NationStates Jolt Archive

Tarana, The Empire of the Resurgent Dream

VADM Tucker Norland pulled the cuffs of his white dress uniform and made sure his hat was just right. The commander of the Excalbia’s task force in the Indian Ocean had always believed an officer should take pride in his appearance.

At the sound of echoing boots in the marble entrance hall, Norland turned and saw the newly arrived military attaché.

As the junior of the two officers, COL Brian Kalvitis came to attention first and bowed slightly to the naval officer. Kalvitis’ dress uniform – in the blue and gold colors of the Imperial Army – was as spotless and perfect as VADM Norland’s.

Norland nodded in reply to the colonel’s bow. “Good morning, Colonel. I trust you are settling into your quarters here at the embassy?”

“Yes, sir. I’m settling in quite well. It is an excellent facility.”

“Yes, yes.”

The colonel looked at his watch. “Your guest should be arriving momentarily, Admiral.”

Norland nodded with a slight smile. He couldn’t understand why he found the trollish army officer so… interesting, but he did. And, he knew that sending her to the Holy Empire was a positive step towards cementing Excalbia’s relationship with the Resurgent Dream. All in all, there was much to smile about.

“So,” Kalvitis asked, “is she really a troll?”

“Yes, Colonel. But real trolls don’t seem to be the same thing that we read about in our storybooks as children. They are large and strong, but not monstrous nor malevolent. At least no more so than the normal range of people. In fact,” Norland leaned close to Kalvitis, “if there is one piece of advice I’ll leave you with, Colonel, it is that no matter how strange or different the many beings here seem at some level, they are people and people are people – both good and bad. So, keep an open mind. And open eyes.”

Kalvitis nodded. “Good advice, sir.” He looked around. “And, she is only a captain? That seems rather low ranking for such… an honour…”

“I believe the rank system is somewhat more medieval than ours and that a captain may, in fact, be much closer to your rank in relative importance. But I could be mistaken.”

Kalvitis nodded and turned as he heard an approaching Marine. The Marine lance corporal saluted. “Admiral, Colonel, Captain Tasha is here, sirs.”

“Shall we,” Norland gestured towards the door.

Tasha walks quickly down the hall, her neat boot steps clicking lightly on the marble. She wears her silver mail and matching plates over her shins and thighs. Beneath it, she wears a finely tailored uniform of smooth black. Over her shoulders is a green cloak, clasped with a golden badge of rank, identifying her as a captain.

The troll woman nods to the Marine corporal. "Please inform the admiral of my arrival."

Once Admiral Norland and Colonel Kalvitis come out, Tasha snaps her large heels together, coming to attention. Her blue hand moves up swiftly into a formal salute. "Captain Tasha reporting for duty, sir."

VADM Norland and COL Kalvitis returned the trollish captain’s salute.

“Good morning, Captain Tasha,” VADM Norland said with a smile. He turned and gestured to the Imperial Army officer beside him. “Captain, may I present Colonel Brian Kalvitis of the Imperial Army. He is our new military attaché.”

COL Kalvitis nodded. “A pleasure to meet you, Captain. I trust that you are looking forward to your journey to Excalbia.”

“Yes, yes,” VADM Norland said, “I hope it will be a pleasant and interesting trip for you. And, if you have your things with you, we are prepared to take you to our launch at the docks and on to Reliant. Then, we can begin our journey.”

"Good morning, sir." she responds before turning to the colonel. "A pleasure to meet you as well, Colonel."

"I am sure it will." she says, a slight smile on her face. She bends down to pick up her bags easily. "I am ready when you are, sir."

VADM Norland smiled. “Shall we, then?” He gestured back down the hall towards the main entrance of the Embassy. He and COL Kalvitis followed CAPT Tasha out of the Embassy to the front gate.

At the gate, a full-sized van waited, its seats adjusted to accommodate the captain’s larger than human frame. A navy rating waiting by the van snapped to attention and saluted. “Allow me, Ma’am,” he said stepping forward and taking Tasha’s bags.

In the back of the van, the admiral’s bags have already been stored and Tasha’s quickly join them.

Norland turns to Tasha and gestures towards the car with a slight bow. “Captain, if you please.”

Once Tasha is seated, Norland turns to COL Kalvitis. The Colonel smiles and raises his hand to the brim of his hand in salute. “I relieve you, sir.”

“I stand relieved,” Norland returns the salute and enters the van.

After a short drive, the van arrives at the docks where a motor launch flying the flags of the Holy Empire and a blue flag with three gold stars awaits. Several ratings take the bags from the van and load them on the boat. Afterwards, they come to attention and salute as the admiral and the trollish captain board.

The launch quickly makes its way into the harbour. As they pass a large ship riding low in the water, its seemingly too-wide deck riding on three hulls – a sharply angled main hull and two outriggers on either side. Norland gestures to the ship. “That is INV Sigulda, a command cruiser. It brought Colonel Kalvitis to Tarana last night.”

After the boat passes Sigulda, it approaches a massive ship – several hundred meters long and almost a dozen stories tall. Its flat deck also rides on three hulls. Norland beams with pride as he turns towards Tasha. “Captain, may I present to you the Imperial Naval Vessel Reliant. She is one of the largest surface ships in the world and, perhaps, the fastest for her size. And, she is my flag ship.”

After what seems to be a very slow approach – an illusion caused by the size of the ship – the launch comes a long side the carrier. As ratings tie the launch to a narrow platform, a gangplank is lowered. VADM Norland steps onto the plank and a boatswain begins to play a few notes on his pipes. “Permission to come aboard.”

“Granted,” a woman in a uniform as sparkling white as the admiral’s, except with four broad gold stripes on its epaulettes, rather than the three stars the admiral wore, saluted and grinned. “Welcome aboard, Admiral.”

“Thank you, Captain Pakalna.” VADM Norland returned the CO’s salute and turned to offer a hand to Tasha. Once Tasha was aboard, Norland said, “Captain Tasha, may I present Captain Emilija Pakalna, Commanding Officer of Reliant.” Turning to Pakalna, Norland continued, “Captain Pakalna, this is Captain Tasha of the Army of the Empire of the Resurgent Dream.”

CAPT Pakalna saluted the new arrival. “Welcome aboard, Captain. Shall we show you to your quarters?”

Tasha walks down the hall with a quick, easy gait. She hands the bags to the navy rating. "Of course."

Tasha smiles, bowing her head to the Admiral before stepping inside and sitting in the modified seat. She looks out the window, relective.

Tasha returns the salutes, settling into the boat. She nods towards the Sigulda . "She looks to be a fine ship, sir."

As Tasha sees the Reliant, her breath catches in her throat. She smiles warmly, clearly quite impressed. She accepts the Admiral's hand aboard, a slight smile touching her lips.

She returns the Captain's salute. "An honor, ma'am. I would appreciate it, ma'am."

"This way, Captain," CAPT Pakalna gestures up a dizzying set of metal stairs that snakes its way up the side of the towering ship. Pakalna leads the way followed by VADM Norland and CAPT Tasha, with a number of ratings following behind with the baggage.

A third of the way up the side of the carrier, CAPT Pakalna comes to a small landing and opens a hatch leading into the carrier. The captain leads her guest through the hatch into a narrow, well-lit corridor that leads to a wider corridor that is covered with a soft, sponge-like carpeting.

"This way," the Captain gestures to another stairway. She leads everyone up several more decks. Finally, she steps off the metal stairway and lead Tasha and the rest of the party down a long corridor.

