Star Trek: Cayuga
21 - ‘Pozach Rex’
By Jack Elmlinger
Jeanne Pozach stepped through the Galaxy.
For a moment, it swirled around her with stars of yellow and white floating like stellar dust mites. Tiny purple nebula parting across like mist. Then someone cleared their throat and she regretfully returned her attention to the command staffs gathered together inside the holographic illusion.
“This is a graphic representation of the data found in the cave attached to the Quernus installation,” said T’Priss, the Juneau’s Vulcan science officer.
“I call it the Alzok room,” Aimee Maguire said with false bravado. She had only been released from Sickbay aboard the Cayuga, a few days ago.
T’Priss ignored the comment. “Taking stellar drift into account, it would seem that this is an atlas of our Galaxy as it appeared, two hundred thousand years ago.” She tapped at her PADD and the map reacted as if a box of paints had been thrown over it. “It is lacking all but the most basic of astronomical detail. Otherwise, it would appear to be a political map.”
Brandon Hobbes took the PADD from her. “In our two weeks of study, we have been able to make a few determinations.” Every color disappeared except for the green. “Each color denotes the boundaries of a different political entity and the green, which covers nearly the entire galaxy, was based in the star system that we now know to be Iconia.”
“Demons of Air and Darkness,” Captain M’Roaki breathed reverently. “The Iconian Empire.”
“We've been able to identify a few of the others,” T’Priss said, continuing with the briefing. “Inside of what is now known as Federation space, it seems that there had been an affiliation based on Talos IV and in the Gamma Quadrant. A culture that we believe could have been early Verathan.”
“How about something a little closer to us?,” Sean Pasko asked her from his spot where he was leaning against the holodeck’s grid-marked walls.
T’Priss continued with her presentation, ignoring the pilot’s request. “At the moment, we are in the region which had been controlled by the amber affiliation.” The map’s colors altered accordingly. “The amber affiliation is unique by the way that it had seven capitals and one of them appears to once have been Quernus. From this information, we conclude that it is a coalition of powers. It extends out past Trill in a spinward direction and well into unknown space.
Tom Riker approached the map. “When the Borg found us here,” he said, pointing at a section of the holographic map,” they said that they were investigating the Demedra outpost.”
“It is reasonable to assume that ‘Demedra’ was the title of the coalition.”
“This is an incredible opportunity,” M’Roaki said. “Captain Pozach, I’d like to take the Juneau ahead to investigate the first few of these worlds. With our runabout, we should be able to cover extra ground. Meanwhile, the Cayuga can stay behind and handle the chores with the locals.”
Pozach nodded slightly in agreement. “That makes sense.”
Pasko’s eyes lit up with an idea. “You know, if you’re going out on a runabout mission, you’ll need a top-rate pilot,” he said, pushing himself away from the wall. “With Captain Pozach’s permission, I would be happy to do it.”
M’Roaki frowned. “We have plenty of good pilots aboard the Juneau.”
“Good ones, sure.”
“Fine. I’d rather keep my officers aboard.” The Caitian looked over at her counterpart. “Pozach?”
Pozach was surprised by Pasko’s insistence. However, she reasoned that a year of simple supply missions must have been boring for him. “As long as we can have you back,” she said affectionately.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
With all the grace of a coordinated panic seizure, Alice Polcheny burst into Sean’s quarters. “You’re leaving?!,” she cried at him.
Sean and Aimee looked up from their packing. “I’m sorry that it’s so sudden. It was a spur of the moment thing.”
“Do you want the cross?,” Aimee asked him, glancing up between the crucifix on the wall and the space that was left over in his duffel bag.
“But you’ll be gone for months!,” Alice said, wrapping her arms around him.
“It’s a few weeks, at the moment,” he said, disentangling himself from her. “I’ll keep that here.” He hefted the bag over his shoulder and looked back at Alice. “Would you like to walk me to the transporter room?” She threw herself onto the bed, pouting. With a sigh, he leaned over and kissed her forehead. “All right, I’ll see you in a few weeks. I love you.”
Aimee watched the door close behind him and she sat down on the bed beside the younger woman. “Alice,” she said, nudging her. “Come on, it’s not that bad. He’ll be back.” Alice remained stonily silent as the blonde woman continued,” Look, the Cayuga’s docked at the old Cardassian space station in orbit of Anura while Jeanne does her diplomatic thing.”
“So?,” a small voice asked her.
