Of Empires and Starships (Des/Ren Writing Project)

||Space
||Lifepod
||Unknown

Space was not as most people had perceived it thanks to the various media inputs from holo-vids and other questionable sources. There were no constantly raging space battles or asteroids looming over doomed worlds and civilisations. Super novas didn't constantly explode and shake the heavens with their fiery sonic booms every two seconds. In fact when things died in space it was usually with a whimper than a bang. It was just too vast an environment with so much going on for a mere human or any sentient being to fully grasp and understand the sheer scope of it all. Think about it; you're sitting on your bed and far away great stretches of void suns burn out their lifespans every second that ticked away, nebulae swirled full of gases and dust and all the while little blue ball of Earth was just minded its own business rotating around Sol, the star.

It was this particular blue ball that the lifepod was spinning towards dangerously with holes of disruptor impacts along her now battered hull. The cockpit was the only area of the ship that retained anything left of an atmosphere but with the life support damage the room was becoming cold and airless; a dangerous environment for the ship's pilot indeed. In a single seat was a man wearing a blood soaked naval blue duty uniform that formed over his chiselled, Olympian body. A rugged face with steel grey eyes and a flat expression watched the planet get closer and closer as futile attempts to re-engage power to his ship. Dariak Sondag des Iskur was a Vulnian, a human-looking alien with a much taller and grander stature and presentation than most humans could accomplish. His steel grey eyes wandered over the dead consoles sadly and without the AI core to talk to him about his impending suffocation he felt truly alone as the only sounds were his own breathing and the pulsing of the emergency beacon.

Each second that passed meant that the shuttle-sized vessel would spin lazily in the cold depths of space lacking atmosphere. The spinning became almost calming Dariak he was used to such motions from warp travel when the ship would jerk and spin during dimensional transitions. Now there was no guarantee of a safe exit and instead the foreboding feeling of being nothing more than a floating, eternal tomb did nothing for the warrior's mood.

Now there was just carnage, and a single wounded warrior. Far from home.

||USS Farroway
||Bridge
||1704


The USS Farroway was a Federation Fighter/Patrol ship and why it was out this far only the commanding officers could say and they'd been very secretive about that as of late. They were expanding and they were exploring, making the navigations officers work night and day scanning the vast regions of space for something...anything. Scanning empty space was an easy job...it was just exhausting. More often then not even the slightest more exciting little event out of the corner of one's eyes was enough to distract one from their work and even as the computer did the majority of the heavy lifting, that was never an option that should have been taken. In fact, Captain Aria Connoly had a habit of watching her officers like prey sometimes despite her normally friendly demeanor because her job was the only thing she had.

She'd been through quite a lot of loss and quite a bit of blood, sweat and tears to get to this position and a lot of what made her friendly and carefree had no hardened her. As a captain she had more responsibility and she was supposed to make tougher choices than a doctor or a member of an Away Team or any of that...she was in charge and every person on this ship was under her control and she answered directly to Starfleet. When she forgot that and those lines were blurred, terrible things happened and right now it was time for her to do exactly what it was that she had been told to do and that was to see if the Federation could expand their borders a little bit: see what more was out there. They were curious like a cat...

"Captain?" Came Ensign Dolliver's voice, breaking Aria out of her trance. "We're picking up a pulse from an emergency beacon."

Aria turned to the Ensign and took a breath. "All the way out here?"

"Should we proceed?" she asked gently, her blue eyes filled with nervousness.

"Proceed, Ensign," Aria responded with an authoritative nod.

She was a little tired and her stomach churned with nervous anticipation of what it was she was about to find, but he also knew that this was her job and helping those in need was part of the Federation way. So she waited until she could see the escape pod on her viewscreen and then she looked at Ensign Dolliver and her brown eyes met the Ensign's blue ones. This was exacting and nerve wracking all at once and depending on what the response was to be,

"Open a channel, Ensign...hail them..." Aria said before taking another breath. "This is Captain Aria Connoly of the USS Farroway. We are preparing to beam you aboard, what is your status?"

||Space
||Lifepod
||1705

Without power any signal sent to the lifepod might as well have been thrown at it. The words fell on deaf ears as Dariak sat behind the control column slowly feeling the cold seep into his body. His attempts at getting power online were futile yet the refuse of his efforts could be seen strewn across the floor in the form of parts and tools. He was without a weapon to take his own life before darkness and cold robbed him of his breath yet Dariak knew that given his shrapnel received injuries that it wouldn't be long until he died anyway. Such was the realisation that Dariak had merely closed his eyes and decided to allow the bleeding to take him.

