Welcome Aboard

Posted on Tue Aug 11th, 2026 @ 3:31am by Captain Jaro & Lieutenant Commander Dr. Evoru Vetri & Lieutenant Noxe (Cogenitor 125) Tome & Lieutenant Elara PsyD & Lieutenant Commander Riaani ek'Meru

3,369 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: Episode 1: The Fissure
Location: Shuttle Bay, USS Amazônia

The expansive, metallic cavern of Shuttle Bay 1 was quiet, save for the rhythmic, low-frequency thrum of the atmospheric forcefield holding back the cold vacuum of space. Outside the shimmering, translucent barrier, the stars of the Delta Quadrant hung like distant diamonds against a velvet void.

Captain Jaro stood near the safety line of the primary landing pad, holding a sleek PADD in both hands. Deep down, beneath his seasoned commanding officer's exterior, he felt a sudden, surprisingly giddy spark of excitement. It had been over a decade since his active days in the Starfleet Diplomatic Corps had officially concluded, but standing here on the physical threshold of an exchange program—weaving two completely different cultures together in uncharted space—brought back the familiar, intoxicating rush of raw, unwritten potential.

He had explicitly bypassed the traditional military reception. There were no dress uniforms, no security honor guard lining the bulkheads, and no shrill bosun's whistles. It wasn't because the Amazônia was stretched thin, but rather a deliberate choice of optics. Standing in rigid ranks with phaser rifles polished to a mirror sheen didn't exactly scream "peaceful explorers" to a casual onlooker. The Amazônia, like almost any Starfleet vessel, was technically capable of leveling an entire surface city during a casual afternoon tea. But there were only very specific, very tragic scenarios where alluding to that overwhelming destructive capacity actually furthered one’s cause. This first meeting was absolutely not one of them.

Instead, Jaro had invited a small, informal gathering of those department heads and senior officers who could be spared from their immediate duties. They stood in a loose semi-circle, their voices low and polite. There was still a palpable touch of professional distance between them—the quiet reserve of a brand-new crew whose names and temperaments were still being cataloged. Instead of personal banter, they stayed within the safe harbor of operational shop talk, quietly trading notes on minor crossovers. When someone made a dry, quiet remark about the food replicators' stubborn insistence on dispensing lukewarm tea, it prompted a collective, polite murmur of agreement. It was far from a fully cohesive unit, but Jaro watched them with satisfaction regardless. The gears of their shared social shorthand were beginning to turn, slowly wearing away the initial rust of unfamiliarity.

He knew, of course, that this was just a first greeting. Those department heads who were currently trapped in the lower decks or monitoring the warp manifold would have plenty of opportunity to meet the new Executive Officer at the informal  gathering scheduled for later that evening in the mess hall.

Outside, sharing the very same gravity well, the OSV Letha was positioned. If one squinted really hard through the shimmering blue line of the atmospheric forcefield, the Kodaaj'ek flagship was faintly visible—a minute, elegant speck of light brown against the deep black. It was remarkably compact, organically curved, and by Starfleet's multi-mission standards, completely under-armed.

As Jaro looked out at the tiny speck of the Letha, he found himself speculating on the design. The luxury of building highly specialized, smaller vessels rather than versatile, jack-of-all-trades starships hinted at one of two strategic realities. Either the Kodaaj'ek territory was regional enough that long-range transit times and self-sustainment were non-factors for their navy, or their ships were so ubiquitous throughout this sector of space that a dedicated defensive net was always within arm's reach. Jaro wasn't entirely sure which of the two scenarios he ought to hope for..

He turned back to the gathered officers, offering them a reassuring, wide smile as he tapped the edge of his PADD.

"I appreciate those of you who could slip away from their regular duties to join us. Since you have all read—or, at the very least, have been highly encouraged to read—the Diplomatic Corps dossier on the Osha'Thaar Union, I will spare you a recitation of the fine print. Let's just touch on the cliff notes."

He gestured to the open space of the bay. "Our first officer, Commander Litt, has officially departed for his posting aboard the OSV Letha. In return, we are welcoming Lt. Cmdr. Riaani ek’Meru, at least that is what her rank translates to in Starfleet parlance. As a Kodaaj'ek, she is native to a world with a crushing gravitational index. Now, I have been assured that she underwent the a series of cardiovascular and skeletal-dampener surgeries prior to her transfer to allow her to live and work comfortably in our standard one-G environment. However..." Jaro’s eyes twinkled with a hint of mischievous humor. "...I must strongly advise against challenging her to any tests of physical strength. Do not attempt to arm-wrestle her. If any of you ends up needing Dr. Zhol to reconstruct your rotator cuff, you will be the one explaining the reason behind it."

