Court Etiquette

Posted on Wed Aug 28th, 2013 @ 1:52am by Gabriel Grey & Commander Aztala Germond

2,673 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 2 - Whispers in the Clouds
Location: XO's Quarters, USS Unification
Timeline: Day 2 - 0630 hours

Clad in a formal white suit and turtleneck, Chief Diplomatic Officer Gabriel Grey stepped out of the turbolift and strode down the corridor towards the personal quarters of the Unification's Executive Officer. The grey-haired ambassador carried, in the crook of his arm, a small rectangular box wrapped in gold and purple. As he neared the XO's door, hand went up to make sure that his collar and lapels sat correctly on his neck and chest. As a veteran diplomat, Gabriel knew that he was about to meet and stand in the presence of royalty, and he didn't not want his first impression to be a poor one. Upon reaching the First Officer's quarters, Gabriel palmed the biometric plate on the doorframe, listened for the warbling door chime to announce his presence, and waited for the door to open.

Looking towards the door chime, Aztala quickly finishes buttoning her uniform blouse and walks over to the door, pressing the activation switch and letting none of her surprise or curiosity show on her face at the well dressed man standing before her. "You're our Chief Diplomat Mr Grey, I presume. Would you like to come in?" Aztala steps aside, motioning with her hand. "And may I ask what brings you here this early?"

Gabriel entered the room at the Orion woman's behest and gave slight respectful bow. "Forgive me for coming here at such an early hour, Your Grace," he began, using what he hoped was the correct honorific. "I came aboard rather late yesterday and didn't want to put off meeting you any longer. It's not everyday one meets a head of state serving in a Starfleet uniform." The faintest traces of a wistful smile played at the corner of the elderly gentleman's lips as he briefly admired just how well the red-accented uniform complimented her slim and athletic frame. Only dressed for standard duty shift, the pale-complexioned Orion looked the definition of the word 'regal'. In the wise old man's judgment, Aztala Germond looked like she was born to wear 'command red'.

"Please allow me to present you with this gift," Gabriel announced, coming forward with the slender gold & purple case held out towards the XO. "It took some doing, but I was able to discover that you enjoy holonovels; particularly those of the action and adventure genres. I hope you like this one."

Accepting the small package and popping the top off, she looks inside to see a new copy of Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. "Ah yes, I've been waiting for this one to be re-released. It's supposed to be updated for modern holo-emitters now." Smiling professionally at Gabriel, a hint of warmth showing through, she casually places the box on her desk, the sides perfectly aligned with the desk edges as if by long trained rote habit. "As an aside, please just address me normally. At the colony, they addressed me as 'My Lady' but I'm sure you're aware that I'm only one of three survivors. Now I'm just Lieutenant Commander Aztala Germond. As for my crown, it's more my own sentimentality and honorific respect for my late mother."

Looking around the room briefly, Aztala runs through all the things she should offer him. A chair? No, he seems as stiff as the Klingon 'diplomats' her mother dealt with regularly, so she doubted he would sit. Besides that, she only had the one. A drink? Possible, but he didn't seem to be here for the sort of social visits she was plagued with at the academy. No, she could plainly see that while he appreciated her beauty, she guessed it was more her stature and grace rather than her allure and the normal behavior of most Orions that brought him here. It must be that. That which she saw her mother do so many times before with traders and diplomats and visitors to their tiny colony of non stereotypical Orions. He wanted to just talk and get to know her as a dignitary and head of state and possibly even to bolster his own position on the ship among the crew. This is something she dreaded all her life, but at the same time, it had a hint of excitement. This meant people took her seriously. This meant she was more like her late mother raised her to be. Was it true? Could it be?

Realizing she was standing there staring at Gabriel, she smiled a bit brighter. She had practiced this many times, but this would be the first time she could actually perform it. Bowing gracefully, her right leg crossed behind her for balance and her arms held slightly outward, palms up, she gracefully bows. "Welcome to my humble abode. Please be at ease and speak your mind freely."