Purple blood ran down his arms beneath his sleeves and dripped into a pool below his fingertips. His breathing was shallow and pained as his body struggled to keep itself alive. At least the rotating core of the gravity plating had managed to keep itself activated using its own momentum. Somehow the idea of floating around the vessel made Dariak weary as if his current situation wasn't enough reason for him to feel lacking energy.

For some reason his eyes opened slowly to look of out the viewport and find a ship hovering in front of the lifepod. Was it the ship that attacked his vessel? Surely not. Their holes in the other parts of the lifepod were enough sign that no survivors was a clause in their mission. Besides it was a Breen vessel that had attacked them and Dariak didn't recognise this particular design. Was he saved? Dead? A slave? The latter didn't appeal to him but there was nothing he could do. Not yet at least.

||USS Farroway
||Sickbay
||1726


Upon getting the escape pod into the shuttle bay, Aria made sure every one of her crewmen was prepared for what could possibly go wrong. She was there to oversee every moment with a crew of highly skilled security officers and her medical team, but opening up the pod she was graced with a sight she'd never seen before: purple blood. This incredibly glorious specimen was an alien and she wanted to know what kind of alien, so she even took over the medical team once they moved him to Sickbay.

His physiology was very close to human physiology though there were very distinct differences she noticed as she was getting him scanned and examined. He was naked now, much like she was giving him an autopsy, but he was covered for decency's sake with a sheet--she just needed to make sure that she got every wound checked out and treated. She had needed him unconscious while she ran scans and tended to his injuries and when he awoke they could have a conversation all they wanted about where he was from so they could return him. Everything about him and the pod he'd been floating was foreign and her curiosity was getting the better of her right then.

"Concentrate," she whispered to herself as she ran the dermal regenerater over him. "Just fix him up and wait for him to wake..."

This man was actually a pretty rare find and she was astonished by his muscular structure and just how superior he had to be with this fit body of his in every way. She had never come across a human male so tall or well put together and his tissue told her he was much older than her as well and incredible durable...it puzzled her. There was a race out there that they didn't know about that could probably best them and yet they were out here minding their own business--until he was attacked. Where was his ship? Was he the only survivor? Needing answers to those questions, she opened up a comm link to Ensign Dolliver.

"Ensign, please keep scanning for any signs of debris from a ship our guest could have come in from, or any of his friends we might also need to bring aboard." Aria smiled and nodded as she said she would, closing the comm and then she looked at Dariak as she brushed her fingers over his hair gently. "You have quite the story to tell, don't you?"

||USS Farroway
||Sickbay
||1728

"If you are going to drug me, you must use more." croaked Dariak as he allowed the ruse of his unconscious state to be shed away. Of course there was a moment when the freezing air and blood loss had caused his mind to slip into the gloom of sleep. The time of his arrival was unknown as was the events surrounding it. He had woken up without so much as stirring in an attempt to allow his mind to adapt to his newer, warmer surroundings. He looked up at Aria with his cool grey eyes as his chest started to move with the breathing power of three lungs beneath him.

Had he been drugged? Or did he simply sleep from his injuries? Both points wounded his pride but the latter more so. Dariak was supposed to be stronger than that. Much stronger. However the dull throbbing where metal had been surrounded by flesh was gone. His hreand caressed his chest where the injuries had resided and found nothing but smooth skin. Not even scars. It was a contrast to his other previous blade and energy weapon wounds that had left their mark on his flesh.

"As for my story...that depends on what it is worth." said the alien as he lay on the bed. "Is this the part where you attempt to wriggle the truth from me with chemicals? Or perhaps you re-open the wounds to loosen my tongue?" His gaze was stern as he tried to recognise the uniform. Dariak had never seen something so brightly coloured before. Even his blue jacket and trousers were a darker blue and looked more...military. Only military forces or law enforcement had uniforms. Especially in this area of space.

"I shall save you the effort, alien. My friends...are my comrades in arms. Our ship was ambushed by a Breen cruiser pack. And I am the only survivor. Out of the senior officers I was selected to have the 'honourable' orders of escaping to ensure news of our vessel's destruction reached our homeland."

||USS Farroway
||Sickbay
||1732


Aria jumped slightly at the sound of his voice, looking at him curiously and trying to form words in her head. He was right--his body was far too adaptive and resistant to her drugs, but she was trying to make him as comfortable as possible and his questions and short answer made her nod gently. If he wasn't in too much pain he could stay conscious as long as he wanted to and it wouldn't bother her--she'd get more answers that way and so she straightened her red shirt and motioned for the nurse to turn around and keep walking.

