The woman sat in the starbase lounge, still unsure if the decision she had made, and the change in the course of her life, was the correct thing to do. Ever since she heard about this opportunity, and decided to take advantage of it, those doubts had resurfaced periodically. This was a radical change for her, and like most changes, it was fraught with self-doubts and uncertainties, the kind that only time and actually going through with her decision could solve.
The moment was almost here. She stood up, stretched slightly in the way that was characteristic of the Odonans, and walked towards the departure centre. The Alexandria was due within the quarter hour, and Chan Chi Lee had to be ready to transport on board when the ship arrived.
As she slowly walked through the open area, carrying a small case of personal effects in her right hand, Chan looked around at the small gathering of people, mostly humans from Earth-which Odonans commonly referred to as "Terrans"-who were scattered around the lounge. A few of them, she suspected, were also assigned to the Alexandria, and many did not know that this particular Odonan woman would be joining them on that ship, one of the Enterprise-class heavy cruisers that worked for Starfleet, the exploration, defense and diplomacy arm of the United Federation of Planets.
As part of its efforts to promote peace, harmony and unity in the Known Galaxy, the Federation ran officer exchange programs with the various space-going races that surrounded, or were embedded within, the large volume of space that the Federation controlled. Chan Chi had heard about the plan, and how she was qualified to be a part of it. After spending decades on Alfe Kree, mostly as the head of the planetary security directorate, Chan had grown weary and tired of the constant warfare and criminal activity on that planet. Once it was a peaceful world that had been lightly colonized by both the Odonans and the Korpeians, but over the years, the original treaty was broken and ever-more Korpeians came to Alfe Kree from their overcrowded worlds in the frontier to fill that planet too. Along with the Korpeians came all the racial and ethnic strife which was the one constant in the Korpeian Confederation, and perhaps the most important factor in why this race, the longest continuous space-going civilization in the Known Galaxy, could never amount to much beyond its own space. All Chan Chi thought she was doing on Alfe Kree was manipulating manpower, trying to keep the more vicious Korpeians out of the cities and off of the roads, and trying to stay one step ahead of the grisly killings and rising anarchy on that planet. Every day brought more massacres, more frustration and more anger. Chan Chi had watched the collapse of the society there, and she was feeling increasingly helpless and increasingly desensitized to what was happening. Once the rumours started that the Odonans were going to abandon Alfe Kree, Chan decided that she needed a career change.
She left the planet, but had no real place to go. She was without a permanent home, and adrift and not really sure of what the next turn in her life should be. The officer exchange program was, she felt, a kind of way station, while she figured what to do next. Of course, her participation in the program had to be cleared through her mother, Admiral Hualei Chiang, but she gave her blessing in a meeting that was a lot less confrontational than she expected. Everything since was a blur. The program was relatively new, and she was one of the first Odonans accepted into it, so she had to travel to Earth for some additional training. The Academy officials were quite impressed with her abilities and her general knowledge about science and starship operations and what it meant to be in space. All she really had to learn was how to operate the various systems on a Federation starship, including navigation and communications. However, the officials were most impressed by Chan's ability in combat situations. She could use the forcefield belt to great effect, and was so proficient with phaser and disruptor weapons that it was almost intimating. It was not what they expected from an Odonan. The way that she acted, her ability to organize and the authority she exuded meant she was basically cast for one role. For this one role, she went through the command-level training and testing procedures, where she certainly made them take notice for her quick and decisive thinking and her intelligence. Chan did not think she was particularly brilliant or extraordinary in this situation; she simply had a lot of experience in the field.
The Alexandria had a chief of security, Nattin Tashur. He was an Andorian, who had served with distinction in various roles, his last being as the chief of security on a top-line ship. However, like most Andorians, he felt more comfortable among his own kind, manning ships his people had built and designed. Thus, his desire for adventure among aliens and on an alien ship satisfied, he had applied for a transfer to an Andorian ship. For a short while, Chan would serve under Lieutenant Commander Tashur, and then take his job. This was more than she could have hoped for, a command position on a top-line Federation starship-provided she could survive the earliest days of her posting.
