Terror on the Orbital Express
Posted on Tue Jul 21st, 2026 @ 9:46pm by Lieutenant Kally Kellerman & Captain Calypso Skyie & Lieutenant Rala & Lieutenant Mark Valleroy & Lieutenant Rebecca McMillen & Ensign Fiona McCarthy & Lieutenant JG Jenna Jade
Edited on on Tue Jul 21st, 2026 @ 10:09pm
3,021 words; about a 15 minute read
Mission:
Die Hard: Chimera Edition (main)
Location: {Orgrann skyhook station}
Kally stood by one of the bay windows looking down over the planet, a drink in hand. The orbital station attached to the space elevator wasn't the most elaborate facility, but the conference room they were in was relatively comfortable, and she had to admit, the view was spectacular.
She saw a figure move up next to her and looked over, smiling. "Hello, Mark," she said. "Long time no see."
"Good afternoon, Kally," Mark replied. "Do we call it afternoon right now?" he then asked thoughtfully. "It's early afternoon ship-time, but it looks more like evening directly below us on the planet. Which time period gets the preference here?"
"Whichever one lets me drink socially," Kally said, sipping her cocktail. "To be honest, other than discussing the medical ramifications of anything, I don't know why I'm here. My diplomatic experience is limited, not to mention unrepeatable. I'm mostly here to support Cally and try to avoid saying anything stupid." She gave him a half smile.
Rala was already on her way over, having spotted Kally by the windows, and heard Kally's musing as she approached. “Isn't it some kind of policy or tradition for a Captain to bring their entire senior staff along for initial diplomatic meetings,” she said, stepping next to Kally and giving her a gentle side-hug. As she did, a lock of her magenta hair slipped down in front of her left eye. She'd grown it out slightly over the last few months, and was still getting used to the new length. She brushed it back, and continued, "Although, a good chunk of us are headed ground-side, so that's not it.” She smiled. “My guess, she just wants to keep you close.”
"If it makes you feel any better," Mark replied in reference to Kally's last comment, taking a sip from his glass of ice water, "I'm wondering why I'm here as well. As I was just talking with Lt. Rala about a few weeks ago, there's a reason I went into security and not some other area like medical or counseling, and certainly changing those out for diplomatic functions would keep the statement just as true."
Kally gave Rala a similar hug. "Well, if things go south, Cally will need her Chief of Security to keep everything from getting out of control," Kally said. "And you can stop me from flirting with the opposing delegates if they're cute," she gave a smirk and a wink.
"Well, Ah'll pass on the flirtin' myself." Jenna gave Kally a nervous smile, "Ah'm not even sure why Ah'm here, Ah don't have any diplomatic skills and no one here seems to take me seriously."
"Actually, I can answer the reason I want you all here." Cally had overheard much of Mark had just said as she walked through the door in her nearly trademarked flight-suit styled uniform and reached into a pocket to pull out a piece of candy and idly unwrapping it, "If I have to be here, others have to as well." She shrugged and tossed the hard and refined sugar into her mouth, "This is just the initial meeting, most of you guys can skip the rest of what's about to happen and I'll probably drag Alex back up here to sit in as well. And Rebecca and Rala, in this case. Jenna and Rala are getting their first taste of diplomacy, and it's always good to get a toe dipped in. But I need some scientific advice and I'm guessing someone familiar in Operations to help devise a compromise solution."
"So there we are," Kally said to Mark. "We're just the pretty faces to charm the opposing side." She clinked her glass with Mark's then moved from Rala to Cally, giving her hand a squeeze and a quick peck on her cheek. "Got a feel for anyone yet?" she said, looking around.
"Nervousness from both sides that I've been able to talk to." Cally said under her breath. The fact that she was using her empathic abilities again wasn't widely known, but Kally HAD to know for so many reasons. "There's something else there, but I can't place it. The environmentalists seem to have come in with something in mind that they're resolved about, but that's all I'm getting and they told me straight out they're not going to start setting their position until the negotiations actually begin."
Kally frowned. "Well, if you need me to try charming one of them, I can rush back to the ship and get into something low-cut at a moment's notice." She grinned at Cally and gave a teasing wink.
Rala smiled again as Calypso approached, then felt like a tiny piece of her left with Kally as she moved away, but she was getting used to that. Then her attention was drawn away from her two favorite people by the window, and she moved to get a better view, one ear cocked to better hear Captain as she looked out.
The view was nearly magical, she thought, particularly when combined with the knowledge of how it was being achieved. She’d seen prettier planets, but the view of its surface curving away, swathed in the thin layer of atmosphere, and the blackness beyond; and knowing that somewhere below the deck she was standing on was a solid tether all the way down to the surface... “This,” she mused aloud to no one in particular, still smiling, “this feeling, was a significant part of why I joined Starfleet.”