"Are you in any pain? We're not here to interrogate you or torture you, but if you're in pain I'd like to take it away," she explained, gently and sincerely.

She still didn't know what he was exactly and so she wasn't sure quite what to say, but being honest was the best that she could come up with. After all, she was the captain around here and it was good there was no more internal bleeding and he was cleaned up...he said he had to go home. Aria could at least offer him aid and help him to finish his mission and maybe in exchange she could learn more about him than scans could tell her.

"I'm the captain of this ship and if we can, we can get you home. So far you haven't attacked and we will be as accommodating as possible, so if you would like, we shall escort you." Aria nodded gently. "You see, the Breen have a tendency to attack and safe passage is something this ship offers...so rest, and...may I ask what you are?"

Her curiosity was already getting the better of her, but he had purple blood and three lungs and a numerous of other exciting physical differences and she was enthralled. She was out her to expand and explore and so far this was a job well done and first contact wasn't going too bad in her book. Aria was fixing up a wounded man and he needed to get an important message home and who was she to stand in the way of a mission? Heart pounding away in her chest, she continued her work as she waited patiently for him to speak to her once more.

||USS Farroway
||Sickbay
||1733

"There is pain. But it is not debilitating." stated Dariak as he grasped his head. It felt several times bigger. Despite the sedatives having been defeated by two livers and an enhanced tolerance of chemicals they had left their side-effects within him. He felt slightly apprehensive at the fact he was in an unknown medical bay where all sorts of torturous could be used against him. Though the woman had claimed to want to help with the pain and not aggravate it. At this point Dariak wasn't sure if he wanted to believe her or not.

With a groan Dariak managed to sit himself up on the bed and that was when his awareness of self started to kick in. He could feel a sheet against skin. All of his skin. He was bare but that didn't make much of an issue for him. After all Dariak was alive and reasonably well. More to the point that he hadn't been able to take emotional stock of the situation.

"What am I?" he asked in a slow pace. "If you mean personally I'm a man. A naked man by the lack of clothing on me. My name is Lieutenant Dariak Sondag des Iskur. Royal Vulnian Naval Fleet. It was our task to seek combat with the Breen since they seem rather keen to blazingly enter our territory. We...underestimated their numbers. As to what I am in a more general sense I am a Vulnian." He said both pieces of information with a sense of fierce, defiant pride if one could be that way when they were naked on a biobed.

"And what are you? That uniform isn't one I recognise. I've seen Kzinti uniforms, Romulan uniforms. Lately a lot of Cardassian and Breen uniforms. That one however is unknown to me. As is your species. You look like a small Vulnian."

||USS Farroway
||Sickbay
||1736


"Vulnian," Aria repeated gently, trying the word on for size and then looking at the man on her biobed. "For a woman of my species, actually, I am considered tall..."

He seemed to be in a little bit of discomfort so she fetched him some more painkillers just in case he was in need of them, reaching out to touch where some of the wounds had been. She wanted to make sure that he wasn't too tender there and she was also just fascinated by him and how his body worked...how all the excess internal organs ran together. At the same time, she knew it was rude to not properly identify herself as her hail hadn't entirely gone through to him and this was in fact a first contact kind of situation.

"I am Captain Aria Connoly and this is the USS Farroway of the United Federation of Planets--the Federation for short," she explained to him as she tested his reactions of her hand on his flesh. "We were formed years ago and are made up of several species ranging from Bajorans and Humans, to Klingons and Betazoids. Together, we form an alliance of sorts, lending aide where we need to and exchanging all sorts of unique finds. I am...half and half but I was raised human."

Aria wasn't sure how much to say, but honesty was key. "I am not as strong as you, but I'm empathic and I run this ship like a machine. We have been on a mission to expand and explore and our scans picked up your distress beacon pulse. It was not our intention to trespass is your space and so if I could be allowed to return you to your home, that would be preferable."

She gave him a smile and scanned him as he sat up, trying not to eye the contours of his muscles too much because it wasn't proper. This was not only a man she'd never met before, but a new species and eying him like an experiment or a piece of meat had to make him uncomfortable. All of this rested in his hands and yet she hoped that he would let her take him to his home world...perhaps talk to his superiors--then it dawned on her that she was being rude and the auburn haired captain smiled apologetically.

"I took your dimensions and tried to replicate you a new uniform like the one you came in," she explained as she moved to get him the clothing. "It doesn't feel the same material-wise, but it will fit."

||USS Farroway
||Sickbay
||1738

It was a lot to get his head around after being under such bodily stress. A Federation of Planets? Aliens who weren't barbaric and violent? Dariak was somewhat wary at this point. He didn't know if he was back in the Empire's hands and was being grilled with intelligence agents looking from a stealth field or if indeed he was under some crafty alien mind control. Maybe this was a Breen ship's holographic environment and they were trying to slowly break down his mental barriers to get information from him. What was he to do?

