly more nervous, once more looking over his shoulder.
"œBut the DahÁ©Á© make them, right? How many of them are hiding among this junk watching us right now?"
His contact just gave him an unimpressed look.
"œBold of you to assume any of them would make it to the surface"¦ Do we have a deal or not?!" She then asked in a somewhat harsher tone.
The trader took a deep breath, his shaky hand hovering over the artifact before he then suddenly grabbed it and sprinted a few steps back.
"œYach no! This shit's getting too hot for m--"¦."

Yet before he could finish his sentence a sharp, mechanical shot could be heard and a small toxic projectile penetrated his neck. He sank onto his knees, his face devoid of expression and his grip around the artifact immediately fading. Flopping over, his dead body hit the ground face first and the small artifact landed about a metre next to him.
The contact immediately took cover and drew her weapon, yet she as well too took a shot and sank to the floor next to the trader"¦

From the shadows the silhouettes of four masked soldiers emerged and slowly made their way towards the artifact.
One of them eventually knelt down and picked it up, curiously inspecting the reason he and his squad had been following the suspected DahÁ©Á© scientist to this meeting out here.

"œDoesn't look like much..." He commented with a sigh.
His superior hunkered down next to him and gave it a glance too.
"œDon't let the miserable state fool you"¦ Report to HQ, potential Code H. And"¦"
He then lowered his voice a little.
"œ...On an unofficial note"¦
One of these Dathuu scumbags ignored the rule on x-tech, so make sure to let their stinky peers know about this here next time you kick some of their asses in the streets"¦ "

*     *     *

DIVIDED WE FALL

USS Courser / Mess Hall

Image credit: Dan Voltz

Lieutenant Golshani had still two hours left before his beta shift would start. This week's shift assignments were semi-inconvenient to him, as beta shift meant that he would not be free once his daughters would come home from school, yet rotation was part of the job.
While he was well aware of the fact that they were old enough to prepare their own meals, do their homework and not cause any trouble, a part of him still could not help but feel the ever lingering tiny voice of parental worry nagging"¦
Sitting on one of the tables with a free view out of one of the large oval windows, he leaned back, stretched out his legs and took a sip of his raktajino. The nebula they were passing through looked nothing less but stunning.

With the Courser skimming the very borders of current Federation space these days, he always enjoyed coming down here once a day and simply looking outside, hoping to see some unique stellar phenomena. He was neither a scientist, nor a cartographer, yet shared their very appreciation for the unknown as well as following his very own inert liking for beauty.
The red and purple clouds outside seemed to slowly move and change shape in the manner of rippling water. It was a soothing view.
Soon the ship would have passed the Sajiin sector and - at least according to the plans - have finished the examination of the local nebulae and make a curve back towards Starbase 812.
Other than nebulae there was"¦ Essentially nothing of apparent interest out here"¦ But Golshani enjoyed the quiet time. He was not a bouncy teenager anymore, and he appreciated taking things slow and steady for a change.
He would miss the beauty and solitude of the area, he thought with a little smirk and readjusted his shades, as suddenly at least one familiar voice snatched him out of his thoughts.

Putting his mug onto the table the engineer slowly turned around in his chair and did a hailing wave.
"œ...And here's me thinking you weren't going to show your face at all today..."
He spoke in a cocky, yet friendly tone.

[Nine]

Crewman Nine
[Bridge "" USS Courser

Seated at one of the science stations on the bridge of the USS Courser was Crewman Nine, an Exocomp. The rather large "˜head' of the thing sitting there was, in fact, the actual entity itself; a sentient machine originally designed for engineering repairs and problem solving in high-risk, difficult-to-access areas. Nine was, at the moment, mounted onto a robotic body, a two-armed, two legged construction reminiscent of the robots of Dr. Graves of Gravesworld. The robotic frame, at the direction of the Exocomp currently "˜riding it', was typing away at the science station's screen, their metallic fingertips covered in a kind of silicon coating. Without that rubber-like coating, the bare metal of its fingers would have been clinking noisily against the display screens, or worse, scratching them. As it was, the only noise Nine made was an occasional quiet whirr of servos as its arms moved, or a very low chirp as its antennae made small physical adjustments.

Nine had only begun its current shift within the last twenty minutes, and the nebulae the ship was passing was the target of its attentions. It had begun by observing a visual scan of the cloud-like stellar body. Nine's cameras observed remarkable, water-like flows of deep reds and rich purples in the Nebula, rivers of each color blending together into beautiful tributaries of mauve and violet and, in some pockets, bright clusters of gem-sharp light that might make one think of rubies and amethysts. It was a visual marvel, which might cause a poet to be awestruck, unable to write what they see and feel.

Nine allowed its visual scanners about three seconds to approximate the picture of the thing before it promptly turned its attentions elsewhere.

For the thinking machine, the concept of beauty, and the unique vision of the nebula before the Exocomp, had no great meaning. Nine had no heart that might beat more swiftly at the incredible sight. It had no brain to be flooded with hormones to simulate awe or wonder. It observed the nebula, recorded a picture of the thing and categorized it in its long-term storage in three different places, and resumed its tasks.

At present, those tasks involved a probing of the nebula's size and general makeup. Its role in assisting the Science Department in this endeavor involved sending a scattering of radiofrequency waves into the nebula, and recording and extrapolating data based on which waves came back, and how quickly. Returning signals gave the Courser additional clues about the origins of the nebula, its chemical makeup, its size and age and more. It could best be described as dull work, involving hours of repetition and observing numbers, and nebulae were very well understood. There didn't tend to be much left to discover about "˜space clouds'. For Nine, the dullness of a task wasn't important. It was work. Nine was a crewman, whose particular field of study and expertise was the Science of Communications, of interpreting and manipulating signals and radio waves, and this was a task it was trained to do.

