Baby, Azure Cyan Me Now? pt1
Posted on Tue Aug 11th, 2026 @ 12:41am by Lieutenant B'Lakkam Slichez & Lieutenant JG Amari
Edited on on Tue Aug 11th, 2026 @ 12:45am
2,492 words; about a 12 minute read
Mission:
Mission 1: Behind the Curtain
Location: Valhalla Bar
Timeline: immediately after the briefing, Md -01
When the briefing had concluded, B'Lakkam made certain that he got out ahead of Lieutenant Amari. When she came out and got a little way down the corridor, he strode up beside her and said, "Lieutenant Amari, do you mind if I have a moment of your time?"
Amari looked up as the blue skinned humanoid fell into step beside her, in her short time onboard she'd already encountered two other blue skinned species but this one didn't have the antennae of an Andorian or the hairlessness of a Bolian. "Of course Lieutenant," she replied.
"Thank you for your generosity," B'Lakkam answered gratefully. "I have to say, that I was most impressed with your observations during the briefing. Many of your statements were similar to the thoughts of my own. However, while I am familiar with a great many species through my education, I cannot say that I have ever encountered yours. Can you tell me more about yourself and your species, if you do not mind?" B'Lakkam added the last five words hopefully and with an upward lilt in his voice.
Already anticipating the question Amari smiled slightly. "I'm a Lesrai, here through the officer exchange program."
"I have to admit that I do not know anything about the Lesrai," B'Lakkam answered with great interest. "I am always keenly interested in new civilizations and societies. So, if you would not mind, I would love to learn all about you and your species, if you have the time."
As another addition to the new species' Amari had encountered so far she was equally interested in his. "I came to the briefing hoping I'd get permission to attend it rather than being asked to attend and it was a lot shorter than I was expecting so I'm not due back in engineering for a while yet, so I have some time.. right now."
“Well, that seems fortuitous for the both of us, then. Is there somewhere that you would prefer to talk? My office? The lounge? Someplace else?” That sounded a bit creepy, B’Jized! Just cover it. “Wherever you think would be best for talking will be fine with me.”
"Maybe the lounge?" Amari suggested, "I could use a snack."
“Very well, let’s head there.” He paused, thinking on how to sort the may questions in his head. “Is there a snack that you particularly enjoy?”
Amari led the way toward one of the turbolifts. "There's a food humans call cheese, made from the milk of something called a Cow, we don't have anything like that on my world. It's very nice."
"Cheese? You do not have cheese on your world? So there are no milk bearing animals on your planet?" B'Lakkam inquired. He then mused, "If you like cheese, have you ever had pizza or quiche? Also, what is your planet even called? Is it also called Lesria, like your species?" he asked as they continued.
"We call it Lesra, and ourselves Lesrai but we've heard others call us Lesran before." Reaching one of the turbolifts Amari hit the call button and waited. "I don't mind either really, without hearing it from a Lesrai themselves I guess they would make whatever makes the most sense to them."
"Lesra, thank you for letting me know," B'Lakkam replied easily. "Which do you prefer, Lesrai or Lesran? I know that you said that you do not care, but certainly you must have a preference, don't you, or perhaps you call it something else?" he inquired, trying to find out more about her tastes. “So tell me more about your planet. You don’t have cheese. What do you have?”
"A clan based structure that attempt to get along nicely but often hold grudges. We do have an animal that makes something you could call milk." Amari huffed slightly remembering old childhood stories "But the last Lesrai that tried to drink it died in horrendous pain three days layer,, so I don't think trying to make cheese out of that would be a good idea." The turbolift arrived and she stepped inside.
That struck a little too close to home for B'Lakkam. Orion syndicates were essentially the same thing. The government had long been taken over by them and was not of any real significance. However, he pushed those feelings aside and laughed lightly. "I would say that would be a very good reason to not eat your planet's cheese," he answered stepping into the turbolift.
