Casimir Makes for a Poor Sweater(FT, Closed)

[Prime Redux]

Prime Standard Year 3549
USS Endevour
Ionia
Keeper Hanna Tillman

The three didn’t quite seemed startled by the sudden change, but the three Keepers did suddenly start scanning their surroundings, like they were looking for the mechanisms which made the scene around them. Damien studied the crowds around him, and Figueroa edged slightly closer to him. Not scared, wary? Cautious perhaps?

“So this just like an immersive Net Room, just no need for the Net goggles.” Damien said. “Impressive technology and I can see why you’d have these for morale, we provide Net goggles to all of our Fleet personnel and it helps massively with their morale, being able to play in Netspace.” He looked over at Tillman, who was studying the sky and horizon, looking for something. She actually looked a bit worried and confused.

It took a solid 20 seconds before she looked at Ch’tavor, the confusion plain on her face. “Is this an accurate representation of Federation Plaza and if it is, how big is the habitation dome for it to look like this?”

The two other Keepers cast their eyes around again, looking for the signs of the habdome that had to be there and failing to find it. It was, perhaps, telling that these humans were confused by the sight around them. Confused by a planet with atmosphere and no need for such tech.

[New Khitomer]

Commander Ishriv Ch’tavor
U.S.S. Endeavour NCC-71624
Ionia System, Sector B-04
Stardate 66691.9

---

As the Keepers explained their equivalent technology, Commander Ch’tavor nodded his understanding. Such technology was not unusual, with the most primitive examples having existed for hundreds of years, and predecessors to the modern holodeck had been in service aboard Federation Starships for well over a hundred years. In most cases, Federation holodecks were simply the final evolution of the technology, producing an environment that whose fidelity was so close that it was almost impossible for someone in a simulation to know it if they were unaware, indeed it was rumoured that Starfleet Intelligence occasionally conducted tests of their personal by placing them in their sleep into a simulation in order to confirm their loyalty. Moreover, the intelligence and ‘realness’ of the characters the holodeck could produce had progressed by leaps and bounds, finally reaching their current state. Indeed, just looking around at the crowds an observer would be able to see a surprising amount of personalisation, independence, and entirely unnecessary (but very believable) human actions and personality tics for ‘background characters’. It was entirely possible for someone to become lost in a holodeck simulation, almost forgetting that it was not real, and there had been a number of reported cases of ‘holo-addiction’, particularly in the early years.

“Yes, this is an accurate reflection of Federation Plaza, indeed through subspace communications we could actually create a ‘live’ simulation of what is going on back home,” Ch’tavor replied, glancing at the space with a proud smile. “Indeed, we’ve used this capability a number of times in the past in order to allow personnel on deployed Starships to witness celebrations and major events.”

Ch’tavor paused and frowned.

“There is no dome over Khitomer City, the planet is Class-M, which means that it is entirely amenable to humanoid habitation, there are always minor adjustments that need to be made, but they are entirely within our technological capabilities to enact and maintain, ” Ch’tavor answered. “For more barren worlds, much more in-depth and long-term terraforming is required, with basic habitation usually being possible within thirty years of intensive work… there were a number of projects back in the UFP, but so far New Khitomer has been lucky and we’ve not needed to conduct any sort of extensive terraforming.”

[Prime Redux]

Prime Standard Year 3549
USS Endevour
Ionia
Keeper Hanna Tillman

Tillman looked around again, like she was trying to confirm she wasn’t being lied to. Figueroa looked a bit doubtful but it was hard to tell since she was busy looking everywhere but at the Commander. Only Keeper Damien looked like he really believed it, a strange wistful expression passing over his face before it vanished back into a pleasantly interested smile.

“We don’t have anything like it.” He finally explained. “Never heard of that classification system before, but I don’t think it’ll take a rocket scientist to work it out. In our many travels and gate activations, no world we’ve stumbled over has been habitable. We’ve found worlds in stars’ habitable zones, worlds with with tenuous and thin atmospheres, even found some extremophiles living on barren worlds in underground pockets. 32 planets populated with habdomes, 2 stations so massive they have their own High Protectorate seats and a moon system around a gas giant are our largest populations. Not including the 10 planets and 1 station that have declared independence from Protectorate rule. Tillman wasn’t lying when she said we all grew up in controlled environments. Pretty much all of our humanity lives in such places. The habdomes are very nice, they simulate atmosphere, weather, and even have greenery, but it is simulated.”