Charting the shape of a nebula was pointless, as they tended to shift and flow in shape, particularly if they passed through or near other stellar phenomena. In this case, however, Nine was observing that a particular area of the nebula was behaving a little differently; waves returning from it were coming back highly active, suggesting the presence of a particular set of known compounds. This was typical, and the colors of that area of the nebula matched the compounds suggested by the returned signals.

Nine opened up its in-progress text-report in a large digital window at the science station it occupied, near several other stations. It noted the likelihood of the presence of compounds in that particular part of the nebula, and it needed to record the color, which was an additional clue.

The area of the nebula exhibiting these traits is Red. Nine wrote.

It paused, knowing further details than merely "˜red' would be needed for an effective report. It revised the sentence.

The area of the nebula exhibiting these traits is Red in varying RGB color codes between 220 and 198."

It paused again. Throughout its history interacting with humanoids, when Nine had used color codes to express the visual spectrum of light, it had inevitably"¦ inevitably been asked for real world similes. When conceptualizing colors, biologicals didn't typically have a mental view of what 204,0,204 meant, for instance. Instead, they asked for a frame of reference, a common object which had a color comparable to what was being described. Nine returned to its report, the text large enough on the screen to be visible to anyone bothering to look"¦

The area of the nebula exhibiting these traits is Red in varying RGB color codes between 220 and 198. It is roughly the color of a"¦

Silence. Nothing. Internally, Nine was sorting through its digital catalogue of visual representations of objects. Its memory retrieval system was able to pull such data by the preponderance of a certain color range present in the visual representation, but this returned a great deal of data. Nine had essentially commanded itself to "˜recall every red thing', and had filled its temporary workspace of short-term memory with a thousand thousand "˜red things' which might apply. Seconds were passing in the real world as, within its "˜mind', Nine watched a parade of red things it had seen fly past. In order for the simile in this report to be effective, Nine needed to choose something that most humanoids in Starfleet were aware of. To choose something from the Exocomps current "˜homeworld', a small facility on Tyrus IV, was too eclectic; too few members of Starfleet had visited the Tyrus system. Nine had to try to narrow down its thousand thousand red things with objects that were likely to be commonly encountered by most Starfleet crew members, which meant trying to assess the demographics of Starfleet officers and their life experiences, and then"¦

The message remained on the screen as Nine sat, unmoving, silent, and clearly in need of some kind of help, though the reason might not be clear. On the screen read the same:

The area of the nebula exhibiting these traits is Red in varying RGB color codes between 220 and 182. It is roughly the color of"¦

[Don Damien Addams]

[USS Courser - Captain's ready room]

Don's day had started with his only beloved daughter who had gone to Engineer to learn. He knew his daughter had been using "œI am the Captain's daughter excuse" to go to places where she was not supposed to go. It was not easy raising her on this beautiful ship. Also, she was a teenager. That brings headaches on the side.

"œI miss you love. I can see you in our daughter," he said staring at the small frame Torra holding their baby in her arms with Don with his proud smile in the background. She was his life.

Anyway, he needed to head to the bridge there is a ship that needed to be commanded. Then Starfleet had given him a call which he had to sit down.

[Captain's Log: Stardate 76570.20

This is my seventh Starlog. And finally, we got our first explore mission.

Just received orders to go to the Sajin Sector. Not much is known of this sector. What we all know is that probes feedback shared ships had gone missing.

As the Captain of this ship I will be sure that my ship, my crew, and Starfleet citizens will not be one of the vanished ones.

End Captain's log.

Then he got up and pulled his tunic down. What was this? That had never happened when I was a lower rank. It has to be the rank, Then he marched out of his quarters to the bridge.

"œHello everyone," he said happily. Most Captains might say he was too cheery, his daughter would say he was too grumpy.

He sat down. The comfiest seat on the ship. Well close to it. Counselor offices have the best seats. Then he could imagine his mother be proud of him now.

"œWhat do we have for reports today?" he asked. He had wanted to hear what they have to say. He knew they had a call from Starfleet. There was that little cliffhanger a Captain can have. Plus he had wanted to see how each department had to share.

[Kimiko Sugiyama]

Kimiko Sugiyama
[Bridge "" USS Courser]

Kimi finished her remote checks of the internal systems listed on her report. She sighed at the boring routine, but it was part of the science department's obligations to operations. Lieutenant Lonic had observed little fluctuations and prepared a very exhaustive report for her. There were a lot of ways unknown particles and energy pulses from a nebula could seep through a starship's protections and cause havoc with its systems.

But the last one flashed up negative for her spectrum of special scientific tests; it was another simple operational fluctuation within normal limits of performance. Kimi frowned. She was going to have to talk to Lonic again about parameters of tolerance before reporting issues to Science.

Kimi turned and saw what Crewman Nine was doing. She skipped across the bridge and came next to their station.

"œOh my gosh, that scarlet is just so beautiful"¦ Look at that radiance! It's like the sun setting over Fuji-san in autumn!" she gushed.

She looked down at the exocomp's tapping metallic fingertips. A memory flashed across her mind. That time she had crossed the narrow stone spur in the cave on Alaitoc, and those metallic arms had suddenly seized her waist and lifted her off her feet. Nine stated they had calculated a fifty-seven-point-nine chance that she would fall into the magma below"¦ ("œI was doing just fine thank you!" she had snapped.) She would never forget the fearsome strength in those robotic limbs. The silicon coating seemed to be working well, however.

Nine turned a receptor camera to observe her and her eyes sparkled with excitement. "œTo think, we may be the only beings ever to observe this cosmic vista! It's like some galactic artist left this exquisite painting, just waiting for someone to see and love it"¦"

Or are we the only ones? she thought. Her own investigations had proved "œinconclusive" according to official guidelines, much to Kimi's disappointment. But she was sure she had found little clues that there were signs of other lifeforms in the sector "" either present or past. And surely the rumours of disappearing ships was enough to dispatch more probes to investigate? Alas, not everyone shared Kimi's passion for the search for new lifeforms.

