Episode 08 Negotiations

*"That's the problem with omniscients, they see you in the shower."*
—**Azeri Sull**

## **Plot Synopsis**

### **Brief Overview**

Sull has a counselling appointment with EXEO in order to vent frustrations. They discuss the kids leaving the ship, Wellix missing his counselling appointments with EXEO, Klingon Fight Club, and Q.

Theq is overworked and anxious. He contacts Olyn for help with an issue. They meet on Narendra Station and he anxiously tells them that crew are selling starfleet secrets for latinum. They go to tell Prahl, but it turns out the whole thing is a misunderstanding. Olyn uses her Deltan power to take away Theq's anxiety. She leaves Theq with Vrenn, and then goes to meet the Klingon ambassador to Narendra Station, Jahl. Jahl is jovial towards Olyn and critical of Kargan. They drink and talk into the night.

In sickbay, Wellix tells M'Qrell that he refuses to go to counselling with EXEO. She offers to do it instead, and he agrees and departs. M'Qrell contacts EXEO for permission to take over the counselling. EXEO is still meeting with Sull, but takes the call. She agrees to the change. Sull gets a call from Sivek to go to ADM Hebert's office, and Sull departs.

EXEO receives a request for therapy from Theq. Just after reading it, Prahl physically forces Wellix into EXEO's office. Instead of counselling, they engage a dialogue that is part therapy and part interrogation. Wellix says that he used to be assigned to watching Andrea Redgrave. He questions whether EXEO truly understands her creator. As they speak, Wellix becomes increasingly delusional. It ends with Wellix nearly having a breakdown, and EXEO orders him out of her office.

M'Qrell gets an emergency call, and helps a Klingon woman give birth on Narendra Station. She then goes to dress-down the Klingon Chief Medical Officer, N'ria, but they end up bonding, instead.

Vrenn takes Theq on an adventure in the holodeck, and he nearly misses his counselling appointment with EXEO. When he catches up with her, she is distracted by the prior session with Wellix. He says that he doesn't need counselling at the moment, since Olyn took his anxiety, and he leaves. EXEO receives a message from Olyn asking for a counselling appointment. She then sends a personal message to Dr. Redgrave.

April Hebert orders USS *Ross* to go investigate a particle fountain.

### **Pre-Break**

The episode opens 24 hours after GEN Kargan stormed off of the promenade of USS Ross. In the captain's ready room, YEO3 Azzmi delivers a report to CAPT Sull. During the Klingon fight night aboard Narendra Station, four members of USS Ross' crew were injured. All four reported for duty. She also reports that Dr. Yata intends to take down some ship's systems in order to update and synchronize with Narendra Station's navigation charts. Finally, Azzmi reports that some crew have been dawdling around Cetacean Ops, treating it like a gathering space. Sull orders access to Cetacean Ops be restricted to crew members on official duties.

After Azzmi leaves, Sull calls LTCDR EXEO to request an appointment. EXEO suggests right now. In EXEO's office, Sull lets out a giant sigh. They miss having the kids on board; the ship is too quiet. Sull asks if Dr. Wellix has had his appointment with EXEO yet, and she replies that he has not. EXEO states that Wellix has already missed an appointment. Sull expresses frustration that they don't understand what his game is, now that his family is safe. They talk about the Klingon fight club, and about Narendra Station. They discuss the confusing politics of the Romulan Star Empire. EXEO asks if Sull has seen Q again, and they say that they have not. EXEO offers to make some noise for Sull, and Sull requests some heavy metal music.

The scene moves to MCPO Theq, in his holodeck workshop. He is completely wiped after hours of working on the problem of the chip in Wellix's brain. He needs a break, so he calls AMB Olyn. Olyn is in their office on Narendra Station, and the two agree to meet on the stations transporter pad. Theq's behavior is erratic. He expresses some concerning ideas about the crew. He states that the Engineering and Science departments are competing to catalog all of the things in the Shackleton Expanse. He states that they are selling those discoveries to people on the station for latinum. Olyn is horrified. Theq wants to use the resources on Narendra Station to monitor the crew, and so they head to station security.

At station security, they meet LTCDR Prahl. Theq asks Prahl how closely he's been watching the crew. Theq is being evasive about why he's asking. Prahl senses the evasion and calls out Theq, but Olyn divulges everything. Prahl states that is sound like Theq is suggesting the crew is committing treason. Theq breathlessly clarifies that it all relates to the "bracket" competition set up by LTJG Lakat, and that no one is selling starfleet knowledge for latinum. Olyn asks Theq if the whole reason for his "investigation" is that he wants to participate in the competition, especially because the Engineering department is losing. Theq concedes, and then asks Olyn to join the Engineering team. They agree. As the two exit security, they see a small crowd forming outside of the Klingon embassy.