“All buildings can be sealed in case of malfunction with the habdomes.” Figueroa picked up for Damien. “Everyone is trained on how to use jumpsuits with vacuum protection, life packs, and mag boots. Civilians who stay planetside their whole lives might let the training fall out of memory, but we’ve perfected the ‘idiot proof’ jumpsuit by now.” She brushed at the collar of her gray and cyan jumpsuit. “Easy to wear, easy to seal to a helmet and life pack.”

“It’s one of the reasons why we’re Homo Stellaris, and not just Homo Sapien anymore.” Damien finished for Figueroa, and reached out to put a hand on Tillman’s shoulder, which seemed to calm her down a little. “We live among the stars, as hostile as they’ve been to us.”

[New Khitomer]

Commander Ishriv Ch’tavor
U.S.S. Endeavour NCC-71624
Ionia System, Sector B-04
Stardate 66691.9

---

Commander Ch’tavor nodded his understanding at the explanation. For a civilisation that did to have access to at-will faster than light travel, like the Protectorate with their Casimir Gates, they would not be able to ignore the dead, lifeless systems and instead focus on the worlds that had the ability, or even the potential, to sustain life. Where the Federation could ignore entire systems, or relegate them to mining outposts (which may not need to support life outside of the facility), the Protectorate would have to make the most of whatever they found. Moreover, terraforming, either in the long-term or the more short-term adjustments, required not only significant resources but very advanced and specific technology, and whilst it was becoming apparent that the Protectorate had some advanced technology they were significantly lacking in some areas, and unless they had only been in space for a matter of years it seemed unlikely that advanced terraforming was beyond them at this stage. After all, even the Federation took several decades to fully terraform a world.

“Understandable, and it is commendable that you have been able to adapt to the worlds you have been given with the technology available to you, especially given that your form of interstellar travel does not make it possible to pick and choose your worlds,” Ch’tavor commented with a nod. “Those with us with the ability to pick and choose the worlds we settle on, by simple want of being able to access more worlds thanks to Warp Drive, forget how easy we have it sometimes, even if we have to do some low-level terraforming it is significantly easier if we can choose a world that is, at least, somewhat amenable.”

Ch’tavor paused and looked around at the square.

“Based on what you told Captain Whitmore earlier, about your off-world holdings, it makes sense in some respects as well; as New Khitomer had significantly more colonists and refugees to re-settle in our territory, which meant we had to hold out for an M-Class,” Ch’tavor added. “With such small off-world holdings, the amount of resources you would have to pour into terraforming would not exactly be worth the return, when you can get away with habitation domes and other similar facilities, it’s the same reason we don’t terraform our mining and other outposts when we can just build a facility.”

[Prime Redux]

Prime Standard Year 3549
USS Endevour
Ionia
Keeper Hanna Tillman

“We wish we could terraform our worlds,” Tillman said, sounding somewhat downcast as she saw the beauty of a city not needing to be contained in a habdome.

“A lot of the worlds we find are too hostile and stripped bare of anything we could use.” Damien replied, more for the benefit of the Commander than Tillman. “Just nothing for atmosphere to hold onto or a magnetosphere to protect it. Stars that have strange activity cycles or star systems that have nothing we can even consider settling." He looked down at wristpad, entering a few quick commands into the device, fingers hovering over the screen in hesitation over the last command.

"Can I possibly use the room to show you a map of The Protectorate Commander? I was tasked with giving it to your Captain and well considering the discussion might as well show you the extent of of our efforts to find even one habitable planet."

Once permission was granted, Damien looked up, "Computer, please display the data I'm transmitting." He then swiped the final command to send the data.

The scene of Federation Plaza vanished, replaced with what seemed to be endless void surrounding what appeared to be a star map. Bright points of lights in various shades of white, blue, yellow and red speckled the space between them. Connecting the dots was an absolute mess of tangled lines with no real clear centerpoint or conformation. Some were short, connecting small clusters of stars, a few were long, reaching out into the void in long leaps into the void like threads trying to escape the tangled mess of the main body of The Protectorate.

What was probably more impressive was the fact that there had to be at least 200 stars in this mess. He rotated it around to center a shorter strand of stars, tapping a pale yellow star off the main tangle of stars and it lit up with the name 'Ionia.'