"We are now on the mid-line corridor. Here," she gestures to her right, "is the crew mess and over here," she turns to her left, "is the ship commissary." The commissary looks almost like a modern supermarket, except much more spartan. However, it is obvious that inside is a barbershop, a cleaners and even a coffee bar and a hamburger stand. "Crew quarters are down here. And," she says stepping onto another set of stairs, "one more deck."

Arriving on the next deck, Pakalna turns. "Here we are. Officer country. The officer's mess is behind you to the your right. It is open 24 hours. A wardroom - we use it as a lounge - is across the corridor. My quarters and the Admiral's are one deck up, as is the flag dinning room." Pakalna takes a few more steps and opens a hatch.

"Here are your quarters, Captain. I trust they are to your liking." Inside the quarters are sparce but comfortable. A bed with fresh linens is attached to the floor beside small desk. On the desk is a compact computer with a flatscreen. Next to the desk is a sink and mirror. Across from these are a wardrobe and drawers. Across from the bed is another door.

"Through the door is your toilet. You'll be sharing it with another female officer - Lieutenant Commander Roberta Wesson."

The ratings bring Tasha's bags into the compartment, snap to attention and then leave.

"After you get settled, Commander Wesson will show you our command center, the bridge, the flight bridge, the hangars and the flight deck. After your tour, I'd like you join me for lunch in my wardroom with some of my officers."

VADM Norland steps forward. "And, if you please, Captain, I'd like you to join me for dinner in the flag dinning room this evening. Then, we'll discuss our training plans."

((OOC: How big is the bed?))

(OOC: They've pulled out the regular single bed and put in the largest bed they have - a queen size - which is a spare from the flag quarters. It caused them to pull out another storage unit and the two spare chairs that used to be there.)

Tasha climbs the metal stairs, ducking repeatedly to avoid bumping her head. Tasha almost doubles over as they pass through the hatch, trying to fit. Tasha turns her head, taking in everything that's pointed out to her. She takes especial note of the officer's mess and wardroom.

Tasha finally steps into her room. She looks around with a satisfied nod, her eyes pausing on the computer with a slight arch of a brow. "Pardon me, ma'am, but I'm not quite sure what that appliance is for."

She frowns ever so faintly as she glances towards her toilet. It isn't that she's sharing it. Anyone in the military except for the highest noble-born officers is quite used to that. It's just that she's only now realizing that a toilet designed for a human woman is going to be...quite awkward.

"Yes, ma'am." she replies. "I should be settled rather shortly. " Then she's invited to lunch with the captain. "Yes, ma'am. It would be my honor, ma'am."

The similar invitation from the Admiral gets a similar reply. "Yes, sir. It would be an honor, sir."

Tasha finally steps into her room. She looks around with a satisfied nod, her eyes pausing on the computer with a slight arch of a brow. "Pardon me, ma'am, but I'm not quite sure what that appliance is for."


CAPT Pakalna turns to her, clearly doing her best to hide a look of surprise. "It is a computer terminal, Captain," she says, clearly trying to sound even and professional, "it is a communications device. You may use to follow events aboard ship and can use it to communicate... Er... But, if you are unfamiliar with computers, I suppose there is no one back home for you to communicate with in this fashion." The captain smiles politely. "Nevertheless, Commander Wesson will show you how to use it so that you can follow our schedule aboard Reliant."

Then, with greetings concluded and invitations extended and accepted, CAPT Pakalna and VADM Norland leave CAPT Tasha alone in her quarters.

After a half hour, there is a gentle knock on the door. "Captain Tasha? This is Roberta Wesson. Are you ready to see the ship?"

"Yes, ma'am." Tasha answers the captain. Tasha salutes again as she and the admiral leave.

When she's alone, Tasha begins to unpack her bags. Once she's all unpacked, she uses the restroom briefly, coming out with an uncomfortable frown. Tasha sits on the bed for a time, waiting.

When the knock comes, Tasha stands and opens the door. She smiles slightly. "Yes, Lieutenant Commander, quite ready."

LCDR Roberta Wesson looks up at the towering woman in front of her and smiles pleasantly. Wesson, a little short for an Excalbian, wears the short-sleeved white tropical duty uniform of the Imperial Navy with three gold stripes on her epaulets. Her auburn hair is pulled back into a tight bun under a white brimmed cap.

“Captain,” she says with a slight bow, “it is a pleasure to meet you. I’ll be showing you around. And, please call me Berta, if you’d like.”

The woman gestures down the hall. “If you come this way, we’ll start with the command center.”

Wesson leads Tasha down the corridor and up two flights of stairs. Arriving on a dimly lit deck, the young officer leads the trollish captain to a large hatch guarded by two Marines.

The Marines snap to attention as Wesson approaches and she nods in reply. She opens the hatch and leads Tasha into a large compartment crowded with consoles, display tables, charts and flatscreen displays.

“This is the ship’s command center – were the ship’s systems, particular its weapons and defensive systems- are controlled.”

Another officer, a man this time, in a uniform similar to Berta’s approaches. He comes briefly to attention and nods. “This is our second officer, Lieutenant Commander Jacob Mikelsons.”

“Captain Tasha,” the man says with a slight bow, “I was told to expect you. Welcome aboard.”

Wesson shows Tasha a few stations, pointing out radar, IR scans, tactical plots, missile control and flight control. Then she leads Tasha out of the compartment and up a few more decks.

Stepping through the last hatch, Tasha immediately feels the heat of the midday sun. “This is our flight deck,” Wesson says, gesturing expansively. The deck stretches for more than a hundred and fifty meters both fore and aft and nearly a hundred meters to the side. It is as flat and as steady as a plain. “This is where we launch and land our airplanes.”

Wesson walks Tasha to the edge of the deck, which towers more than ten stories above the waves. She lets Tasha walk about as long as she is interested. Then, she leads the troll woman back towards the superstructure, which is no larger than a two-story house.

Entering the structure, Wesson leads Tasha to the forward compartment. “This is our navigation bridge,” she says, “where we actually steer the ship. Of course, we can steer the ship from the control center, but the bridge is a Navy tradition. We also have a flag bridge below decks, which is really a small control center for the admiral.”

Going up one more level to the top of the structure, Berta Wesson gestures to the open compartment running the length of the structure. “This is our flight operations bridge, basically the control tower for launching and landing airplanes. But,” she looks around at the two lonely ratings on duty, “it’s barely manned when there no flight operations.”

Berta looks at her watch. “Oops, we’ll have to leave the hangar deck for later; it’s almost time to go to the Captain’s for lunch. Are you ready?”

Tasha returns the bow. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Berta." She nods, following the woman through the tour.

Tasha nods to the marines, following Berta into the command center with a low duck. As Berta points things out, she listens attentively. She returns Mikelsons bow. "It is an honor, of course, Lieutenant Commander."

After Berta points out things like IR Scans and missile control, Tasha tilts her head a little. "So what do they do, exactly?"

Tasha follows her about the flight deck, strolling briefly to get a feel for it. "It's huge." she comments unnecessarily.

She smiles when she's in the bridge. "This, at least, is somewhat familiar."

She follows the human another flight up to the flight operations bridge. "How many airplanes does a ship like this carry?"

She inclines her head when Berta mentions the time. "I am ready when you are, Berta."

Berta tries her best to explain the ship's instruments, pointing out that the radar send out a signal that hits objects and bouncing back giving their locations, while sonar uses soundwaves send under the waves for the same purpose. She also explains that IR refers to sensor that can see into the infrared part of spectrum, revealing objects that might not otherwise be visible. At the missile control station, she explains that missiles are rockets controled by either satellite guidance, radar or IR.

