Episode 2.03: The Trill Question

[socrates200X]

As they all processed Tobin's words, Voshen found himself swallowing a bitter taste in his mouth.  Religion.  A inwards-facing culture serving to isolate and stultify, replacing reason and wonder with complacent faith.  Too close to home.  His home, and all the reasons he left.

Seeing no diplomatic benefit to bring this up and many against, Voshen set his reservations aside for the moment.  "Extending the analogy, Ambassador Voliax would also appear to be one of the devotees of this particular "creed" of secrecy.  I sincerely doubt we could sway her to divulge her personal beliefs further, so our overtures to her would involve assuaging her doubts that Federation membership would necessarily involve exposing Trill beliefs."

He spread his long fingers, gesturing.  "Federation medical and cultural protections seem to be stable on this matter.  Citizens are free to keep their personal and medical information to themselves.  Whether this is a danger is judged after the fact, not prior."

[Chev ch'Valk]

"It seems to me," adds Chev, "that the best course of action might be to not mention it at all, and to talk around it if it comes up in conversation. To be purposefully obtuse, you might say. That way we're making it clear that we're aware that the subject is completely off the table, and we're making no attempt to say otherwise."

[Davy, aka GM]

Tobin takes a deep breath...

OOC: For this incredible answer, I'm going to grant Tobin a meritorious point of Determination for use in this episode.

[Renny]

OOC: Agreed, that was excellent stuff

[Renny]

"Thank you, sir", Cole answers in response to Tobin, "I get the picture. Sounds like we may have our work cut out for us here to come away with the result we're hoping for."

[Davy, aka GM]

Curzon's smile broadens as the others engage. "We definitely have our work cut out for us, Mr. Cole, but this little conversation makes me glad I picked you all for this mission.

"Now," he says, "it's time to put away our thinking caps and break out our party hats. No more shop talk for the rest of the night. Cheers." The Trill raises his glass to salute the others.

OOC: Feel free to do a little chit chat and describe what your character is doing for the evening.

At some point during the revelry, Cole's communicator beeps. When he answers, he hears, "Oi, Banana Bender*! Fancy a few drinks with a Top Ender?" The voice unmistakably belongs to Regina Waymire, the captain's chief yeoman and fellow Aussie (from Alice Springs). It's possible that she may have already had a drink...or two...

* For those not familiar, a "Banana Bender" is Aussie slang for someone from Queensland, which references the state's significant banana farming industry (the joke is that Queenslanders spend all there time bending bananas into shape). "Top Ender" is likewise someone from the Northern Territory (although Alice Springs itself is very much near the center of the continent). -Ed.

[Patrick Goodman]

Regina is played, IIRC, by Gigi Edgley, who played Chiana in Farscape. I'd have to go back and find my old list to be sure, but...there are worse candidates to have a drink with.

[Davy, aka GM]

OOC: That's correct, which is why Regina is also Australian (although the actress is a Sandgroper from Perth).

[Nolmir]

After engaging in what he judges to be the appropriate minimum of small talk, Tobin wanders out onto the patio by himself with a plate of some sort of tropical Novan delicacy -- it appears to be cubes of raw fish tossed in a mixture of vegetables with a copious drizzling of some kind of vegetable oil. Taking a seat at one of the tables, he picks at the food while he thinks.

Being involved in these talks is a great honor, but I can't help but worry about all the things that may go wrong. The intransigence of politicians knows no bounds, after all. He sighs. I wish T'Kalla were here. A little Vulcan stoicism and logic could go a long way in a situation like this.

[Renny]

At some point during the revelry, Cole's communicator beeps. When he answers, he hears, "Oi, Banana Bender*! Fancy a few drinks with a Top Ender?" The voice unmistakably belongs to Regina Waymire, the captain's chief yeoman and fellow Aussie (from Alice Springs). It's possible that she may have already had a drink...or two...

Cole smiles broadly at this, realizing how long it's been since he had any actual downtime.

"I reckon I can drop my standards a bit, just this once. Where are you?"

[socrates200X]

"Commander?  May I join you?"  Lt. Voshen approached Tobin on the patio with a fluted glass of small, local crustaceans, a bright floral stalk waggling on top.  He spent an awkward moment detangling the stem from the tubes of his respirator.  "The need to embellish even the smallest foodstuffs here is certainly a choice."

A peal of laughter rang out from the main building.  Ambassador Dax had reached the punchline of some story and was in the middle of replacing an empty tropical cocktail with another one.  "The ambassador certainly does not seem to mind...embellishment."  He clicked his vocoder twice wryly.  "I will admit: it is a strange temperament to see in such a high-ranking diplomat.  But his reputation speaks for itself, of course.  Are all Trill functionaries as...convivial as Ambassador Dax?"

[Patrick Goodman]

Oh, you two are going to get along famously....

[Davy, aka GM]

Cole smiles broadly at this, realizing how long it's been since he had any actual downtime.

"I reckon I can drop my standards a bit, just this once. Where are you?"

"Opposite end of the bar, 'round the bend," she says. When he looks that direction, he sees her raising a glass, with a playful tilt to her head. "Saved ya a spot."

[Renny]

"Opposite end of the bar, 'round the bend," she says. When he looks that direction, he sees her raising a glass, with a playful tilt to her head. "Saved ya a spot."

Cole walks over and drops gratefully in the saved seat. He catches the bartender's eye and points at Regina's glass, indicating he wants the same.

"So Chief," he says in an exaggerated hushed voice, "Should have known i'd find you in the pub..."

[Davy, aka GM]

"Please, call me 'Regina,'" she counters with a slight curl to her lips. "Or just 'Gina.' Let's leave the chief-lieutenant stuff in uniform.

"And, yeah - a good pub, a good pint of...whatever this is - " she studies her glass for a moment, her nose scrunching up in thought "- and a good bit of distance between me and Tann-Tyra."

Regina takes a sip whatever it is, glancing at Cole out of the corner of her eye, the corner of her lip still turned upward.