"When the first Director, Alexander Prime, founder of Prime Mining Inc., discovered how to build Gates and built the first out of Sol, he went a little crazy. He wanted to find a habitable planet and claim it for his own. He activated Gates like crazy, building and spreading out from Tau Prime so fast humanity struggled to keep up. Eventually, he died, The Protectorate was a struggling sting of habitats and families dragged across the stars in search of a planet we couldn't find. Eventually we slowed down Gate building, as going faster and stretching our resources to find that elusive Class-M planet wasn't helping anyone and began to expand existing settled worlds and formed The Protectorate proper out of what people were left."

"Over 200 systems and not one Earthlike planet or moon." Tillman motioned to the vast tangled web. "It's why I went into FTL research. If we could find a way to travel FTL so we could choose where we go, maybe we could find one without throwing Gates out into the dark with constant disappointment at only finding dead star systems."

Figueroa looked like she might of wanted to say something, but decided against it, waiting to see how the Commander would react and what he might ask or say.

[New Khitomer]

Commander Ishriv Ch’tavor
U.S.S. Endeavour NCC-71624
Ionia System, Sector B-04
Stardate 66691.9

---

Commander Ch’tavor nodded sympathetically; even for the Federation it was incredibly difficult to terraform a lifeless world and to do so properly and safely took many years, so it was out of the reach of many a civilisation that was even slightly below the Federation’s technological level. It was one of the most notable advantages of having such a wide and diverse membership, allowing the technological advancements of one member-state to be absorbed into the whole. Indeed, even the Federation avoided lifeless worlds wherever it could, skipping entire systems if the effort required was not worth the likely outcome, favouring projects working on worlds in already inhabited systems rather than bringing life to a lifeless system. However, as the Keepers explained, once they projected their star map using the holodeck, it became quickly apparent that the Protectorate, even considering their form of travelling the stars, had had particularly bad luck in finding a world that was habitable (or even close to habitable to make the terraforming possible in the short term). It was something that he would be interested in finding out more about, and would be raising the matter with Starfleet Science.

Moreover, the development and spread of the Protectorate’s Casimir Gates would also be of interest to Starfleet Science, and would doubtless be part of the Federation’s delegation to the Protectorate when the time came. It certainly made sense that some of their number would want to develop a less restrictive form of faster-than-light, as it would hopefully allow them to overcome the incredible bad luck (or whatever else was happening) when it came to finding a habitable world to settle upon.

However, something else had piqued his attention, and his antenna angled forwards with interest as he fixed Keeper Tillman with a frown.

“I can certainly appreciate the frustration, Keeper, not being able to control your destiny and that of your species must be hard,” Ch’tavor commented. “However, I have to ask… you said the ‘what people were left’… left after what?”

[Prime Redux]

Prime Standard Year 3549
USS Endevour
Ionia
Keeper Hanna Tillman

All three Keepers gained somber expressions, Tillman sighed and reached up into the tangle of stars to particular yellow speck and blowing the map up to focus on it. The label that popped into existence was ‘Tau Prime.’ There were at least five different threads of Gates reaching out from the system, a massive concentration of Gates that didn’t look repeated anywhere else.

“I’m sure you noticed us griping about out our lack of habitable planets, I don’t know what planet your humans claim to be from, but we come from Earth, in the Sol Star System. So even with our terrible bad luck we should have at least one habitable world, Earth.” She hesitated for a second, looking at Damien. “Does this map have it?”

“It should.” He said, looking away from Tau Prime to stare off into the distance.

Tillman tapped Tau Prime rapidly three times and another star appeared, this one a slightly brighter yellow, not to distant from Tau Prime. The only difference is that this star seemed to be all on its own, with no thread connecting it to the rest.

“The ‘what was left’ of us after a terrible natural disaster of stellar scale.” She took a deep breath. “Shortly before Director Prime’s death, Sol’s Sun let off a massive solar flare, the likes which no one had ever seen, and burnt Earth to a crisp. Some 5 trillion souls, all died to their own star. A lot of people speculate that this drove Alexander to work harder on opening Gates to find the elusive Class-M as you call it, and would drive him to his eventual grave from stress and grief. The company he had founded, Prime Mining, had gone beyond its mining origins, hiring and lifting many of its employees beyond Sol, inadvertently saving them. It was humanity’s last hope stranded among the stars.”