“It’s a space station on the frontier where life is hard and vices are abundant.” Aimee nodded. “They’ll have a bar there.”
Alice looked up at her. “What do we do there?”
Aimee stared back at her blankly before she realized that she wasn’t joking. “We get ourselves dressed up and look pretty. Then the other people will say,’ Wow, they look pretty.’”
“Ooh, that sounds like fun.” The redhead sat up and Aimee smiled at her encouragingly.
A quick turbolift ride deposited them on Deck Seven a short walk from Alice’s quarters. “We’re going to the bar,” she announced to her roommate, Tajin. The Horrusi glanced up, showing perfunctory interest before she returned to her reading.
“I don’t go out to bars very often,” Alice continued to Aimee’s lack of surprise,” so I’m not sure what to wear.”
Aimee opened the closet. “You want something eye-catching that..” She stared at all of the dressing hung up in the closet before her. “Sun dresses? All you own is sun dresses?”
“I like the orange one.”
Rubbing her forehead, she stepped back from the closet. “Okay, I’m going to go get dressed. You… pick out a good headband or something.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“The Anuran government is a constitutional monarchy,” Captain Pozach muttered to herself. “Their monarch is referred to as ‘Glorious’” She was sitting on one of the benches in the back of the Garibaldi, studying the PADD on her lap. First Contact with the Anurans was supposed to be Captain M’Roaki’s mission but with her and the Juneau gallivanting after the ancient Demedra, she had to fill in for him.
She looked ahead towards the cockpit at Ntannu who was flying the shuttle over the clouds. “Did you know that the Anurans communicate through a sophisticated pheromone system? No vocal language at all.”
He spent a moment absorbed in his control panel before he simply said,” No.”
Pozach frowned at his flat tone. “Is there something wrong?”
“The Demedra coalition, Captain. I don’t think that we should be chasing after them.”
Slowly, she moved her PADD onto the bench beside her. “We’re explorers, Ntannu, and sometimes that’s dangerous business.”
“Tell that to Novack.” The Ktarian shook his head. “The Alzok killed him with his mind. See, I believe in Starfleet as an exploration corps. I really do. I also believe that there are things out there that shouldn’t be angered. The Alzok and anything that’s associated with it was some of those things that we shouldn’t anger.”
“What… What did it show you?”
Silence stretched out between them until he said,” We’re coming up on the landing coordinates.”
The shuttlecraft nestled down gently between two towering arches that were made out of pearly stone. “Glorious,” Pozach repeated, nervously fidgeting with the pheromone device attached to her belt. The rear hatch dropped open and she preceded Ntannu down the ramp, leading him past several low structures that were carved out of the same pinkish stone.
“What aren’t they here to greet us?,” the Security Chief asked her with surprise and concern mixing together in his voice. The captain noticed that his hand strayed to where his hand phaser would have been holstered.
A small purple head peeked up over one of the structures, staring down upon them with unblinking silver-hued eyes. Pozach turned towards the creature and it darted back down. A second later, it timidly stepped out from behind a wall, its small nose sniffing at them.
She knelt down to eye level with the humanoids. “Hello,” she said, smelling as her words were translated into lilac and rain. The little creature turned around and ran a few steps, pausing so it could motion for them to follow it. It darted ahead of them, waiting for them just outside a copse of trees.
Pozach and Ntannu stopped at a respectable distance from the trees. She opened up her arms and said warmly,” I’m Captain Jeanne Pozach of the Cayuga, representing the United Federation of Planets.” The scent of her words were like wet grass and soap.
There was a lot of rustling through the tree with more of the silver-eyed creatures shifting from branch to branch. The ground underneath the trees rolled around the centermost one. Roots erupted from the rich soil, supporting the tree as it moved forward.
A collection of branches descended, each of them possessing a sensory organ. A stink arose and the translator said,” Fair tidings, Captain Jeanne Pozach of the Federation.” The tree stood seven feet tall from root to lavender leaf, a pungent scent wafting down from its leaves. “I am Skt. The Glorious has asked that I guide you to it.”
“Thank you,” Pozach said, following as the Anuran rotated on its roots and glided away. Ntannu fell into step behind her, keeping a careful eye on the other Anurans and the purple primates that trailed after them. The landscape of this world struck Jeanne as familiar and similar to Intooine, which had an unnatural quiet and peace to it. Rolling hills were broken up by small shelters and massive archways. Lush green and violet grasses carpeted the ground and her boots sank into the rich, moist earth.