Meanwhile, LTCDR M'Qrell is in sickbay, when Dr. Wellix walks inside. M'Qrell states that she knows he hasn't been going to counselling. Wellix says that he hasn't, and will not ever go to counselling. M'Qrell senses that Wellix has something on his mind. Wellix says that he thinks he and M'Qrell are very similar people. He implies that her personnel file is too perfect; at that statement, M'Qrell's tail twitches meaningfully. M'Qrell offers to do the counselling sessions herself, so that he doesn't have to see EXEO. He agrees. M'Qrell informs EXEO (with Sull still present in EXEO's office) that Wellix doesn't want therapy. EXEO sternly replies that the sessions are mandatory, but M'Qrell argues for him. EXEO relents, but is suspicious of Wellix's motives. Sull agrees. Sull receives a call from CDR Sivek. He requests a meeting with Sull and the admiral to discuss an anomaly found on long range sensors. Sull heads over. After Sull leaves, EXEO receives a message that Theq has requested another therapy session. Then, the door opens, revealing Wellix. Prahl shoves him into EXEO's office and walks out as the door closes.

The scene moves back to sickbay. M'Qrell gets an emergency communication from the station, and she can hear screams over the voice of the person calling. M'Qrell calls CPO Singh for a site to site transport. She arrives on the station in a machinery space. A Klingon woman is on the ground, with two federation officers standing over her; she is in labor. M'Qrell is met by ENS Jeremiah Balm, a doctor from USS Ross transferring to Narendra Station, and by ENS Leah Sky, a nurse from USS Ross. Balm has taken a hit from the Klingon woman, and is bleeding slightly. The chief medical officer of Narendra Station, a Klingon named N'ria, is not responding. M'Qrell, Balm, and Sky successfully deliver the baby.

Afterwards, M'Qrell heads to main sickbay of Narendra Station. She goes to N'ria's office, but the door is locked. M'Qrell uses her comm badge to message N'ria. N'ria wakes up and opens the door. M'Qrell steps in, and sees two empty bottles of bloodwine. She reports about the birth. N'ria orders M'Qrell out of her office, but M'Qrell won't leave. M'Qrell admonishes N'ria about drinking on duty. N'ria slowly gets into M'Qrells face, and says that M'Qrell has just insulted and challenged her. M'Qrell states that it wouldn't be a fair fight, since N'ria is drunk.

### **Post-Break**

The scene resumes where it left off. N'ria calls M'Qrell a coward. The tension is briefly broken when Dr. Balm arrives to report to N'ria for duty. After he leaves, things appear to get tense again, until N'ria breaks. She shoves M'Qrell on the shoulder, and says that she approves of M'Qrell's spine, and that the bloodwine was from the night before. She's not actually on duty right now. M'Qrell offers her a tour of USS Ross' sickbay. N'ria remarks that she is happy that non-Klingons are transferring to the station, since they actually come to sickbay. N'ria asks for a rain check on the fight/flirt thing that was happening between them.

Back in EXEO's office, she switches her uniform from blue to red (signifying that she is not in counselor mode at the moment). EXEO states that it is not a counselling session, since Wellix has stated he doesn't want to go to counseling. During the brief exchange, EXEO mentions that he is a member of starfleet now, and Wellix seems confused. He is having a hard time remembering how that happened. EXEO and Wellix engage in a dialogue that is part therapy and part interrogation.

**CONTENT WARNING: Suicide. Click "expand" to see the content.**Wellix expresses a desire to die; he feels his life has no meaning. He requests that starfleet should kill him, as a mercy. EXEO states that he does want to live, and the two verbally spar for a bit.

Wellix says he has killed 24 citizens of the Federation. Wellix states that he had been following Dr. Redgrave while he was undercover on Earth. He questions how much EXEO truly knows about Dr. Redgrave. Wellix claims that he was on Earth in order to kill the other operatives, and that his 24 victims may not have been loyal to the Federation. EXEO evaluates Wellix's speech and behavior, and comes to the conclusion that everything he's been saying about his activities on Earth was a fabrication. His brain is failing, he is delusional, and his false memories are making it hard to tell truth from fiction. After they sit in silence for a minute, EXEO begins to speak, and Wellix nearly loses it. She informs him that he will continue from now on with M'Qrell, and tosses him out of her office.