Resistance meant torture and possibly death. Compliance gave Dariak the chance to turn the tables around. He looked at Aria and nodded slowly. "It would be possible to take me back to the Empire. I'd be willing to supply you with the co-ordinates to one of our major naval yards. You must understand however that if any patrols come across your vessel or if you were to drop out of warp at the yard...they would be...aggressive. Your ship would have to be searched for contraband and I would have to act as a... liaison."

First impressions were something Vulnians understood and Dariak was hoping to at least arm Aria...if that's who she was...with cultural knowledge if the Navy let her and her ship past. "Our military compared to say...the Klingons...is relatively small. We're a warrior people though and that means our weapon systems are powerful. My vessel was a frigate designed for patrols and swatting fighters out of the sky. If it was a cruiser I had been on well, we never would have met. I can supply you with the knowledge to deal with my people. Especially the military."

Dariak pushed himself from the bed and from the modesty of the sheet and walked across the sickbay without so much as looking bashful at his nudity. At first he inspected the clothes provided to him, putting on the standard issue undergarments and socks. Then came the grey under-shirt along with his identification tags. Finally came the jacket, trousers and combat boots. There was even a belt with an empty pistol holster and sword scabbard that had been replicated along with it. The uniform felt odd but it fitted his form perfectly. Dariak looked in a nearby mirror and inspected himself, ensuring the lieutenant rank slides on his shoulders were showing the correct insignia.

"What do you think?" he asked Aria as he turned around to face her. "Naval material?"

||USS Farroway
||Sickbay
||1740


"I...uh..."

Aria didn't know why the sight of the naked man made her flush hot, but she quickly composed herself. She was an example for the Federation right now and this was a discovery--a way to possibly forge new alliances in uncharted parts of space. Whether she should have or not, she was determined to see this through and to prove once and for all that she and her crew were good people. So she nodded at him in good faith and threw him a reassuring smile as she looked the uniform over.

"You look very dapper," she complimented as she rested her hands behind her back in a military fashion. "Shall we head to the Bridge and put in some coordinates? Until we arrive, you have almost free range of the ship but for security reasons, will be locked out of some systems. I can give you a tour..."

She was honestly trying to be friendly and give so she might receive, taking a breath. "If it means proving that we are friendly and here simply to return you and perhaps exchange words, we are willing to be searched--we will stand down. Part of being a Starfleet captain is having faith in others and I don't sense any ill will from you so I'm not afraid of deception."

Nodding, Aria touched her rank pips and headed for the Sickbay door to lead him to the bridge. The two of them needed to work together to get him home safe and sound and she wanted to meet more Vulnians and enrich her knowledge. She knew he had no reason to trust her, but right now all she could was prove through actions, not words, that she was sincere.

"Bridge, first," she said smiling.

||USS Farroway
||Sickbay
||1742

A tour offered some of the most interesting intelligence gathering aspects to a military person. The fact that she would show him areas and the crew interacting would spill all sorts of secrets to him. How their rank structure worked, the significance of the uniform colours, technology, operations. It made his return to the naval yard more important than ever. Here was a new faction, a new stellar naval force and a possible ally or enemy for the Vulnian Empire. He smiled at the tone rather than the words of her compliment.

"Dapper..." he repeated as his sub-dermal translator was unable to come up with a similar word in his language. "An interesting word." said Dariak with a smile as he looked back into the mirror. He used the reflection to look at the surrounding area of biobeds, medical tools and a security officer standing there with a hand phaser in a holster. Gold. So...soldiers were gold? Officers red?

"I think a tour would be a wonderful idea after we visit the bridge. Deception is not a Vulnian trait unless at war. Since we are not at war I have no reason to be deceptive. Cautious? Of course. A new environment. Unknown aliens. What person wouldn't be cautious. Also Captain Connoly would it be...possible to visit the mess facilities? It seems in my haste to bleed all over the lifepod floor I forgot to eat."

||USS Farroway
||Sickbay
||1745


"It means 'handsome'," Aria elaborated with a gentle nod.

Perhaps he might find that forward, but it was true and she wasn't hitting on him, merely making an observation in response to his question. She led him out into the corridor where he could see officers in many colors walking to different destinations. As they headed for the turbolift she spoke up because she wanted him to get the full experience of what was going on around him.

