Look Who's Coming to Dinner

Posted on Tue May 24th, 2011 @ 4:54pm by Captain Benjamin Byrne & Sarah Byrne [PNPC] & Jacob Byrne [PNPC] & Ambassador Grintol S'Reln [NPC] & Arthur Schniedt [NPC] & Provisional Lieutenant Commander Narayn Ballard

Mission: Kingdom Come
Location: Captain Byrne's Quarters
Timeline: MD06 1900 hours

Benjamin smacked the replicator with the palm of his hand as it failed to recycle the odd items of clothes he had been trying to clean up from around the quarters. "Damn thing!" he cursed, as he tapped on its controls and leant to look up at the underside of the main dematerialising components.

Sarah (NPC) walked over and took hold of the clothes, lifting them off the replicator pad and moving towards the bedroom. "Ben, you don't want to be getting your hands dirty trying to fix that before the delegates and Narayn arrive," she cautioned him, as he continued to fiddle with the controls. She tucked the dirty clothes in a pile to the side of the bedroom before stepping away to allow the door to close, and tapping the control which would set the door to open only when the key was pressed; disabling its motion and proximity tracker while the guests were round.

"I know, I know," Benjamin replied, as he reached up and gripped the hair on the top of his head with one hand, moving away from the replicator. He was glad that the pair of them had decided on real cooking for the dinner tonight, rather than relying on the replicator, which had been spotty all the way from the starbase, no matter how many times he asked Engineering to get it fixed. "I just hate it when decorum tells me I have to host one of these dinners. They're just so... political and old-fashioned, and needless."

"Ben," Sarah walked up to him, put her hands on either side of his shoulders, and lowered his arm, making him look into her eyes. "You've done two of these dinners before, for people more important than Grintol S'Reln. Relax. At least you're not in your dress uniform." She smirked, knowing that he'd be grateful of that fact.

"Well, I suppose there's that," Benjamin agreed, grinning back at her. And it was just going to be S'Reln, Schniedt and Ballard; Commodore Varela had been called away on urgent business, and had been forced to leave ths ship this afternoon. He checked the time on the wall, before turning his head over his shoulder to look at their son, smiling at seeing him smartly dressed for once.

Ballard knew he was running late. The demands of a First Officer were taking their toll on him. It hadn't occurred to him that he'd need to leave someone relatively senior in charge of the ship while he broke bread with the higher-ups. Eventually he had settled on young Lieutenant Jenarian whose look of surprise and pride came much to the chagrin of Lieutenant Stott. Fifteen minutes of pointless discussion with a Bolian about the Chain of Command had severely knocked him off his stride.

He reached the door and looked down at his uniform. Relatively neat after a long day on duty. He was dreading this. He was still an enlisted man among officers and his 'provisional' rank would mark him out as an easy target for veiled ridicule at many an officer's table- especially this one. He pressed the chime and began to rock back and forth on his heels.

As the door to his quarters beeped indicating a guest had arrived, Benjamin turned back to quickly kiss his wife, and moved towards the door, pressing the key to permit entrance. "Narayn, glad you could pull yourself away from the paperwork," Benjamin said, smiling at the newly-inducted first officer. "You're just in time to be here before S'Reln and Schniedt arrive. I believe you've met my wife and son?"

Sarah smiled graciously as she held out her hand for the provisional commander to shake. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Narayn." Jake (NPC) on the other hand, obviously wanting to make the best impression, stood as straight as he could, and flung a hand up to his head, in his best estimation of the salutes he had seen historical military officers give in holonovels.

Narayn took Mrs Byrne's hand enthusiastically. It was going to be good to have a familiar face at the table- someone removed from thoughts of diplomacy. He turned towards the youngest member of the Byrne clan and stretched a hand out to tousle his hair. "At ease, kiddo." He ordered with false authority in his voice. "How are you doing, Young Mister Byrne?"

"I'm good, sir!" the young boy responded, beaming and apparently oblivious to the fact that the hair that his mother had spend so long trying to stay neat was now back to its original state.

"Please," Benjamin said, smiling as he held out his hand towards the dining area, near the window. "Take a-" Mid-sentence, he was interrupted by the chime of the door. "Nevermind," he corrected himself. "It looks like our guests have arrived." Giving a look that said prepare yourselves, he turned and moved back towards the door.

"Don't worry," Sarah leaned over towards Ballard and said quietly. "I doubt that there'll be any trouble. Ben just hates these dinners."

"He's got the jump on me," Ballard said leaning closer in order to make sure the Captain didn't hear, "I've never even been near a diplomat unless I was holding them up for their Latinum."

Schneidt and S'Reln reached the door together. Their footsteps had echoed together down the corridor towards the Captain's quarters. They had spent a fair amount of time trying to familiarise themselves with the layout of the Endeavour's decks so that they wouldn't get lost. They hadn't. Especially given the fact that there was basically a map every ten feet on the ship.

Pressing the button to open the door, Byrne was welcomed by the sight of both of the negotiators. Thank god they don't have full diplomat status, he thought to himself. "Gentlemen, come in," he said, moving aside to allow them through. "You've already met Commander Ballard," he said, as they trio approached the other set who were still standing in the middle of his quarters. "Allow me to introduce my wife, Sarah, and my son, Jacob."

Ballard nodded to the men as they approached the Byrne family. He was familiar enough with them both that he had no need to stand on ceremony too much. The diplomats approached Sarah and Jacob and bowed. "It is an honour to meet you." They both said in a unison that, for some reason, made Narayn's skin crawl.

