Briefing: Apsloe Revisited - Part 2/2

Posted on Sat Jul 11th, 2026 @ 11:02pm by Commander Scarlet Blake & Commander Cornelius 'Kit' Hanlon & Lieutenant Commander Christopher Evans & Lieutenant Commander Daniel Masters & Lieutenant B'Lakkam Slichez & Lieutenant JG Riaothren (Ren) ch'Shaorhs & Lieutenant JG Amari

1,734 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Prologue: To Boldly Go
Location: Briefing Room
Timeline: MD -01, 09:15

CONTINUED:

Standing outside the briefing room, Amari hesitated; she wasn't a senior officer; she wasn't even a member of Starfleet, but she really wanted to see how they conducted their mission briefings, how much information the officers were and weren't given. She took a breath and somewhat gingerly pressed the chime.

"Come in," Kit called out and smiled as he saw her. "Amari..." he motioned to a seat for her to take. It would be good for her to see how things worked for the senior staff. "We are just briefing on the Apsloens." He stood and took his own PADD, putting it in front of the seat he had indicated she should take. In case she wanted to see the briefing notes he had put together.

Amari blinked a couple of times, not expecting to be immediately invited to take a seat and join the briefing without even asking. "Thank you Commander."

Daniel eyed the white uniformed woman; he'd heard there was an exchange officer onboard but hadn't met her yet. He'd also heard about some technology implanted in her that she'd managed to persuade the chief engineer to let her access the Lcars system with, which would need some investigating. Allowing a non-Starfleet officer onto the ship was one thing; allowing them considerable access to the ship's computer was another thing entirely.

Taking the spare seat, Amari grabbed the Padd Kit had placed beside it. She started to read the catch-up on what had already been discussed.

Blake glanced to her First Officer at the unorthodox invitation, but decided to trust his judgement. Besides, Amari was here to learn about Starfleet as much as serve it. She gave a single nod before sitting back and crossing her legs, but her posture never faltered. "So, by all accounts, this should be a run-of-the-mill second contact mission, but keeping in mind how little we learnt on the first...let's keep our eyes and ears open. We'll beam down for an initial meeting with their representatives; most of you will be on that team; I want as many instincts and first impressions down there as possible, especially considering the last report. Then, all going well, we'll break into smaller teams and explore further with a view to recommending next diplomatic steps. Any questions or thoughts?"

"Is this report everything we have?" Daniel asked. "Can we access the sensor records from the Brahma? It's extremely concerning there is so little information for us to work with."

"We have them, but there was nothing remarkable found in the routine scans they carried out," Blake noted it that way, because that was all they had carried out. "But let's pull them up anyway and take another look, just in case," she nodded firmly to him.

"As there isn't much to read, I suggest you brief your departments," Kit said as he looked at them all. "I am still working on finalising the away teams."

Chris Evans wasn’t sure if he would be on one of the away teams, but would do just as the Captain asked and brief the Operations Department.

B'Lakkam thought about the report and, after a small audible hum, offered, "If this is solely what we have to go on, I might suggest that meeting these people and exploring some of their territories, and getting to know the common people would be helpful to make a more complete report than on the first contact. Even so, I would caution making any overbroad declarations just based on the interactions with a few."

Blake nodded briskly, in complete agreement with the Chief Counsellor. So little intel had been gathered for the first contact report, they had to consider if it was by design. If they could talk to more people on the ground, it might help them get around any careful curation that was happening with the government representatives. "Absolutely. When the Away Team breaks up into smaller groups, I want a team in the local market or square...whatever it is they use for shopping and socialising."

As she read the report and listened to the discussion, Amari kept going back to a certain line in the report, which didn't quite make sense. "Captain.." she began to say, uncertain whether to speak. "My translator is struggling to give me a meaning for this word... Entropy."

Blake picked up the padd, searching for the entry Amari was referring to. "Cultural structure exhibits higher than expected entropy for a species of this technological level..." she read out, managing to keep her features stoic despite her inner sigh. There was nothing quite like a report written by a Vulcan. "It can mean a few things across different sciences. Here, it's pretty much a fancy way of saying there's more disorder in their society than they'd expect from a technologically advanced people."

"They have all the technology but have not used it to advance their culture as your federation has?" Amari asked, still uncertain if she had interpreted the Captain's words appropriately.