“So,” Figueroa finally stepped in, “in those days after the death of our homeworld, we renamed ourselves, forged a new government and hoped to bring humanity back from the brink of sorrow and loss. We became The Protectorate of Prime Redux.”

“We didn’t mean to mean to be evasive.” Damien finally speaking, facing at the dot that represented Sol with an unreadable expression. “It’s just something Prime Redux has comes to terms with. We couldn’t stop the solar flare, we couldn’t fix Earth, just an object lesson on how cruel the universe can be. So we turned off the Gate to Sol and leave it alone a star system wide graveyard to humanity’s cradle. Everyone knows this so it just… isn’t a usual topic of discussion.”

[New Khitomer]

Commander Ishriv Ch’tavor
U.S.S. Endeavour NCC-71624
Ionia System, Sector B-04
Stardate 66691.9

---

As he listened to the explanation, Commander Ch’tavor frowned sympathetically and his antenna dropped in response to his grim mood. It certainly sounded like an absolutely tragic catastrophe and would certainly explain a great deal about their civilisation and what was currently known about them. The Federation itself was no stranger to similar disasters in recent years, with the Borg Invasion of 2381 had killed many billions and left many, many, more refugees as their worlds were destroyed, which was without even considering the damage that had been done to the Klingon Empire and others. Many of the most prominent and well-known Federation worlds had entire been laid to waste or heavily damaged during the short, brutal, and bloody conflict, although most of the core worlds had been saved from destruction. Entire species had been all but wiped out, save for members off-world for one reason or another, over 40% of Starfleet had been destroyed, and the quadrant had been left in disarray. Indeed, although New Khitomer had existed before 2381, the aftermath of the Borg Invasion had certainly breathed new life into the project, much as it seemingly had to the Protectorate and its people.

That being said, his instincts were telling him that there was more to this story than they were telling him, and a number of points either seemed unlikely or did not quite make sense, but he was not about to challenge them during their first disclosure of the history during a First Contact. It was nevertheless something that he would report to Captain Whitmore, who would doubtless add the information to her report to Starfleet Command and the Federation Council.

“I am sorry to have brought up what is obviously a painful subject, disasters on such a scale are incredibly difficult for a civilisation to overcome, so I do not envy your people’s collective historical trauma, it can take many generations,” Ch’tavor commented with a grim expression. “It is good that you have been able to build a new civilisation from the ashes of your old one, in our experience resilience is one of the most important things that determine whether a species will survive into space… although of course your people know that.”

Ch’tavor paused and glanced around.

“Did you have any further questions about the holodeck, before we head to the bridge?”

[Prime Redux]

Prime Standard Year 3549
USS Endevour
Ionia
Keeper Hanna Tillman

Tillman looked at the other two Keepers, Figueroa shook her head, Damien still seemed distracted by Sol’s representation on the star map but didn’t object. It was unusual for Damien to seem so distracted, given his job he was the one more likely to be able to put on a good face when talking about tragedy. It was part of his job.

“It’s something you and your nation would of learned of eventually. As painful as it is, we have had close to 1000 years to deal with the loss.” She said, watching Damien carefully. “No need to keep that secret. I think we are ready to move on.”

Damien finally refocused his gaze on Ch’tavor. “I think the only question I have is if I need to actually hand this data over on the bridge, or can you pull it from the holodeck’s computer?”

[New Khitomer]

Commander Ishriv Ch’tavor
U.S.S. Endeavour NCC-71624
Ionia System, Sector B-04
Stardate 66691.9

---

“We can pull it from the holodeck database into the main library computer easily enough, so don’t worry too much about that,” Ch’tavor replied. “Thank you for sharing your history, it’ll certainly make it easier for the Federation to understand your people.”

Instructing the computer to end the program, Ch’tavor led the way from the holodeck towards the nearest turbolift. Although the computer access displays along the corridor could be used to direct the way to any location on the ship, and was often used by visitors or newly-assigned personnel, Ch’tavor certainly did not need anything of the sort to find his way around even a ship as large as the Endeavour. It was a short ride to the bridge, both due to the relative locations but also due to the unspoken fact that more senior officers were prioritised, even without ‘express mode’ being enacted by said officer. In any event, it was not like it took all that long to reach anywhere on a Federation Starship when the turbo lifts were operational, as they were more than aptly named.