A light ripple of quiet amusement passed through the small group of officers, successfully taking the edge off the room's polite, tentative anticipation.

"Lieutent Commander ek’Meru operates under the cultural philosophy of the Vaarek—that willingly accepted communal responsibility. I expect everyone to treat her with the utmost intellectual honesty. If she asks you a question and you do not have the data, do not attempt to smooth it over or guess. To a Kodaaj'ek, guessing is merely a waste of valuable processing time. Simply say: 'I do not know, Commander, but I will find out and tell you when I have the answer.' She will respect the integrity of that response far more than a half-measured assumption."

Before Jaro could elaborate, the overhead intercom system chimed.

"Bridge to Shuttle Bay. The Kodaaj'ek shuttlecraft 'Niru' has requested landing clearance. Telemetry puts her ETA at approximately five minutes."

Tapping his communicator badge, Jaro responded with practiced ease. "Bridge, this is the Captain. Grant the clearance."

Instantly, Jaro listened as the comm channel filled with the cross-chatter of the crew lining up a shuttle landing. The bridge flight ops team and Shuttle Bay Control began their tightly choreographed interplay of coordinating the approach vectors, their voices overlapping in a familiar rhythm:

"Bridge to Shuttle Bay Control, transferring telemetry and descent profile now..."
"Shuttle Bay Control, telemetry locked. Tracking Niru on approach vector. Landing Pad Alpha is cleared and green." "Copy that, Control. Niru acknowledges. Landing in T-minus four minutes twentyseven seconds."

Jaro closed the channel with a light tap, the giddy anticipation returning to his eyes. He tucked the PADD under his arm. "You heard it, everyone. Let's make sure we are ready to welcome our new Executive Officer."

Noxe stood in the back, as she usually did. She was quiet, maybe a bit meek, and scared of everything. Plus, if no one could see her, it was fine if she made a mistake. As it were, Zhuk, her holo-cat, had popped up for a minute, when he sensed that she was upset. He was programmed to be more of an emotional support animal than a true pet, and the best part was that she didn't have to scoop his poo.

She tittered a bit as the others did-Noxe often aped people as she navigated social situations, given that she'd been among her "peers" for only four years. Human humor was still hard for her to "get." She was starting to understand the concept, and the one called "sarcasm," too. Then, she fell quiet and serious again as they waited the arrival of her new XO. She would miss Commander Litt; he was nice and calm, but she knew that a new opportunity was something that one couldn't say no to, especially if you were particularly inclined to advance your career.


The Chief Science Officer, Vetri Evoru, found it hard to remain motionless as he waited for the new Lieutenant Commander to arrive. His legs were shifting constantly as he just couldn't suppress his excitement. To be able to work with a new culture that the Federation had just met felt like a huge honor to the Bajoran scientist. Of course, while he was primarily an exobiologist and knew his limitations when it came to social interactions, he nonetheless hoped that the initial awkwardness of their first encounters could be easily surmounted so that the two could learn from each other. As such, he had ensured to read and reread the Preliminary Cultural and Strategic Dossier on the Osha'Thaar Planetary Union to make this process as smooth as possible. Even now, he muttered what he had memorized under his breath, waiting for the shuttle to descend upon Bay 1.

Indeed, Evoru found himself lost upon his own little world, also considering variables when it came to what questions may be asked of him. He expected to take the brunt of the inquiries, for after all, the Lieutenant Commander was an eminence on all things science. Biology, mathematics, physics, anthropology, astronomy... he had readied the most common answers to all those topics, though remembered that if he couldn't answer something, then honesty was preferred. It was a viewpoint that he could fully agree with - many times had science been set back years due to intellectual and academic grievances. But in this new epoch of progress, such behaviors could not be tolerated...

If such things could be said of a craft capable of housing a small diplomatic retinue, the Niru's compact design gave the impression of being far smaller than it likely was. Certainly, as it neared and began the delicate procedure of docking, there was an economy of movement that not only conveyed a gracefulness that seemed almost organic but caused it to resemble a small critter nestling down into its burrow for a winter's nap. Raya, despite several misgivings about the responsibility Jaro had placed in her lap, watched the procedure with intense scrutiny, the kind of sparkling eagerness that might have given the impression she was far more interested in the new arrival's shuttle than the woman herself. There was room, the pilot would have argued, for curiosity to extend beyond social considerations. Quite unexpectedly, she found herself envious of Litt's opportunity. If this was how they built their smaller craft, Raya longed to explore the possibilities within their entire fleet.

