Chapter Text
They entered the cavernous, round, meeting room and greeted their host. The mayor of Crag'na, Madame Dagmar, and several of her ministers and staff formed a line which the ambassador and Stanik began to navigate. A Gorchanian greeted Kat and introduced herself as their interpreter for the evening. Kat thanked her and in perfect Gorchan introduced the rest of the party. The interpreter nodded and began to introduce each of the Gorchan dignitaries. They met the head of planetary defense, the science minster and ministers of immigration and intra-galactic relations.
Kat chatted briefly with each, seeking common ground with the wary group who viewed the rest of her party through a skeptical, perhaps even wary lens. By the time they were seated around the enormous circular table, Kat wondered how long the dinner would last. Or remain civil.
Servers began to place dishes loaded with delicacies on the inner rim of the table which rotated past each attendee. The meal progressed in typical Gorchan fashion through polite topics such as education and the history of the city's burroughs.
The Gorchanians however showed no interest in learning about their visitors and their planet. Kat sensed that they knew everything they wanted to know about the visitors. Kat needed to ask the ambassador if the Gorchanians had traveled to the Milky Way and why their experience seemed to have been less than favorable.
The ambassador waited politely through the mini-lesson on how clearly superior the Gorchan civilization was. She glanced toward the admiral, sharing the unspoken language of people who had been intimately involved for years. Kat could tell they had an equally unfavorable view of the other parties at the table.
Kat watched in fascination, wondering why either side would even want to work together. Perhaps that was the gift of diplomacy- to collaborate with others that you simply couldn't stand.
Kat's sole experience with humans was the brief time she had spent with the Excalibur crew but she had lived with the Gorchanians for years. They may have been arrogant and stubborn at times but their passionate dedication to species' rights and fairness had benefitted from that stubbornness. She watched the tense interchange between the two leaders with interest.
After one particularly sharp jab about scientific achievement, Maggie pasted a smile on her face and responded, "I understand completely, your eminence. We have been successfully engaged in deep space exploration for nearly two hundred years. We also value scientific research."
"Research or domination?" the defense minister muttered under his breath.
Unfortunately the Starfleet electronic translator in the ambassador’s ear didn't exercise as much discretion as a live translator and Maggie's eyes widened. She was an experienced negotiator and bit her tongue as she turned a bright smile to the mayor who also looked uncomfortable. Maggie prepared to direct the conversation toward education.
Instead, Kat turned to the minister. "What do you mean?" she asked.
A horrified silence dropped over the table as Maggie frantically tried to reach her telepathically. Kat blocked her and faced the defense minister. "Please, I am interested." she urged.
The minister looked at the mayor who shook her head.
"I was merely agreeing to the value of research. Perhaps your translation was flawed?"
Kat arched an eyebrow before responding, again in perfect Gorchan, "My apologies, minister. I had not realized how much the language might have changed since I lived in Crag'na. It seems just yesterday that I was living here. Apparently time flies when you're frozen in space."
The science minister guffawed in the awkward silence and began to ask Kat questions about the stasis process that had saved her.
The evening dragged on as Kat tried to make polite conversation with the science minister, while avidly watching the mayor and the ambassador try to recover their polite veneer. Kat drew the admiral into the conversation and soon the two men were enthusiastically comparing farming and agriculture methods.
Kat gathered that Maggie have grown up with a large farming estate but it was her husband who actually enjoyed farming. Finally, the fifth and final course of the meal was cleared and Kat wondered how two species could ever collaborate when they were so forcefully ignoring their dislike and distrust of each other.
The after dinner aperitif began a lengthy toast from the mayor as she extolled peace and collaboration without interference. Maggie asked Stanik to interpret as she thought perhaps the electronic translator had made a mistake. As Stanik interpreted the odd toast, Maggie's eyes narrowed and she looked to Kat for clarification. Kat shrugged. Stanik’s translation was correct.
After two toasts from members of her cabinet hoping for good will and quick travel for the visitors, the defense minister rose. He lifted his ornate goblet and began. "Madame Ambassador, we welcome visitors who come in friendship but we are fully capable of defending ourselves and our neighbors from those who are not interested in friendship.” The heads of the mayor’s cabinet nodded in agreement.
Maggie's eyebrows snapped together and she glanced at Kat who again shrugged.
"I assure you minister, we are here in friendship," Maggie said.
"Truly?" he asked. "Because the evidence would state otherwise."
"What evidence are you referring to?" Maggie asked.
The minister nodded to an aide standing along the wall. Over the immense center of the table a three dimensional hologram of the galaxy appeared.
“This, Ambassador, is the Tarsas region of our galaxy…” he said, “thirty years ago. The blue dots represent planets and peoples which were self-ruling and sustainable.”
