Family Ties

Posted on Sat Feb 20th, 2016 @ 2:54am by Admiral Ricky Wegener & Lieutenant Hope Beckman & Maxym Balasz

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Wegener's Office

After the Naresta docked, Max had seen Menna and Grax to their quarters, then gone to his own. He freshened up a bit, then departed. His first order of business was to report in to the CO and then find the Chief Diplomatic Officer. He wanted to check with Lucius but since Aia was just returning home, he knew that would have to wait. The massive size of the station surprised him and it took him longer to arrive at Rick’s office than he had expected. Finally, he stepped into the outer office and greeted Hope.

“Hello Lieutenant. I am Maxym Balasz, the new ambassador from Betazed. May I see the Admiral?”

“I’ll let him know you’re here, if you wouldn’t mind taking a seat?” she replied. “I’m not sure how long he’ll be.”

Tapping at the controls on her desk, Hope sent a message to Rick’s monitor alerting him to the visitor in the lobby. He had been in the bathroom and heard the message come through. Taking his time--he was the Admiral after all--he finally sauntered over to check the message.

“Balasz,” he said aloud. He remembered Rhys Balasz, from Li’s past and from a brief incident on the station with Sakkath, but could this be a relative? Surely there were all sorts of families with the same surname, just like on Earth there had been multitudes of Smiths, Jones and Williams, none of which were even remotely related.

He returned the message authorizing his entry and the doors parted, opening up his view to the lobby and Hope’s desk.

Max rose and stepped into the office. “Admiral Wegener? I’m Maxym Balasz, the new Betazed Ambassador. I appreciate your taking the time to see me.”

“It’s not a problem at all, Ambassador,” Rick said, gesturing to one of the chairs in front of his desk as he stood. “First time in the Delta Quadrant?”

“It is yes.” Max approached the seat and then sat as Rick had indicated. “I”m looking forward to it though. I am expected to be here for the foreseeable future and I suspect it will be most interesting.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, what is the ambassador from Betazed doing all the way out here?” Rick asked. “Not that I mind at all. To be honest, I welcome more representatives from the Federation out here--more transparency, you see.”

“That’s a large part of it,” Max answered. “Also contact with the new races. We both know that in time, the traffic won’t always be one way coming from the Beta and Alpha Quadrants, but the natives here crossing over to see the rest of the universe. Ties will only get closer and more complicated. I know that ambassadors from other words come and go but I’m surprised none stay for an extended period.”

Rick nodded. “Well, I’ll make sure that you are well taken care of throughout the duration of your stay. If you’ll give me a little time, I can have quarters assigned for you and have the quartermaster set up an office so you can do whatever you need to. Would you like it close to the Diplomatic offices, or does it matter to you?”

“That might be useful since I expect I’ll be working closely with Commander Kh’ali.” Max smiled now. “I appreciate that very much. I am just in some temporary quarters at the moment but I’ll be ready to move as soon as mine are available.”

Rick had been tapping away at his console while Max was speaking. It was instructions for Hope to procure VIP level quarters for the ambassador and an office in close proximity to Kh’ali’s. “Please excuse that, Ambassador. Just getting the Lieutenant working in your quarters.”

“Thank you. I”m looking forward to being off a transport and not living out of my suitcase for a while. Well, and getting to see this station. The stories I hear of the facilities is most interesting.”

“I’ve been here for years and I still don’t think I’ve seen every amenity the station has to offer, so you’ll definitely find something of interest.” Rick had been holding back in asking about his last name throughout their conversation. To be honest, it was kind of poor taste to ask a high ranking government official if they were related to someone who turned out to be one particularly evil bastard. He decided to shelve it.

“Is there anything specific you’d like to get working on that I might be able to help you with? I have plenty of personnel and I’m sure I could find someone eager to assist you.”

“I will know more after I speak with Kh’ali and get an impression of who is who out here. If you have someone from the diplomatic area, however, an assistant would be very useful.” Max smiled and debated his next question. “I could use your advice however.”