"Thank you, My Lady," said Gabriel with a warm, almost fatherly smile. The elder statesman seemed to relax, his body language adopting an open, easygoing manner that seemed more familiar to him. "I came by to see you this morning for professional and personal reasons, the truth be told. As the Unification's Chief Diplomatic Officer, one of my duties will be to try to build relationships with the many foreign nationals and dignitaries we meet in our travels. It's been some time since I've done that last," chuckled the grey-haired ambassador. "I'm afraid I'm just a bit out of practice. So I thought to myself: Self, why not try to do a little relationship building with your fellow officers? You could use the practice, after all, and besides, if you can't manage to win over your own comrades, how are you going to fare against a hostile delegate whose language you can barely speak? Now, it's been my experience that I rarely ever give bad advice, especially to myself," Gabriel's eyes twinkled as he smiled at the joke. "So, in the interest of brushing a little dust of the old skill set, and in the hope of laying the foundation for a strong working relationship between two senior officers, I have come here to introduce myself, and invite you join me on a quick tour of the ship before our shifts begin . . . that is, if you'd like to accompany me?"

Relaxing a bit, Aztala lets a bit of relief show, the tension visibly draining from her. No longer did she stand stoic and regal, but more relaxed and graceful, that same bright smile playing across her face, though now it almost took on a slight predatory look to it. "As long as the crew doesn't get the wrong idea about anything, I would love to. Though to be fair, I think a lot of the crew already have a few wrong ideas about me so as long as we keep a low profile, we should be fine. That means just addressing me as Commander or Aztala to start with. I'd rather they see me as their XO than a dignitary. As for the tour itself, I needed to stop by astrometrics and main engineering to check on the repairs anyway. I just hope the turbolifts are working right today." Subconsciously holding her hand out for Gabriel like she did for her escorts so long ago, she continues, rambling a bit. "When i came on board the turbolift took me to the lower decks instead of the bridge and it took hours crawling through jeffries tubes to get back anywhere I could recognize. You would not believe the number of loose panels I had to get out of my way and i thought i would be stuck in there forever. I'm not overly fond of cramped spaces like that and they just seemed to go on forever, you know?"

Then realizing she was once again rambling and that she had offered her hand, Aztala blushes just a bit, her green skin noticeably turning a shade darker. Hopefully Gabriel wouldn't notice her lapse in etiquette, but judging from her interactions with him so far, she bet it was pretty obvious to his trained eyes. Even with her blushing and sudden lack of composure, she at least kept her decorum, pretending nothing was wrong.

With an understanding nod, the elderly ambassador took Aztala's hand and gently wove it through the crook of his arm.

"I shall do my novel best not to embarass you, Commander," joked Gabriel, with a smile. The pair exited Aztala's quarters and headed down the corridor towards the turbolift. Their first stop, at the beautiful young lieutenant commander's request, was the Astrometrics Lab on Deck 3 - a short enough trip fill with a polite bit of small talk.

"You mentioned that you thought some of the others on this ship had 'the wrong idea' about you," Gabriel observed in an almost grandfatherly tone. "What did you mean by that? If you don't mind me asking, that is."

Letting Gabriel lead her, Aztala speaks a bit more softly, the subject being a bit more sensitive than she liked. "I've seen the lustful stares. I'm sure more than a few crewman have fantasies about me just from bumping into me in the jeffries tubes the other day. No one did anything lewd, but judging by their glances and their... ahem... I'm pretty sure everyone knows the reputation most Orion women have as 'free spirits' so I guess it's not surprising, but for me it's a little out of place. I wasn't raised to become an object of desire, but a head of state." Smiling at an inside joke, she continues. "I like to tell people that I'm just as human as they are, with my own goals and personality unique to me. Hence one of the reasons I carry hormone inhibitors. On that note..." Aztala reaches into her pocket, pulls out her hypo, and gives herself an injection in her neck.

"I'm sorry to hear it's been difficult for you here," Gabriel said, sagely, "but I wouldn't worry too much about it, if I were you. I've seen it before, you know. Oh, perhaps not with Orions, no . . . but with servicemen of Klingon, Ferengi and even Cardassian descent. I know it can be hard, when the people around have misconceptions and preconceived notions about who you are and what you stand for. But I also know that it soon passes. Once everybody gets the chance to see what you're really made of . . . to see you shine when you're at your best . . . trust me, all of those 'wrong ideas' will quickly blow away. Like leaves on the autumn breeze. You'll see."