And Nine certainly did not seem to care. She looked at his observations on the nebula and sighed again. Then the captain came on deck and Kimi jerked to attention.

[USS Courser - Captain's ready room]
"œHello everyone," he said cheerily

Kimi checked around and saw everyone was continuing as normal. Captain Addams liked it that way. She just needed to get used to it.

"œWhat do we have for reports today?" he asked.

Kimi stepped forward. "œWell, I did the sweep of the internal systems for unknown afflictions and it was all clear, so"¦ well nothing to report, I guess," she faltered a little before the captain's disarming charm. "œBut the nebula looks absolutely spectacular from this angle. I bet it would be beautiful from the mess hall viewport."

She studied her fingernails, wondering if"¦ well, technically she was off-shift now"¦ maybe she could go and study it from there?

[Ian Galloway]

[Ten Forward - USS Courser]

Arafe was pleased. The ship's premier lounge was packed as the members of the crew that were off duty enjoyed the majestic vistas of the swirling colors outside. Even he, as jaded as he was at times, found the view breathtaking. This, this sort of thing was why he'd signed on as a bartender on a Federation starship. Whatever your politics might be, you have to admit that no one, explored more than the Federation. They were always pushing the boundaries and because of that, you got to see the virtually indescribable beauty of the galaxy as was occurring beyond the viewports.

"Barkeep! A Samarian Sunset please."

The request from the Andorian female science officer broke Arafe from his revelry.

"You got it Lieutenant. May I add that you look especially fetching this fine afternoon?"

"You say that every time I order a drink."

"It's not my fault that it happens to be true."

"You are incorrigible."

"Also true."

The lieutenant laughed and Arafe was pleased by the tinkling sound.

"Nothing like happy customers."

He thought as he mixed the Andorian's drink.

[Nine]

Kimiko Sugiyama
[Bridge "" USS Courser]

Kimi turned and saw what Crewman Nine was doing. She skipped across the bridge and came next to their station.

"œOh my gosh, that scarlet is just so beautiful"¦ Look at that radiance! It's like the sun setting over Fuji-san in autumn!" she gushed.

She looked down at the exocomp's tapping metallic fingertips. A memory flashed across her mind. That time she had crossed the narrow stone spur in the cave on Alaitoc, and those metallic arms had suddenly seized her waist and lifted her off her feet. Nine stated they had calculated a fifty-seven-point-nine chance that she would fall into the magma below"¦ ("œI was doing just fine thank you!" she had snapped.) She would never forget the fearsome strength in those robotic limbs. The silicon coating seemed to be working well, however.

Nine turned a receptor camera to observe her and her eyes sparkled with excitement. "œTo think, we may be the only beings ever to observe this cosmic vista! It's like some galactic artist left this exquisite painting, just waiting for someone to see and love it"¦"

Crewman Nine
[Bridge "" USS Courser

Nine rotated on the neck-like mounting point of the robotic frame, twisting about like the head of an owl to observe the skipping approach of its supervisor. As she spoke, Nine put its emotional recognition algorithms to use, scanning the facial expressions she broadcast to the room, and to the tine and inflection of her voice. It had heard her speak in this way before, recently during their exploration of Alaitoc when they had shone lights on the graceful stalactites of the cave, or the glows of phosphorescent fungi on the cavern walls. She found the nebula to be a visually attractive thing, Nine surmised. When she spoke about the sun setting over "˜Fuji-san', Nine recognized the honorific suffix -san from its internal lexicon, but it did not recognize the name "˜Fuji'. The Exocomp decided that "˜Mister Fuji' must be tremendously large, for the sun setting over him to be notable.

Its scanners still trained on his superior officer, Nine's fingers finished up the rest of the sentence, making use of Kimiko's offered simile. If she made the comparison, it was surely a good comparison to make. As she turned to respond to their Captain, Nine completed his report.

The area of the nebula exhibiting these traits is Red in varying RGB color codes between 220 and 182. It is roughly the color of the sun setting over Mister Fuji in Autumn."

Yes, that looked like something a human would write. Thus finished, Nine submitted the electronic report.

Then the captain came on deck and Kimi jerked to attention.

Kimi checked around and saw everyone was continuing as normal. Captain Addams liked it that way. She just needed to get used to it.

Kimi stepped forward. "œWell, I did the sweep of the internal systems for unknown afflictions and it was all clear, so"¦ well nothing to report, I guess," she faltered a little before the captain's disarming charm. "œBut the nebula looks absolutely spectacular from this angle. I bet it would be beautiful from the mess hall viewport."

She studied her fingernails, wondering if"¦ well, technically she was off-shift now"¦ maybe she could go and study it from there?

The Bridge doors opened to permit the entrance of Captain Addams, and Nine recognized the voice as he stated, "œHello everyone". Nine''s digital voice was flat and mechanical as it announced "Captain on the Bridge.", a formal recognition of their Captain's arrival.

As was proper, Nine's superior officer, Kimiko, gave her report to the Captain first. When she finished, it knew it was next in line to respond. "Captain Addams, radiofrequency return scans of this nebula are complete, and its molecular composition has been recorded. Lieutenant Kimiko Sugiyama developed a simile by which we might describe it."

Nine had recorded, repeatedly, the humanoid interest in naming and cataloging things. They named "˜pets', and planets, they named ships and stars and even inanimate personal possessions like firearms. In many cases they didn't name things like Exocomps did, with a numerical system or some other organized categorical arrangement. They gave things names like their own. Like a cat named Spot, or a phaser rifle named "œOld Painless". In the interest of participating in this culture of naming, Nine felt it might be appropriate to propose naming the Nebula, and that Kimiko's comparison would be a good starting point. Or a terrible one. Nine decided to 'test the RNG', as an Academy Instructor had once said.

"As its first Federation discoverers, I believe we can name the Nebula. I might propose the "˜Autumn Fuji Nebula' for consideration, Captain."