A man, dressed in a starbase uniform, approached Chan as she slowly wandered towards the departure area. "Lieutenant Commander Chan Chi?"
"Yes," Chan said, turning slowly to face the man. He was shorter, and had the squeaky voice and bald head that humans often referred to as being typical of bureaucrats.
"The Alexandria is due in orbit within ten minutes. You will accompany me to the staging area."
"Of course," the woman replied, absently following the bureaucrat. Chan had been told his name, but had forgotten it now. It really did not matter.
The two walked in silence along some corridors and through several passageways that required both to show their pass cards. Chan, as always, walked smartly and firmly, her eyes always roving around, looking for anything that could pose a danger or provide an advantage. It was a trait that she had learned on Alfe Kree, and could not help but use here, on Starbase Fourty-Four. She followed the old habits, even though on Starbase Fourty-Four, there were no Korpeians, no criminals and no real danger at all.
The staging area was a room, with chairs, situated outside of one of the transporter rooms in the base headquarters. A desk at one end of the room was occupied by an older human female. Chan merely handed her the pass card. The woman glanced at the card and said absently, "Yes. The Alexandria. You're Lieutenant Commander Chan Chi."
"I am," the Odonan woman replied, her voice firm, and without a trace of accent. Chan spoke English fluently, as well as her native tongues of Odonien-the standard form-and Suder. In addition, she understood three Korpeian tongues and two different Klingon dialects, including the form that had come back into fashion.
"You will transport separately up to the Alexandria, apart from the other personnel transfers."
"Why?"
"That is what Captain Parouge asked us to do."
"Oh," the woman mumbled. She should not get nervous over that. A reason for such a request likely existed, and the most likely reason was that the captain wanted to meet her as soon as possible. Afterall, it was not every day a ship like the Alexandria got a new senior officer.
In the room were several others, all humans, and all dressed in the Starfleet uniforms. The uniforms were, in Chan's mind, ugly and constraining, consisting as they did of a scarlet-coloured uniform jacket that had an awkward lapel fastener and an uncomfortable ribbed turtle-neck sweater underneath. Odonans simply hated to have their necks covered like that; they preferred that the san be free and able to respond to air currents and such around them. Everybody wore the same uniform, and all the others, a mixture of the two principal races from Earth, were lower-ranked than Chan was. She saw a lot of ensigns and a few junior-grade lieutenants, suggesting to her that a number of these people were actually on their first deep-space assignment and not necessarily transfers from other ships. One feature they did share with the Odonan woman was that they had this general sense of unease and even nervousness.
Several more humans entered, until there were twelve of them to the one Odonan. Chan absently mopped her forehead with the top of her head, internally complaining about the heat. It was something she was going to have to get used to, but the bulky uniform certainly did not help matters. She saw the other new crewmembers, and noticed how they were nicely dressed in their uniforms. All of them had a certain amount of newness to them. Chan looked at herself too, and thought she looked the same, except that this style of uniform would never appear on an Odonan ship. The fabric was too heavy. At least the uniform style managed to hide the forcefield belt. She had permission to wear it, since she simply was uncomfortable without it. The original Odonan exchange officers were allowed to wear the belt under the "cultural relic" rule which, among other things, allowed Andorians to wear those chains with the jewels that marked their clan, and which allowed the Korpeians-their numbers in Starfleet very few-to keep the beads and thin ribbons in their hair. Starfleet was pretty tolerant about such cultural relics, since the whole mission of the Federation was tolerance and acceptance. They did not impose their own cultural mores on the alien races that they served with or encountered.
A younger woman approached Chan, and asked, "Are you being assigned to the Alexandria too?" Her voice revealed a certain touch of nervousness.
"Yes," Chan replied, her voice more of a monotone, and without emotion. Chan found herself talking to aliens that way, and it was condescending, as she had been told. It was a habit borne of dealing with Korpeians too often, and although that race might deserve the treatment, she knew others did not. She would have to unlearn that practice, something she had tried to do with minimal success so far during her stay on Earth.