"This turbolift will take us to the Bridge, where you'll find some pilots, command and science officers and my big chair," she smiled as the doors opened and she led him on. "Computer, Bridge." Aria looked at Dariak and smiled. "When we're on course we can go to the Mess Hall--I am in need of nourishment myself."

She wasn't quite sure what to say to the man or how, but she glanced up at him. "Are all of you so tall? Your height is rare in humans though I've known some towering Klingons in my day. Are you all soldiers? You're incredibly built and I assume skilled and trained. Oh, and you're rather nice to look at so if anyone stares, it's a compliment."

||USS Farroway
||Bridge
||1748

"I admit at seven feet I am somewhat on the short side when it comes to height. Most Vulnians are at least nine feet tall." he said with a small smile. Dariak's ego felt rather tickled that he was regarded 'handsome' and 'nice to look at' but he was soon grounded by the fact that it could mean sexually attractive or scientifically attractive. The possibility of having scientists poke and prod at him was not one that Dariak wanted to play out. He gave a small smile as he continued talking.

"Not all Vulnians are warriors but most citizens are trained in both traditional and modern methods of self-defence. In the traditional side of the training we learn how to fight with a short sword and in martial arts. The specific art is called Jepuku and focuses on the quick disabling of a foe, more often than not in a lethal manner. While not a legal requirement the traditional school also teaches self-discipline and control. We're a hot-blooded race; passionate and powerful. Without control we could hurt ourselves or others in snap actions. On the other scale there is the modern school; firearms, ground assault tactics....open to civilians. We're a warrior race and we understand that the military cannot always provide adequate support and still maintain offensive momentum. Civilians often form militia units that reflect military organisation. It is not uncommon during invasions of our worlds for children to offer themselves as munitions runners, medical students to become tank hunters and the everyday citizen to fight along side a full-time member of the Vulnian military."

He mulled his answer over during the turbolift ride to ensure that he didn't make them come across as...militaristic. Which they were in a way. That and Dariak felt he hadn't answered Aria's question fully. "To summarise...no, we're not all soldiers but we're all warriors...if that makes sense? Not every able bodied man and woman is enlisted in either the Royal Vulnian Guardsmen Corps or the Royal Vulnian Naval Fleet. Who would study the arts? Run the hospitals? Police our streets? School children? A military mind is...a rigid and cold one. It cannot be flexible enough for civilian thought. Even with the training we understand that a military-run society has no...life to it. As a philosopher once said: 'If not for the words printed on this paper or the oil painted on this canvas, are we not but barbarians holding metal?'."

Dariak smiled once more as the turbolift doors opened and he was greeted with the bridge. There was no holo-table for the commander and lance commander to stand over to see the developing tactical situation, no rows of tactical or warfare officers to manage their specific piece of the larger military picture. "It's...a little...small."

||USS Farroway
||Bridge
||1752


Listening to Dariak talk about his species brought a smile to her face and she looked at him the whole while they were in the lift and he was explaining things to her in greater detail. Part of her wondered if they would be thought to be hostile or not when she got him back to where it was that he needed to be, but she was ready to comply in the name of peace. What also bothered her was that she already felt like she liked this guy and it wasn't even in a romantic sense...he was just open and free and she liked listening to his voice. It was then that they made their way onto the bridge and Aria smiled a little bit at his statement.

She shook her head at him. "I prefer 'cozy' instead of 'small'."

Aria wondered just what kind of room a Vulnian ship had but if most Vulnians were nine feet tall, then the ceilings had to be pretty high and he had to be feeling a little bit claustrophobic. Still, she wanted to show him around a bit and brought him to a console smirking a little when Ensign Dolliver looked him up and down, but she shuffled a little bit on her feet too. For some reason it kind of bothered her that he was being objectified by everyone in the room and she was the captain...she had to put a stop to it.

She needed to make sure that he felt like he was be treated with the utmost respect so he didn't feel like he was being judged or observed too much. Now that he was up and about everyone was trying to figure out what he was up to and who and what he was and she wanted to give a speech, but now was just not the time. Aria would make an announcement when it was time to make an announcement in depth with her senior officers to then brief her staff, but something had to be done.

"This is our Vulnian guest, Lieutenant Dariak Sondag. We are going to return him to his people," Aria explained, smiling at Dariak. "Give him warm welcomes and make him feel at home, but above all else focus on the mission at hand, is that clear?"