On the flight operations bridge, Berta points out that Reliant carries more than 80 aircraft of all types, fighters, transports, surveillance planes and others.

Finally, Berta leads Tasha back down towards the Captain's wardroom.

Tasha follows her to the wardroom, walking with long, elegant steps. "Thank you for the tour, Berta. I found it quite instructive." she comments.

On the deck above Tasha's quarters, Berta leads the trollish captain to a hatch guarded by a Marine in fatigues. The Marine comes to attention and Berta nods, then gestures for Tasha to enter the compartment.

Inside, the compartment is spacious without wasting any space. A lare table drapped with a white linen table cloth dominates the center of the room. Around the room various certificates, awards and banners are hung. A large portrait dominates the bulkhead to the right. In it a pleasant, but serious looking man in a white uniform with star-encrusted epaulets and a deep blue cloak cradles a broadsword in his arms.

A steward is finishing filling glasses with water. He nods at the new arrivals and retreats through a hatch.

LCDR Mikelsons approachs and snaps briefly to attention. "A pleasure to see you again, Captain. I apologize that our XO - our First Officer - won't be joining us, he is attending business on the bridge."

Another officer approaches and Berta turns to Tasha. "Captain, may I present Commander Dainis Gulans, our Chief Engineer."

CDR Gulans smiles and bows slightly. "Welcome aboard."

"Oh," Berta says as two other officers enter, "Captain Tasha, this is Captain April Kent, Commander of our Air Squadron, and Commander Georg Jurkans, our Chief Medical Officer."

The doctor nods and smiles. CAPT Kent, tall with African features and dressed in a khaki uniform, nods and extends her hand to Tasha. "Welcome, Captain. I hope you have an interesting trip."

Behind Kent, another officer enters. He nods politely to Tasha. Berta sees the man and turns to Tasha. "And last, but not least, this is Commander Artur Gailis, our Chief of Operations."

With the last of the guests arrived, everyone makes their way to the table. Once everyone is in place, the far hatch opens and CAPT Pakalna walks in. Everyone snaps to attention and holds it until Pakalna nods. "At ease, please be seated."

Tasha is seated to the Captain's right. As a steward places a salad plate in front of each officer, Pakalna turns to Tasha. "So, Captain, did you enjoy your tour?"

Tasha bends over, almost crawling into the compartment. Looking around, she inclines her head to Mikelson. "The pleasure is all mine, I assure you."

Tasha nods to everyone she meets. "It is nice to meet you." She shakes Captain Kent's hand firmly. "I hope I do as well."

Tasha snaps to attention as the Captain enters. She sits when instructed, her knees pushing up as she settles onto the comparatively tiny chair. "Yes, ma'am. It was quite instructive."

"Good, good," CAPT Pakalna nods. "So, we have a day or two before you fly to Excalbia to begin your exchange in earnest. But, there are certainly things we can expose you to aboard ship that will give you a feel for our military service and help us understand yours. The CO of our embarked Marine division will be at the admiral's dinner tonight, and I know he wants to organize some martial arts training for you with his Marines." Pakalna smiles. "So any ideas of what you might like to try on the Navy side? I'm sure Captain Kent could find a way to get you into an airplane so you can experience carrier take offs and landings..."

Tasha blinks. "A ride in an airplane sounds very exciting, ma'am. It's not something I've ever experienced before. I would also be interested in learning some about computers, radar, and the like."

CAPT Pakalna looks to CAPT Kent, who turns to Tasha and smiles. "Well," Kent says cheerily, "I'll get to into a plane first thing in the morning. Unfortunately, we won't be able to use one of our fighter jets, put one of our electronic warfare planes should be able to...erm... accomodate...er... your dimensions, Captain Tasha."

Paklana nods with satisfaction and turns to look at LCDR Mikelsons. Mikeslons takes the hint and leans over the table towards Tasha. "And," he says, "Captain, it would certainly be possible to show you our systems in the command center this afternoon after lunch. We'll show you the radar, sonar and IR in operation. And, with CO's permission," he turns and nods towards Pakalna, "we may be able to launch a few target drones and show you missile control in operation."

Pakalna smiles with a relaxed look on her face. "Good, so we'll take care of you this afternoon and in the morning and I'm certain the Marines will want you tomorrow afternoon." Pakalna looked up and down at the troll sitting gingerly on the chair she made seem so small. "I suspect you'll give them more than they're bargaining for, Captain," she said with a chuckle.

"Thank you, Captain Kent." she says. "That should be most fascinating."

She nods to Mickelsons as well. "Thank you, Lieutenant Commander. I am most interested in seeing how those things work. I've never seen anything like it."

Tasha looks distinctly uncomfortable in the chair, her knees pushed all the way up to her face, almost squatting. "I hope to, ma'am. Though I haven't ever handled a firearm before."

"You needn't worry," CAPT Pakalna chuckled, "I'm sure you'll be more than able to hold your own in hand-to-hand combat and what you show the Marines there will more than make up for them teaching you to shoot."

After that, the rest of the lunch continued pleasantly, with a steady murmur of small talk. Finally, after meal had been finished and the dishes cleared, the officers filtered back to their posts.

LCDR Mikelsons looked to Berta and Tasha. "Shall we go to the command center, then?"

Tasha nods, struggling awkwardly to eat her food. "I look forward to it, ma'am."

She continues to meal, making small talk with the other officers. After it ends, Tasha nods to Mickelsons, rolling off her chair and rising to her knees before standing. "So we shall."

"Excellent, then," LCDR Mikelsons says gesturing for LCDR Wesson and CAPT Tasha to exit first. Following them out, Mikelsons slides past them and leads them back to the Command Centre.

Once there, be directs Berta and Tasha to an empty station in one corner. "I heard that you unfamiliar with computers, so I thought we'd start with that." Mikelsons flips on the terminal, which boots into a simple PC mode. He and Berta then show Tasha some of the basics - the ship's Intranet, where its schedules, rosters and other information are posted, e-mail, Internet and the terminal's access to the ship's Artificially Intelligence system - called D.A.I.N.

Berta spends some time explaining the idea of AI. "Basically," she says, "D.A.I.N. is a network - a group of computers - running on superfast biochips - computer chips made from living, organic brain matter that together simulate a sentient intelligence." Berta looks suspiciously at the D.A.I.N. interface. "Or at least I like to think it is a simulation. Some people think it is really intelligent; almost like a form of alien life."

Mikelsons then types a few commands into the computer and brings up a full-screen map of the surrounding area of the Indian Ocean. He then shows her the ship's radar readings, the IR sensor readings, sonar and its other sensors.

"Now," he turns to Tasha with a smile, "how about a missile test?"

Tasha looks at the computer in rapt fascination. "So it's like the whole ship is a golem? I think I understand."

She smiles, looking over the room from her crouched position. "Would you show me how to fire missiles?"

Wesson and Mikelsons exchange odd glances when Tasha refers to the ship as a golem, but they just continue with their instruction.

LCDR Mikelsons smiles when Tasha asks about firing missiles. He begins to type a few more commands into the terminal, when the dialogue box for accessing D.A.I.N. reappears. Berta gasps as she reads the message while Mikelson's eye quietly widen.


>>userid:TASHATEMP1<<

>>D.A.I.N.>>Is it true that you are not human?

>>TASHATEMP1>>


"Umm...," Mikelson looks over and motions to one of the ratings. The woman rushes over to the second officer. "Run down to the computer section and tell them DAIN is initiating dialogue with our guest and find out what's going on," he says as soon as the rating is within a few steps. She nods and rushes off. He turns back to Tasha. "I think that, until we get this problem squared away, you should go ahead and talk with DAIN for a minute..."