[Don Damien Addams]

Kimiko Sugiyama
[Bridge "" USS Courser]

Kimi finished her remote checks of the internal systems listed on her report. She sighed at the boring routine, but it was part of the science department's obligations to operations. Lieutenant Lonic had observed little fluctuations and prepared a very exhaustive report for her. There were a lot of ways unknown particles and energy pulses from a nebula could seep through a starship's protections and cause havoc with its systems.

But the last one flashed up negative for her spectrum of special scientific tests; it was another simple operational fluctuation within normal limits of performance. Kimi frowned. She was going to have to talk to Lonic again about parameters of tolerance before reporting issues to Science.

Kimi turned and saw what Crewman Nine was doing. She skipped across the bridge and came next to their station.

"œOh my gosh, that scarlet is just so beautiful"¦ Look at that radiance! It's like the sun setting over Fuji-san in autumn!" she gushed.

She looked down at the exocomp's tapping metallic fingertips. A memory flashed across her mind. That time she had crossed the narrow stone spur in the cave on Alaitoc, and those metallic arms had suddenly seized her waist and lifted her off her feet. Nine stated they had calculated a fifty-seven-point-nine chance that she would fall into the magma below"¦ ("œI was doing just fine thank you!" she had snapped.) She would never forget the fearsome strength in those robotic limbs. The silicon coating seemed to be working well, however.

Nine turned a receptor camera to observe her and her eyes sparkled with excitement. "œTo think, we may be the only beings ever to observe this cosmic vista! It's like some galactic artist left this exquisite painting, just waiting for someone to see and love it"¦"

Or are we the only ones? she thought. Her own investigations had proved "œinconclusive" according to official guidelines, much to Kimi's disappointment. But she was sure she had found little clues that there were signs of other lifeforms in the sector "" either present or past. And surely the rumours of disappearing ships was enough to dispatch more probes to investigate? Alas, not everyone shared Kimi's passion for the search for new lifeforms.

And Nine certainly did not seem to care. She looked at his observations on the nebula and sighed again. Then the captain came on deck and Kimi jerked to attention.

Kimi checked around and saw everyone was continuing as normal. Captain Addams liked it that way. She just needed to get used to it.

Kimi stepped forward. "œWell, I did the sweep of the internal systems for unknown afflictions and it was all clear, so"¦ well nothing to report, I guess," she faltered a little before the captain's disarming charm. "œBut the nebula looks absolutely spectacular from this angle. I bet it would be beautiful from the mess hall viewport."

She studied her fingernails, wondering if"¦ well, technically she was off-shift now"¦ maybe she could go and study it from there?

[USS Curser - Bridge]

"œYes. It does look spectators, Ensign," the man in the Captain chair replied to the science officer Kimiko.

The Bridge doors opened to permit the entrance of Captain Addams, and Nine recognized the voice as he stated, "œHello everyone". Nine''s digital voice was flat and mechanical as it announced "Captain on the Bridge.", a formal recognition of their Captain's arrival.

As was proper, Nine's superior officer, Kimiko, gave her report to the Captain first. When she finished, it knew it was next in line to respond. "Captain Addams, radiofrequency return scans of this nebula are complete, and its molecular composition has been recorded. Lieutenant Kimiko Sugiyama developed a simile by which we might describe it."

Nine had recorded, repeatedly, the humanoid interest in naming and cataloging things. They named "˜pets', and planets, they named ships and stars and even inanimate personal possessions like firearms. In many cases they didn't name things like Exocomps did, with a numerical system or some other organized categorical arrangement. They gave things names like their own. Like a cat named Spot, or a phaser rifle named "œOld Painless". In the interest of participating in this culture of naming, Nine felt it might be appropriate to propose naming the Nebula, and that Kimiko's comparison would be a good starting point. Or a terrible one. Nine decided to 'test the RNG', as an Academy Instructor had once said.

"As its first Federation discoverers, I believe we can name the Nebula. I might propose the "˜Autumn Fuji Nebula' for consideration, Captain."

Then Don had turned to THEM. To consider Nine as THEM was hard. To call one IT sounded harsh and wrong to Don.

"œAutumn. Fuji. Nebula," Don had mouthed it slowly and liked how it sounded. It sounded like a tourist location out in nowhere. Then he arched his eyebrow. "œAnyone who has better suggestions?" He asked the bridge.

He crossed his legs. "œWhile we find name or choose one. We got thumbs up to enter the nebula," then he looked over to the science station to see them get excited. Except Nine, but if his circuits can transfer power. He could over heat with excitement.

"œHelm lay course to Mark heading 110.25.00 at half impulse." he paused for the best two words. Then he realized the two seats are empty. Then he looked ahead. "œExecute."

Then he just recalled a favor he owned. He tapped his combadge, Captain Addams to Arafe. That favor I owe you. You like to join us on the bridge   he said. There was a way to win favors. Was a bartender who knew how make new great drinks

[Xasik]

Willow Fletcher
[USS Courser - Mess Hall]

There was a cruel beauty to space that inexplicably drew Willow in. As a child she had dreamed of becoming a pilot, of exploring the great unknowns and discovering herself among the stars. Her father had encouraged her to work hard and follow her dreams, but had also kept her grounded in reality. Duty and honour led her to serve in the Romulan Military but it had been her heart that had led her to the stars.

Staring out a viewing window at the hostile void, she could not help but admire the breathtaking beauty of the nebulae. The sight stole her very breath and thoughts more than any lover ever had, although there had been one that had come close, one that she had lost to the chaos of the supernova that had claimed both her home and her father. She missed him but she did not pine for him. Such nonsense would only hold her back. With the loss of her family and her home, the only place that Willow felt she belonged was among the stars.