The pair reached the turbolift at the end of the corridor and Gabriel gestured politely for the lady on his arm to enter ahead of him. Following the young commander into the lift, called out to the air, "Astrometrics Lab," and with a barely noticeable hum, the turbolift cab was on its way.

"So, how have your duties been going so far?" asked Gabriel, genuinely interested. "What are the things you like most so far about being Unification's Executive Officer? What do you hate about it?"

Closing her eyes to the small turbolift and smiling brightly, Aztala thinks for a few seconds. "Things seem to be different here compared to the courier ships and the starbase I've been stationed on. This being my first actual ship assignment, I'm not sure if that's unique to this one, or if it's common to others as well, but it seems things are more close knit here. Also, though a lot of the crew do look at me with a hint of lust in their eyes, they also look to me with expectation and respect. It's almost like they expect me to lead them well. I must say, it's a refreshing change from being a PADD pusher on that starbase where everyone was just annoyed they had to wait on their orders to be processed. Do you know what I mean? Does that make any sense?" Aztala opens her eyes and looks at Gabriel quizzically.

"Sure, I know what you mean," nodded Gabriel, with a gentle smile. "And yes, it does make sense. It's the nature of the beast, I suppose. Every job has a unique situational circumstance. Besides, I don't think someone like you was born to be a bureaucrat." The turbolift came to a stop and its doors swished open to let Aztala Germond and Gabriel Grey out onto Deck 3. Taking the Orion girl's arm into his again, Gabriel continued escorting the ship's XO towards Astrometrics. "So what does the rest of your day look like today? Any special projects planned? I'll be spending most of the morning briefing our Diplomatic Corps on their new assignments, myself. Then I have to set aside time for a sit down with our Chief of Strategic Operations, as well as our Federation News Service liaison. Have you met either of them yet?"

Following along with Gabriel, Aztala thinks back to the 'interview' last night with Cynthia White, the Federation News Service liaison. "I don't know if it's a normal tactic for her, but she got me pretty drunk on Orion Brandy during our time last night. I really have no idea where she got 2 bottles of it, but I suspect she has more, so watch yourself." Coming up on the door to Astrometrics, Aztala slips her hand free of Gabriel's and steps forward, entering almost as the doors were still opening.

Looking around at the non-functional terminals and blank holo-screen, Aztala looks to 2 crewmen working under the holo-screen stage plating. "Morning gentlemen. How are repairs going in here?"

The one kneeling spins around and upon seeing the command pips on the green skinned woman, snaps to attention. The one actually under the deck plating, jumps and bangs his head on the overhanging framework, causing a loud clang. "At ease, at ease," Aztala calms them. "I'm just here to see if we can get anything in the lab working this morning."

Looking rather nervous, the standing crewman relaxes a little. "Yes Ma'am. We should have main power to the core systems repaired within the hour, and we hope to have everything working again by the end of the day, but without power we can't exactly tell how much is damaged. Thankfully, this area seems reasonably untouched other than most of the EPS conduits being blown out."

Smiling lightly, Aztala nods her head in satisfaction. "Excellent work. We'll need this lab once we get to that nebula, so please keep at it." Letting the two crewmen get back to their work, she turns back to Gabriel and smiles brighter, her eyes meeting his.

"Well, Commander," sighed Gabriel, returning the younger woman's smile, "it looks like you've got your work cut out for you here. honestly, I'd love to follow you around and chat your ear off all morning, but alas. Thank you for the warning me about our press liaison. I'll have to watch myself around her, especially with my fondness for exotic 'beverages'." Gabriel chuckled softly. "Thank you so very much for indulging a tired old man, My Lady. It pleases me greatly to have made your acquaintance. If you have time after your shift, perhaps I could introduce you to a 103 year-old bottle of Romulan Ale that a very, very dear friend once gave me? There's a story behind that particular bottle that I think you would enjoy."

Nodding slightly and gently pushing Gabriel out the door of the Astrometrics lab, Aztala glances around briefly to make sure no one is in the corridor, then kisses him quickly on the cheek. "Thank you so very much for this morning. I'd love to share that bottle with you. I'm planning a bit over a double shift today, so it might be pretty late, if that's ok."

Blushing, Gabriel gave another warm smile, his widest and brightest of the morning. "For drinks with the Queen?" he asked, a playful twinkle in his eye. "Don't you worry. I'll wait up."

RSS Feed