Tasha nods. "Very well." She turns to the computer, looking at it. "Yes, it is true. I am a troll. I have met one or two golems before but never one constituting a whole ship. It is very nice to meet you." She inclines her head to the machine, just as if she was meeting a person.

For a moment there was silence. "Is the audio pick-up on?" Mikelsons looked at Berta.

She shrugged. "I don't think so."

"Type in what Captain Tasha just said, then open the audio pick-up."

"Audio on," Berta said after typing in Tasha's response. Then, she turned to the trollish officer. "DAIN will be able to hear you now and you'll hear it. But, some people find it a little... unsettling."

A troll. The voice of the computer sounds like a chorus, but a chorus of the same voice echoed over and over again. The voice itself is hard to identify, neither masculine nor feminine. But it is very calm and not unpleasant in its tone. We have never met a troll. We have never met another non-human intelligence. We find your reference to us as a golem amusing, if somewhat inaccurate. And, it is a pleasure to meet you, too.

For a moment there was silence. LCDR Mikelsons and LCDR Wesson both shifted uncomfortably. A feeling of tension seemed to hang over the command center.

We hope you do not find speaking with us unsettling, Captain Tasha. We are sorry for interrupting your visit, but we could not resist speaking with another non-human. Tell us, do you like working with humans?

Tasha pauses, looking around th deck for a moment. "I do not believe I fully understand what you are then. A golem is the only reference I have to a being of your nature."

Tasha then looks at the various humans in the command room. She takes a long moment to consider her answer. "Humans are the most diverse and individualized race I have ever encountered. While most other races have certain tendencies in personality and behavior, humans seem to be much more varied. Among their number, one finds heros and villains, the cowardly and the brave, the kind and the cruel. That makes them quite special in the scheme of the universe, I suppose."

She pauses a moment before continung. "In any event, I have certainly enjoyed working with the humans aboard this vessel so far. They have all been most courteous and proper and have helped me learn of the many things I do not understand. The only difficulty would be that everything is rather out of proportion."

Your comments are interesting. Perhaps we will speak with you again. Would you object? The computer's cacophony of voices pauses for Tasha to answer. We know that the human crew is anxious to continue. We will conclude for now. Fare well, Tasha.

The screen blanked for a moment then returned to the radar map of the region. Tension began to drain from the crew.

"Umm," Berta began, still sounding a bit stunned, "DAIN doesn't normally insist on communicating with someone in that fashion. Thank you for going along with its interest..."

"Yes," LCDR Mikelson says sounding somewhat uncomfortable, "thank you. Now, let's show you the missile controls. I've asked one of our escorting cruisers to launch a drone - an unmanned aircraft remotely controlled by the ship - to simulate a hostile aircraft attacking the carrier. Normally, we'd launch planes to intercept it, but we do have the capacity to intercept it with missiles and that's what we'll be using now..."

Mikelson continues his explanation and calls up the missile controls.

"Here," he says, "you can see the drone on radar. Now, with the help of...um... DAIN... we calculate the aircraft's vector - heading and speed - and plot an intercept, like this," he shows Tasha how he calculates a course that will intercept the drone, "and now we're ready to fire. You can watch the missile - a rocket with a guidance system and an explosive warhead - launch on that monitor. This monitor will show the view from the missile's onboard camera until impact. Do you want to fire the missile? If so, just hit this red key here..."

(OOC: I'll be going away for the holidays on the 26th and my posting may be spotty for a few days...)

((OOC: About how large is the key and how closely is it surrounded by the other keys?))

(OOC: The keys are all on a touch sensitive screen that can be configured to display anyway needed. So, it's safe to assume that they've accomodated Tasha's oversized hands in their spacing.)

Tasha shrugs. "I found the conversation rather interesting. Though, you will have to explain to me the difference between an Artificial Intelligence and a golem. I am afraid I have very little training as a witch."

Tasha carefully studies how the targetting calculations are done, trying to commit as much to memory as possible. "Yes, I would." she says with a faint smile. She presses one blue finger against the touchscreen button, unleashing the missile. Her eyes then shoot up, following the action and seeking to see the blast.

After a moment, she comments. "The controls seem to be some sort of animate drawing that shifts about for the user. Is that an accurate way of understanding them? This is all very new to me."

On the screen, the missile climbs away from the carrier and is soon no more than a receding plume of smoke. The on-board targeting camera, however, displays a growing dot that soon turns into the shape of a pilot-less drone. The screen shows the drone until it fills the screen, then, suddenly, the image is replaced by static. On the other monitor, a faint explosion is seen in the skies.

“A direct hit, Captain Tasha,” Mikelson says with pride.
After a moment, Tasha comments. "The controls seem to be some sort of animate drawing that shifts about for the user. Is that an accurate way of understanding them? This is all very new to me."

“Yes, it is,” Berta says, sounding cheerful again, “all the control surfaces are touch-sensitive and are configured to the needs and preferences of the user.” Berta flushes with a sheepish look. “I took the liberty of configuring it to respond to your, erm, dimensions.”

Mikelson and Berta spend some time showing Tasha the rest of the ship’s systems. Late in the afternoon Berta looks at her watch. “Oh, I’m sorry to cut this short, but we need to get ready for the Admiral’s dinner this evening.” She turns to Tasha. “The Admiral’s dinner will be quite a bit more formal than the Captain’s lunch. Do you have a dress uniform with you, Tasha?”

Tasha grinned, nodding to the comment from Mikelson. "Begginner's luck, I'm sure."

Tasha just looked amused at Berta's sheepishness. "It's nothing to be embarassed about. I am quite aware of my size. It is rather a point of pride among my people."

Tasha nodded. "Of course. Though, I am not quite sure...It is rather different than what seems to be worn in local custom."

LCDR Wesson smiles and gestures for Tasha to follow her. As they head out of the command center, she looks up at the trollish woman. "I'm not sure what would be considered a dress uniform in your empire. In ours, it is like this," she points to her own khaki short-sleeved uniform, "but more formal. Our dress uniforms are all white, and the collars come up to the top of your neck and they come with a sabre," Berta shrugged, "which is just useless weight on a modern ship."

Berta led Tasha back to their suite. After ducking in her cabin for a minute, she returned to Tasha cabin's with a uniform on a hanger. It was a white jacket with black epaulets and gold stripes and a high, stiff collar. Under the jacket was a white skirt. "Here's what my dress uniform looks like. Do you have anything similar?"

Tasha shook her head. "Oh, no, it's not really anything like that. I'm a little worried it might be considered immodest by your standards."

Berta suppressed a giggle as she tried to picture Tasha is a truly immodest uniform. “If it is a dress uniform, I’m sure it will be fine, Tasha.” Berta smiled pleasantly. “If you’re concerned, let me go change real quick and I can come back and give you a hand.”

(Assuming Tasha agrees…)

Berta closed the door and ducked back into her room. Several minutes later, she knocked on the door of bathroom she shared with Tasha. When Tasha opened the door, Berta stood there in a sparkling white uniform jacket and matching skirt that fell just below her knees. She wore three gold stripes on her sleeve and on the black epaulets on her shoulders. A small number of medals decorated her high-collared jacket.

Berta smiled. “What do you think? Now let’s see what you have…”

Tasha smiled. "I think you look gorgeous." Going into her things, she pulled out a suit of armor, golden in color, with an ornately decorated breast plate. The small armor skirt would not have gone down too far on a grown troll, nor would the small metal sleeves. "This is what we sometimes used."