Pozach could see the Glorious well before they reached it. Its branches waved gently, almost thirty feet above the ground, and it had planted itself at the center of a half-circle of arches. Many small Anurans surrounded it. The mixture of scents overpowered the translator, producing a dull tone.
The smells faced away from the air and a new smell emerged from the Glorious. “Jeanne Pozach,” it said,” I am grateful that you chose to visit us.”
“My pleasure, Glorious.” The Glorious was too large to consider in all of its entirety and she had to focus on one small part of it at a time. “With me is my comrade, Lieutenant Ntannu.”
“Greetings to you as well, Lieutenant Ntannu.” The Glorious’ eyestalks turned towards the Anuran surrounding it. “I will order the Captain our proposal alone if you please.” The entire grove rose as one entity and glided away from the arches. Fascinated by them, the Cayuga’s captain watched them until the Glorious’ scent returned her attention to it. “I apologize for my peoples’ attitude. They are not accustomed to privacy or … hasty activity.”
Pozach glanced after the departing beings, wondering what she had missed. “No offense taken.”
“Word of your Federation has spread far and wide across the Sea of Stars. Its people are said to be made up of many noble beings.”
“I’m delighted that news of our good works has reached this far.”
“Many seasons ago, we were visited by a race that called themselves ‘Cardassians’. They cared not for us and we cared not for them but our relations with them were civil. They constructed the space station in the skies above our world but they abandoned it some time ago.” The Glorious shifted its branches, altering the patterns of light and dark upon its leaves. “That space station left us as a power among our neighboring planets but it is a power that we do not understand. It is my wish that Anura join your Federation of Planets, using it as a model or a guide.”
Although she had already anticipated the question being asked of her, Pozach felt a thrill of exhalation as the words emerged from her translator. “It’s not an immediate process,” she cautioned it, hiding her glee. “There are diplomatic and cultural exchanges. We also want to be certain that the Anurans feel that this is the best move for them as a race.”
A scent of agreement descended from the Glorious. “Of course, Captain, and then we shall begin the coronation process as soon as the full Grove can be convened.”
“Of course,” Pozach repeated happily in agreement before the meaning of the word ‘coronation’ pierced her consciousness. “Wait. What?”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
21 - ‘Pozach Rex’
By Jack Elmlinger
Jeanne Pozach stepped through the Galaxy.
For a moment, it swirled around her with stars of yellow and white floating like stellar dust mites. Tiny purple nebula parting across like mist. Then someone cleared their throat and she regretfully returned her attention to the command staffs gathered together inside the holographic illusion.
“This is a graphic representation of the data found in the cave attached to the Quernus installation,” said T’Priss, the Juneau’s Vulcan science officer.
“I call it the Alzok room,” Aimee Maguire said with false bravado. She had only been released from Sickbay aboard the Cayuga, a few days ago.
T’Priss ignored the comment. “Taking stellar drift into account, it would seem that this is an atlas of our Galaxy as it appeared, two hundred thousand years ago.” She tapped at her PADD and the map reacted as if a box of paints had been thrown over it. “It is lacking all but the most basic of astronomical detail. Otherwise, it would appear to be a political map.”
Brandon Hobbes took the PADD from her. “In our two weeks of study, we have been able to make a few determinations.” Every color disappeared except for the green. “Each color denotes the boundaries of a different political entity and the green, which covers nearly the entire galaxy, was based in the star system that we now know to be Iconia.”
“Demons of Air and Darkness,” Captain M’Roaki breathed reverently. “The Iconian Empire.”
“We've been able to identify a few of the others,” T’Priss said, continuing with the briefing. “Inside of what is now known as Federation space, it seems that there had been an affiliation based on Talos IV and in the Gamma Quadrant. A culture that we believe could have been early Verathan.”
“How about something a little closer to us?,” Sean Pasko asked her from his spot where he was leaning against the holodeck’s grid-marked walls.
T’Priss continued with her presentation, ignoring the pilot’s request. “At the moment, we are in the region which had been controlled by the amber affiliation.” The map’s colors altered accordingly. “The amber affiliation is unique by the way that it had seven capitals and one of them appears to once have been Quernus. From this information, we conclude that it is a coalition of powers. It extends out past Trill in a spinward direction and well into unknown space.
Tom Riker approached the map. “When the Borg found us here,” he said, pointing at a section of the holographic map,” they said that they were investigating the Demedra outpost.”