She simply stared out the window and allowed her mind to go blank for a while, ignoring those that walked by. She wasn't on duty yet and still had some time to kill so she decided to head for the Mess Hall. She had been taking a walk around the ship to clear her head so perhaps a break would be beneficial, a chance for friendly social interaction before she had to put her "˜Lieutenant Commander' mask back on.

Putting his mug onto the table the engineer slowly turned around in his chair and did a hailing wave.
"œ...And here's me thinking you weren't going to show your face at all today..."
He spoke in a cocky, yet friendly tone.

Noticing a familiar presence in the Mess Hall as she entered, the Romulan smiled to herself as she grabbed a glass of iced tea and made her way towards him.
"œJolan Tru," she greeted him as she approached. She returned his hailing wave gesture. "œWhy Shan, could it be that you missed this face? The face that gives young children nightmares?" She smirked as she lifted the dark leather eye patch covering her right eye up for dramatic effect, exposing the scarred remains of her eye. She allowed Golshani a few moments to look at the scars before pulling her eye patch back down again.
"œMind if I join you for a while? There's only so much "˜brooding Romulan solitary' I can stomach, and it's nice to be in the company of someone who doesn't get noticeably uncomfortable around me."

She sat down and visibly relaxed as she took a sip of her tea and closed her eye for a moment. She opened it again and looked towards him with a soft smile that she rarely allowed anyone to see.
"œI have been admiring the nebulae and getting lost in my own thoughts again, thinking about my father and Romulus and Remus, and what my life might have been if they  still existed." She paused for dramatic effect and swirled the refreshing, sweet beverage in her glass before taking a sip. "œI've also been thinking about the one that got away. I don't know if he's even still alive, or if he's moved on. I wouldn't blame him of course. Life is motion and so it must always flow forward. But enough of my unsavory thoughts, how are you today?"

It felt good to share her thoughts freely, to air out her mind without overthinking how to phrase something. Her tongue felt soothed to speak even just two words of her mother tongue. At all times she spoke Federation Standard, both on duty and in casual, social situations so those around her might feel more comfortable with her, but the language was coarse and rough so at times she slipped and allowed herself the indulgence of a few sweet Romulan words. They were like comfort food for her sanity.

[Ian Galloway]

[USS Curser - Bridge]

"œYes. It does look spectators, Ensign," the man in the Captain chair replied to the science officer Kimiko.

Then Don had turned to THEM. To consider Nine as THEM was hard. To call one IT sounded harsh and wrong to Don.

"œAutumn. Fuji. Nebula," Don had mouthed it slowly and liked how it sounded. It sounded like a tourist location out in nowhere. Then he arched his eyebrow. "œAnyone who has better suggestions?" He asked the bridge.

He crossed his legs. "œWhile we find name or choose one. We got thumbs up to enter the nebula," then he looked over to the science station to see them get excited. Except Nine, but if his circuits can transfer power. He could over heat with excitement.

"œHelm lay course to Mark heading 110.25.00 at half impulse." he paused for the best two words. Then he realized the two seats are empty. Then he looked ahead. "œExecute."

Then he just recalled a favor he owned. He tapped his combadge, Captain Addams to Arafe. That favor I owe you. You like to join us on the bridge   he said. There was a way to win favors. Was a bartender who knew how make new great drinks

[Ten Forward - USS Courser]

When his combadge chirped, Arafe was startled. It never did that, in fact he used it so rarely that most of the time, he forgot he even had it and it was from the Captain no less.

"Arafe here Sir. You honor me Captain. I will be right there. Thank you Sir."

He called out to the assistant manager, a delightful human male named Wilson Cavendish to take over as he pulled off his apron and rushed to the turbolift. When the doors opened and he looked out at the bridge, he had to admit he was so overwhelmed with boyish delight that he almost squealed. However, regardless of his usual exuberance, he restrained himself and asked in as dignified a tone as he could manage at that moment.

"Permission to enter the bridge."

[Kimiko Sugiyama]

Kimi Sugiyama
[Bridge]

Once she had finished her report, Nine whirred next to Kimi and delivered its report. She was surprised that she had inspired a simile in the exocomp and stole a glance at its PADD.

The area of the nebula exhibiting these traits is Red in varying RGB color codes between 220 and 182. It is roughly the color of the sun setting over Mister Fuji in Autumn."

"Mister Fuji, who's that?" she said aloud. Then she made the connection and a hand leapt to her mouth. "Oh no, Fuji-san! It's not that san, it's the kun-yomi of yama... I mean... we have different ways to say the same written word, it means mountain!" she began to draw the kanji of å±± in the air. But the conversation had moved on. She shrugged. "Never mind..."

A small part of her mind wondered about some time in the far future, when someone would read that report and scratch their head in complete bafflement. For some reason this made her giggle.

"As its first Federation discoverers, I believe we can name the Nebula. I might propose the "˜Autumn Fuji Nebula' for consideration, Captain."

Kimi sighed, a warm glow coming to her cheeks. Captain Addams liked it, too, and asked for other opinions.

Kimi beamed, turning to the robotic being. "Well done, Nine, it's a really pretty name."

Captain Addams tapped his communicator.

Captain Addams to Arafe. That favor I owe you. You like to join us on the bridge.

This brought a curious look from Kimi. She found the jovial Bolian always had a way to make her giggle, but what was the Captain up to?

Arafe soon arrived, and she waited to find out...

[Kyan Mackenzie]

:: Sickbay | USS Courser ::

Doctor Keer Enark-Aal rapped his talons on the glazed wooden desktop in his office. A bowl sat in front of him with a half eaten catfish, a favorite from his days at the Academy. Beside the bowl was a padd containing the latest findings of the Federation Archeology Council team's expedition to Miri's Planet. Since the Pyramids on Earth were all but destroyed in the Eugenics Wars of the late 20th century on Earth, no one had been able to do any sort of research on the ancient civilizations that built them. But now, having attained permission from the Miran Council of Youngers to explore the ancient ruins, the Federation was doing just that. It was as if Earth was getting a second chance at uncovering their own history. To an amateur historian like Keer, it was riveting.