The daydream was only a brief lapse, however, Raya's shoulders drew upwards as the hatch opened and any speculation about the craft's specifications became instantly relegated to another day's problem. Though she didn't often talk about it, Raya had been in and out of diplomatic exchanges her entire life, subjected to the endless monotony of protocol by dint of being her father's daughter. Somewhere amidst the constant expectations to sit still and mind her manners, the sheen had worn off interacting with new cultures but there was no doubt that this meeting was a little different. After all, ek'Meru wasn't just a visitor whose presence interfered with a day's plans; this was a woman who brought an outsider's influence into the command structure, there wasn't a lot of luxury to just ignore her until she finally left.

It helped, therefore, that the first impression was that of an exceeding amount of calm. Even watching the Kodaaj'ek disembark was like watching the slow trickle of condensation down a glass windshield. Raya was a little baffled as to why that was the analogy she landed on so quickly but there was something about the way the woman moved that seemed almost unnaturally fluid. Well she is wearing gravity modifiers. The frustrated chastisement of her own appreciation pulled Raya's expression back into its typical neutral mask, with the addition of a faint tinge of embarrassment that she would have to hope sat discreetly enough on her olive skin to go unnoticed.

For her part, unaware that her approach had warranted any poetic comparisons, Riaani cast her gaze between each face before settling on the most recognisable. She had done her best with the time she'd been given to peruse the crew information provided but, admittedly, it had seemed best to leave the bulk of her research to the possibility of first-hand conversation. "Captain Jaro," she acknowledged, her voice a warm contralto as the translation protocols flexed their new upgrade once more, "It's a pleasure to meet you at last. Your crew made the docking look effortless."

Noxe tensed a moment. It could go either way; either Jaro would be accepting or they would butt heads. She didn't want to see, to be honest, but she couldn't exactly leave, could she?

Jaro took a step forward, his facial expression expanding into a genuine, welcoming smile. "*Sa'vera*, Lieutenant Commander ek’Meru," Jaro replied, pronouncing the Kodaaj'ek greeting as best he could. "The pleasure is entirely ours. Welcome to Starfleet and welcome aboard the *Amazônia*."

He gestured with an open hand toward the small group assembled near the pad. "Allow me to introduce those of our senior staff who were able to step away from their duties to welcome you personally," Jaro continued smoothly. "This is Lieutenant Commander Vetri, our Chief Scientist. Beside him is Lieutenant Khatri, our Chief Pilot. And further back, Lieutenant Tomé, our Chief Operations Officer and Lieutenant Elara, our Counselor." He brought his hands together, bright eyes glinting with engagement. "We are delighted to have you with us not only as a representative of the *Osha’Thaar*, but also as part of our crew."

Noxe raised a hand in greeting when Jaro introduced her. She was a bit stiff; new people always worried her a tiny bit. Quietly, she sipped her tea, forcing herself to calm down. She was fine and safe, after all. This woman wasn't a danger nor was she going to judge her. Yet.

There was a benevolence to the alien's gaze that caught Raya off-guard on the rebound. For a split second, her own curiosity grappled once again with her composure, an internal struggle that unfortunately provoked tension in the young pilot's posture she would have preferred the newcomer not notice. No such luck, she realised, as ek'Meru's eyes wandered down the row of assembled faces and took a moment to consider Khatri's awkwardness for what it was. The scrutiny, whilst not without kindness, was also frank and unabashed and left Raya quietly hoping for a convenient emergency klaxon or, at the very least, a more localised distraction to draw the piercingly-analytical alertness somewhere else. Anywhere else.

Noxe gazed at the others, waiting for something, anything, to happen. She had the idea, for a brief moment, of spilling her tea on her tunic so she could go change. On the other hand, it would be too obvious. What to do??

A docile blink broke the eye contact and, just like that, Raya could breathe again. Not before, she noted, the other woman dipped her head in covert acknowledgement but at least ek'Meru chose not to mention crew behaviour as her attention returned to Jaro and her features relaxed into what might have counted as a warm smile had it actually involved facial movement at all. Riaani's features remained impassive, however, as the bulk of her expressiveness travelled directly to her eyes.