They all chorused "yes, ma'am" and then Aria let Dariak program the coordinates into the computer and even though she wasn't sure just how much she truly trusted him, it was normal: this was a first encounter. While she was going off of blind faith, she also knew she had to take precautions, but she wanted Dariak to know that they were friendly and it was a very thin line to cross. Shaking it off, Aria ignored the rumbling of her stomach and the shaky feeling in her hands, just smiling at Dariak and letting him do whatever it was that he needed to set them on the right course.

||USS Farroway
||Bridge
||1754

Dariak returned Aria's smile, if somewhat weakly. He had never felt so exposed before since he was briefly in the midst of so many alien gazes. The fact that they weren't shooting at him was also a mysterious perplexity. It seemed foolish that his comfort was decided by the amount of firepower being brought against him yet his was a people that expecting nothing but violence from alien species. After all the amount of wars they had fought against the Kzinti in the 15th to 20th century was a testament to how well usually went on with the Vulnians in a diplomatic stance.

"If we are in the location of the attack of my vessel then you will need to go to heading 254 mark 25. Should we come across any Vulnian military vessels it would be best not to take an....aggressive stance. The deeper we head into our territory the less cordial they're likely to be."

Rubbing the back of his neck Dariak gave the Ensign a small but warm smile at her before he turned back to Aria. "Unless there is anything else you wish me to discuss with your bridge command I think we could talk more over something to eat. I feel somewhat...famished."

||USS Farroway
||Bridge > Mess Hall
||1757


"Of course," Aria said with a smile on her face before looking at her XO. "Commander, the Bridge is yours while I show our guest around--let me know when we arrive."

After she felt things had been taken care of, she motioned for Dariak to follow her back onto the lift. He was going to get looks wherever he went because of his height and the quickly spread news that he was an alien, but Aria wanted him nourished. It was the abandoned doctor inside of her looking after everyone else's health, and she wanted Dariak taken care of.

When the lift stopped, she smiled at him and led him off, walking down the corridor to the Mess Hall and walking in when the doors whooshed open. Taking him over to the replicater she paused, looking up at him curiously and chewing on her bottom lip. Nourishment was required, yes, but he was a Vulnian and she didn't know what he ate or if anything here would even satisfy his pallet.

"I'm not sure what it is you would like," Aria said gently, "we're out of Vulnian cuisine."

It was a soft joke, but she smiled nonetheless.

||USS Farroway
||Mess Hall
||1757

The replicator design wasn't something Dariak could get his head around. Yes, he had seen replicators before. After all every Vulnian ship or home had one. He tapped his lip as he studied it, trying to look for a holographic interface to tap at. Dariak's confusion soon turned to groaning frustration. Then again Aria had pointed out a problem; they didn't know what Vulnians ate.

He looked at Aria with an almost pleading look on his face before turning his attention back to the device. "How do you...activate it? Operate it? I'm not seeing any particularly useful interfaces here. Or obvious ones." He mulled his thoughts over for a moment before speaking again.

"You raise a good point so I'll allow you to recommend something. I'm in the mood for something...smoked...meaty...I suppose it's my carnivorous side coming out. Iskurian Vulnians often have to rely on smoked meat to give anything a taste. Herbs are mostly bitter on my home planet and spices in the jungle are more or less non-existent."

||USS Farroway
||Mess Hall
||1800


"It is a bit confusing, I guess," Aria smiled and touched his hand gently. "It's alright--I bet I can get us something that you might enjoy, but I have no idea what your pallet is like in its entirety. I spent too much time looking at other parts of your body when I was fixing you up--I didn't even think about taste."

Turning to the replicater, Aria thought a moment. "Aria Meal 82 please...two servings. All you have to do is say what you want, the computer whips it up and then it appears right here, where you take the plate out and you eat it. Anything in particular that you would like to drink? I'm not sure what you drink either..."

She smiled and just like that, two plates appeared in the replicator and after getting some utensils as well, she looked to Dariak for the answer to her drink question. On the plates were skinned, boiled potatoes with charbroiled ribs lathered in a sauce she was particularly fond of that helped to really bring out the flavor of the meat. There was also a bowl of some chicken tortilla soup that had corn and black beans in it, a dollop of sour cream on top with the tortilla shavings and hearty bits of chicken in a lovely almost chowder like broth. Now, it was time for something to drink and she took the large plates, one in each hand, reading to move once the drinks came and Dariak could carry those over to a table.

||USS Farroway
||Mess Hall
||1802

The contact of hands made Dariak jolt slightly in surprise since he wasn't ready nor awaiting tactile contact. He rubbed the back of his neck as he thought of an excuse for the jolt before deciding to leave it alone. Standing in front of the replicator Dariak ordered two glasses of cold water. Nothing he wanted to drink would obviously be available and alien influences weren't strong within the Vulnian diet. He smiled at Aria as he wandered to a nearby table and sat down, placing their drinks onto the surface before looking at her. “It normally depends which planet within the Empire you grow up in. Tonyarr...seafood heavy diet. Looks of good oils for the hearts. Or Traxis; fatty foods to keep your body warm during the eternal winter.”