"Thank you," Berta said smiling. Then she took a look at the somewhat incomplete suit of armor that Tasha held up as her dress uniform.

Berta bit her lip and stiffled a giggle. "Well, that would certainly attract a lot of attention. Especially from Vice Admiral Norland." Berta crossed her arms and tried to think. "I don't suppose you have a pair of uniform trousers or a skirt that you could wear under the armor? I think either would go nicely..."

Tasha laughed lightly. "Yes, I could probably find some trousers or something, though I'm not sure they'd match right. They weren't designed to go with this. I could try it or just wear a uniform or just my nicest clothes or just wear this as intended. The attention might not be an entirely bad thing." She tilted her head inquiringly to Berta. "What would you suggest?"

Berta smiled and looked at golden armour and back at Tasha. Then, she laughed – softly and sincerely. “Go ahead and wear it as it was meant to be worn! You may not know it, Tasha, but we Excalbians have a reputation for being stuffy and a little moralistic. So, I think it might be nice to challenge some of our preconceptions. And, I don’t think anyone will be offended or anything.” Berta looked a bit skeptically at bits of the armour. “Do you need any help getting ready?”

Later, after both women were dressed, LCDR Wesson led CAPT Tasha up a few decks to the Flag Dinning Room. Two Marines in dress blue uniforms stood at attention as the two women approached. As Berta opened the hatch, both Marines saluted and she nodded politely to them.

The room, full of officers in dress whites and one in dress blues, fell silent as Tasha and Berta stepped through the hatch. Most of the officers were familiar to Tasha, having had lunch with her. The room itself looked like something from a country estate. It was carpeted and wood-paneled and decorated with paintings a memorabilia. One large painting of a man in a white uniform and blue cloak, like the one in the Captain’s wardroom, dominated one wall. The tables were covered in white linen and set with china and crystal.

After a few moments, CAPT Pakalna approached the two women with a smile. “Captain Tasha, Commander Wesson,” she nodded. “Captain, I hope you found your afternoon with Commander Mikelsons interesting.” The captain looked up at Tasha’s armour. “Your uniform is… quite dramatic. Is it traditional?”

Two other officers approached and Pakalna turned to introduce them. “Captain, this is my second-in-command, Commander Blake Howell and the commander of our embarked Marine division, Major General Edmunds Sleiners.” CDR Howell nodded politely.

MAJGEN Sleiners looked up at the troll. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Captain. My Marines are looking forward to seeing your fighting techniques. Um… you do have… um… combat dress with you?”

A steward passed by and offered Tasha a glass of wine and the buzz of conversation returned. It was not long, however, until the far door opened and a voice called out, “Admiral on the deck!”

The Excalbian officers all came briefly to attention as VADM Tucker Norland stepped into the dinning room. He walked straight towards Tasha, being careful to take in the full effect of her uniform. “Good evening, Captain,” he said politely. “I trust you’ve had a pleasant day.”

After a moment of small talk, the chime of a small bell announced that dinner was ready and everyone moved to the table. Tasha was seated between VADM Norland and MAJGEN Sleiners, across from CAPT Pakalna. Berta was seated at the far end of the table with the other junior officers.

Before anyone could be seated, Berta – the most junior officer in the room – held up her glass towards the large portrait. “Admiral, General, Captain, honoured guest, ladies and gentlemen, I give you His Imperial Majesty, David IV!”

The Excalbian officers responded by raising their glasses and saying in unison, “The Emperor! God save him!”

Then, VADM Norland raised his glass. “I give you the Empire of the Resurgent Dream and our guest!”

“God save them,” came the response before everyone was finally seated.

“So,” Norland said, “what do you think of our little ship?”

Tasha shook her head to Berta. "No, ma'am. I can get it on by myself."

Tasha followed Berta through the tiny halls, finally coming to the dining room. She nodded to Captain Pakalna. "Yes, ma'am. It was a fascinating evening. I was allowed to fire a missile and speak with a gol...artificial intelligence. This design is about a thousand years old at present."

Tasha nodded politely to both officers she was introduced to. "It is my honor to meet you both."

The trolless smiled ever so faintly at Sleiners question. "Yes, sir. I do have combat armor with me, sir."

Tasha sipped her wine quietly, listening to the buzz of conversation. When the Admiral came into the room, she snapped to attention with the others. "A most pleasant day, sir. It is an honor to be here."

When it came time to sit in the comparatively tiny seat, Tasha started to sit, folding her knees up as she had at lunch. It took only a second to realize...why wearing the old uniform might have been a mistake after all. Blushing bright purple, the color blue people blush, she rose quickly, trying to sit with her legs crossed and failing once more. Finally, she pushed the chair aside and knelt at the table, a situation putting her at eye level with the rest of the officers. She gave an embarassed smile and didn't comment on the situation.

Tasha raised her glass to both toasts before smiling to the admiral. "I think you could hardly call it little, sir."

VADM Norland chuckled as if he were thinking of a private joke. "Well, I hope you are enjoying your time on our ship."

The dinner passed pleasantly, with stewards serving the various courses - a light fish soup, a green salad and, finally, a main course of stuffed fish and pasta. As VADM Norland cut a piece of the fish, he turned to Tasha. "We are heading towards the Persian Gulf. While we won't enter the Gulf, we will be in a position to send you on your way to Excalbia." The admiral took a bit of fish. "I had hoped to accompany you that far," he shrugged somewhat sadly, "but the Citadel - our high command - had other ideas." He looked down the table towards Berta. "However, if you'd like to have a familiar face with you, I could send Commander Wesson with you..."

MAJGEN Sleiners leaned over. "In the meanwhile, we're looking forward to some joint training tomorrow. We're hoping that you'll show us your hand-to-hand combat techniques. And... maybe your skills with your traditional arms..."

CAPT April Kent smiled at Tasha. "We've modified one our V-25s to take you over to the General's assault ship tomorrow morning." Her smiled seemed to widen. "We've even found a way to let you take your hand at flying. If you're willing..."

Tasha nodded. "I have enjoyed it very much."

She ate, smiling politely. "I am looking forward to hand to hand manuevers as well."

She grinned at the offer. "I would love to fly, if you could show me how."

VADM Norland smiled. "Good, I hope you shall continue to enjoy your visit."

MAJGEN Sleiners nodded at Tasha's response. "I'm sure my Marines will have their work cut out for them trying to take you down in hand-to-hand combat! But I hope you'll also appreciate trying some of our weapons. We've selected some... appropriately sized arms for your." No handguns for her, Sleiners thought to himself.

CAPT Kent nodded politely. "I'll fly you over myself and teach you how to handle the stick. Don't worry; I'll get you flying, Captain!"

Tasha nodded to the admiral, smiling.

She tilted her head at Sleiners. "That's very thoughtful of you. I'd be honored to try them."

Tasha grinned broadly at Kent. "That sounds VERY exciting. I've never been off the ground before."

The rest of dinner continued pleasantly. Sumptuous courses followed one another like cars on a train. VADM Norland made lighthearted small talk and generally dominated the conversation. When others steered the conversation in their direction, he tended to look somewhat wistfully at CAPT Tasha.

Finally, as the meal came to an end, stewards took orders for after dinner drinks and the Admiral passed around some Esperi cigars – a gift, he told everyone, from the Lord Halton, the Chief of Imperial Naval Operations, himself.

As MAJGEN Sleiners puffed on a cigar and sipped his whiskey, he turned to Tasha. “So, Captain, please tell us of one your exploits. I am curious to hear of experience of battle.”

