Civilian Assistance

Posted on Mon Jul 18th, 2011 @ 3:03am by Khiy Tal'ehrihn

1,245 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Orbital Yard Project Athena I
Location: Trans Galactic Trading

Captain T'Yuna entered Trans Galactic Trading, in search of Khiy Tal'ehrihn. She was hoping that he would be willing to offer civilian assistance to the grossly understaffed Engineering department.

She took a seat, off to the side, while the receptionist dealt with someone.

"Mr. Tal'ehrihn will now see you." The woman at the desk said with a smile. "Last door on the right Captain."

T'Yuna nodded, and followed as directed. She pressed the chime outside the door, uncertain as to whether or not she had been given permission to enter.

"Enter." Khiy said from behind his desk. He had been notified that a Starfleet Captain had requested his audience by his secretary. Likely this had something to do with the Typhon taking back the internal docking bay he had purchased when moving to the station.

Khiy regarded the Captain as she entered into the room. It seemed strange to him that a ranked Captain would find it in her time to talk to him about the change in policy.

"Mister Tal'ehrihn, I am Captain T'Yuna, representing the Starfleet Corps of Engineers." She said, with a slight bow.

"SCE?" He said with an almost surprised look on his face. "Have a seat." He said motioning to the chair in front of his desk. "Can I offer you a refreshment?"

"I am on duty." T'Yuna said, shaking her head. "I have come to ask for assistance. You are welcome to refuse my request, at any time."

"In that case I have nothing to lose by hearing you out." He said with a nod. He now knew this had nothing to do with his docking space. Still, he was curious as to why Starfleet would be interested in meeting him without Raven being in attendance.

"I am told that you have, in your employ, several properly trained repair teams." T'Yuna said, with a look down at her PADD. "Due to a personnel mismanagement issue, the SCE current dispatch is understaffed. At the request of Admiral Ongaku-chi, I have come to request your assistance, in this regard, as the Starfleet Corps of Engineers routinely deals with civilian contractors, at times like this, where staff is lacking."

Khiy didn't expect this. He regarded her for several seconds before accessing his computer and looking up current staffing scheduals. "Well," He started while scrolling through his employ list "I currently have 18 specialists ranging from hull plating repair to warp core diagnostics and another 27 general labour engineers currently on the station. What are you looking for specifically?"

"We are building a Shipyard." T'Yuna said, simply. "Any assistance would be useful, at this point."

"A shipyard?" He repeated. "Would this be for the Athena project?" He asked.

T'Yuna nodded. "It has been reassigned to the SCE, after an excess lack of progress."

"Really?" Khiy tapped his finger on the table in front of him as he wondered how he could turn this to his advantage. There was much he could gain from his engineering staff working on a Federation shipyard, least of all was a working relationship with Starfleet.

"What kind of a timeline are we working with here?" He asked.

"It is estimated to take, from start to finish, without any further personnel shortages, 6 months. That would be from tomorrow morning, putting the project 2 months behind it's original construction. With civilian contractor assistance, I estimate it could still be completed, by the original deadline." T'Yuna said, with a nod. "You will, of course, be compensated, by the SCE, for your' personnel's time."

He nodded, expecting as much. "I've recently worked out a prefered customer price list; something I'm sure the SCE will be interested in seeing." He regarded the Captain for a moment before probing. "What would happen should one of my ships come in needing repairs?"

"Your staff's first priority, naturally, is their' primary employer." T'Yuna said, nodding. "As to the prefered customer price list, if you could forward that to Admiral Ongaku-chi's office, in Paris, you should receive appropriate compensation, in a relatively short period of time."

Khiy waved the notion away, he wasn't really concerned with proper conpensation coming though. The Federation always paid it's dues. He was more concerned with the intangibles.

"I am willing to help your staff with this." He said after weighing the cost. "But I would hope you would be willing to do something in turn for me."

"I will certainly do my best." T'Yuna said, with a nod.

"With the new policy aboard the Typhon my docking space, which I have paid handsomely for, has been taken away in favour of a new standard for operations aboard the station. Now I have no problem if a Starfleet ship were to come in needing extinctive repairs and needing my dock, however, as my shipments service a large portion of the stations shops I would request that consideration be given to my enterprise and its time sensitive needs. I had a ship wait nine hours last week before it was granted a docking space, at a cost that would stagger you. I only want back what was initially promised to me."

"I have something better, to propose, then Mister Tal'ehrihn." T'Yuna said, nodding. "Starfleet Corps of Engineers has two docks set aside for SCE garrison ships. At current, the Tesla is the only one slated to use them, and they will not arrive until next week. As your staff will be assisting us, technically, that would make them an SCE garrison ship. The port would be available for your use, regardless of purpose, any time. Beyond the Athena Project, however, I am not certain how this arrangement will be handled by the current administration."

"I can appreciate that and I will accept your offer for the time necessary. All I ask additionally is a favourable word towards the station's Captain." He said, pleased with the current offer of docking space.

T'Yuna's control broke, briefly. The faintest trace of a scowl crossed her face. "I do not believe you would want my favourable word towards the station's Captain. We do not seem to have any ground for civil conversation. I would go so far as to state he is incapable of it." She said, once she had erased the trace of a scowl, within half a second.

Khiy, who had been trained to notice these things offered a slight smile as a consolation to his distant genetic cousin. "Well than I think our opinion of the good Captain is in keeping. I would not want to put you in a position where you would be uncomfortable talking to him." He looked back to his computer and looked over the names once more before regarding the Captain. "I'll need a day to brief my staff on the changes to be expected before handing them over. I assume standard Starfleet crewman shifts?"

"If you wish, certainly. And your concerns are irrelevant. He is responsible for making me uncomfortable in his presence. Your assistance is not required." T'Yuna said, with a nod. "Your assistance is appreciated, however, in the specific topics we have already discussed."

"Well in that case," He started to say as he stood from his chair "I look forward to working with you and your team." He mimicked the same curt bow she gave him upon entering.

T'Yuna returned the gesture. "And you, Mister Tal'ehrihn."

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Captain T'Yuna
SCE Team Leader, Project Executive Officer
Typhon Dispatch, Athena Project, Respectively

Khiy Tal'ehrihn
CEO,
Trans Galactic Trading.

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