The human, however, did not really notice the tone of voice, just the word. "You're part of the officer exchange program, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am," Chan answered, again struggling with her emotions and tone of voice. To humans, it was as important how she said it as it was what she said. "The Alexandria is my first posting on a Federation starship."
"How long are you going to stay?"
"I don't know yet," the Odonan answered, and that was the truth. "The program is open-ended, but I imagine that I'll stay at least until the end of the current tour of duty."
"I heard that the Odonan government was reluctant to let their people take part in this."
Obviously, Chan thought, this woman was a lot more informed and intelligent than first appearances suggested, which was something she had heard was generally true among humans. That she was like this was only natural, the woman realized, as the Federation only put its best on the Enterprise-class vessels. These were the most advanced ships in the service of the Federation, and so were the destinations of choice of most of the fleet's officers. "I had served for some time in the Odonan Space Service, but lately, I had been spending my time... elsewhere. I was getting stale there. This is something different."
"Oh," the young woman said, suppressing a giggle. "This is my first deep-space mission. I guess I'm kind of nervous."
"That's a natural reaction."
"Are you nervous?"
"No, not about starting an assignment on a deep-space ship. I guess I'm nervous on how I'm going to fit in on this ship."
"I heard that the Alexandria has some other aliens on board."
"But that doesn't automatically mean the aliens on board will cluster around each other, or be able to help another alien fit in."
"I suppose so."
Another officer, one of the protocol officers attached to the commander's office, emerged from the transporter room. Standing in front of the door and holding a computer tablet in his hands as if he was reading from it, the man started, "The Alexandria has arrived. They wish that the new crewmembers transport on board immediately." He rhymed off six names, and asked them to accompany him to the transporter room. Several moments later, he arrived and gave the rest of the names, except for one. Those six entered the room, and beamed on board the starship. The one left behind was Chan, who briefly thought that somebody had second thoughts about her presence on board and she was being left behind. Quickly, she banished those negative thoughts from her mind. She should approach this assignment positively. She had a lot to learn and a lot to see. Again, she could thrill in deep-space exploration. In a way, she had missed it, and never had she realized how much she had missed it until now.
Once more, the protocol officer emerged from the room, and said, "Lieutenant Commander Chan, will you accompany me, please."
It was beginning anew...
To the left was Captain Claude Parouge, commander of the starship Alexandria, and to the right, his first officer, Ortese Allende. Allende was relatively new to Parouge as the first officer, but then again, the ship itself was relatively new. Despite the short duration of the Alexandria missions so far, the two were seeing the replacement of virtually the entire command crew under then. Now, they briskly strode towards the transporter room to meet the latest change.
Parouge had the appearance of a commander in the classic mold, a tall man with short-cropped blondish hair-although now streaked with noticeable gray-square and stern features and probing, piercing blue eyes. Allende did not have quite the same appearance, and almost clashed with the captain. He had the dark complexion, the wild, bushy eyebrows and the jet-black hair typical of his Latin American ancestry. He looked more like the type who wanted to have fun, rather than one who would command a starship into battle against the Klingons. Being first officer meant that Allende had much more contact with the crew than the captain had. He was more outgoing and personable. On the other hand, as some of the crew could attest, he could be a mean, xenophobic, crude and a hard-driving son of a...
"Somehow, the idea of an Odonan replacing Lieutenant Commander Tashur in security is mind-boggling," Allenda commented. The two turned a bend in the corridor and approached a door marked "Transporter Room One." He continued, "An Odonan woman no less."
"She comes highly regarded."
"The Odonans just don't have an image of being a tough, aggressive people."
Parouge chuckled slightly, remarking, "You have not dealt with them that extensively, have you?"
"I guess not, but what about her loyalty?"
"The Federation is not at war with the Odonans, nor have they ever been. We've been allied races ever since first contact with the Odonans, and in the beginning, the Odonans even considered Federation membership. In the end, they decided that maintaining their independence and allying themselves with the Federation when necessary was a more desirable way for them to proceed. Her loyalty, I believe, will be unquestioned."