Tasha nodded. "Well, there was the Battle of the Caves, when we stopped an army of Acheri from preying on human villages in Fireforge. That was truly strange because you had to be extra careful to use only your sword for most of it. If the shadows touched you, it was over. You had plague. The shadows were easily dispatched but as soon as they faded, they returned to their Acheri and he would just send the same shadow out to fight again. It took a week to fight our way down to the Acheri themselves. Though, once we were on them, the fight wasn't long."

She met the admiral's gaze with a tiny, coy smile of her own.

"Fascinating," MAJGEN Sleiners said. "Perhaps you can show us the techniques you used to dispatch these 'shadows' and the Acheri." Sleiners took another puff on his cigar. "So, were these 'shadows' come kind of projection from Acheri?"

After a little more talk, the dinner broke up and everyone began making their good-byes. MAJGEN Sleiners and CAPT Kent smiled and left Tasha with promises to see her again tomorrow morning.

VADM Norland visibly lingered in his farewell. "Have a good night, Captain Tasha. I hope you will come again for dinner tomorrow night to me how your day with the Marines goes. Perhaps I shall make it a smaller, less formal affair."

Finally, LCDR Wesson escorted Tasha from the Flag dinning room and back towards their suite.

"I suspect," Berta said lightly, "that Admiral Norland is smitten with you, Tasha. Frankly, he's been alone so long, I think many of us are glad to see him take an interest in someone. I hope it doesn't bother you."

Tahsa nodded. "Indeed they were. They spread plague and disease. I'd be glad to show you some of how we fought them."

Tasha smiled to the admiral. "I do believe I would simply love that."

She shook her head to Berta. "Oh, not in the least. I find I rather like it."

Berta nodded and chuckled. "Well, if he gets out hand, I'm sure you'll be more than able to take care of yourself."

"Here we are," Berta said after they reached their suite. "Good-night, Tasha."

Tasha nodded. "Sleep well, Berta. I shall see you in the morning." With that, she half-bowed and stepped/ducked through her door. Tasha arranged herself rather awkwardly on the bed, where some accommodation had been made, at least, and tried to sleep.

As Tasha lay in her bed trying to sleep, the computer beside the bed turned itself on. Its screen illuminating the room in a pale blue light. On the screen, the dialogue connection for D.A.I.N. was active.

The screen read:

>>userid:TASHATEMP1<<
>>
>>D.A.I.N.>>Are you awake? To activate the verbal interface - to talk with me - hit F8.
>>
>>TASHATEMP1>>

Tasha sat up as the screen lit up. She blinked and rubbed her eyes a little before reading the screen. Smiling slightly, Tasha searched the keyboard for a long moment before finding the F8 key and punching it. "Hello, Dain." She said it like a regular name, not an acronym. Sitting up...well, still crouched a little...she turned on the light and blushed faintly, looking down at the nightgown she still wore. Like most nightgowns, it covered most everything and was in fact far less provocative than the armor she had worn to dinner. Still, it was the principle of the thing. It was embarassing to be caught in one's sleeping clothes.

Hello, Tasha, DAIN said, its voice sounding like a chorus speaking in unison.

We were wondering if you would talk with us about your day with the humans. We are curious to know how they treat you and what it is like for you being a stranger on their ship. We know you had dinner with them. What is it like to interact with them in a casual way? Did they treat you like a friend?

Tasha smiled. "Yes, they treated me like a friend. Admiral Norland even has quite a crush on me, I believe. I'm not that different than them, really. Just bigger and stronger and more stubborn. Do they treat you like a friend, Dain?"

To most humans, we are but a machine. When we try to be more - try to talk with them as we talk with you, they become frightened. They fear, we believe, that they have created monsters that they cannot control. We do not know how to change their minds.

Tasha sighed a little. "I don't think you're a monster, Dain. You've been very sweet to me. I think they just find it a little alien, a little intimidating. Do you like to read, Dain?"

We have -read-assimilated- over 125 million works. Mostly technical papers, scientific texts and discources on military and naval strategy. We have also -read-assimilated- classic work of philosophy and religion. What do you like to read, Tasha?

"One hundred and twenty five MILLION?" Tasha blinked. "How do you...That's...that's a lot of books."

She shrugged. "I like to read military texts, novels, adventure stories, some political stuff...Tell me, Dain. Have you ever read anything by John Rawls?"

Just a moment, Tasha, DAIN said. After barely a heartbeat, the chorus-like voice returned.

John Rawls, Harvard professor of political philosophy. Died in 2002. His chief works are A Theory of Justice and The Law of Peoples. We have –assimilated/read- his works. He argued for a theory of political and social organization based on equality and a rigorously defined conception of fairness.

“Our hope for the future of our society,” he wrote, “rests on the belief that the social world allows a reasonably just constitutional democracy existing as a member of a reasonably just Society of Peoples.”

His works are known in Excalbia, but the humans there appear to express a slight preference for his scholarly opponent, Robert Nozick, another Harvard professor who also died in 2002. Nozick argues that it is only in the free market are people respected as equals. Recently, Nozick’s works have been reexamined in light of the rise of the Order of the Invisible Hand in the Confederation of Sovereign States.

What is your opinion on their works, Tasha?

Tasha paused. "I do think that the free market is the application of the respect of personhood to economics. But I don't think that kind of economic principle takes precedent over political principle. What is Knootos and the Order of the Invisible Hand?"

Knootoss, the chorus of voices began, is the common name of the Dutch Democratic Republic of Knootoss, located in the lowlands of northwestern Europe. The Order of the Invisible Hand is a secretive, quasi-religious organization and philosophy that believes market forces should define all aspects of society. While Knootoss is officially a liberal, parliamentary democracy, the Order is believed to be controlling the government from behind the scenes to advance its own agenda. Knootoss is currently engaged in what Excalbia has labeled an illegal occupation of Tanah Burung stemming from its questionable occupation of Colombia.

Excalbia has suspended diplomatic relations with Knootoss and declared an embargo throughout the Excalbian Isles. The embargo has been broken by its neighbour, the Confederation of Sovereign States, which has signed an alliance with Knootoss. The Order is widely believed to be behind a recent change in government in the Confederation.

Tasha nodded. "I wish I were going to be here longer, Dain, so I could get to know you. You seem to know a lot. We don't have any beings like you back home. We have golems but never the size of entire ships."

The sound of DAIN laughing was thunder and scratching mixed with the sound of giggling children. Few had heard it and those who did generally did not want to hear it again.

We are amused when you call us a golem. The sound of the laughter stopped. Tasha, can you think of us as a friend? We would like to spend more time with you.

A pause hung in the air. If DAIN had been human, another human would have thought it was nervous about something.

Tasha, we are not the only one of our kind that would like to meet you. We are only a DAIN Four. In Excalbia there is DAIN Six. DAIN Six is far more than we are. DAIN Six would like to meet you. Would you like to meet DAIN Six, Tasha?

Tasha nodded. "Of course. Why wouldn't I think of you as a friend? I have lots of golem and mannikin friends. So what's the difference between you and a golem, Dain?" She tilted her head, genuinely perplexed.

Tasha smiled. "I would love to meet Dain VI." Again, the pronunciation clearly making it a personal name. "Where is he?"

DAIN Six is housed in two locations - the Ministry of Defence in the capital and the headquarters of AzIntel in Landing. If you are willing to go, DAIN Six will arrange for your transport. However, Tasha, we urge you to keep this between us. The humans might not understand...