“I’ll do my best,” Rick replied, curious.

“I’m not prying but some of your thoughts...let’s just say you broadcast rather loudly? You are curious about my name.” Max gave him a sad smile. “It would come up eventually, so what do you want to know?”

“Hmm, I guess Lucius and Li are just used to me by now. They don’t normally mention anything, but it’s no big deal,” Rick said. “I was just curious if you happened to be related to Rhys? Granted, I don’t know many Betazoids and don’t know how the last names run out there, but he was the only one I knew with that last name.”

Max seemed to lose his cool composure for several fleeting seconds, then it returned and he nodded. “Yes. He was my younger brother.”

“I see,” Rick replied, his curiosity satiated. “Well, as I said before,” he continued, changing the subject, “let me know if you need anything at all. I’ll have Personnel work on assigning you someone that can help.”

Max nodded once more. “Now to that advice. I suspect you are aware of what happened with Rhys and Li? I was also told there was another incident after she arrived here on this station, one of a rather strange nature. His actions were a great shame to my family, and a terrible thing for Li to live through. She doesn’t know I am here and now I understand that her husband, Sakkath, was killed just a few days ago. I am somewhat at a loss as to how to approach this.”

“I guess it depends on how well you know Li. She can handle a great many things but I’m sure you realize how deeply this would have affected her...mentally.” Rick squirmed a bit uncomfortably in his chair. He didn’t know this guy from Adam and he was wanting advice on talking to his XO about her recently deceased husband after also being related to the man who caused so much trouble for her before. He decided to keep it more professional and at arm’s length. “Give her time and she should be back to her old self. I would suggest not surprising her anytime soon.”

Max nodded. “I knew her better than Rhys did, I think. I’m deeply sorry that she is having to go through this but she has family here and that’s a good thing. That includes you, from what I always heard.”

“I’m certain that she’ll be happy to see you, then, if you’ve known her for so long, but I’d still give her the time she needs. Even as her CO I’ve realized that when she’s set her mind on something it’s best just to let her do it or face her wrath.”

Max laughed briefly. “True, and I come, not with emotional baggage of my own for her, but by association.” That was mostly true. The emotional baggage in this case was his, not Li’s. “I’ve taken enough of your time, however.” Max rose and now offered his hand. “I’m looking forward to being a part of your station.”

Rick stood and briefly shook. “I am happy to have you here and hope you find you way around quickly. This place is massive, though, so don’t wear yourself out too quickly.”

“I’ll take that advice to heart, sir.” Max turned and departed, leaving Hope and Rick alone in the office.

With the doors still open, and the Ambassador now gone, Rick turned to Hope. “Contact Lieutenant Barefoot in Personnel and see if he can assign someone to the Ambassador as an aide. They’ll need experience in diplomacy, but otherwise it should turn out to be a cushy position. Enlisted or warrant officer only, not an officer.”

“Will do,” she replied. “With all of the rooms on the base standing empty I expect to have his permanent quarters assignment in a few minutes. They’ll send someone to check it first, make sure it’s presentable, and contact him to move in. And I’ve already assigned him an office, so he’s pretty much ready to go.”

“Mmm. Any word from Piper on our returned people?” he asked, his mind wandering thinking about how Li’s reaction to Max being here would be.

“I checked while you were in the meeting. No real change, but they have stopped any further transition to, uh...Borgification?”

Rick turned and laughed. “Borgification, huh? Is that what we’re calling it?”

Hope shrugged. “Sounded good to me, old man. Keep up with the times.”

He shook his head and headed back into the office. “You know where to find me, kid.”

“Yeah, yeah,” was her only reply as she activated the doors to close and lock behind him.

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Lt. Hope Beckman
Wordsmith

Admiral Ricky Wegener
Mr. Professional

Maxym Balasz
New Arrival