The doors split open to the approach of the two officers, disappearing into the walls to reveal the main transporter room. The transporter chief, Ilsa Sharakov, was behind the control console. Seeing her superior officers enter, she reported, "The first twelve new crewmembers are on board. We're waiting for the last one."
"So are we," Parouge replied, as he turned to face the platform, his hands clasped in front of his waist. "Bring her in."
"Yes sir," Lieutenant Sharakov replied, contacting the ground station to activate the transporter on that end. The starbase transporter was directing the transport procedure, and feeding the matter stream into the pattern buffers on this transporter system. It was at that point that the stocky transporter chief became a participant rather than a spectator.
The transporter effect came on. First, a column of blue appeared, which sucked the air out of the interior of the volume. Bright blue lights started to flash within the column, spreading and growing until in a burst of light the person being transported appeared. The humming and the lights rapidly vanished, leaving the woman standing on the platform.
She was truly an Odonan, the two senior officers noticed. That was obvious by the hairs they saw on her hands. The hairs were thick, black and about four to five centimetres long. Most of her body was covered in those hairs. However, she was taller than expected. Most humans, even those in Starfleet, have the impression that a typical Odonan was about a metre fifty in height, very slender and virtually indistinguishable by gender. This one was about a metre seventy, and by the shape of her body in even this particular uniform, neither human had any doubt about her gender.
Chan Chi had a vaguely Oriental appearance, at least in terms of her nose and lips and her overall facial shape. Her eyes were more Caucasian, full and round and with irises that were almost black. Her hair was equally black, very straight and long. Federation regulations did not allow long hair to be worn loose, so Chan had it braided against the back of her head. Half of the column of hair was braided, the rest allowed to hang loose, only secured at the very end. Her skin was fairly dark, and had the typical darker splotches along the hairline, especially where the hairline receded from the peak at the forehead. The other distinguishing characteristic of the Odonans were the phyyza, those long, stiff but slender hairs that extended outwards from the side of the mouth and around the outside area of the eye sockets. Those hairs were noticeable on Chan, as were the folds of skin and the cords on the neck, which in Odonans tended to be a bit more pronounced than on humans. Allende and Parouge did not see it easily, but knew that instead of fingernails and toenails, the Odonans had claws instead, which could be quite sharp if they let them grow. Otherwise, the body followed the basic humanoid plan, but the biochemistry within could be quite different. Nevertheless, the two senior officers were suitably impressed by her physical attributes.
Chan walked off of the platform, saying, "Lieutenant Commander Chan Chi Lee reporting for duty, sir."
Parouge smiled slightly, approaching the woman and offering his hand. Chan took it, shaking his hand firmly. She had learned that this was a formal human greeting, although the reasoning behind hit eluded her. "Welcome aboard the Alexandria," the captain started. "It's a good ship, and we're pleased that you will be able to join us on its mission."
"Thank you," replied Chan, again remembering what she had learned about human politeness and empty social phrases. Odonien contained no such words equivalent to "please" and "thank you," choosing instead to use differing sets of pronouns for such functions. Chan had to remember when to use such social-nicety forms when speaking the standard Federation language.
"I'm Captain Claude Parouge," continued the man standing in front of her. "This is my first officer, Ortese Allende, and transporter chief Ilsa Sharakov. You'll be meeting the rest of the command crew shortly."
"Of course," the Odonan woman replied.
As the three walked towards the exit, Parouge continued, "As far as I know, you are the first Odonan officer to accept the exchange program and serve on a Federation starship. That is a great honour for the Alexandria. What made you accept the program, while the others have not?"
"Actually, I think it was a case of my government not approving any of the others."
"Then why did it approve you?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe it is because I'm more comfortable at the extremely high temperatures that humans keep their ships at, compared to the average Odonan."
"It's not that warm in here," Allende retorted. "it's a nice, even twenty-one degrees."