Rebecca had to admit, being seen in 'public' again after so long was a bit terrifying. Fortunately she had her Emotional Support Rala, who's upper left shoulder she was currently perched on. She had deduced through up close observation a high likelihood that Rala was Right-Hands dominant, so figured her left shoulders were safer from sudden reflexive motion. She enjoyed the view out as well as any other, barely reflecting in the thick transparent aluminum that separated them from the vacuum of space.
"You joined Starfleet because of elevators?" Rebecca teased with a giggle.
Rala’s left ear flicked at the voice of the tiny Science Officer on her shoulder. She twisted her neck enough to get a glimpse of Rebecca and smiled, then looked back to the window. “New experiences,” she clarified. “I’ve never been on a space elevator before. Draakrona had concepts, but had never quite gotten to the level of materials science needed for it, and while I learned at the Academy that several other species had, I never got the chance to visit one until now.”
Rebecca wore a soft smile, content in her humor. "Even when you know the science behind them, they're still fascinating." the diminutive officer offered, in support of the experience. "I've never experienced a space elevator either, unless every turbolift and 'getting picked up' counts as one." Rebecca smiled still, enjoying the view out the viewport. "So, I'm the pocket advisor, eh?" she called over to Cally, her tone didn't seem to indicate one way or another if she was offended or interested in the role.
"Pockets are an option, yes, otherwise I could stick you someplace else and have everyone wonder just how good I am at ventriloquism." Calypso smirked at the diminutive officer.
"Ah yes, a posting in the Alps." Rebecca teased, invoking the name of a famous mountain range back on Earth.
Jenna blushed at the innuendo, but couldn't muster any more words.
Rala turned back to the group, looking at Calypso. “Didn’t I get a taste of diplomacy on Tial?” she asked, then forestalled a response with her own subsequent thought, “But then, I wasn’t a department head at the time. Point taken.”
"The experience doesn't go away with promotions. Okay, okay I know we've all been around folks who seem like they lost brain cells once they get more pips, but..." Rebecca chided in, no hostility in her tone, pure humor and mirth.
Kally stuck her tongue out at Becca, then grinned.
"Tial was a First Contact type situation, though it really wasn't, because of Tessa and Cass. It could be seen more as diplomatic, I suppose." Cally shrugged, "Of course, whatever Admiral had the pipe up their rear end to think I'd make a good diplomat really needs to have their head examined."
A number of images flashed through Rala’s mind. She blinked them away, shaking her head slightly, being careful not to jostle Becca too much. “I don’t know,” she said, taking one last look out the window for the time being, then stepping back toward the others, stopping an arm’s length from Cally. “You may not enjoy it, but I think you do a fair job at it.”
"I haven't started a major diplomatic incident that starts an intergalactic war... Yet." Cally smiled broadly, "So I suppose that counts as a fair job."
"To be fair, it's not as bad as it sounds," Kally said idly. She watched the other delegation. They looked stressed. Then again, they had the most to gain from the negotiations, so she supposed this meant more to them. Still, clustering together, whispering among each other, kind of spit in the face of the purpose of this initial get-together. Then again, what are we doing? she thought.
"Maybe we should go talk to them," Kally said. "Try another round of conversation?"
"I don't know," Mark said. "Would they want to talk business during down time? Sure, we could talk about something other than that, but they don't seem like the type who like to engage in small talk."
"Still, worth a try, right?" Kally said.
"Go in groups, I don't want anyone to be alone with them, just a feeling." Calypso turned to Rala, "Lieutenant, I'd like you to go make a quick check via comms with whoever we've got left on the ship. I want them off and down the elevator in the next couple of hours. Kally, can you handle our little scientific resource center?"
"Aye, Captain," Rala said.
"Of course," Kally said, sidling up to Rala. "Time to transfer to Medical," she said, grinning at Rebecca.
Rala started to reach up to hand the tiny Science Officer over, but when Kally stopped next to her, she just pulled the doctor in for another side-hug, giving Becca access to move directly from one woman’s shoulder to the other.
The diminutive officer walked from shoulder to shoulder, around the back of Kally's neck behind the curtain of hair to arrive on her far shoulder. "You know, most prople dread a personnel transfer but... seems harmless enough." Rebecca giggled as she settled. "Medical transfer complete." She offered, cheerful as ever.
“Back in a bit,” Rala said to both of them before stepping away to find a quieter spot to make her calls.
"Care to join us, Mark?" Kally said, looking at him and flashing a grin.
"Oh, absolutely," Mark said. "I love being where the action is."
The Captain tugged the seal to her flight suit down another half inch and put on her best smile. "I'm going to head over to that guy over there and see if he's had any change in heart before I go talk to the governor again. I know I can just stop things and dictate, so go get me more information so I can put something, anything together that'll make everyone happy."
"Don't do anything I've already done," Kally said, giving Cally a look and a wink. "At least not without me there."
"You know you shouldn't be going around giving our esteemed captain any ideas," Mark told Kally.
"Right because I was the only one thinking it," Kally said, nudging him. "All right, Pretty-Face Trio off to make some small talk." She glanced at Becca. "No offense."