On the station, Olyn and Theq are watching the crowd outside of the Klingon embassy. An ancient looking Klingon with a cane steps up onto a podium Olyn recognizes him as the Klingon ambassador on Narendra Station, named Jahl of House Martok. The crowd is expecting him to give a speech opposing the Romulan Embassy being set up on Narendra Station. Instead, he tells them all to go away, and he goes back inside the embassy. Theq asks Olyn to calm him down, and they use their telepathy to take his pain and anxiety. LT Vrenn arrives at that exact moment. Olyn suggests that Vrenn should take Theq on a wild goose chase, and the two leave. Olyn psychs themselves up, and enters the embassy. Jahl greets Olyn warmly. He says that Kargan resents his presence, and so cuts him out of important meetings (like the one with the Romulan ambassador). He also says Kargan is a "complete buffoon and utter moron". He states that Kargan never served on the front lines of the Dominion War, so the men don't respect him, and that he knows it. Jahl asks Olyn what they think of AMB P'jeeno. Olyn gives their opinion of him, and mentions Romulan ale. Jahl misinterprets that Olyn drank some (they didn't), and so brings out some bloodwine to purge their palate. The two spend the afternoon drinking and talking.

Meanwhile, Sull walks into the office of ADM Hebert. Hebert shows the sensor scans of the anomaly to Sull. It is a particle fountain (a very dangerous and rare phenomenon). Hebert orders USS Ross to immediately go investigate it. She also asks Sull to keep an eye out for unusual ionization, and specifically for cloaked ships. As they leave, Sull asks Hebert was department she was in before she became admiral. Hebert states that there is a betting pool about which. Sivek suggests that isn't science, even though that has the most backers.

Meanwhile, Theq has a counselling appointment scheduled with EXEO. She had scheduled it to take place in the mess hall, but Theq didn't realize that. Outside EXEO's office, PO1 Rachel Carter is standing there when Theq and Vrenn rush around the corner, trying to get to Theq's appointment on time. They are wearing Andorian ice climbing gear. He chirps at the door, but EXEO isn't there. He calls EXEO, and she states that the appointment was in the mess hall. Theq heads down. In the mess hall, EXEO is clearly distracted. She has a cup of tea, and asks Theq to program a memory into it for her, but Theq states that he doesn't have the equipment with him. Theq states that he had been feeling anxious, but that his time with Olyn had relaxed him (they took his anxiety with their telepathy). Since both he and EXEO are distracted, he suggests ending the counselling session so that she can think and he can enjoy the calm.

The scene moves to Olyn stumbling out of the ambassador's office, very drunk. They send a message to EXEO "I think I need to talk to you". EXEO receives the message and schedules an appointment. She then sends a personal message to Dr. Redgrave.

Back in Sull's ready room, they are looking out the window at space. Suddenly, space starts to shimmer, and they see a Vor'cha class Klingon battle cruiser decloak.

## **Cast**

* Eric Campbell - Game Master
* Revati Dhomse - Jane Lakat (absent)
* Gina De Vivo - EXEO
* Sam de Leve - Azeri Sull
* Aki - Olyn Madzhin-Nil
* Xander Jeanneret - Theq Lynadas
* Bonnie Gordon - M'Qrell

## **Non-Player Characters**

* Azzmi Shanto
* Yeri Prahl
* Wellix
* Sivek
* Amandeep Singh
* Jeremiah Balm
* Leah Sky
* N'ria
* Jahl
* April Hebert
* Rachel Carter

## **Notable Lines**

*"You could smell it ... the air. The violence, but the joy."*
—**EXEO**

*"That's the problem with omniscients, they see you in the shower."*
—**Azeri Sull**

*"HONK!"*
—**Theq Lynadas**

*"They think that I don't know what's going on, but I see them whispering in the corners, talking about things like. I know the codewords! What does bingo mean!? What does honk mean!? I know it, I'm on the inside!"*
—**Theq Lynadas**

*"Your past shouldn't affect what you want to be now."*
—**M'Qrell**

*"Let's make a baby."*
—**M'Qrell**

*"You do not wish to speak to me, so I don't wish to listen."*
—**EXEO** to Wellix

*"We're talking in circles."*
*"Yes, welcome to therapy."*
—**Wellix** and **EXEO**

*"When you just let Vrenn decide the plans ... what an adventure."*
—**Theq Lynadas**