The Main Bridge was a quiet, professional, and controlled, despite the dozen or so officers manning the various stations. At times the bridge had been a relatively sparsely populated space, with as few as five officers manning the bridge, as was often the case during long mid-warp transits, however when operating in a star system (or running at high warp on a priority mission) a full complement was the order of the day on the bridge. A low murmur of conversation between the bridge officers, as they conducted a variety of tasks largely focused around the charting and cataloging of the system that they found themselves in, as although it was the home to another civilisation Starfleet would still want it as thoroughly charted as possible. Lt. Commander D’Vall was sat in the command chair, rather than his normal post at the tactical station along the sweeping console behind the command area, which made him the officer of the deck, a role that he did not immediately surrender to Ch’tavor simply by his presence. It would require the XO to actively assume command of the bridge to change this, a protocol that was utilised to allow for more senior officers to transit across the bridge, to the Ready Room or the Observation Lounge for a briefing, without disrupting the command and control of the ship.

“Captains in her Ready Room, Commander,” D’Vall said once he acknowledged Ch’tavor’s presence.

Ch’tavor nodded and led the Protectorate Keeper’s to the door to Captain Whitmore’s ready room, pressing the chime to signal his presence outside the door. After a moment, Whitmore’s voice could be heard from the other side and the door slid open as the computer acknowledged her response. The Captain’s Ready Room on any Federation Starship was a space where the Captain could engage in administrative work whilst having instant access to the bridge in the event of a crisis, as well as allowing for private discussions or to receive classified or sensitive communications. Moreover, during a prolonged emergency, or indeed wartime, it would also provide the Captain with a space to rest and recuperate whilst being immediately available on the bridge. As with most Captains, Whitmore had personalised the decorations of her ready room, with a number of pieces of artwork, including a large one containing the Endeavour, as well as various other keepsakes including models of other Federation starships, including a Nebula-Class and an Akira-Class.

“I hope you enjoyed your tour, Keepers, and that Commander looked after you to your satisfaction,” Whitmore said, as she gestured to the chairs on the far side of her desk for them to sit. “I’ve been speaking to Starfleet Command, who have passed news of our contact here today to the Federation Council.”

Whitmore leant back in her chair.

“Although we’ll need to wait for the Federation Council to make things official, the Commander, Starfleet, is confident that they will endorse everything we've discussed today,” Whitmore continued, looking at the three Keepers. “Indeed, Command will start having discussions with the Federation Diplomatic Corps to determine their requirements, so we should be able to get a diplomatic mission in place in a matter of a few weeks.”

[Prime Redux]

Prime Standard Year 3549
USS Endevour
Ionia
Keeper Hanna Tillman

“The tour was amazing Captain.” Whatever had distracted Damien during the impromptu history lesson seemed to have vanished entirely. He was all professional smiles and cheer again. “Beautiful ship, inside and out, Commander Ch’tavor was a great guide and host.” He paused as he listened to Whitmore explain that she had informed her superiors.

“And that is wonderful news Captain. We look forward to establishing further relations with your Federation.” Damien said. “And the Commander said you wouldn’t be needing a copy of the Star map we showed him in the holodeck, so all that’s really left for me is to say that our capital is Tau Prime, though any of your ships are welcome to visit any of our inhabited star systems. The uninhabited ones aren’t off limits, just no one regularly there to talk with whoever returns.”

Tillman was busy trying not to too obviously look at the ship models, still drinking up her new surroundings like her life depended on it. Figueroa was politely quiet and the two Guard Core stood as stock still and quiet next to the door, always there in that vaguely creepy way that made them almost blend into the background.

[New Khitomer]

Captain Jennifer A. Whitmore
U.S.S. Endeavour NCC-71624
Ionia System, Sector B-04
Stardate 66691.9

---

Captain Whitmore smiled proudly that her ship had left such an impression, both in the simple fact of everything it represented to these people given their own technological limitations but also how it was turned-out. Although Starfleet had long encouraged the principle of ‘one big happy fleet’, in order to ensure that when Starships (which could often operate independently for long periods) were able to operate together without any issues it had also encouraged a degree of friendly competitiveness. Individual ships competed against each other for efficiency awards and other approbations, whilst officers and crew aboard entire classes maintained a significant amount of professional pride over their capabilities. She smiled a little more as she noted the youngest Keeper trying not to look like she was examining the Starship models, doubtless looking for any indication of design lineage (although both the Nebula and the Akira classes were from the same generation as the Galaxy-Class, so there were minimal differences visually).