But of course he couldn't read the paper now. On the other side of his desk, her plumage and wide sapphire eyes peeking over the top, sat his third daughter, Lanir. Her own little talons gripped the edge of the desk as she peered up at her father, awaiting a response. Several moments passed with only the gentle rapping on the cherry red desk top. Finally, Keer spoke.

"So you say that this Bolian boy...."

"Glin!" she squawked. "Glin Prel. He said that we have bird brains!" Lanir offered plaintively.

Keer nodded. "And then you kicked him?"

Lanir nodded slowly. But then furrowed her brow and added. "He deserved it! He can't say racist things about us!"

Keer sighed. Truthfully he wanted to laugh. He imagined the look on the Bolian boy's face when little Lanir had kicked him. And he did think that it was well earned, but it wouldn't do anyone any good to tell her that. However he would be having a conversation with Lieutenant Prel about his son... and where he might have heard such epithets. For now though, the issue at hand sat before him.

"You will apologize of course." he offered, almost as an afterthought. "And you will be restricted to our quarters for two days. You can help your mother with the hatchlings."

Lanir knew that she was getting off light so she simply nodded. Despite her classmate's assertion, she was a very bright girl. She wasn't looking forward to helping with her new brothers though. Their beaks were sharp and she always got scratched when she fed them. They were cute though.

"And what prompted young master Prel to comment on your brain size?" Keer asked, breaking the girl's reverie.

She shrugged. "I said that he was too fat to fly, even if he had wings like us."

Luckily, Avian physiology didn't allow for smiling, and Keer was good at maintaining a stoic composure, even among his own kind. He simply shook his head. "So Mister Prel isn't the only one saying mean things then."

Lanir shrugged again. Ker was about to que up a fatherly trope about using words to build others up and not tear them down when one of the nurses, a Denobulan female poked her head in the door.

"Doctor, pardon the interruption, but they need you in the delivery room. It looks like Ensign Martinez is having twins." she offered, smiling broadly at Lanir. "Hello little one!" she added.

Keer rose from his desk. "Very well." he sighed. "Lanir go back to our quarters and stay there. Oren, please cancel Lieutenant M'Rut's tusk exam, or get Doctor Taylor to fill in." He walked around the desk and started for the door, but then stopped and turned back to Lanir. "Of course... you may come to the nursury later to welcome the new arrivals... but only here and then straight home."

Lanir, who's expression had been one of resignation over her impending incarceration, brightened at this. "Thank you father!" she chirped before getting up and running out of the room, knocking over the statue on the table by the door with her wing as she exited.

Keer picked it up as he followed her out, placing it back on the table. "Alright Orenm let's go and spread this.." he said indicating his daughter's fleeing form "....joy to others."

[Sirol]

USS Courser / Bridge

Lieutenant Lonic

For the last minutes, Lonic had been silent and merely observing the communication between his surroundings.
He had had nothing to report to his Captain - other than the fact that nothing unexpected aboard or in the vicinity of the ship was about to occur - so the tall T'lli Betan simply saved both, time and energy by remaining quiet and observant of both, his readings, as well as the interactions of the officers around him.

The two scientists Sugiyama and Nine possessed a remarkably close pattern of interaction, a way of communicating that was almost reminiscent of families, although both of them - more than obviously - stemmed from different species.
Their aspirations for naming the nebula was"¦ Fascinating to say the least, yet not half as interesting as their following clarification of words bearing different meanings depending on context.
Lonic was not accustomed to Mister/Mount Fuji in Autumn, but he understood what they were trying to establish here: A precise as possible way to pinpoint a specific colour to be understood by the widest possible audience.

As now the Captain joined in, asking for more/other/alternative suggestions, the Lieutenant decided to try his own skills at linguistic pinpointing as well.
(Not that he was really interested in naming anything. He was content with the coordinates of the nebula, but he saw it as a sort of valuable social exercise.)
"œNeyii Carnelian, Captain..." He began, then decided that this potentially did not provide the needed context for the commanding officer either. "œ...Vibrant, orange-red, semi luminescent gemstones to be found in the equatorial regions of Risa."
He then hunkered down over his terminal again, as if nothing had been said; resorting back to his work again.
A moment of silence others may or may not have considered uncomfortable, yet Lonic did not care. He was one of a cosmic minority of people who actually did not mind the silence.

With the Captain eventually though ordering a change of course as well as inviting more people to the bridge, the tall OPS occupant eventually looked up from his console again.
A new slice of the nebula meant a new area for all of them to be watchful over.
He could only imagine the excitement of the scientists to catalogue yet another piece of Neyii Carnelian cloud matter.
His own work was tame in comparison, yet useful nevertheless. Under normal circumstances.
In here - so he had learned within the last days and weeks of his assignment - the chance of any unforeseen things were minimal.
All systems were working sufficiently and there was neither internal nor external communication for him to relay.
He simply stood there and waited, quietly observing Civilian Arafe joining the Captain on the bridge.

One of the things Lonic - despite the duration of his service aboard the Courser by now - still had not fully internalised was the fluent borders between military and civilian life aboard. Many if not most of these officers had their families with them.
A strange, risky and illogical choice, especially for missions in places like this one"¦ Barely surveyed border territories"¦ But Lonic was not in the position (nor eager) to speak his mind about it. Instead he booked this aspect as part of his personal learning process.

Hunkering down over his terminal again he took a deep breath, as suddenly a little blue blip began to pulsate on his screen.
Raising a non-existent eyebrow he enlarged the blip with a finger swipe over the screen.
A blip"¦ A ping"¦ A repeating signal of some sort"¦?
Yet the software had a noticeably hard time deciphering what exactly they were dealing with.