"Pfft, sheesh." Rebecca giggled, "None taken, you big goof." She continued to snicker, amused. "I mean, hold on, i keep my lawyer around here somewhere..." she mocked checking her tiny little pockets, and even looked down her own top. "Eh, not here. You're lucky~" a playful smirk.
"Oh, yes, we're going to make such a good impression on these people with that," Mark muttered.
Calypso wandered over to the man who'd identified himself as the leader of the environmentalist group, "So, what do you think? I know that there are still fundamental differences, but the evidence clearly shows that the trajectories are accurate. We can set up a corridor to keep shipping from impacting the journey."
He turned and started to walk away, gesturing for her to follow him towards the door, gesturing to the side. "If they would stop stripping the planet of all her resources for disposable goods and return to renewable energy and recyclable products, and give us a seat on the council, an equal seat, then we can begin to negotiate properly."
"Change has to start somewhere." Cally mentioned, going through the door first, "Besides, for what's already being produced and gotten rid of, it has to go somewhere." She didn't see the look he shot back at his compatriots as he followed her through.
Rala stepped out of the room and around a corner, finding a quiet, relatively out-of-the-way spot, and tapped her combadge. “Rala to Tessa, how goes the packing?”
Silence.
She tried again. “Rala to Tessa, come in?”
Nothing.
Tap. “Rala to Nurse Taylor, come in.”
Still nothing. Her ears twitched back in concern.
Tap. “Rala to Chimera, any personnel, comms check.”
More silence.
Her horns itched. Yes, because technical problems are exactly what we need when the entire crew is scattered across three different places, she mused to herself, and started heading back toward the docking port that was currently the only access to the ship.
As the trio approached a small cluster of the opposing delegation, Kally began to doubt herself. They looked upset, and they clearly didn't trust the Starfleeters in the room, the way they kept glancing at them. Still, it was her idea to talk, so she had to back it up. "Thank you again for having us here," she said, smiling. "The elevator is an amazing feat of engineering. My sister was so excited to try it out."
Rebecca, comfy and secure on Kally's shoulder, gave a nod in agreement. "They're quite a feat, you and the crew should be proud."
Mark hung back a bit, letting the women do the talking for the moment. Something felt...off here. He couldn't quite put a finger on it. He'd always tried to be aware of his surroundings, which included the body language of others. It was something he'd also tried to work on since the Dexic mission - they'd lost several good people there (along with several others severely injured) because they'd been surprised by people who had a plan and who didn't care who got hurt in the process. He'd always kind of felt responsible for that, and was determined not to be surprised again (or at least keep any surprise to as much of a minimum as possible). The looks some of these individuals were giving him and the other Chimera crew were less-than-pleasant at the best, and could almost be described as outright hostile at worst. He began to wish for a phaser or two - if the crew had to make a sudden and hasty effort for any reason, any sort of hand-to-hand combat was not something he'd prefer. He began to glance around for Lt. Rala so that he could at least check in with her and find out what she'd learned from checking in with the few remaining crew on the Chimera.
"Thank you," one of the delegation said, a woman who's expression was anything but friendly. "It consumed quite a lot of resources to create, and uses an unspeakable amount of power, but that's the price to pay when the atmosphere makes it difficult to transport, I suppose."
"Yes...well...it's more efficient than constant ship launches, right?" Kally said, trying to be diplomatic.
"Hardly a comfort," the woman said. "And then you all swoop in, and you all think you can tell us how to save our planet from the people poisoning it?"
"At the very least, we can maybe help you all come to an agreement about how to move forward," Kally said. "I'm not going to claim we'll solve everyone's problems in one go, but if you're all at an impasse with no way forward, maybe we can help with that."
"We know exactly how to move forward," the woman said. She nodded to the others and they turned their backs on the Starfleet group and walked out one of the exits, the doors closing behind them.
Kally stared, wide eyed and turned slightly towards Becca. "Please tell me I didn't just piss off the entire delegation and drive them out of the room..."
"No, no I don't think that's you. That.... that was coordinated." Rebecca offered. Years of People Watching just paid off. Normally it was watching out for feet and shoes, but knowing body language was always a plus. "I ... I don't like this one bit. Quick, hide me."
Kally immediately adjusted her hair, allowing Becca to slip further along her shoulder to her neck and hide behind her curls. She turned to Mark and frowned. "Something's wrong. We should find Cally."
Mark nodded, giving up looking for Rala at the moment. "Yes, something is very wrong here. Everyone stay together, and keep an eye out for Lt. Rala and Lt. Jade." Mark started moving in the direction he'd seen the captain going. She'd gone through a set of doors with the individual who was the leader of the environmental group, and Mark was really starting to get nervous here.
Kally walked up to the doors and let out a cry of surprise as she walked into them. She pulled at them, trying to pry them open, then turned back to Mark with a worried look. "They're locked!"
{TBC}
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