“I’m confident that Starfleet Command will assign one or more ships to the Protectorate, both to perform our own exploration of your systems, not for any doubt over your own charting abilities but for our records, which can include visiting your other inhabited worlds,” Whitmore nodded. “Likely these ships will either be from our Second Fleet, like Endeavour, which is tasked with the exploratory mission, but you’ll almost certainly get a starship assigned from the Third Fleet’s Diplomatic Engagement Group, at least for the meantime to support the Federation diplomatic mission.”

Whitmore paused and looked around at the group.

“In the meantime, is there anything else you’d like to discuss with me?”

[Prime Redux]

Prime Standard Year 3549
USS Endevour
Ionia
Keeper Hanna Tillman

“As long as you ask before you go exploring, I don’t see any problems with that.” The casual way Damien said that probably sounded strange as he leaned back, lacing his fingers together.

Figueroa gave him an amused look. “Come on now Keeper Damien, the Captain isn’t a civilian,” she looked back at Whitmore with a small smile. “Some of star systems we have Gates open to may be off limits for reasons we aren’t aware of or can’t warn you of. I don’t know what sort of traditions or policies you would develop when you aren’t limited by linear FTL travel, but all we need to do to secure a system is to just blockade the Gate, which doesn’t exactly work for you, so it’s best ask Prime Redux before some overly paranoid secret base commander causes problems.”

“We can close Gates too.” Tillman broke in, excited to share a little more about what was obviously a job she was passionate about. “If a star system has no stable place to put a Gate, and nothing to even attempt to settle, then it’s a dead end system, and often closed off, the Gate deactivated and we go exploring other places. Only exception is Sol,” the mention of the star system put a damper on her mood. She reached up to touch a temple and winced. “Which we deactivated out of respect after Earth died. We told the Commander more about our Earth in the holodeck when we showed him our Star map.”

[New Khitomer]

Captain Jennifer A. Whitmore
U.S.S. Endeavour NCC-71624
Ionia System, Sector B-04
Stardate 66691.9

---

"Of course, all of our operations in your space would be authorised and co-ordinated through the Starfleet Attaché at the Federation Embassy in your Capital, to avoid any confusion,” Captain Whitmore replied reassuringly. “We’re eager, of course, to explore your systems and worlds for ourselves, but we are very conscious that they are your territory, and we’ll do whatever you need us to do.”

Whitmore nodded her understanding as the Keepers discussed the various ways they could secure a star system, using their Casimir Gates to maximum effect. For Starfleet, or indeed any warp-capable civilisation, it was almost impossible to prevent an unwanted interloper from actually entering the system, instead relying on an attentive and suitably sized defensive picket to intercept such ships as soon as possible. During wartime it was almost impossible to fully ‘secure’ a star system, particularly one on the frontlines, as it would be entirely possible for an enemy to launch frequent raids into the system, relying on the defenders to maintain regular patrols and for any ship entering the system to be ready for combat. During the Dominion War, the strategically important Chin’Toka system had been on the frontlines for much of the war, changing hands several time and being an active combat zone for the duration. It would significantly decrease strategic headaches if one was able to simply close the only access point, or at least concentrate your forces in one place. Although with the realisation that other forms of faster than light travel was possible, the Protectorate’s Navy doubtless had new headaches to consider, even if Starfleet itself was unlikely to be a threat.

Whitmore shot her XO a glance at the mention of his discussion with the Keepers about their Earth, and silently agreed to discuss it later as it was obviously a less than happy subject.

“So, if you do have any particular rules or regulations you need our ships to follow, please do let me know and I’ll pass them on to Starfleet Command.”

[Prime Redux]

Prime Standard Year 3549
USS Endevour
Ionia
Keeper Hanna Tillman

Figueroa looked to Damien and the keeper frowned slightly in thought.

"Well, all of our official rules are meant more for our own technology. The only one I think I should warn you about is active scanning of Gates is prohibited, and using any sensors while using one for transit is prohibited as well." He gave a noncommittal shrug. "Not much of a problem when your ships don't need to use them at all. I assume with such a flexible FTL drive you usually stay far away from places that are considered busy when you come out of your FTL, like planetary orbit or major Lagrange points, which are usually crowded with ships and stations and could be navigation hazards if you appear among them blind. Nothing that isn't easy to guess. Once we actually put our nation's respective heads together our diplomats and leaders will probably work out much better and more formal rules." He gave her a charming smile. "For now its best to be cautious and be nice."