"True, but this temperature is to me what thirty or thirty-two degrees would be to you."
Down the corridor, the group was met by Lieutenant Terry Clemsen, the second shift security duty officer. He was supposed to have reported to the transporter room with Parouge and Allende, but other details had tied him up. "Sorry about the delay, captain," the relatively young man explained.
"No need to apologize," Parouge replied in his firm voice. "The Lieutenant Commander came on board without your presence." Turning to Chan, the captain introduced the man and added, "He will take you to your quarters. We will be having a briefing, an orientation session, shortly."
"Okay," Chan mumbled. She was so unsure of these human social conventions that she found herself slipping constantly, and was worried too much thought processes and resources were being wasted on making sure she kept all of them correct.
Clemsen and Chan went in the opposite direction from the two senior officers. The security officer led the new crewmember to the nearest turbolift station, and instructed the device to go to the deck containing senior officer quarters. Inside the turbolift, Chan finally found herself able to relax. At last, she was finally out of the range of those above her in rank, and with somebody she was soon going to have authority over. It was Clemsen who spoke first, saying, "You know, you're not exactly what I was expecting from an Odonan woman."
"What were you expecting?" Chan asked, trying to sound as pleasant as possible, which, given her background, was not very easy to do.
"Well," Clemsen replied, now sounding nervous himself. "I had been several times at the Deti Transfer Station, and well, the Odonans there are, ah, shorter. I hope I'm not offending you or anything."
"Not at all. Not all Odonans look the same, you know, just like all humans don't. The variations are just in different areas, such as height."
"Yes, I should know that," the man mumbled in response.
The turbolift stopped, depositing the two on a deck with a lot less traffic than the deck they had just left. Because Chan was the newest person on this deck, she had quarters that were about as far away from a turbolift as it was possible to be. Seniority, she surmised, did have its privileges.
"I understand," the young man continued, "that you're going to replace Tashur as the security chief."
"That's not certain," Chan answered, sensing that perhaps the position was what Clemsen was also after. "They will make the decision later. I've still got to get used to procedures on this ship."
"That shouldn't be too hard. The captain's a good officer to work for, but he does put you through the test. I mean, he'll be using you a lot right now, to see what you've got."
"I'm expecting that."
They arrived at the quarters. Starfleet, Chan noticed, was quite prompt. The nameplate on the doorframe already had her rank and name engraved on it. Unlike most doors, those to quarters had to be opened by touching the nameplate. Inside, the quarters were dark and pleasantly cool.
"Ooh" Clemsen mumbled. "Environmental's got this place to Odonan specs already."
"Shelter from the heat wave," Chan replied softly, mostly in jest. She had not so far found the temperatures on the ship too oppressive. All of her years on Alfe Kree had conditioned her to higher temperatures.
"Does the temperature really bother you too much?" the man finally asked, if only to keep the conversation going.
"No," Chan remarked. "One reason why I was selected for this program was that I am accustomed to higher temperatures. I spent a lot of time on a hot planet."
Clemsen had learned a few things about Chan, but not that. "I thought you were in the Odonan Space Service?"
"Yeah, but I was serving on a planet instead of on a ship. The planet was the location of a starbase, and I was attached to that, but spent most of my time on the surface." That was not the complete story, Chan knew, but it would do for now. Chan hated to open up her entire life to total strangers.
"What did that involve?"
"It's a long and very involved tale, and I can only do justice to it if I tell it all, from beginning to end and in order. Maybe some other day?"
"Of course.
