Post 476: Yensul Awaits

Stardate: 71007.1400
Title: Yensul Awaits
Author: Jariel Camen
Scene: Independence/The Surface of Yensul IV
Time: The morning following "Can't be helped"
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"Mmmmmmmmmph."

Camen knew he was going to be in trouble when she woke up.

He had taken her back to her quarters and helped her relax. As she laid her head on his shoulder she had muttered something about having too much work to do, and not to let her fall asleep. She then went limp on his shoulder.

Camen knew she would only have about four hours to sleep but it was much better then letting her go out there having been awake more than a day in a half. Blane would be calling soon though, and he knew she had to wake up now to get ready to go down to Yensul IV.

He poked her again.

"MMMMMPH!" Her grunt was more annoyed this time, and she flicked his hand away. Suddenly her eyes flew open and she sat upright.

"Oh no. Crap, what time is it?"

[[Half an hour to beam down.]]

"You weren't supposed to let me fall asleep!" Zanh Liis scrambled to find her dress uniform and disappeared into the bathroom.

[[What's done is done.]] Camen signed, to the empty room. He stepped to her closet and picked out one of several identical black button down shirts he kept there to complete his own outfit for the trip to the surface. He pinned on his com badge.

As he dressed, he heard what sounded vaguely like a sonic shower punctuated by the finest and most eloquent string of profanity the Bajoran language had to offer. Finally she emerged from the bathroom and stood before him.

"I look horrible."

[[Dignified, yet beautiful. As always.]]

"I'll take your word for it, since I have no choice."

The door chime chirped. "That would be Mr. Blane." Camen stepped to the door control and let him in. Blane was dressed in a matching dress uniform, color gold in contrast to Captain Zanh's red.

"Looks like everyone is ready." Blane observed.

Camen motioned towards the room, inviting him to come in.

"Oh, well I don't want to intrude." Blane said, feeling awkward. "Maybe I'll just meet you both in the transporter room."

"Sit down, Mr. Blane."

"Yes, I will sit down." Blane spun to leave, then spun again and walked into the room, eyes on the floor as he moved to a chair.

"Anything else we need to discuss before we head down?" Liis asked.

"Well, let's just keep all the names straight. We are meeting Proconsul Tegget. His assistants are Attender Maffe and Attender Sarl." Blane said. "They will be conducting negotiations with us."

"With you and Camen that is." Liis said.

[[Liis, let's at least hear them out before we pass final judgment on their attitudes towards females.]]

"Yes, Camen, I know. This is why I need you down there. I think I'm as ready as I'm ever going to be. Anything yet on the Alchemy?" Zanh Liis hated the idea of leaving the ship right now when the Alchemy's location was still unknown.

"Scans have not turned it up yet Captain. I know you don't want to leave but our best bet right now is to get help from the Yensuli on this. The sooner we meet with Tegget the better if we want to find Alchemy."

***************Yensul IV*************

"They crashed where?" Proconsul Tegget stared at the screen in disbelief. On the other end was a transport vessel captain, fresh from a drop of supplies and a dozen newly widowed and orphaned females on Yensul V.

"I'm telling you, we saw it there on the ground as we took off from the planet."

"Survivors?"

"I couldn't tell, we never got that close."

Tegget could hardly believe what he was hearing. His society had gone to great lengths to hide the shamed and useless from their own eyes, and the eyes of the Federation as well, now this Alchemy ship had crashed on Yensul V and suddenly it was entirely possible that if anyone had survived, the Federation already knew what was going on down on the fifth planet.

Tegget drew himself up, remembering he had an image to maintain. He smiled softly into the screen. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Captain. I will confer with the Exalted Ruler and we will make sure the Federation ship gets the help it needs as soon as possible. And Captain, please don't tell this to anyone. We certainly don't need any panic spreading through our people, or our Federation friends do we?"

"Of course not Proconsul. I leave it in your hands, of course."

Tegget nodded, and deactivated the screen. He rose to his feet, and the doors to his office opened, it was Attender Maffe.

"Proconsul, it is time. The Federation delegation has just arrived."

Tegget took his long time friend by the shoulder and whispered in his ear. "One of the Federation ships has crashed on Yensul V and is still intact. If there are survivors, we need to get to them as fast as possible before.... they," Tegget practically spat out the word, "get to them. Tell no one. Especially not the Federation delegation. If they know about Yensul V I'm sure it will spoil the negotiations. Our Federation friends are powerful but not so enlightened in philosophy as the Exalted Ruler."

"And what if it is already too late?" Attender Maffe asked.

"We will have to deal with that situation if it comes up. Keep me informed. Get to the surface, secure the away team, and round up all the females to make sure they don't stumble upon that ship."

Tegget did not want to say it but he knew if the females had already been in contact with the Alchemy crew, that the Federation team would need to disappear before they could tell Independence what they saw. There was just too much riding on these negotiations to let them go wrong.

The false moon projection would hold off Independence for a while, but the Federation would eventually find out that their ship had crashed on Yensul V. The military would keep the females out of sight, but the Federation was still going to ask questions about why the planet was hidden, and Tegget was going to need to come up with an answer.

He placed his most welcoming smile upon his face, and stepped out into the audience chamber.

"Good morning, and welcome to Yensul IV."

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Jariel Camen
Ship's Chaplain
USS Independence NCC-90791