"Why don't you tell me more about yourself? What are you interests? What do you like to do when you're not working? Why did you want to participate in the officer exchange program?" B'Lakkam allowed to roll off his tongue. He then laughed lightly again. "I'm sorry to bombard you with so many questions. Please excuse me if I am asking too much all at once."
"Deck 3," Amari called out and then shook her head slightly. "It's ok, I've had a lot of these sort of questions since I arrived here, I'm new and usual and people are very curious, just like me. My people love technology and federation technology is so much more advanced than ours, we have warp drive, particle weapons, excellent automation and things like that but nothing on the federations scale."
"So, are you here to learn about Federation technology and take it to your people?" B'Lakkam inquired, realizing that is exactly he would do if he was in any way attached to his own kind.
"I think the Captain would quickly have me removed from the ship if that was my only reason for coming here," Amari remarked. "While I certainly plan to tell my people about the various technologies I see here I'll only be sharing the technical information they will allow me to. Maybe one day we can arrange some form of technology exchange."
"I suppose much of that will depend on whether your civilization decides to join the Federation. However, it seems fragmented. Do all the clans get along or is there fighting amongst them?"
"We're getting better at resolving our differences without fighting but there are still long standing grudges between some of the clans," Amari replied. "Some of them have gone on for so long they can't even remember the original cause but were still wanting to fight over it. We make very good technology but not all of us use it for good."
"Oh?" B'Lakkam asked, his interest piqued. This sounds all too familiar.
"Conflict breeds technology and technology breeds conflict. You invent something and your first thought is how can this help my people, the next one is how can I use it against my enemies." The trip to Deck 3 was a short one and quickly the turbolift doors opened again. "We made weapons that could strip someone down atom by atom, ones that would make the infected reject their implants or even take them over and use them against them. Most of them are outlawed now but I bet most still have them well hidden somewhere."
"Implants? Tell me about those and what would happen if they were rejected from one of your kind?" B'Lakkam asked in a slightly disturbed tone. "And why do you suspect they still exist? Does your clan have them?"
As if on cue the computer implant in Amari's arm flashed into life projecting itself milimeters above the sleeve of her uniform "Translation implants, scanners and computing, things like that. Most Lesrai have the same basic set then usually some more special ones that only their clan uses and don't often share. My clan is small but respected."
B'Lakkam watched as Amari let the implants come out of her arm. "Basic sets?" he asked, completely perplexed. "Are these implants put into you after you're born or at some particular time? Or are your kind and these implants born together, for lack of a better phrase?" B'Lakkam's face screwed up as the Turbolift stopped and opened. "It feels almost Borg-like, but you do not have a collective consciousness, right?"
Amari made a slight huffing sound, this wasn't the first time she'd been compared to the Borg. "No we're all individuals, we get our implants when we reach adulthood. Rejection is almost zero percent." She led the way out of the lift towards the lounge. "And almost no one says no to having them implanted."
"What happens to the people that do have rejections or refuse implants?" B'Lakkam asked, feeling like these individuals might be treated poorly. "Why does almost nobody refuse them?" He felt like something insidious could be in this society, though he had no idea what beyond what Orions already did.
"Most of them live out their lives just like a Lesrai with implants would, same with those who don't want them. We've done it for centuries and all the implants benefit our lives or work." Amari pointed to her eye. "Without the implant here I wouldn't be able to translate anything written in your languages into mine quickly enough to be able to work here. With your chief engineer's permission my computer implant is connected to your ships computer, with the appropriate restrictions based on my access level of course."
"So, your race has not figured out how to create a universal translator," B'Lakkam mused. "Technology is a great thing but I have to wonder if it makes us less when we take it into ourselves. I'll have to dwell on that thought later tonight. But right now, I could be speaking to you in Federation Standard, Orion, or Betelgeusian, and the computer on this ship would make it sound like I was speaking in your native tongue."
"I have a vocal translator implant too, though wearing one of your combadges means I don't need it so much but your universal translator is not perfect, there are words in your languages I have no appropriate translation for.. like 'Entropy'" Amari remarked calling back to her being confused about the word at the briefing.
