A Touch of Regret

[Lieutenant Gillian Rell]

Gillian stood in front of her mirror. The face looking back at her looked like a stranger. The long red hair she'd always worn had been cut to her shoulders and the uniform she wore was the violet instead of the gold of operations she’d worn her whole career.

More than the change of clothing though were the changes in her life. No matter what her former husband might think she’d tried with every ounce of her strength to save their marriage, but her best hadn’t been enough. She felt like a failure at her personal life, like something she’d intended from the start of their marriage had never come to fruition no matter what she’d wanted to happen. Just as her career took off her marriage fell apart.

She’d loved Stetson from the moment she’d met him. And when he died right there in front of her, it had knocked the wind out of her. There had been an alien there who’d somehow brought him back but he was changed in a subtle way. She couldn’t reach him anymore and slowly their marriage had died. There was no intimacy to hold on to. He was stationed on the planet while she had been on a ship flying around the Gamma Quadrant. She was alone, raising their daughter alone.

Yet she still loved him. Her hands tugged at the tunic of her new uniform as if to try and straighten out the wrinkles of her life, and though she turned from the mirror to walk back out into the rather ornate Diplomatic offices her thoughts were filled with regret.

“The admiral has boarded ma’am,” said Petty Office Jane.

“Thank you Jane,” she replied. “Do we know if he’s on his way here?”

“Unknown ma’am,” the young woman replied.

“Very well,” she said as she crossed the reception area. “I’ll be in my office.”

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[Special Envoy Bryson Kavanaugh]

With the family settled finally, Brice excused himself to go and meet with his staff. Most of them were already onboard based on the messages he had received.

With the help of Hill, Brice was led through the new diplomatic wing towards the main offices. All in all, the new wing was rather impressive. Extra spacious quarters to host fellow diplomats, reception rooms, and just about anything they felt he and the other diplomats might need. 

"I could get used to these types of arrangements," he told his yeoman. Hill just smiled and nodded, "They are some of the best I've ever seen, sir." 

Brice knew that for at least the foreseeable future he would be staying on Nike. Command had made that clear. Part of Nike's mission was actually to shuttle him on various diplomatic missions around the galaxy. For the most part those missions would relate to the state of affairs with the Klingons. This was their last hope. He had quite a few connections on Qo'nos. He only hoped they would be able to help him when the time came that he needed them. 

Entering the main diplomatic office suite, he glanced around. 

Petty Officer Jane looked up from her post at a desk to greet anyone who may try to enter the offices. 

"Sir," she said, standing immediately to greet the Admiral. "Welcome aboard, sir. We heard you had arrived. Lieutenant Rell is already here and I've received word that Lt. Commander Gaviskar is onboard as well, but I have not met him yet, sir." She almost curtsied towards him, then blushed slightly. 

Walking over to her, he smiled gently. "Thank you," he checked her pips, "and you are?" 

"Oh," she blushed fully red this time. "Chief Petty Officer Jane, sir. I've been assigned to greet all people who enter your offices and not to let anyone in unless they have permission or clearance, sir." 

"Thank you, Jane," he said with a dashing smile. He'd noticed Hill off and exploring the rooms while he'd talked with his 'greeter.' In a matter of seconds the yeoman returned and nodded. He was always checking to make sure the space they entered was safe and prepared. 

"Do we know where Lieutenant Rell is?" He asked the room. Jane smiled and pointed. 

"Thank you," Brice replied and made his way to her office. 

Tag Gillian/Any Diplomatic staff

[Lieutenant Gillian Rell]

Gillian spent close to an hour working through the briefing overview of their mission, or at least the parts of it she was able to access with her current security clearance. She knew some of the basic facts of course, who didn’t. But there was more there than she could have imagined while she was in the Gamma Quadrant.

She heard the voices in the reception area and ran her fingers through her short red hair nervously. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t met the admiral before, but he just hadn’t been her boss before.