Chan finally found the light controls, and turned up the illumination to the usual levels. The quarters, Chan noticed, were quite spacious. The room gently curved along the shape of the saucer, and was divided into three parts. The part the two were standing in now was the sleeping area, containing an adequately-large bed, a bookshelf behind it, and a reading light and console that allowed the occupant to set the environmental conditions and provide music and other comforts. A partition, which could be slid across to close off the two sections, led to the other half of the quarters. A desk was located along one wall, with a storage area behind it. A communications and viewscreen console were located on the far wall, and a small table, with two chairs, against the shorter wall. A dining booth was also provided, with a table, a bench and a small food processing unit, which was tied into the ship's main systems. Most quarters were not equipped with the food slots, requiring the crew to eat in the various lounges and mess halls, but the unit in Chan's quarters was designed to produce the Odonan proteins and other nutrients she needed. Serving on a ship filled with humans meant that Chan would be eating a lot of human food. That was adequate for carbohydrates and food energy, but Chan needed the Odonan proteins and nutrients to maintain her health. The final area of the quarters was the washroom, which consisted of the usual amenities, including the sonic shower, which could be used as a conventional shower as well, and a certain appliance only Odonans would ever use. Once more, she saw that Starfleet was prompt in providing the Odonan version of the necessities of life.
Clemsen continued, "We followed the Starfleet information guide on setting up these quarters as best we could for an Odonan, including programming the food synthesizer and installing that... thing in the bathroom. I can imagine how that thing must work."
"Yes, maybe you do," Chan remarked.
"As for the food, the main systems on board the Alexandria, the ones in the lounges and mess halls, for example, are programmed to provide food that humans need. I guess that's the way it is on a ship filled with humans, and only a few aliens."
"I understand," the Odonan said, as she walked into the working area of her quarters and put the small suitcase down on the desk. "Besides me, what other aliens are on board the Alexandria?"
"Not many," Clemsen answered. "The medical officer is a Vulcan, and of course, there's Tashur, an Andorian. There's a Deltan navigator and a Kentyan in the medical department. That's about it. It's difficult for aliens, because of the different environmental conditions, language, and so on. The Federation generally has ships staffed mostly from one race, with those ships usually designed and built for that particular race. We're used to human-built ships, but on a Vulcan-built ship, or an Andorian-built ship, the interior design, the layout, and of course the environment more closely resemble their preferred conditions, and not ours. It just works better to have a crew mostly of one race, with some others who are willing to come on board to almost offer a different perspective."
"I see," Chan remarked.
"Some aliens adapt, and come on board a human ship and spend a long career here. They are comfortable in this situation. Others, though, are like Tashur, who wants to return to more familiar circumstances with his own kind."
"Yes," she replied, wondering how long it would be until she desired to be among her own kind as well.
Clemsen was physically sticking close to Chan. He explained that he had been assigned to accompany her as she learned her way around the ship. It was all unfamiliar to her, the passageways, the routes to various sections o the ship and the people she would meet along the way. In time, Chan knew that she would get to learn all of this, and would eventually know her way around the large starship as well as anybody else on board. It always took time, but for now, she had a guide.
The Odonan woman looked at Clemsen, but did not regard him in any way but professional. As humans went, he was attractive, young and strong and with firm features. He had brownish hair, straight and somewhat bushy, and worn a little bit longer than Chan had long heard was typical for human males. He seemed friendly enough, although whenever Chan noticed, he was looking at her, examining her in some manner that Chan did not immediately understand. At first, she thought he was sizing her up, trying perhaps to get an advantage over her as they competed for the same job. Then, Chan remembered that humans were ruled by their hormones as much as their brains. Was he being attracted to her? Chan did not have the experience in dealing with that, and through much of her life, had tried to deny such feelings. She had her mate, but rarely saw him. They had yet to arrange a time and a place to produce their first child, a task that Chan knew she would have to someday perform, no matter how unpleasant. It was her duty as an Odonan.
The intercom in the room beeped, and since this was Chan's room, she was the one who answered it. "Lieutenant Commander Chan here," she remarked, mentally commenting on the awkwardness of having six syllables in her rank.
Parouge appeared on the small screen, and said, "Is Clemsen still there?"
"Yes," the woman replied.
"Have him escort you to the main briefing room on G deck."
"Okay," Chan replied, then remembered that she was supposed to say something like "aye sir." In Odonien, the word that translated as "okay" was the acceptable way to acknowledge that orders had been received and understood. For now, she ignored the transgressions and said to the man with her, "Lets go."
(End of Part 1)