"We have a great deal to learn from each other, I look forward to hearing everyone's stories."

It was then that Raya realised ek'Meru was being quite deliberate in the placement of her gaze. In the scramble to rebalance her own equilibrium, the Lieutenant had lost a moment of objective observation but she considered now the alien's posture, the economy of movement, the way she seemed to breathe delicate composure as if it came naturally to approach all social interactions as if contained by an individual forcefield programmed to her exact dimensions. If anything, their new First Officer seemed intent on taking up as little space as possible, which would have been interesting enough had Raya also not realised that ek'Meru was fidgetting ever-so-slightly. The pads of her index fingers were pressed against her thumbs as her arms hung at her side, and as Raya surreptitiously watched, there was the sneak of a nail to dig fretfully at the soft skin. She's nervous.

Well, duh.

On the balance of things, it made sense enough not to read too much into it. Raya still filed it away, oddly enough with some relief, because she couldn't imagine being alone amongst a sea of strangers and being genuinely as calm as ek'Meru was trying to convey. Anxiousness felt...reassuring, though certainly something to watch.

Elara detected the various levels of nerves and emotions amongst her colleagues. From excitement at meeting someone new and a new quadrant race, to actual nerves on how to act; it was like a blanket in the room.

She'd stayed quiet to this point, remembering how overwhelming it could be to step onto a ship of strangers not just in the people you are meeting but the species themselves. Jaro has done right, allow the new first officer some small introductions and time to accumulate. "Welcome onboard Commander. I am the ship's counsellor, my door is always open should you need any help with the transition to our ship. I can imagine it could all be overwhelming in some senses."

This time, the hesitation was obvious enough that it became impossible to deny. In an instant, all the pent-up energy ek'Meru had channelled into a single displacement fidget became the sluggish apprehension that saw her visibly muster her composure before letting her gaze switch to meet the palid Counselor's. Interestingly, though Elara's presence seemed significant to the Kodaaj'ek, the expression that landed held a great deal more restrained curiosity than repulsion. Any choice not to stare seemed a deliberate attempt to avoid offense, but it was difficult to mask a lifetime's worth of shrewd scrutiny just because manners dictated caution.

"Thank you for the offer. It is my hope that I will have the opportunity to speak with all the crew eventually, an individual's perspective is often far more reliable than official documents can cater for. That is, of course," she turned back to Jaro and seemed, if not a little relieved to have a reason to shift her focus, then certainly more relaxed for the excuse, "if there is time. My understanding is that you have quite a robust schedule."

A small chuckle escaped Jaro, his expressive eyes twinkling with light amusement.

"Ah, I must strongly advise against using my personal schedule as a benchmark, Lieutenant Commander," Jaro said, offering her a conspiratorial smile. "Us Denobulans do not require sleep—save for a brief, multi-day hibernation once a year. Hence my duty schedule tends to look rather terrifying to species with more sensible circadian rhythms. Rest assured, you will have plenty of time to settle in, meet the crew, and acclimate at your own pace." At least he hoped she would, but he could attest from personal experience that the duties of an Executive Officer were as numerous as they were seemingly unending.

He turned toward his Chief Flight Officer, offering Raya a subtle, encouraging nod that recalled their earlier talk in Astrometrics.

"Lieutenant Khatri, if you would be so kind as to show Lieutenant Commander ek’Meru to her quarters on Deck 3? Help her get oriented along the way."

"Take all the time you need to unpack and get your bearings, Lieutenant Commander. Whenever you feel ready, please join me in my Ready Room to receive the command code authorization for the Amazônia."

Jaro then turned his gaze back toward the small group of assembled officers.

"I won't keep the rest of you away from your duties any longer," accompanying his words with appreciative nod. "Thank you all for taking the time to come and extend such a warm welcome to our new Executive Officer. I will be seeing you tonight in the officer’s mess at the latest."

With a gentle nod of dismissal, he watched the senior officers disperse back to their respective stations.

Captain Jaro
Captain
USS Amazonia

Lt. Commander Riaani ek'Meru
On-loan Executive Officer
USS Amazônia

Lt. Commander Evoru Vetri
Chief Science Officer
USS Amazônia

Lieutenant Harinarayani Khatri
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Amazônia

Lieutenant Elara PsyD
Chief Counsellor
USS Amazonia

Lietentant Noxe (Cogenitor 125) Tome
Chief of Operations
USS Amazonia

 

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