“It is reasonable to assume that ‘Demedra’ was the title of the coalition.”
“This is an incredible opportunity,” M’Roaki said. “Captain Pozach, I’d like to take the Juneau ahead to investigate the first few of these worlds. With our runabout, we should be able to cover extra ground. Meanwhile, the Cayuga can stay behind and handle the chores with the locals.”
Pozach nodded slightly in agreement. “That makes sense.”
Pasko’s eyes lit up with an idea. “You know, if you’re going out on a runabout mission, you’ll need a top-rate pilot,” he said, pushing himself away from the wall. “With Captain Pozach’s permission, I would be happy to do it.”
M’Roaki frowned. “We have plenty of good pilots aboard the Juneau.”
“Good ones, sure.”
“Fine. I’d rather keep my officers aboard.” The Caitian looked over at her counterpart. “Pozach?”
Pozach was surprised by Pasko’s insistence. However, she reasoned that a year of simple supply missions must have been boring for him. “As long as we can have you back,” she said affectionately.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
With all the grace of a coordinated panic seizure, Alice Polcheny burst into Sean’s quarters. “You’re leaving?!,” she cried at him.
Sean and Aimee looked up from their packing. “I’m sorry that it’s so sudden. It was a spur of the moment thing.”
“Do you want the cross?,” Aimee asked him, glancing up between the crucifix on the wall and the space that was left over in his duffel bag.
“But you’ll be gone for months!,” Alice said, wrapping her arms around him.
“It’s a few weeks, at the moment,” he said, disentangling himself from her. “I’ll keep that here.” He hefted the bag over his shoulder and looked back at Alice. “Would you like to walk me to the transporter room?” She threw herself onto the bed, pouting. With a sigh, he leaned over and kissed her forehead. “All right, I’ll see you in a few weeks. I love you.”
Aimee watched the door close behind him and she sat down on the bed beside the younger woman. “Alice,” she said, nudging her. “Come on, it’s not that bad. He’ll be back.” Alice remained stonily silent as the blonde woman continued,” Look, the Cayuga’s docked at the old Cardassian space station in orbit of Anura while Jeanne does her diplomatic thing.”
“So?,” a small voice asked her.
“It’s a space station on the frontier where life is hard and vices are abundant.” Aimee nodded. “They’ll have a bar there.”
Alice looked up at her. “What do we do there?”
Aimee stared back at her blankly before she realized that she wasn’t joking. “We get ourselves dressed up and look pretty. Then the other people will say,’ Wow, they look pretty.’”
“Ooh, that sounds like fun.” The redhead sat up and Aimee smiled at her encouragingly.
A quick turbolift ride deposited them on Deck Seven a short walk from Alice’s quarters. “We’re going to the bar,” she announced to her roommate, Tajin. The Horrusi glanced up, showing perfunctory interest before she returned to her reading.
“I don’t go out to bars very often,” Alice continued to Aimee’s lack of surprise,” so I’m not sure what to wear.”
Aimee opened the closet. “You want something eye-catching that..” She stared at all of the dressing hung up in the closet before her. “Sun dresses? All you own is sun dresses?”
“I like the orange one.”
Rubbing her forehead, she stepped back from the closet. “Okay, I’m going to go get dressed. You… pick out a good headband or something.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“The Anuran government is a constitutional monarchy,” Captain Pozach muttered to herself. “Their monarch is referred to as ‘Glorious’” She was sitting on one of the benches in the back of the Garibaldi, studying the PADD on her lap. First Contact with the Anurans was supposed to be Captain M’Roaki’s mission but with her and the Juneau gallivanting after the ancient Demedra, she had to fill in for him.
She looked ahead towards the cockpit at Ntannu who was flying the shuttle over the clouds. “Did you know that the Anurans communicate through a sophisticated pheromone system? No vocal language at all.”
He spent a moment absorbed in his control panel before he simply said,” No.”
Pozach frowned at his flat tone. “Is there something wrong?”
“The Demedra coalition, Captain. I don’t think that we should be chasing after them.”
Slowly, she moved her PADD onto the bench beside her. “We’re explorers, Ntannu, and sometimes that’s dangerous business.”
“Tell that to Novack.” The Ktarian shook his head. “The Alzok killed him with his mind. See, I believe in Starfleet as an exploration corps. I really do. I also believe that there are things out there that shouldn’t be angered. The Alzok and anything that’s associated with it was some of those things that we shouldn’t anger.”