"The pleasure is mine," Sarah responded, dipping her head in kind as she smiled at them. "Please;" she held out her arm to direct the guests towards the dining table, and followed in behind them, sharing a look with her husband; Ben's look clearly saying here we go. As the group moved and took a position at the table, Jacob not quite having to hop up onto the adult-sized chair anymore, Benjamin pressed the little signal button, instructing chef to send in the first course. Each person's meal had been selected from their homeland's own delicacies; Byrne had a rump steak with lettuce, grilled tomatoes and mushrooms and chips covered in baslamic vinegar and salt. Sarah had a roast chicken dinner, and Jacob had a simple dish of chicken nuggets, salad and chips.

Ballard was impressed at the Chef's ability to recreate the perfect duck dish that he once had in a restaurant in his youth. Simpler times, of course. He looked across at the meals which had been served to S'Reln and Schneidt; they looked less than appetising if he was honest. Dare he ask just exactly what the hell they were eating? "Well, Chef has out-done himself yet again." He said, opting for the safer approach.

"Quite so, your chef makes an excellent Andorian cabbage soup," S'Reln commented, after tasting a small spoonful of his bowl. Schneidt seemed equally pleased with his serving of spargel with Hollandaise sauce and potatoes. "I'm glad to see that national dishes of Earth are still distinct enough to be recognised," the German said.

"Well, it is my understanding that chef learned his trade at Sisko's in New Orleans," Sarah reported. "I've been there myself, once or twice. Mister Sisko - the owner - makes some really terrific dishes, from all over the Federation."

"I've heard of it," Schneidt mentioned, almost with no intention of following the statement up. However, he could feel the eyes of the assembled group upon him, "I hear their gumbo is something to behold."

Ballard took a forkful of duck and chewed over it, and the question he wanted to ask, slowly. "It's been a while since we've heard from the Nevarrans." He said, addressing no-one in particular. "Why do you reckon it's been so long?"

"No body really knows, to be honest with you Commander," the Andorian negotiator said, his antenna almost following his gaze to the provisional officer as he spoke up. "From the reports we have on the Nevarrans over the past two years, we don't think even they know the real reason why they shut themselves off from Galactic Civilisation almost two hundred Terran years ago, though there are many theories. Some postulate that there was some major even which caused them to seek isolation, whilst others suggest it was a political decision on the behalf of the Witengamot - the name they give their 'ruling council' under King Aengus Tasgall - at the time. Still more postulate many other theories, though I assure you some of them do seem quite... fantastical."

"So the Nevarrans were a spacefaring species already two hundred years ago?" The question was posed by Sarah, who had always shared her husbands fascination with new cultures. "Do we know how long ago they achieved warp flight?"

"Again, it is impossible to say," Schneidt spoke up this time, his German accent forcing Benjamin at least to strain a little to understand some of his pronunciation. "Many records from before the beginning of the Nevarran isolation are either lost, destroyed, or in many cases, missing entirely."

"A 'Dark Age'?" Benjamin commented, knowing that the humans in the room at least would recognise the term from Earth's own history; a period in time where practically no records exist, and was considered a 'dark spot' in humanity's knowledge of its own past.

"In a sense Captain, yes," the German answered, bowing his head at the reference. "Though it would appear this particular 'Dark Age' to have been put in place retroactively, with much of the data prior to two hundred years ago being destroyed or removed at sometime around that time period; or so their historians have told us they believe, at least. From what we can gather from the few pieces of evidence that is known to have been found from before that time - mostly thoughout the other systems that comprise the Nevarran Cluster - indicates that the Nevarrans as a warp-capable species date back to five hundred years ago; most likely even longer. Some believe that they may even have been warp capable for a thousand years or more before that, but we have so far not been able to find any proof to back up that particular theory."

"I can't imagine that everyone's too happy about reopening links with the Federation." Ballard offered.

"There are always those who will resist change, Commander," S'Reln commented. "Take the arm of friendship that Earth extended to alien races that led up to the founding of the Federation. I believe it was an organisation called Terra Nova which openly and sometimes aggressively opposed the change, was it not?" For anyone able to read Andorian body language, there would be a detectable hint of subtle satisfaction at knowing something so specific about Earth's history; he had made an effort to learn during the early stages of his diplomatic career, with the prominence of humans throughout the Federation.

"Do we know of any specific groups on Nevarra opposed to these negotiations?" Benjamin was the one to ask the question.

"There are a few prominent members of the leading council of nobles who have spoken out against these talks," the Andorian responded. "Though the trade negotiations we are conducting aren't the focal point of their disagreement. They are more concerned with the wider implications; the opening of an embassy, and maybe future entrance into the Federation, if all goes well. Most of the opponents to actual contact with the rest of the Galaxy appear to be underground idealists, who staunchly believe in the decision made two hundred years ago, even though nobody knows anything of the reasons or circustances surrounding it."

"Do you reckon they might pose a problem?" Narayn said, taking another bite of his food while staring intently at the negotiators.

"They may cause some contention on... details," S'Reln answered, after searching for the right word. "But I doubt they will pose any major problem to our efforts here. Though their Witenagemot is a leading policy and political body in their government, the Nevarrans are not a democratic organisation. Their King will have the final say, and their nobles I believe will follow him, and he has already spoken out in favour of better relations with the Federation. It is under his rule that the Nevarrans have begun to end their long period of isolation."

"Well," Benjamin commented, as he looked up over his dinner at his guests. "They certainly sound like a fascinating culture," he said, emphasising the adjective. "I only wish we could get there faster now."

------------------

Captain Benjamin J. Byrne
Commanding Officer

Prov. Lt. Commander Narayn Ballard
First Officer

Sarah Byrne (PNPC)
Captain's Wife

Jacob Byrne (PNPC)
Captain's Son
USS Endeavour

Grintol S'Reln (NPC)
Negotiator

&

Arthur Schniedt (NPC)
Negotiator
Federation Diplomatic Corps