He nodded to the aide and a dozen of the dots turned red.
"These are mining communities with rich deposits of the crystals which your people crave. Communities which are now under your control."
Maggie looked at the admiral who had turned off his interpreter earbud and listened as Kat explained telepathically. He looked at the image for a moment, recognizing the region the Atlantis currently operated within, and nodded.
"It's true," he told his wife telepathically. "They are community's that were decimated by the Orci and Blacktide has moved in to protect survivors as they rebuild and to provide a defense against further attacks."
Maggie’s face mirrored relief at the explanation. She began to share the details of the situation with the mayor.
The Gorchan leader considered her response for a moment before replying. "It is interesting that this Orci threat has arisen since your entrance to this region. It is also interesting that the Orci have so conveniently destroyed the local people's to allow you control of these resources."
Maggie bit down on her appalled response. "We have had nothing to do with the Orci! Indeed we have suffered as much as your indigenous communities at the hands of the Orci."
"So you say,” the mayor said. “And we are truly sorry for your losses but you have also gained greatly."
The defense minister joined the conversation. “How long do you envision exploring this galaxy?”
The ambassador was formulating an appropriately diplomatic response to the pointed question when he continued.
“You have been here for thirty years. Initially you came as explorers, guests to this galaxy. As time continued, you have stayed and now, it appears you are more than explorers. You have begun to settle and colonize where you clearly have no right to be.”
Maggie again controlled her frustration at their responses. She turned to Kat and spoke in French, guessing the Gorchan interpreter had only learned English in her studies. "She makes us sound like carpetbaggers who are sullying their Galaxy," Maggie said.
“Well, in a way you are,” Kat responded in kind.
Maggie shot her a stunned look.
Kat continued. “You are currently much more a military presence than a scientific one and you are staking claims to very valuable resources here at the expense of the peoples who have controlled those resources for centuries. It feels a bit like watching the European conquest of the rest of the world.”
Maggie was outraged. “That is definitely not what is going on here.”
Kat persevered. “Is this what you have done in the Milky Way?” She looked at Stanik. “Have they colonized other worlds in the Milky Way?”
Stanik looked as astonished as a Vulcan might be. “No, certainly not. The explorers from Earth have abided by the strict guidelines that other advanced races have held for centuries. ‘No interference. No harm.’ They have even created a Prime Directive from it.”
Kat turned to the admiral and he nodded. “The Milky Way exploration is bound by the Prime Directive. It mandates that we never interfere with the development of other civilizations. That includes not being ‘first contact’ for those worlds that are not ready to engage in intergalactic relations,” he explained.
“Why don’t you have that directive here?” she asked.
“It became clear when we first began exploring the Andromeda galaxy that most worlds have seen other explorers long before we arrived. That was back in the day when Maggie and I captained the first Excalibur. We still abide by rules to not interfere unless help is requested.”
Kat said, “But not everyone exploring here is from Starfleet.”
She saw an uncomfortable look pass between the ambassador and her husband.
“No,” he told her. “There are other worlds who are exploring here, and of course there are private entities like Blacktide who have begun to engage here in this galaxy.”
Kat nodded. “Do you have mining operations in the Milky Way?”
“We have contracts with mining operations but those operations were all in existence before,” the admiral said.
Maggie answered hotly, “We are offering help to people who are being killed by the Orci in exchange for a few of their national resources.”
Kat studied her for a moment, intrigued by her more emotional response to the question. She had a more personal connection somehow to the problem than the admiral but Kat wanted to challenge her to a different viewpoint.
Kat said, “That’s not help. That’s imperialism.”
Maggie was so outraged she was speechless. The two women looked at each other for a moment before Maggie blinked. She frowned as her diplomat’s brain began to work through the potential arguments. Kat waited patiently for her to process this.
“We aren't colonizing... We are helping,” she said finally. “However, if you think that, it is no wonder the Gorchanians think so.”
The admiral asked, “So, how do we convince them that we are not here to take over their galaxy?”
Kat shrugged. “Perhaps accepting that they have a right to fear you and by listening to their concerns.”
Maggie swallowed hard. Then she turned to the defense minister. “I believe in my heart that we are here as explorers and not colonists,” she began, “but I understand you have valid concerns and no reason to trust us.”
She looked at the mayor and offered, “We truly want to develop a diplomatic relationship with you. In light of your concerns, where could we begin?"
Madame Dagmar considered as she leaned over and whispered with her colleagues. There was a heated exchange but finally the mayor held up her hand.
She asked the ambassador, "Are you available to discuss this more?"
“Yes, we would be honored,” Maggie responded.
“I will clear my calendar tomorrow,” Dagmar said. She held up a hand to silence her aides. “We begin in the morning.”