Tillman watched Damien with an amused expression as the minor headache that had just flared up finally began to fade. He loved plastering on that smile, always made for a pretty face to put on the news. She prayed that she would be able to beg, borrow, maybe even steal her way into getting into that exchange program when it was set up. God this tiny morsel of a tour had her wanting to beg to stay. It was like when she had been a kid and seen her first documentary on FTL history. That new knowledge that had sparked an interest that had led her into the Keepers and to study the Casimir Gates. Maybe she'd even be able to learn to make her own FTL engine, or even improve the Gates(as hard as that way, given how well they worked.)

[New Khitomer]

Captain Jennifer A. Whitmore
U.S.S. Endeavour NCC-71624
Ionia System, Sector B-04
Stardate 66691.9

---

“It is standard procedure for a Starship to drop out of warp in the outer system, and proceed in-system under impulse power, this is for several reasons and can be ignored in an emergency, but for the purposes of avoiding issues with your shipping, we’ll enforce it,” Captain Whitmore replied with a nod. “Don’t worry too much, Starfleet Captains are specifically trained to operate their ships safely and diplomatically in close contact with other civilisations, particularly those with different culture or technical levels than our own.”

It would, Whitmore mused briefly, be an extremely positive thing for them to get the Officer Exchange programme operational as soon as possible, as it would allow the cultural and technological barriers to be broken down far quicker than would otherwise be the case, as those on the exchange could report back to their respective institutions thereby allowing future interactions to be smoother and less prone to uncomfortableness or awkwardness. It would, she rather suspected, be easier on the Starfleet Officers posted to the Protectorate, as most would see it as an exciting opportunity to see a new civilisation up close, whereas the Protectorate Officers would be confronted with new information, technology, and ideas at literally every turn, which would be challenging to say the least. It was, however, something that Starfleet had more than a little experience in over the decades; as officer exchanges were one of the most popular and successful ways to accomplish exactly what was needed in a situation like this; to exchange knowledge and build trust.

“Well, unless there is anything else, I should probably be letting you get back to your people, I am sure that you have much to discuss.”

[Prime Redux]

Prime Standard Year 3549
USS Endevour
Ionia
Keeper Hanna Tillman

“We do, but we were more than happy to host you here in Ionia captain." Damien said, he stood and shook hands with Whitmore, Figueroa doing the same and Tillman last, her handshake more eager and firm than probably intended. The youngest Keeper looked simultaneously overjoyed and downcast, obviously wanting to learn more but not wanting to overstay her welcome as she stepped back beside Damien and Figueroa. "Your ship and you will go down in Protectorate history. If either of you are in Protectorate space, Ionia would be happy to see you again."

---

Keep Station
Keeper Xavier Damien

"So?"

Damien settles back in the comfortable chair in the small quarantine quarters set up for him and the other Keepers after they had returned. Given the lack of worry on Whitmore’s part, Tachy was sure they would all be fine, but for the next couple weeks they were going to keep an eye on everyone just in case. He’d just had a nice shower, and talked to his wife, who had given birth to a lovely baby girl. After some discussion, and prodding, Mrs. Damien had decided that Jennifer would be a lovely name for her. Whitmore had no idea just how large an impact her visit here would have. Even as far in the future from Prime’s founding as they were names derived from Alexander never fell out of style and he suspected that Jennifer was very, very suddenly going to be a popular name here on Ionia and in the Protectorate in general.

He looked up at Prime Director Lexa on his wall as she spoke.

“So what?”

“I’ve already talked to Figueroa and Tillman. Figueroa being a medical professional told me about the aliens and how everyone was incorporated, air seemed human standard, and what sorts of problems may come from such a set up, Tillman told me about the FTL and possible power budgets and I almost couldn’t stop her from rambling on because she is so fixated on what she learned… what about you Speaker? Your a man of the people, what does your job tell you I need to know?”

He tapped a finger against his chin, swiveling the chair back and forth.

“I think they held back.” He said as he stopped his swinging. “No lying, just omitted information.”

“Like what?” The Prime Director leaned forward, interested.

