[BACKPOST] Hoshi Nakamura and the Almost-Diplomatic Incident

Posted on Thu Mar 26th, 2015 @ 2:06am by

1,205 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Mission 87 - Disaster
Location: USS Royale
Timeline: Hoshizora's academy days
Tags: hoshi, past, academy, first, maryam

The dream lingered for a moment before Hoshi woke, the real world collapsing in on the one inside her head. She was scrubbing floors with her fellow officers, the same way they did every day. She tried to shout over this noise - what was it? - before the shadowy friend before her and the world evaporated before her eyes and her eyes opened up to the dimly lit metal bulkhead in front of her and the blaring klaxon. A red alert.

A drill? This was her Starfleet Academy class's first night on board the vessel - they had only boarded a few hours ago, surely - it had to be a test. Her PADD confirmed it; 03:30 hours. Only five hours since they'd arrived.

She sat up in her bed hastily, blinking as she tried to understand what was going on. They were being attacked, this meant, possibly being boarded. Her hands instinctively moved to the phaser on her dresser as she slid out of bed and made her way to the door, her mind still questioning whether she was really awake or not. She was only a diplomatic officer - she had no place on the Bridge, or Ops, or Engineering.

But sitting in this room waiting for something to happen was something she couldn't do.

It was outside the door that confirmed the reality of it, as others who had been sleeping also stood by their doors, dazed and alarmed all at once. They were looking at one another uncertainly, not quite sure what to do at this point. The moment they saw her, they hurried over to her nervously, looking jittery at having been woken so sharply.

" Hoshi, this has got to be a test, right?" Kelly asked nervously. Her own phaser was held tightly in her hand.

" I think so, yes." Hoshi replied loudly, smiling at them all. Smiling always made people calmer. " No worries! We just have to figure out what to do..."

They all froze. Adam's eyes widened. " You don't know!?" Hoshi had anticipated most of the Academy's surprise tests after the first few weeks.

" What!?" Hoshi looked at them all defensively, feeling herself grow hot. " How should I? I didn't expect something like this so soon...I thought we'd at least have time to learn the ropes on this ship!" She blushed as she took in their nervous, disappointed faces. " But perhaps that is the point! Improvisation! We are the diplomatic officers...we don't have a particular place to be. But there must be civilians on this vessel. We are probably situated closest to them. So what if we make sure they are okay?"

" That idea is as good as any," Kelly shouted and shrugged.

" All right, everyone - let's go!" Hoshi cried.

* * *

At the turbo-lift, Adam paused. " Um, guys...?" His face looked sheepish as they all stared at the blank walls. " I forgot my phaser."

Hoshi and Kelly stared at him.

" Really?" Hoshi shouted over the klaxon. " How does one possibly do that?" Then she remembered herself and shook her head. " Never mind! Let's go and get it." She reassured him, inwardly shaking her head in shame.

* * *

Hoshi half-expected the turbo-lift to break down and to have to figure out how to repair it while in free-fall, but they reached the civilian quarters with relative ease. The three of them walked cautiously, Hoshi leading, into the quiet corridor. Nobody was there.

" We...we weren't meant to go to the escape pods, were we?" Hoshi asked her friends nervously. " Maybe that's where they all are."

" While we sit here like idiots. Fantastic." Adam shook his head scornfully. Hoshi raised a brow and shot him a cold look.

A piercing scream rang out from one of the quarters, and the three looked at one another in alarm before racing towards the sound. In the room, a little girl was cowering against the wall as some strange creature growled and spat at her. It was like a mutant wolf, teeth bared with patchy fur.

" Help me!" She cried. The wolf-monster spun around and turned his attention to the three of them. It let out a huge roar that seemed to shake the ground they walked on, and began to slowly walk towards them.

Kelly, phaser set to stun, shot three times, and the monster roared again - to their horror, it started growing bigger until it towered over them. Adam shot his, too, set to kill, and it howled in rage and anger, beginning to bound towards them, jaw wide open. Scrabbling back, Hoshizora set her own weapon to kill and then paused. It hadn't leapt into a kill yet - animals didn't wait. It was crazy, she knew, but what if... " What do you want?" she shouted to be heard, " We won't hurt you! Kelly, Adam, drop your phasers!"

" You mad!?" Adam shouted, " It's going to eat us!"

" Just do it, Adam, please!" she shouted. The three of them dropped their weapons and waited, hearts stopped, as the monster's pace slowed and it breathed in their scents carefully. It's jaw opened long and wide and it breathed warm, stinking air into their faces, yet they remained still.

" Do you have your translator with you?" Hoshi whispered, cursing herself for having forgotten hers. Nodding, Kelly drew it out from her pocket and gave it to her.

" My name is Hoshizora Nakamura, and I'm a diplomatic - I'm training to be a diplomatic officer of Starfleet." She began, switching it on. " Please, talk. Do you understand?"

A series of barks and growls followed. " ...lost. Finally got out of quarantine and this is what I get. I'm a delegate of the Kalior people, I was invited on board this vessel to see how your people live. Honestly. I was just exploring, and then your people put this strange sound on the whole ship and people are trying to kill me! I'm seriously reconsidering this alliance, dinner was pretty good but we don't need this sort of treatment."

" We are so sorry," Hoshizora replied, looking horrified. She and her friends were going to be the reason the Federation lost a member before they had even joined! " We did not know. The strange sound is an alert, a signal of emergency. You are entirely right, we should have asked before we shot. But," she looked at him seriously, " We will make it up to you. I will do my very best, sir! What can we do to make amends?"

The creature seemed slightly assuaged. " That good food, I heard it called 'roarmeet'. Will you," he challenged, " Make sure I recieve some?"

" Better yet," Hoshi replied, relieved, " We will prepare it for you ourselves, and for your crewmates if they would like!" The Kalior looked at least a little pleased at this news. He drank up their groveling with delight.

Adam nodded eagerly. " Hoshi's an excellent cook."

Kalior looked amused. " Well, if you can make us that food again, I will excuse your impertinence. Perhaps I'll even recommend you all for making such good amends, if you really impress us. Training to be a diplomat, are you?" he asked them all. They nodded.

" Well, I suppose you're well on your way." he replied.

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