Balowlli System Brief

Posted on Thu Nov 19th, 2009 @ 7:19pm by Lieutenant JG Drew O'Connell & Lieutenant JG Yvette LaFaal

962 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Shoreleave - Welcoming Old Friends and New
Location: Chief Intelligence Officer's Office
Timeline: Current

Drew looked up to see Yvette LaFaal enter his office. He'd already arranged the information he'd been able to pull together on the system into neat little paragraphs on his PaDD. He stood and motioned to the seat across from him. With a smile, he welcomed her, "It's not much different a space than yours, I'm sure, but we had to choose an office one way or the other. Mine has better file access."

With a smile she glanced around the room and chipped in with a wry comment, "But mine is more comfortable."
She laughed lightly, still feeling a little uncomfortable after the other night's misunderstanding.

"That may be," Drew responded casually, "but I think we'll get the work done more quickly here, Lieutenant. Now, what have you found about the Balowlli?"

Yvette took her seat across from Drew, and she took great care not to look at him directly. It was going to be awkward given the fact she had embarrassed herself without limit the evening before, and he was obviously trying to put aside the same emotions.

"So far all I have found is that there are two species in the system. The first are a Reptilian species, very ritualistic in everything they do, from getting out of bed in a morning right up to diplomatic encounters. They pride themselves on their knowledge of their planet. The only thing that concerns me about them is that they are a very militaristic and expansionistic race."

"The Kal'Tashnar," Drew pronounced the name of the species, reading it from his PaDD. "I think we'd do best to avoid them altogether if possible."

She nodded, wanting to move on before the meeting became any more difficult. "The second are descendents of something akin to the horse on Earth. The are quadruped, but this species are far more free spirited. They tend to live in family or herd groups, roaming from one area to the next. There homes are prefab, so easily moved and relocated. They have their rituals, but they are more religious in nature. Their religion is based on a love and understanding of what we would call mother nature. It's a truly beautiful species."

She trailed off, realising that she had been chatting away with very little input from Drew. "One more thing. Both civilisations are pre-warp, so we would need to be careful not to alert them to our presence. The ones that may detect us are the reptilian race, the Kal'Tashnar. They are at a point that is comparable to Earth in the twenty first century. The Malgor, the horse-like race are less advanced".

Now she looked at Drew, curiosity piquing her interest. "What did you find out, Lieutenant. I found very little about the star system or the topography of the system. It's not really my speciality."

Drew pushed back a stray hair from his eyes before activating the holographic display on his desk. "The Kal'Tashnar inhabit a planet known as Kashak." Standing from his desk, he circled the display as he pointed out specifics, bringing them to the fore. Kashak filled the desk display now. "The Kal'Tashnar evolved from a second species on the same planet, a forebear which still exists in small populations, the Grin'gat. They are an amphibian species with advanced telepathic abilities."

Stepping around the desk, Drew highlighted the planet and sent it back into view of the solar system. Pointing to another area, an asteroid belt came to the fore. "Kashak itself has been beset by asteroid bombardment from the Reiling belt, an asteroid belt of immense proportions. It stretches from near Kashak, the second planet from their sun, Balowlli, to the seventh planet, Marvol. The planet of your horse race. The rest of the system is similar to the Sol system."

Thankfully the meeting had turned technical and had both of the occupied with th specifics of the new mission rather than the awkward company.

"My concern is the Kal'Tashnar. As you've indicated, they are a bit more advanced. Their planet is surrounded by satellites and advanced galactic imaging devices similar to Earth's Hubble telescope. We could be detected if we are not overly careful. Any suggestions?"

"So long as we stay outside the range of the imaging devices we should be fine. We might even consider polarising the hull, it might offer us some extra defence against detection, but we might want to inquire with Science for that." She looked at the image of the planet Kashak, and with the asteroid belt hanging a short distance away and the golden sun rising over the ellipse of the planet it struck Yvette as being rather beautiful.

"I'm not sure that will be enough. I'll consult with Lieutenants Martin and Warner to develop additional defensive plans. Why don't you head down to Science and see what Ensign Larkin and T'Kaarch have in mind for keeping us off their radar." Drew tapped the last of the information into his PaDD and turned the device off. With a tap of his finger, he made a dual appointment with the other two department heads for that afternoon.

"I'll head there now," she said moving rapidly for the door not wanting the encounter to last any longer than it needed too with Drew.

Drew watched as Yvette LaFaal walked out the door. He couldn't help but feel that she had purposely rushed out, still embarassed by the events from the previous night's 'date'. He sighed heavily. It was another complication he didn't need. With a resigned shrug, Drew returned his attention to the transfer of Petty Officer Ramsey. The transfer request was still pending from Skanda Sheedy. He decided to make an appointment to talk to her directly, perhaps making things move along a little more quickly.

 

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