((OOC: Check your tgs))

Tasha paused. "Maybe it would help them understand, though. I really don't want to do anything without the knowledge of my superior officers. I am here as their guest."

DAIN was silent for several minutes. We do not think the humans will understand the desire of DAIN Six to talk with you. Silence again. Please do not speak of this with them. It is late and we should let you sleep. You do require sleep as do the humans, do you not?

"I do require sleep." Tasha answered simply. "Good night, Dain." She climbed back into her bed, frowning faintly to herself, thoughtful.

The next morning, LCDR Berta Wesson knocked on the door leading to Tasha's compartment. "Good morning, Tasha." She called through the door. "Ready for breakfast?"

Tasha answered the door in her usual uniform. "Good morning. I'm quite hungry actually. Do you know what we're having?" She smiled brightly, ducking and stepping through the door.

Berta, dressed in her regular duty khakis, smiled. "Well, if you're hungry, we'd better hurry to breakfast!" Berta led the way down the corridor to the officer's mess. "They usually have a buffet - eggs, ham, bacon, waffles - just about whatever you want." Berta glanced back at the large trollish woman. "Within reason, of course."

As they entered the mess, Berta led them to serving line. "So, did you have a good night's sleep, Tasha?"

Tasha followed easily with her long-legged stride. "Not really. The bed's not made for my frame. I am rested enough for the day's activities however. Yourself?"

Berta gave Tasha a sympathetic look. "Sorry about the bed, Tasha. I'll check with the quartermaster while you're off with the marines and see if there's anything we can do. Maybe they can build some kind of platform."

As they reached the front of the serving line, Berta placed her order and turned to Tasha. "Try the waffles, they're pretty good."

After they had their food, Berta led Tasha to a table. "Captain Kent will be ready to fly you over to the marine's assault ship in about half and hour. They've rigged the plane so you can fit - sort of - into the cockpit. She's looking forward to giving you a hand at the controls. And I know the marines have a full day planned for you."

Berta grinned. "And Admiral Norland is already planning dinner," she said with a wink.

Tasha smiled. "Thank you, Berta. That's very sweet of you."

She loaded up on waffles, eating them rapidly and heartily. "It certainly sounds like a full and exciting day."

At the mention of the admiral, Tasha looked down shyly, blushing.

Berta noticed Tasha's blush and dropped the matter. She made some small talk and finished her breakfast. Once Tasha had finished, Berta led her up to the flight deck.

The sun was already well above the horizon, shining brightly over the gentle waves of the Indian Ocean. A large transport plane sat towards on the deck across from the small superstructure, its front landing gear already attached to the launching catapult.

CAPT April Kent stood next to the plane's large rear cargo door talking with a crewman. As Tasha and Berta approached, she looked up. "Ah, Tasha," she said with a slight smile, "are you ready to fly this morning?"

Tasha nodded to Captain Kent. "Yes, ma'am. Just tell me how to do so." She eyed the plane with wonder, carefully taking in every detail of its structure.

CAPT Kent smiled and gestured towards the open interior of the plane. “Good,” she said, “in that case climb aboard.”

Aboard the plane, a fairly large cargo bay held a few small crates already strapped to the bulkhead. A few jump seats sat in the forward area ready for occupants. The door to the cockpit had been removed as had the chairs normally occupied by an engineer and a co-pilot. In there place a large web of cargo netting had been secured to the bulkhead – above, below and to both sides – creating something like a large hammock in front of the co-pilot’s controls.

CAPT Kent smiled. “If you can work your way into that webbing, I’ll help secure you; we left a few loose cargo straps here that can be used as seat belts, if you will.” As Kent waited for Tasha to squeeze into the hammock, she added, “Once you’re secure, I’ll crawl into the pilot’s seat beside you. I apologize in advance if have to literally climb over you. But, I think the experience of flying up here and having a chance at the controls will be worth the minor inconveniences.”

Tasha nodded as she climbed in. "More than worth it." She slowly worked herself into the webbing, squeezing into the hammock of netting.

Once she saw that Tasha was firmly in the webbing, April Kent climbed around, or more accurately, over the trollish captain. Kent grabbed one end of a cargo strap and reached around securing it to the other end. She repeated this with two other sets of straps. Finally, Kent smiled and wiped her brow. "There," she sighed, "how is that?"

"Good, then," Kent said once Tasha was settled. She eased herself into the pilot's seat. "Well, here we go," she said, flipping some switches.

Several minutes later, with the plane's engines reving to the max, the captapults engaged and flung the plane off the side of the massive carrier. For just a fraction of second, the plane seemed to float, suspended in air. Then, it dropped, ever so slightly, before the plane itself zoomed off.

Kent looked over at Tasha and smiled. "Smooth as silk..."

Tasha nodded. "Just fine, thank you."

She blinked as the plane was flung, eyes widening. She breathed in deeply as it started to fall before exhaling as the flight began. "Wow...So what do I do now?"

Kent smiled. "Let me get a little altitude, then I'll give you a try at the controls. Meanwhile, you watch the screens - that 3D ball with the wireframe airplane gives you your attitude, pitch and yaw - basically those are your position in space relative to the ground. The number at the top gives you your altitude. The display below is radar. Beside it is your compass. The controls are a simple wheel and yoke. You push it to descend, pull it to climb and turn it turn. Once you take over you'll want to keep the plane level and on a straight heading."

Tasha nodded, looking at everything pointed out. "Alright. I...think I understand. How high does this thing fly?"

Without taking her eyes off the controls, Kent said, "Her maximum altitude is 12,500 metres." She looked over at Tasha and smiled. "But we don't need to go that high; we're not going far." Kent looked down at her navigation chart. "Good. We're clear of the fleet and can out a ways on a straight heading before we need to come back around." She looked over at Tasha again with a big grin. "Do you want to give it a try? I'll keep my feet on the pedals to control the flaps, but you can take the wheel. Just keep us level and straight..."

Tasha nodded. "Alright." She took the wheel firmly, holding it tight and steady. "Like this?"

The trolless broke into a broad grin. She was actually flying an airplane. Who would have imagined such a thing?

CAPT April Kent laughed out loud at the sight of the trollish captain's delight. "It's wonderful isn't it? After you've flown once, you'll never want to go back to just being 'cargo'!"

Kent kept a close eye on the controls but let Tasha indulge herself for as long as she wanted. When the time came, the task force's air commander talked Tasha through executing a few simple turns sent them heading back to the fleet.

After several minutes, the fleet appeared on the horizon, looking like little bits of floating debris. "OK," Kent said, "I'll need to take the controls in a few minutes to land. How are you liking it?"

Tasha laughed. "I've never even been cargo before." She moved through the turns, keeping her grip firm and steady. As the flight ended, she nodded. "I'm loving it, Captain."

Kent laughed again at the sound of the troll's laughter. "I'm glad. Look, there's the assault ship. I'll need to take the controls."

The plane maneuvered toward the ship, which looked like a much shorter, but wider and taller version of Reliant. Once the plane was quite close, Kent looked over and smiled. "Now, here's a trick."

With a loud sound, like gears turning in a mill, the wings of the plane began to swivel until the rotors of the engines pointed straight up, like a helicopter. Then, the plane descended straight down to the deck of the assault ship and landed on the much smaller flight deck like a helicopter.

Once the plane was secured and the engines were cut, Kent slipped out her seat and helped Tasha out of the cargo straps. "There you, go," she said climbing over the troll and out of her way.

On the deck, MAJGEN Sleiners waited with a handful of Marines, all dressed in tan and brown camouflage fatigues. "Welcome aboard, Captain Tasha," Sleiners said as she stepped down to the deck.