He took a sip of water as the smell of the food flooded his nostrils and surrounded a small 'mmm' of satisfaction. The portions themselves were rather meager but Dariak decided to remind himself of his manners rather than draw more resources from his rescuers. At least until the hunger got too unbearable again. “Doesn't oral communication with the replicator get a little bit confusing? Accent, tone of voice, background noise?” he asked as he watched his plate with a predatory gleam in his eye.

“It is normally tradition for the host to enjoy the first bite. After all they are the ones that prepare the meal. Replicators are seen as ways to simply produce the ingredients of a dish rather than rob a person the benefit of seeing hard work yield good results. Unless of course you're in a hurry. I suppose with the tour and chance of coming across a Vulnian patrol a quick meal is best.”

||USS Farroway
||Mess Hall
||1805


Aria smiled at him and nodded. "Well, alright, I can do that."

She picked up the utensils and decided on the spoon first, getting a little sour cream on her spoon and then more soup, blowing on the hot contents. Then she tasted it and closed her eyes a moment, savoring the taste on her tongue and then opening her eyes to look at Dariak and swallowed. This was one of her most popular meals and she hoped he liked it but with no way to know anything about his taste buds she would have to wait and see.

"The white is the potatoe--its the blandest part but I'm partial to the texture," she explained as she drank some water. "Please give me your honest opinion about the whole thing."

It was easy for her to just focus on the Vulnian, ignoring the stares he was given, mostly by women. He was new to them, certainly, but he was attractive and it was distracting. Not to mention men were sizing him up from afar--he could take any of them in battle and they knew it...he did too. Right now though, it was about a meal and small talk, but what to talk about with him had her stumped. She guessed she just had to ride it out...

"If you require more, just ask," she said suddenly, blushing, "you're larger than me and therefore you probably require larger portions to metabolize...I can also get you something different if you don't like it..."

||USS Farroway
||Mess Hall
||1807

"I'm glad you mentioned that because I am starving." he said happily as he took a sauce-drench rib in his fingers and started to tear the meat off of the rib. The sauce was strangely tangy and bursting with flavour. His eyes seemed to almost light up in surprise and delight. After the rib was dismantled and the bone placed back onto the plate Dariak began sucking the sauce from his fingers with a hearty smile. "That was rather delicious." he said to Aria before picking up his knife and fork.

The Vulnian began to eat, slowly. There was no real rush for him anyway. Not until a Vulnian ship came across them or when the reached the naval yard. "I was thinking about the larger portions myself. We've enhanced ourselves to improve the way our bodies work...better vision, hearing, our bodies don't burn as much energy unless during strenuous tasks. Previously we've tried to enhance our strength but such trials were unsuccessful. We're too strong for it. Any enhancements of our natural strength could prove dangerous. During the trials we had people trying to lift shuttles and fighters only for them to tear their muscle ligaments. Mechanical devices have a much higher stress factor than biological matter."

One thing that Dariak never comprehended was the interaction between different species of crew members in the mess hall. Vulnians were one race separated by planets of birth. Under one banner they had managed to come together. Was it like that? How did it work with so many different cultures and customs? He even noticed a pointy-eared Vulcan sitting alone and it was at that point Dariak seemed to just...freeze. "Is that a Romulan?" Dariak asked gruffly as he nodded to the crewmember.

||USS Farroway
||Mess Hall
||1810


Aria smiled as Dariak enjoyed the ribs, watching him with an amused look on her face before she started eating too, listening to him tell her about Vulnian strength. It made her giggle a little bit and she was definitely interested, taking a deep breath as she went to eat more of her soup because that could be taken as a threat, but she didn't think it was. She looked over when he asked about Romulans though, and shook her head as she smiled gently at him.

"Vulcan," Aria said gently. "They are related to Romulans though--Romulans have far more emotions."

She finished off her soup and ate her potatoe, leaving some of the ribs for the finishing part of the meal, wanting to talk to him more about what was up with him. His species was one thing but he was an individual and Aria wanted to know more about him and not just about the planet that he came from or his job, even though one's job said quite a bit about them. Smiling at him, she drank a little water to wet her tongue and then she looked him in the eye as best she could and decided to dive right on in.