There were both advantages and disadvantages to having an Admiral as her mother after all. When she heard the conversation in the main reception area lull and an ensign pass her door with bugged out eyes, she realized that Admiral Kavanaugh was on his way.

She stood and walked around her desk only to meet the admiral coming through the door.

“Sir,” she said coming to attention. “Welcome aboard.”

Tag Brice

[Special Envoy Bryson Kavanaugh]

“Sir,” she said coming to attention. “Welcome aboard.”

"Ah," Brice stopped the moment he spotted her and she greeted him. "Thank you Lieutenant Rell. It's nice to be working with you here." 

He'd met her before and it was nearly impossible not to see the resemblance between her and her mother, whom he'd dealt with often over the years. 

"Shall we adjourn to the nearby conference room and discuss more why we are here and what all needs to be done before we launch?" Their mission was vital and it was important that they get to work immediately. "I also understand that another of our staff has arrived as well. I send him a message requesting he join us as soon as he is able." Brice gestured for Gillian to lead the way to a space they could use for a meeting. He'd much rather not discuss any of the things related to their assignment where others might be able to hear them. 

Brice knew that if things didn't go well when they visited Qo'nos, then the future of the Klingon-Federation agreements would be in total shambles. This was the Federation's last ditch effort to try and save things between them. Brice wasn't so sure he could convince the Klingons, but he had to try. 

Tag Gillian/Diplomatic Staff

[Lieutenant Gillian Rell]

"Ah," Brice stopped the moment he spotted her and she greeted him. "Thank you Lieutenant Rell. It's nice to be working with you here."

Gillian smiled and nodded. “Good to see you again too sir.

"Shall we adjourn to the nearby conference room and discuss more why we are here and what all needs to be done before we launch?" Their mission was vital and it was important that they get to work immediately. "I also understand that another of our staff has arrived as well. I send him a message requesting he join us as soon as he is able."

“Of course, right this way sir.” She brushed past the Admiral and led him down the hallway toward the door to their main conference room just off the reception area.

“There are several conference rooms along this side sir,” and then she pointed toward the large double doors on the other side. “That is the main reception hall for any diplomatic functions that need to be handled aboard Nike. Depending on configuration it can seat up to 500 in a classroom setting or 250 for a more formal dinner. It has a beautiful forward view and it’s own galley.”

She opened up the doors to the conference room with its round table designed so no individual appeared to be in charge of any meeting held there.

“Is the family settling in,” She asked. They’d met more than once at functions her mother had to attend and so she knew his wife and had heard much of their children from Kathleen. They’d even spent some time comparing notes on their small children.

Tag Brice/any

[Special Envoy Bryson Kavanaugh]

He followed her as she gave him the tour of the space. She'd clearly had time to acquaint herself with things before his arrival. 

“Is the family settling in,"

"You could say that," he said, gesturing for her to take a seat before he did the same. "Alex is more excited than anything. She's studying for her entrance into the Academy. Sean is doing well, but little Sammie is going to cause us problems I think. She nearly opened the space lock in the shuttle bay when we arrived. I swear, you take your eyes off the girl for ONE second, and she gets into trouble," Brice was still grinning and there was a twinkle of amusement in his eye. He loved his little girl just as much as he could. Thankfully Kathleen kept a close watch on her and when she wasn't around they had extra help to make sure Sammie didn't get into trouble. 

"How have you been?" He hadn't spoken with her in sometime and knew this was a new posting for her. "Did you request this new assignment yourself? I know you weren't in diplomacy on your last assignment." Brice knew he could have read her file, he had clearances almost as high as they could go, but he much preferred having a conversation than reading a file. 

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[Captain Xian Chen]

**All Hands Whistle Sounds**
//“’By order of Admiral Lara Rell, flag officer of the United Federation of Planet’s Eighth Fleet: Command of the United Federation of Planet’s galaxy-class starship, USS Nike (NCC 71268) is hereby transferred to Captain Xian Alexis Chen as of stardate 85498.12.’

“I hereby assume command of this starship and accept all duties and responsibilities herein.