"Or at least, there's still some disharmony amongst the people, but it doesn't say what kind," Blake shook her head with a soft sigh, trying to hold her frustration back at the lack of intel. "Often when a culture reaches a certain level of technology, at least some of the division and cultural strife fades. A lot of tech solves problems that had been causing hardships. It sounds like here, there was a little more dissent amongst the public than they'd expected to see. Let's keep an eye out for what they might have meant by that, Amari."

"Yes, Sir." Amari said, she activated the computer implant in her forearm and typed out an entry adding to her translator's library a definition for 'entropy.'

"Are there any other questions?" Kit asked, looking at the senior staff. He had no expectations one way or another...questions were good, equally, he knew they were all capable. And there wasn't that much to go on until they arrived and could get a lay of the land and the people and planet.

B'Lakkam observed Amari, his eyes lingering on her slightly too long, but said nothing at the moment. He had not met her. He certainly would remember if he had. She was mysterious and beautiful. She also seemed to have a lot of wisdom in her words. Perhaps after the briefing, they should have a discussion to determine how much they thought alike. He also wanted to know more about her and her race. So many questions, but so few answers....

As the silence stretched, Kit looked around for a moment before he gave a small smile. "Alright then...dismissed," he said, giving a nod as he stood, out of habit more than anything else.

"Thank you, Commander," B'Lakkam politely replied, as he quickly escaped the room. He wanted to make certain that he could wait for Amari and ask her for some time.

The Assistant Ops Chief gave a brief nod to his crewmates and turned to leave.

Evans gave a soft smile before quietly making his exit. He had several tasks he needed to check on or complete, and only a short time to get them done.

Looking at the assembled officers for a moment Daniel gave a small nod at Blake and Hanlon. "Captain, Commander." Then he stood up and left.

Finishing updating her computer's translation database, Amari shut down the implant and stood up to head for the door.

Blake watched them all leave, remaining silent until only Kit remained with her at the table. She took her time to finish the last swig of coffee, taking the chance to gather her thoughts in the quiet. And impressively, Kit seemed to instinctively understand that she needed a moment. He simply watched her, patiently.

She finally set her cup on the table, turning her cool blue gaze to his. "I don't like it, Hanlon," she finally said, her voice almost a whisper, yet still firm in its conviction. "It doesn't read right, and it doesn't feel right. I thought at first this might be some kind of test from the Admiral, but I don't think so. I think it really is as...odd as it seems."

Kit met her eyes, frowning at it before he shook his head. "Honestly, I...am not disagreeing. We don't know what happened with the First Contact, it could be something there they didn't take into account, or even reacted to. It's a new species, for...all we know, they all got intoxicated on something and that is why the reports leave so much to be desired," the frown eased and he gave a small smile. "It's Second Contact. We can verify, we can...make sure things are done right this time."

"Let's make sure that we do. It's our first mission, we have eyes on us. I don't want to give anyone a reason to keep watching us for a second mission," Blake pointed out with an arched eyebrow, pushing herself up. She paused long enough to refill her coffee cup from the canister. She knew she'd be glued to the comms and sensors while they were down there. Part of her had to fight the urge to go down with them. She wondered if that first officer feeling ever faded or if every captain felt that way.

Blake took a sip of the still hot coffee, glancing across the table to Kit. "Keep your eyes and ears open down there, Hanlon. And watch your back..." she said softly, her eyes holding his intently before she finally made her way for the door. "Consider that an order..."

Kit watched her, a small smile coming to him before he nodded. "Yes ma'am," he said, more to the door than anything else. He let out a breath and looked around the briefing room, before he frowned. Now there was an away team to consider. And that...well, that was going to be done delicately.

OFF:


Commander Kit Hanlon
First Officer
USS Fenrir

Commander Scarlet Blake
Commanding Officer
USS Fenrir

Lt. Commander Christopher Evans
Chief Operations Officer
USS Fenrir

Lt. Commander Daniel Masters
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Fenrir

Lieutenant B'Lakkam Slichez
Chief Counselor
USS Fenrir

Lieutenant JG Ren ch'Shaorhs
Assistant Chief Operations Officer
USS Fenrir

Lieutenant JG Amari
Engineering Officer
USS Fenrir
(PNPC Masters)

 

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