Leaning forward over the console he looked at Captain Addams.
"œCaptain, we entered the reception range of a"¦ Transmission"¦ Of some sort"¦ A potential communique, but the computer has a hard time pinpointing a definitive language..."
He paused for a moment, then - with the press of a few buttons - sent the coordinates of the signal to the science station.
More assets to work, more eyes to see more"¦
Maybe"¦ Very likely so Sugiyama and Nine would be able to assist in deciphering what - for now - looked like a multilayered and fragmented gibberish of broken Klingon, Orion, Romulan, Son'a, as well as a few others that could not immediately be identified.
Under normal circumstances isolating several layers of audio should have been an easy task for any ship's computer, something about these layers though made it"¦ Incredibly hard, almost as if what the computer assumed one layer to be - say - Klingon was "˜mostly' Klingon, yet not quite"¦

"œI recommend a closer examination of both the signal and its potential source"¦" The officer then calmly added, still squinting over what exactly it was that made it so hard to pinpoint whether these fragments were legit or not...

_______________________________________

USS Courster / Mess Hall

Lieutenant Golshani

Golshani chuckled at Commander Fletcher's remark about her "˜face to give children nightmares' and made an inviting gesture towards her, pointing at the empty seat across the table.
"œI have been around for a few decades; seen my fair share of both, cosmic miracles and cosmic horrors. Trust me when I say that I'm not easily terrified. Yet. But I'll make sure you'll be the first one to get my notice if that changes..."
He took a sip of his mug and leaned back in his seat, giving the exchange officer a calm look.

"œI know what you mean"¦ Sometimes the melancholic thoughts resurface no matter what"¦ Is it because this sector borders former Romulan territory?
I remember when I was assigned to Starbase 77, the first few weeks I had a hard time relaxing. That was the home base of my wife's Ship before"¦ Y'know"¦ Things..."
He took a deep breath, trying not to remember; trying not to sour his own thoughts with tragedies that had just barely healed in both him and his children"¦
"œLife is motion..." He repeated her words, taking another sip, symbolically drowning his thoughts. "œ...and it always finds a way."

He pressed out a little smirk, then cleared his throat.
"œSo"¦ I can imagine there's not much to do for security on survey missions like these"¦ What do you guys do to keep yourself busy? Drills? Seminars?
My folks in engineering and I are currently using the time to optimise non-essential systems. We are digital janitors to say so"¦ Not the worst of fates, but after two weeks it feels like we are running out of things to optimise..."
He chuckled a little thinking about his assistant sh'Sael and his computer specialist C8 Red arguing about procedures, just as they - in a playful manner of course - had been doing throughout the entire mission so far.
"œ...Got word that the Captain's daughter is interested in an engineering career path as well. I wonder whether she'll join us at one point. My department is always eager to see a new face.
How about yours? Got any interesting new additions to security as of late?"

[Kimiko Sugiyama]

Kimiko Sugiyama
[Bridge "" USS Courser]

Kimi listened to the name suggestion from Lieutenant Lonic and also thought this was a great effort. Ooh Risa, I'd love to go back there! she thought.

Despite her earlier bad thoughts about the Betan, Kimi was enjoying quizzing him on his species and culture - only relatively recently introduced into the Federation. And she was delighted to find he was equally curious about humans. The tall clone looked like a waxwork sometimes (a side effect of the radiation-resistant gene-manipulations), and his manner was as calm and logical as Nine. But she sensed there were feelings there beneath the surface trying to break out. And she was determined to be the one to help him release them!

"œCaptain, we entered the reception range of a"¦ Transmission"¦ Of some sort"¦ A potential communique, but the computer has a hard time pinpointing a definitive language..."

"A transmission?" said Kimi, breathlessly. "From... other beings!?"

She scampered to her station and skimmed the data, then went straight to listening to the audio. She frowned, deploying her own linguistics training. The computers were good, but often missed the cultural nuances.

"That sounds like Klingon, or a language of the same family, but..." she listened harder. "Orion - a male, if that colloquial pronoun was spoken correctly. And... well... that doesn't make sense!"

The layers intermingled and interfered with one another.

"Ugh, the computer isn't separating them!" Kimi gasped in frustration. "Nine, can you do something with this?"

She knew inside that computer brain was the genius to clarify something like this, to find the elusive data patterns and solve the coding. And she really wanted to understand what they were saying...

[Nine]

Kimi Sugiyama
[Bridge]

Once she had finished her report, Nine whirred next to Kimi and delivered its report. She was surprised that she had inspired a simile in the exocomp and stole a glance at its PADD.

"Mister Fuji, who's that?" she said aloud. Then she made the connection and a hand leapt to her mouth. "Oh no, Fuji-san! It's not that san, it's the kun-yomi of yama... I mean... we have different ways to say the same written word, it means mountain!" she began to draw the kanji of å±± in the air. But the conversation had moved on. She shrugged. "Never mind..."

A small part of her mind wondered about some time in the far future, when someone would read that report and scratch their head in complete bafflement. For some reason this made her giggle.

Kimi sighed, a warm glow coming to her cheeks. Captain Addams liked it, too, and asked for other opinions.

Kimi beamed, turning to the robotic being. "Well done, Nine, it's a really pretty name."

Crewman Nine
[Bridge "" USS Courser

The Exocomp processed what was shared; the revelation that a Mountain was being referred to, and not a Man! Nine's report had already been submitted, suggesting that a "˜Mister Fuji in Autumn' was comparable to the nebula out there! Nine's body froze. "I see. I will attempt to submit a correction to my report, then." it stated, choosing to accept whatever discipline, or more likely, humanoid teasing might arise from its report! At least the name it proposed had been assessed to be "˜pretty', a word with positive connotations.