"So, what do you do for you?" Aria asked him gently. "Do you have any hobbies? A wife? I just want to get to know you a little and I promise I'll tell you all sorts of things about myself too if you want me to."

||USS Farroway
||Mess Hall
||1810

“I see.” stated Dariak as he gave the Vulcan crew member a wary glance. He continued to eat his meal as he started to think the questions over. Aria deserved answers to personal questions given the trouble she and her crew had gone through to bring him from the brink of death. What were a few personal questions amongst battle survivor and rescuer? He took a sip from his water before wiping his mouth with a napkin to take away the sauce around the edges of his mouth.

“Well I'm not married. I've been in relationships before but the military life doesn't allow the...flexibility required for starting a family and settling down. Even though I've served my minimum term of fifty years in the military, I still enjoy the lifestyle. Too much to relinquish it. As for hobbies...well that depends. On a ship it's a lot more difficult to allow for liberal activities.”

Dariak smiled as he cut open a potatoes and started to scoop the white insides into the sauce to get some flavour. “When I'm on planetside I like to do long-distance walks. Especially in jungle worlds. It reminds me of Iskur. I enjoy a drink, sometimes too much. Martial arts are also a favourite pastime of mine. I like to keep myself sharp. What about you Captain? Found a man to tame your military heart?”

||USS Farroway
||Mess Hall
||1813

Aria nodded gently not sure why she cared about his marital status. "Seems to me like you live a pretty full life. I too, enjoy martial arts, but recently I've just been occupied with my ship and my assignments from Starfleet Command. Sometimes in my spare time I even spend time in the Sickbay trying to remember what it was like to just be a doctor instead of having all of this weight on my shoulders. I love what it is that I do, but sometimes I really wish I could slow down for a little bit--I'm in dire need of some good shore leave."

"As for a man, no," Aria told him with a laugh. "I have yet to meet a man that will put up with me long enough to uncover all the facets of my personality. I have a habit of putting my work first, so as for right now I'm focusing on my mission...there's a man or two that might tickle my fancy, but I just don't normally see a future. I don't know when I'll be ready to settle down, honestly, though I suppose maybe someday."

She gave him a gentle smile like she'd said too much and then cleared her throat. "There's nothing wrong with having a bit more drink than you should--unwinding is part of life. You know what else is nice? Hot planets. Nothing quite like being a bit exposed and admiring the beauty all around you. There is a lot that you can learn from them."

Aria felt as though she might be monopolizing too much of the conversation and blushed a little bit, taking a breath and then finishing her ribs. She thought that maybe the Vulnian might like more food and she was more than willing to accommodate for him because she wanted him to feel like he was in tip top shape. That, and the longer they sat here, the longer she got to be in his company and maybe that was a bit of a problem because it wasn't like he was staying--this was a mission and after he got home and they made proper contact with other Vulnians, she was going back to her exploration mission.

"Would it bother you if I asked you how old you were?" Aria asked timidly. "If that's intrusive, I can take it back..."

||USS Farroway
||Mess Hall
||1815

"I too enjoy much warmer climates. I suppose Iskur does have its extremely hot seasons followed by heavy monsoons. Chadeem is extremely heated but is an arid world. It's entire surface is covered with desert and water has to be harvested from bio domes or mined from underground rivers. If you're looking for a place for shore leave with a hot climate and wonderful scenery I'd recommend the core world of Tonyarr. It's covered in water apart from equatorial archipelagos. There are some continents but water far outnumbers land. They have sharks as big as this mess hall. However the people there are as warm as the air, rather friendly and very generous. Most Vulnians visit Tonyarr as a holiday or shore leave destination for those very reasons. Tonyarri Vulnians can be...overly friendly at times."

With a small cough Dariak continued to eat his meal as he thought of the core worlds. He'd never recommend Traxis. It was eternally winter there and the people had been under constant bombardment from alien forces during wars with the Kzinti, Romulans and Klingons that they had grown accustomed to seeing aliens as a negative presence. Each of them were Vulnian in culture and race but every planet had their own sub-culture along with it as well as a too-true stereotype. Iskurian Vulnians had grown up on the race's birth planet; a violent jungle littered with dangerous creatures. As a result they were seen as the most vicious and violent of Vulnians with most of them becoming Royal Guardsmen or Naval Guardsmen. It was an identity they displayed proudly however.

"No question is too intrusive for a Vulnian. Not on a personal level anyway. We're a blunt race. If we want to offer an opinion we do...makes diplomatic talks with us...interesting apparently." explained Dariak with a smile. "I'm three hundred and sixty four years old. Part of our health enhancements include longevity to at least a thousand years...course around our ninth century is when we start to show major signs of ageing. So you can say I have lived something of a full life but there's plenty of years to go. What about you? How old are you? How did your life lead to you being in command of a...whatever class of vessel this is?"