“Mostly technology, Whitmore warned us that tech trading may not be on the table for a while, and our tour was careful to show us things that are easy to be impressed by but aren’t exactly true marvels I believe. Like it’d be like if if we showed them the reactor that powered Ionia Keep Station and the Net Immersion Rooms. Impressive, technical, but not exactly classified. I didn’t ask about any weapons to see if they would of brought them up on their own, but they did not.”

“Tillman was trying to talk my ear off about warp and how it might be accomplished. Wouldn’t be surprised if she comes up a crude replica of the Federation's FTL drive in a year or two. We apparently have bits and pieces of past research into the concept of whatever she called the warp drive, but it’s very fragmented.”

“The Gates work for us.” Damien shrugged. “Why fix what isn’t broken? I do worry about how to control their sensors if they want to use the Gates to travel around the Protectorate. They don’t have the same programs and limiters we install on every ship for Gate travel. I told them about it the laws against scanning Gates and using sensors while using them, but at this point it’s going to be very reliant on the honor system. Trusting that they won’t try scan the Gates secretly.”

Lexa frowned. “I’ll discuss it with the Federation’s delegation when they arrive here. Anything else?”

“My kid is named Jennifer now.” He said, amused.

“Ah, I see the olde naming kids after famous people trend has hit Captain Whitmore already.” The Prime Director laughed. “Well enjoy your quarantine Keeper. Thank you for the insight.”

[New Khitomer]

Captain Jennifer A. Whitmore
U.S.S. Endeavour NCC-71624
Ionia System, Sector B-04
Stardate 66691.9

---

“We’ve been recalled to New Khitomer for a full debriefing with Starfleet Command, but I am confident we’ll be back sooner or later,” Captain Whitmore replied with a smile. “It has been a pleasure to meet you and your people… Commander Ch’tavor will escort you back to the Main Shuttlebay.”

After shaking hands with her guests as they made their way out the door, Whitmore settled back into her chair thoughtfully. It had certainly been a different day than she had been expecting when the Endeavour had first dropped out of warp in this system. In many respects it had been a foregone conclusion that they would encounter other life and civilisations during their explorations, as the abundance of life in their home galaxy showed that it was entirely possible, and long-range sensor scans had suggested that this galaxy was no less abundant, but it had nevertheless come as a surprise. The most obvious telltale signs of intelligent, space-faring life, a warp signature, had been absent from the Ionia System as they approached, and the rest of their technology was so different that there were not other signs, such as subspace communications or anything of that nature. It was not the end of the world, as it was not like Starfleet was not used to facing the unexpected, but there would need to be a minor adjustment in the expectations of a Starfleet Captain entering a new star system, that there could be space-faring life that was so technologically different that they would not get any forewarning.

No wonder Starfleet Command wanted her to return to New Khitomer, along with Commander Ch’tavor and any officer who had interacted with the Protectorate, as they would want to pick their brains for as much useful information as possible. Although the Protectorate would not have quite the same, fundamental, impact on the history of the Federation as the Federation would on the protectorate, it would nevertheless go down in the history books as New Khitomer’s first First Contact in this new galaxy, and that was no small achievement and a feather in the Endeavour’s cap.

It was maybe half an hour before the shuttle that ferried the Protectorate Keepers back to their station returned to the Endeavour, at which point Whitmore stood from her thoughts and made her way back out onto the bridge. Settling into her command chair she quickly gathered a situation report from her officers, who all confirmed that they had the data they needed to complete their analysis, and that they were good to get underway.

“Set a course for New Khitomer,” Whitmore ordered. “Maximum Warp, Starfleet doesn’t want us to spare the engines this time.”

“Course laid in, Captain,” The Helmsman replied promptly.

“Engage,” Whitmore said simply.

Having previously confirmed their intentions with Ionia Traffic Control, the Endeavour turned smoothly and began to make her way out-system as the bridge crew confirmed that there were no ships nearby or anything that had the potential to be impacted by engaging their warp engines. It was far safer to warp out of a system from the inner system than it was to warp into the inner system, as you knew what was around the ship in the first place. As the warp engines engaged, generating a warp field distorting space, the Endeavour appeared to elongate as she sped away into the distance, a flash of light signalling that her warp field was fully established and accelerating the ship away at many times the speed of the light, leaving the Protectorate far behind, although given the success of their first contact it was unlikely to be or long.