“I won’t waste time with long speeches. We are about to embark on a potentially dangerous mission. Let’s prepare for departure. We leave for Quo’nos in an hour.

“Chen out.”//

[Special Envoy Bryson Kavanaugh]

He waited for her to reply, but they were interrupted by the new Captain's announcement. 

"I take it she's arrived then," he smiled, recalling his own time as captain. He missed those days sometimes. 

"It won't be long then before we arrive at Qo'nos. We'd best get our game plan in action," Brice stated, going over and picking up one of the available PADDs he drew up the information they would need. 

"It's not going to be easy, that's for sure. What are your thoughts on the situation Gillian?" He needed to be as prepared as possible. The Klingons were hard enough to deal with on a good day, let along when all hell was about ready to break loss. He hoped he could stave off what he knew was imminent, but the chances were not looking good. They hadn't had a full out war among the Alpha quadrant species in countless years. They'd found other enemies, but the ones in their own proverbial backyard? Brice hoped it didn't come to that, but he'd made preparations just in case it did. 

Tapping a few keys on the PADD, he sent a private message to the Captain and XO with important key words that would indicate he was sending them a message as to good or bad things during the talks. They needed to be prepared and he couldn't risk letting the Klingons know just how ready they were to go to war if it came to that.

Tag Gillian/Any

[Lieutenant Gillian Rell]

Once they got past the pleasantries she knew she and Admiral Kavanaugh would work together well. She’d known him or rather of him for many years and her mother only had the best things to say.

Of course his and Kathleen’s love story was the stuff of holonovels. She was fairly certain she didn’t know the whole story but even what she _did_ know was too good to be believed.

Any woman would wish for that kind of romance and thought she knew she wouldn’t have that with Stetson, she’d thought it would at least last a little longer than it had.

"How have you been?" He hadn't spoken with her in sometime and knew this was a new posting for her. "Did you request this new assignment yourself? I know you weren't in diplomacy on your last assignment."

Her eyes rolled to the side and a secret smile lit her lips. “Lets just say I was in the right place at the right time and volunteered.” That was _almost_ what had happened, close enough anyway.

“I’ve always wanted to go into diplomacy,” she nodded. “I enjoyed it at the Academy, but the best assignment for me at the time was in Linguistics and at the head of the line even, in the Gamma Quadrant.” Her eyes got bright and she thought about that voyage. Because though she felt like a failure in the end, at least in her personal life, that voyage had been glorious.

“I was part of the first contact team with the Federations newest member. It was quite the experience.” She didn’t need to add the other accomplishments that included the planetary ruler giving her a disk of languages that had proved key to their contacts in that quadrant. That was all in her records.

The Captain’s announcement came over the comm and both of them turned to view the transmission.

"It won't be long then before we arrive at Qo'nos. We'd best get our game plan in action,"

“Aye sir,” she responded as he picked up a PaDD. She did the same and brought up her own initial notes.

“So what is our main objective?”

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[Special Envoy Bryson Kavanaugh]

“So what is our main objective?”

He looked up and sighed a bit.

"Peace." It was simple but true. "The word is that the Klingons are ready to completely abandon the Kkitomer Accords and basically declare all out war with the Federation." Brice leaned forward and added. "Things aren't looking good. This is a last ditch effort to try and salvage the peace here in the Alpha Quadrant. I happen to have some good relationships with various members of power. I've been in contact with a few who are hoping to help keep the peace, but even they fear that war is imminent. We have to try however."

He knew the task before them was not going to be an easy one. Truthfully, he had no idea how they could succeed at keeping the peace from what his contacts had shared with him. 

"I can assure you, this is not going to be easy. It is our job to convince the Klingons why keeping the peace would benefit all of us. So I need as much information as we can give them to that accord. What will this do for them? What could we change if necessary to meet their expectations if it maintained the overall peace. I have the permission to renegotiate with them, but we're limited in what we can do without harming the other alliances we've forged."

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