MISSION POST: Shi Maro Space Station - Day 47 - OPEN

[enterprise_npc]

The air was one of breathless anticipation as all off duty personnel - military and civilian, Aian and Marosi - lined the viewports to watch the Starfleet ship come in to dock. Murmurs raced through the watching crowd at her strange design, at the unfamiliar words emblazoned across her hull

Comments

[mostofteninred]

A party? Yeah, Robert could have fun with a party. Of course, it was an official function meant to convey some sort of good image for the crew of the Enterprise, but at the heart, it was still a party.

Which meant he was going to mingle his way over to some food, grabbing a glass of champaigne-type drink on the way over. Both party essentials, Robert was ready.

[green_psyd]

David studied the reaction to their arrival carefully. The group reaction was one thing. But some individuals didn't look away so quickly. And one or two were still staring. He took an anxious breath and made his leave to the refreshments to observe.

"That was interesting," he mumbled under his breath. He gave a glance to who he was next to and smiled. "Robert," he said easily hiding his unease. "Haven't seen you since the ping pong 'tournament'"

[mostofteninred]

"Yeah, haven't really wanted to show my face," Robert replied with a laugh, needing no time at all to connect memory to face. It's not like many faces he interacted with were green, after all. "How you doing, David?"

[green_psyd]

He ran a hand over his satiny vest at the question. He was wearing a dark blue vest with a lighter blue shirt underneath. He'd forgone a jacket in hopes of pulling off a less shrewd formality.

He'd also put some thought into mimicking his department colors. Blue on top and a darker blue pinstripe pants to match the vest. His cuffs had gold bands which signified his rank, and he was wearing the Enterprise insignia pin on his vest.

He studied the crowd silently for a while.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little anxious," he admitted, finally. He gave Robert a glance and a smile. "How's the food?"

[im_a_donnie]

Donnie was remorse when he learned they had to attend some sort of celebration in honor of them arriving. They hadn't even done anything yet. The whole thing seemed idiotic and filled with empty symbolism.

He all but plastered himself to a far off wall as soon as they arrived and idled himself with his PADD and tricorder. He blindly grabbed off a passing hors d'oeurves tray and popped whatever it was in his mouth.

This was about as much his scene as desert was a fish's favorite vacationing spot.

[transwarp_beam]

Much as he would have liked to just get down to business, he hadn't been surprised to hear about the welcome ceremony. It was all politics; the opposition wanting a chance to size them up. It was unavoidable. In the meantime, he'd just be making the most of the sticky-sweet blue drinks that were being served.

He raised his glass in acknowledgement as he spotted Donnie lurking against a wall at the edges and made his way over. "Alright?"

[im_a_donnie]

Donnie had only glanced up from his obsessive avoidance of looking at the crowd and managed to catch the flash of red and a patch of blonde hair looking at him. He looked down and wasn't as surprised as he thought he'd be when the Scottish accent was suddenly right next to him.

He nodded and shrugged in response. He glanced up at the blue drink and a longing look came on his face. He liked blue drinks. He wanted one. But not enough to cut through the loud, smelly, overheated crowd. His heartbeat quickened just thinking about it.

"I don't get it," he finally said, almost whining. "We haven't even done anything. Can't be anything but posturing," he mumbled. He didn't know everything about social etiquette but meaningless dinner parties were something he'd grown up with.

[transwarp_beam]

Scotty shrugged, setting his back against the wall and taking a long drink. "I'd guess they're wantin' a look at us. I mean, makes sense, doesn' it? What we end up decidin'll be a pretty big deal for them. One way or the other."

[sweetinaskirt]

Daniela didn't really understand why she had to be present for this thing. It wasn't like she was anyone important that anyone would want to meet. But it had been strongly suggested that she put in an appearance, so that's what she was doing. She'd hang in the back, near the exit for about five minutes, then sneak out and back to the ship. If anyone questioned her, she'd say she wasn't feeling well and needed to go back to her quarters. If someone from medical intervened, well... she'd rather spend a night in the med bay instead of at a party where she was expected to socialize with people.