USS Courser / Bridge

Lieutenant Lonic

As now the Captain joined in, asking for more/other/alternative suggestions, the Lieutenant decided to try his own skills at linguistic pinpointing as well.
(Not that he was really interested in naming anything. He was content with the coordinates of the nebula, but he saw it as a sort of valuable social exercise.)
"œNeyii Carnelian, Captain..." He began, then decided that this potentially did not provide the needed context for the commanding officer either. "œ...Vibrant, orange-red, semi luminescent gemstones to be found in the equatorial regions of Risa."
He then hunkered down over his terminal again, as if nothing had been said; resorting back to his work again.
A moment of silence others may or may not have considered uncomfortable, yet Lonic did not care. He was one of a cosmic minority of people who actually did not mind the silence.

Nine searched its internal databases for what a Neyii Carnelian was, and when Lieutenant Lonic clarified that it was a gemstone specific to Risa, this drastically helped to narrow the search. The Exocomp had minimal geological information in its own long-term storage, only bothering to store the most basic categorical information as might pertain to its signal-interpretation and radio-frequency propagation work. Nine's only recent study of gemstones involved it reviewing an article studying the effects of high-frequency vibration on sapphires by Mineralogist Grake of Vulcan. An image Nine had available for standard Carnelians showed gemstones well within the color parameters of the nebula. Lieutenant Lonic, clearly, had a talent for making color comparisons. Nine elected to announce as such.

"With permission, I will add Lieutenant Lonic's simile to the correct "˜Mount' Fuji in my report, as well. It appears quite apt."

He called out to the assistant manager, a delightful human male named Wilson Cavendish to take over as he pulled off his apron and rushed to the turbolift. When the doors opened and he looked out at the bridge, he had to admit he was so overwhelmed with boyish delight that he almost squealed. However, regardless of his usual exuberance, he restrained himself and asked in as dignified a tone as he could manage at that moment.

"Permission to enter the bridge."

Nine failed to recognize the identity of the"¦ yes, the Bolian that entered the Bridge. There were signs of humanoid joy and excitement on the male's face, and Nine even took a moment to permanently store the expression in a long list of facial expressions to expand its recognition database. The Exocomp had no way of knowing there was a good reason it did not know Arafe; Exocomps had no use whatsoever for Barbers or Bartenders, of which Arafe was both.

This did not prevent Nine from running the operation mv.BodyLanguage.UpperBody.Nod.4E /seated, an expression meant to be a "˜welcoming nod', toward the entering Bolian. That should satisfy social expectations for the event, based on past practice.

Kimiko Sugiyama
[Bridge "" USS Courser]

Kimi listened to the name suggestion from Lieutenant Lonic and also thought this was a great effort. Ooh Risa, I'd love to go back there! she thought.

Despite her earlier bad thoughts about the Betan, Kimi was enjoying quizzing him on his species and culture - only relatively recently introduced into the Federation. And she was delighted to find he was equally curious about humans. The tall clone looked like a waxwork sometimes (a side effect of the radiation-resistant gene-manipulations), and his manner was as calm and logical as Nine. But she sensed there were feelings there beneath the surface trying to break out. And she was determined to be the one to help him release them!

"A transmission?" said Kimi, breathlessly. "From... other beings!?"

She scampered to her station and skimmed the data, then went straight to listening to the audio. She frowned, deploying her own linguistics training. The computers were good, but often missed the cultural nuances.

"That sounds like Klingon, or a language of the same family, but..." she listened harder. "Orion - a male, if that colloquial pronoun was spoken correctly. And... well... that doesn't make sense!"

The layers intermingled and interfered with one another.

"Ugh, the computer isn't separating them!" Kimi gasped in frustration. "Nine, can you do something with this?"

She knew inside that computer brain was the genius to clarify something like this, to find the elusive data patterns and solve the coding. And she really wanted to understand what they were saying...

An unusual puzzle then appeared, announced by Lieutenant Lonic and presented for the team to decipher. A signal, comprised of words in multiple languages, fragmented, and thrust together. Lieutenant Kimiko was able to understand individual words, but as she said, it didn't make sense assembled as it was. Even the sagacious Lonic was uncertain about the communique.

At Lieutenant Kimiko's urging, Nine adjusted its immediate focus. "I will endeavor to do just that, ma'am." its robotic voice spoke out. Nine's first instinct was to dissect the message; to peel apart its outer protective layer, and separate and lay out all the little bits of its guts so that each could be understood individually. The Exocomp brought the audio wave file of the recording up on its screen, the various squiggly waves arranged in a multilayered mess. "Computer, identify and highlight by color, in the main recording, any words you recognize by their language. Create new blank audio tracks on my screen for each language, and segregate those words each to their own track based on that language. Maintain their position in the timespan of the recording. I'll assist manually with keystrokes."

The computer would, hopefully, successfully do just that, peeling out the various multilayered pieces until isolated words had been removed. The Exocomp twisted itself to look to its supervisor, and to Lieutenant Lonic. "Lieutenants, your assistance with organizing the various layers of this audio, and then guiding the computer to translate what I can remove, is requested."

The Exocomp made its screen and digital workspace available to either Lieutenants, allowing them to collaborate on the same project without all piling in on the same screen. As Kimiko had experienced, some of the language was challenging to interpret, sounding slurred or garbled due to the layering confusion. Perhaps a trained ear could help arrange it all...

[Don Damien Addams]

[USS Courser]

"œPermission granted, Mister Corass," Don said to the Bolian bartender. It was good to have the bartender on the bridge. It was not for civilians per say, but serving the crew drinks had a benefit. The Captain had rules like every other Captain on the ship.

Then Don perked up as the operation officer who mentioned the suggestion of Neyi Carnelian for a name for the Nebula. He smiled the suggestion and see what name they will use. However they were interrupted by a report of a message in space.

The energy from science was like refreshing energy like the smell of a good cup of coffee. He was not a big fan of coffee. He does drink more when he does extra work in his office.

The surprise of language barrier was not a big surprise. The Captain had great pride of his crew. He had total confidence in them. They were busy bees trying to decipher the language at the science station.

"œAs you attempt to decipher. Can you see what direction it is coming from?" he asked.