“What… What did it show you?”
Silence stretched out between them until he said,” We’re coming up on the landing coordinates.”
The shuttlecraft nestled down gently between two towering arches that were made out of pearly stone. “Glorious,” Pozach repeated, nervously fidgeting with the pheromone device attached to her belt. The rear hatch dropped open and she preceded Ntannu down the ramp, leading him past several low structures that were carved out of the same pinkish stone.
“What aren’t they here to greet us?,” the Security Chief asked her with surprise and concern mixing together in his voice. The captain noticed that his hand strayed to where his hand phaser would have been holstered.
A small purple head peeked up over one of the structures, staring down upon them with unblinking silver-hued eyes. Pozach turned towards the creature and it darted back down. A second later, it timidly stepped out from behind a wall, its small nose sniffing at them.
She knelt down to eye level with the humanoids. “Hello,” she said, smelling as her words were translated into lilac and rain. The little creature turned around and ran a few steps, pausing so it could motion for them to follow it. It darted ahead of them, waiting for them just outside a copse of trees.
Pozach and Ntannu stopped at a respectable distance from the trees. She opened up her arms and said warmly,” I’m Captain Jeanne Pozach of the Cayuga, representing the United Federation of Planets.” The scent of her words were like wet grass and soap.
There was a lot of rustling through the tree with more of the silver-eyed creatures shifting from branch to branch. The ground underneath the trees rolled around the centermost one. Roots erupted from the rich soil, supporting the tree as it moved forward.
A collection of branches descended, each of them possessing a sensory organ. A stink arose and the translator said,” Fair tidings, Captain Jeanne Pozach of the Federation.” The tree stood seven feet tall from root to lavender leaf, a pungent scent wafting down from its leaves. “I am Skt. The Glorious has asked that I guide you to it.”
“Thank you,” Pozach said, following as the Anuran rotated on its roots and glided away. Ntannu fell into step behind her, keeping a careful eye on the other Anurans and the purple primates that trailed after them. The landscape of this world struck Jeanne as familiar and similar to Intooine, which had an unnatural quiet and peace to it. Rolling hills were broken up by small shelters and massive archways. Lush green and violet grasses carpeted the ground and her boots sank into the rich, moist earth.
Pozach could see the Glorious well before they reached it. Its branches waved gently, almost thirty feet above the ground, and it had planted itself at the center of a half-circle of arches. Many small Anurans surrounded it. The mixture of scents overpowered the translator, producing a dull tone.
The smells faced away from the air and a new smell emerged from the Glorious. “Jeanne Pozach,” it said,” I am grateful that you chose to visit us.”
“My pleasure, Glorious.” The Glorious was too large to consider in all of its entirety and she had to focus on one small part of it at a time. “With me is my comrade, Lieutenant Ntannu.”
“Greetings to you as well, Lieutenant Ntannu.” The Glorious’ eyestalks turned towards the Anuran surrounding it. “I will order the Captain our proposal alone if you please.” The entire grove rose as one entity and glided away from the arches. Fascinated by them, the Cayuga’s captain watched them until the Glorious’ scent returned her attention to it. “I apologize for my peoples’ attitude. They are not accustomed to privacy or … hasty activity.”
Pozach glanced after the departing beings, wondering what she had missed. “No offense taken.”
“Word of your Federation has spread far and wide across the Sea of Stars. Its people are said to be made up of many noble beings.”
“I’m delighted that news of our good works has reached this far.”
“Many seasons ago, we were visited by a race that called themselves ‘Cardassians’. They cared not for us and we cared not for them but our relations with them were civil. They constructed the space station in the skies above our world but they abandoned it some time ago.” The Glorious shifted its branches, altering the patterns of light and dark upon its leaves. “That space station left us as a power among our neighboring planets but it is a power that we do not understand. It is my wish that Anura join your Federation of Planets, using it as a model or a guide.”
Although she had already anticipated the question being asked of her, Pozach felt a thrill of exhalation as the words emerged from her translator. “It’s not an immediate process,” she cautioned it, hiding her glee. “There are diplomatic and cultural exchanges. We also want to be certain that the Anurans feel that this is the best move for them as a race.”
A scent of agreement descended from the Glorious. “Of course, Captain, and then we shall begin the coronation process as soon as the full Grove can be convened.”
“Of course,” Pozach repeated happily in agreement before the meaning of the word ‘coronation’ pierced her consciousness. “Wait. What?”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