Moving to lean against the wall near the doors, she watched everyone else socializing as she counted down five minutes.

[nurse_cchapel]

Excited for the evening, Christine entered the banquet area first, taking in the room itself before looking among her colleagues. Knowing her friends, there would be a few she'd have to peel off the wall, or at least join over there for a while. Two people immediately caught her attention: Donnie and Daniela. Her little introvert D's, it would appear.

A moment's deliberation decided the Yeoman was most likely to bolt first, so she doubled back to the door and approaced Daniela. "Hey, sweetie," she said said, smile bright as she stepped beside her. "How are you?"

[sweetinaskirt]

She smiled when she saw Christine, then remembering the excuse she'd made for herself, let it fade away.

"Oh, hi. Um, I dunno. Feeling a little... off. So I might head back to the ship early." She didn't want to make up some illness that Christine could easily treat, nor did she want her friend to worry about her, so she decided to be as vague as possible. Though Christine was such good company, Daniela was questioning whether she wanted to bail so quickly. As long as she could talk to her friend, there was no reason to rush off, was there?

[nurse_cchapel]

None whatsoever. Which might have been Christine's plan all along, sneaky little thing that she was.

"Okay," she said with an understanding nod, reaching out to give Daniela's shoulder a squeeze. "Anything I can help with?"

[lynn_creed]

It was with an oddly careful air that the buzz of conversation resumed again after their entrance. Everyone was on edge. And everyone was armed - not entirely unexpected for such a militarily-inclined culture, but still disconcerting to see. Her hand itched for her phaser.

The politicians were easy to spot. They moved differently from the soldiers, watched differently, and as the murmur of the crowd returned to normal they circled like buzzards. Creed sighed internally and tried to look uncommunicative. Politics made her head ache.

[miss_gaila]

Gaila was trying to hide the fact that she was completely on edge. She knew that she should just try to enjoy herself - it was a welcome party after all - but she was having a hard time calming the nagging voices in her head that said this mission wasn't what it seemed to be. Any why hasn't Uhura come back yet? she wondered as she entered the hall. She felt a few stares - no doubt the Aians weren't used to seeing Orions - but ignored them.

She found herself beside the Enterprise's Chief of Security, whom she knew by sight but had never spoken to, and wondered briefly what she thought of their armed but smiling hosts. She wasn't quite sure if she should ask, but she smiled in greeting anyway. "Commander."

[lynn_creed]

"Lieutenant," she acknowledged, nodding. It was so oddly reassuring to see someone else looking as on-edge as she felt. "What do you make of our hosts?"

[miss_gaila]

"They've welcomed us quite cordially, with good wine and firearms," she replied, voice neutral even if the comment was not.

[sf_girl_friday]

It was strange that Janice could occasionally be so shy around the people she worked with daily, but throw her into a function like this and a sense of calm would settle over her that overcame any of her latent shyness.

It was a trait that she was grateful for as she watched the crowd, memorizing faces that would eventually be matched to names she would be required to remember. That watchfulness also gave her a chance to search for people that she knew, getting a general idea of which members of the crew attending in case she needed some familiar company.

A basic layout of the party fixed in her mind, she took a deep breath and slipped into the crowd, ready to make polite, if boring, conversation and learn whatever she could about their hosts.

[enterprise_npc]

He'd watched as the ranking officers and more influential politicians made straight for the negotiating team and command staff of the visiting ship. As was only right and proper, of course. But he'd quietly formed his own opinions about the likelihood of the more trained and experienced members of the crew letting anything useful slip. He didn't know much about Starfleet's command structure as compared to their own, but it seemed to be a universal truth that it was the functionaries rather than the commanders who knew where all the bodies were buried. So to speak.

Steering clear of the knot of conversation that had formed around both sides' respective leaders, he made his way around the periphery of the crowd, discreetly observing.

It was on his second circuit of the room that he encountered a young woman in the uniform of the Federation ship, moving through the crowd with an air he found indefinably intriguing. As good a candidate as any. "Welcome to Shi Maro," he greeted her in passable if slightly accented Standard.