Nervously laughing, B'Lakkam asked, "Dare I ask what parts of you do not have implants or enhancements?"
"Most of me is un-augmented, I mostly have the basics; vocal and visual translators, the computer and a self defense implant. I might have some more done when I go back home." Together they passed through the doors into the Valhalla lounge.
"A self defense implant? What exactly does that do?" B'Lakkam wondered. "And what further augments would you want done?"
"It delivers an electric change to anything I touch," Amari replied, "when it's activated of course. It started off as a defense against a predator animal that is near mine and several other clans territories. Then we refined it. As for implants, whatever my clan will let me have, maybe some other clans might offer me some of theirs too, being the only Lesrai to serve off world means I could be popular by the time I get back,"
B'Lakkam stopped in his tracks, as he asked, "Hang on.... Let you have? You have to ask your clan for permission to modify yourself? Why? And why would other clans let you have modifications?" He shook his head slowly from side to side as if the information was incomprehensible. "I'm just trying to understand everything that you are telling me."
Amari took a moment to consider the question. "Most of the clans are very protective of the technology they have, exchanges of technology between clans are the result of months of negotiations, political wrangling and even offers of marriage, all to gain influence and favour. My clan isn't the most influential but I'm the second daughter of my clan chief and married into another high ranking clan so I have some influence."
"Married?" B'Lakkam asked slightly surprised. "How long have you been married? What does your husband think of you being here? Excuse me, that was a rather poor statement by me. Perhaps you married another sex. What does your spouse think of you being here? Do you have children? And with you marrying in to this clan, does your original clan get all of the technology, as well?" His head felt like it was spinning a bit. Amari seemed rather unphased by all of this. Had B'Lakkam changed that much since he fled Orion? Was he ever like that?
"My husband was the one who sponsored my application to the military, clan Karaya mostly controls the military, being a high ranking member of my clan they allowed me to apply as an officer rather than a regular crewman." Amari headed up to the bar as she spoke. "Applying to your officer exchange program took a lot more convincing of both my clan and his."
"I am a bit confused. When you married into your new clan, why would your old clan have any say and why would it take a lot of convincing? I would think that they would jump at the opportunity to learn about new technology."
Amari smiled. "Oh they did but they had their reservations, I may only be the second daughter of my birth clan chief but I'm still important to them if anything were to happen to my older sister. My parents were not sure about letting me out into the wilds outside our space. Clan Karaya were a bit more easily convinced."
"I see," B'Lakkam answered, not fully certain that he actually did understand. "Does priority of birth affect your status in a clan? You mentioned that you're 'only the second daughter' of your birth clan. Why is that?"
"I have an older sister and younger brother," she replied, then waved at one of the bartenders to get their attention. "She will inherit the clan leadership when our father dies or steps down. If anything happens to her, I would, then my brother if anything happened to me."
"So birth order is important, but not the child's sex," B'Lakkam mused audibly and shrugged his shoulders. Well, at least that is better than my home's philosophy where men are second thoughts. "How often do things 'happen' to your people? You seem to imply that authority passes under suspicious circumstances from time to time."
"You mean do younger family members kill their older siblings?" Amari replied, though he hadn't straight up said it like that, it was implied. "Not in my clan's history, no. We've all heard tales of it happening in other clans occasionally."
"I see." There always is a first time or history could have been whitewashed. Of course, what she is saying could be true, too. Who really knows?
The bartender arrived and before B'Lakkam could ask more, inquired about their orders. B'Lakkam politely replied, "Ladies first."
Amari smiled at the bartender. "A small cheese board please and some apple juice."
"Pretzels and a ginger beer," B'Lakkam instructed.
TBC
Lieutenant B'Lakkam Slichez
Chief Counselor
USS Fenrir
Lieutenant Jg Amari
Engineering Officer
USS Fenrir
RSS Feed