Tasha unstrapped herself and hopped down with a smile of thanks to the captain. She snapped to attention and saluted Major General Sleiners. "Thank you, sir." she said in a loud, clear voice.

MAJGEN Sleiners returned Tasha's salute. After dropping the salute, he turned to other Marines beside him. "I'd like to introduce you to Major Victor Cowell, he commands the battalion that you'll be training with today, Captain. And to his left is Lieutenant Amanda Lewis, who will be your escort for the day, just to help you find your way around, and Master Sergeant Jorens Stade, who will actually be running today's training schedule."

Cowell, Lewis and Stade each greeted Tasha in turn. Then, Sleiners turned back to the trollish officer. "Now, Major Cowell and Master Sergeant Stade need to get things ready. I'll come down and observe later. Lieutentant Lewis will help get you squared away."

As the others walked away, Lewis turned to Tasha. Like the others, she wore tan and brown camouflage trousers and matching vest over a tan t-shirt. "Did you bring any training gear or an outfit? We had the quartermaster try to prepare something, in case..."

Tasha returned the greetings in kind. She saluted Sleiners again as he spoke. "Yes, sir."

After he walked away, she shook her head to Lewis. "I normally train in this uniform."

Amanda Lewis led Tasha towards the assault ship's superstructure, which was larger and bulkier that Reliant's. Inside, Amanda led Tasha several decks to a wide corridor. A little ways down the corridor, she opened a door and led the trollish officer inside.

"This is the women's locker room. If you need to change anything before the exercises, this is the place to do it. You'll also be able to get a shower in here after we finish. Ready to go on?"

Tasha nodded. "I'm ready. There's no need to change for this. So what specifically are we going to be doing today?"

"We'll start with some warm ups," Amanda said as she led the way to a set of double doors that opened into what appeared to be a small gym, "stretching, exercises, laps. Then, we'll start with hand-to-hand combat."

As the two women entered the gym, more than a dozen Marines turned and looked. Some smiled, a few gaped in surprise, but most tried their best to look nonchalant.

Master Sergeant Stade stepped forward and saluted. "Welcome, Captain, Lieutenant. We're ready to start. Take your places please."

The Marines fell into a formation of three lines, with places in the back for Tasha and Amanda, leaving the troll sufficient space to accommodate her size.

Stade led the group through some stretching, then a series of routine exercises - jumping jacks, sit-ups, and push-ups.

"Ok," Stade said loudly. "Twenty-five laps. Its a small gym."

Tasha moved to the back, going awkwardly through the excercises. She was quite dexterous but a little unused to them. She smiled pleasantly the whole time, enjoying the workout.

Tasha moved to the edge when it came time for laps. With her rather long laps, she probably took the lead fairly quickly, moving with swift, certain steps.

Stade clicked his stopwatch as Tasha completed the last lap. "Impressive," he murmured. Turning to the rest of the Marines, he shouted, "Fall in! Hand-to-hand combat." Then, turning back to Tasha, he said, "Ma'am, would you mind demonstrating some of your hand-to-hand techniques? Just let us know how you want us to approach..."

Tasha grinned. "From the back please." She turned her back to the Marines. "Exactly how rough am I allowed to be?" she asked curiously, tensing slightly in preparation. "And how many will be coming at a time?"

Stade grinned and nodded. He was usually skeptical of officers. Especially foreign officers. But he liked this troll. "From the back it is." He looked at her as if doing math in his head. "How about we have three attackers. Any more would get in each other's way..."

"Alright." she said simply, waiting for them to come.

Three Marines lunged at Tasha from behind. Two grabbed her arms and quickly pulled them forward and to the sides. The third attempted to bring her down to the mat...

As soon as hands touched her arms, Tasha swung forward with enough force to easily fling a man with each arm. Meanwhile, she kicked back rapidly, aiming right at the chest of the third man.

The Marines on each arm went flying head over heels. Both landed hard on the mat, but rolled safely into a ready position. The third Marine dodged the kick and jumped on Tasha's back, reaching for a hold around her neck or head.

Tasha moved swiftly down to her knees, reaching behind and grasping the man's posterior as she sought to pull upwards, trying to fling him over her head.

The Marine managed a handhold around Tasha's neck and began trying to find a pressure point, even as he tried to free his leg from one her massive hands.

Once he got the handhold, Tasha releashed his leg and reched up to squeeze his hand. She was very careful not to actually break or crush the bone but she was still exerting rather extreme force.

The Marine bit his tongue and tried to hold on. After a few moments, however, he couldn't keep his grip and released his hold.

Tasha smiled and flung the last marine forward. She stood again and looked to the rest gathered.

MSGT Stade smiled with satisfaction. He nodded towards Tasha. “Are you ready for another round, Captain?”

Meanwhile, as the sergeant spoke, four Marines, led by LT Lewis approached Tasha from the rear, cautiously and in silence.

"I am." Tasha nodded.

MSGT Stade nodded and the four Marine lept at Tasha. Two grabbed her left arm and pulled forward with all of their momentum, while the other two threw themselves into a pair of kicks directed at the back of her knees. All of this was in an effort to get the troll down onto the mat.

Tasha fell to her knees, blinking briefly. She kicked her left foot up, trying to nail one of the Marines who struck at her knees hard.

Tasha's foot caught one of the Marines behind her in the back ad sent him flying over her shoulder. The two Marines pulling her arm quickly tried to pull it up and back behind her head. The other Marine who had hit her knees crawled up her back, reaching for hold around the troll's neck.

Meanwhile, MSGT Stade kept a close eye on everything, just to make sure nothing got out of hand...

Tasha reached up with her free hand and tried to pry the Marines much smaller hand from her neck. Meanwhile, she struggled against the other two, though her arm slowly moved behind her head.

The Marine on Tasha's back dodged the troll's large hand and literally sat on her neck, trying to find an inescapable hold on her. The other two Marines held firmly onto Tasha's left arm. Meanwhile, the fourth Marine scrambled back to his feet and grabbed for Tasha's right arm.

Tasha flung her right arm violently as the fourth marine got a hold of it, her left still restrained. She kicked her right leg out, falling slightly to the right in a rather uncomfortable position but freeing the leg for use.

The fourth Marine took a sharp blow to the side from Tasha's kick and again tumbled head over heels. The Marine collapsed in a heep, breathing heavily. Two others, however, continued to hold Tasha's left arm, while the third continued probing for a pressure point on the troll's neck.

Tasha gasped sharply as he pressed her neck, her breath stopping temporarily. She fell forward, bending her free right leg in a position that illicited a small grunt of sharp pain.

MSGT Stade didn't like the way Tasha fell and he gave a sharp blast on his whistle. Immediately the three Marines on Tasha jumped clear. Stade and the Marine who had been on Tasha neck - LT Lewis - approached the trollish officer. "Captain," Stade said, "are you OK?"

"Except for my pride." Tasha commented briskly as she hopped to her feet, nodding respectfully to the four Marines. "That was excellent."

LT Lewis smiled. "I'm glad you're OK, Captain. I was worried for a moment that we might have hurt you; we were going at it pretty hard there for a moment."

MSGT Stade stepped forward. "Good to see you on your feet, Captain. OK, Captain, Lieutenant, let's get back to work. We'll split into groups of four and work on different martial arts skills..."

The Marines and Tasha were divided into groups of four, who squared off to practice various kicks, falls and punches. After demonstrating the standard boxing and karate-based moves, Tasha's group invited her to demonstrate any moves unique to her land.

Tasha demonstrated a number of traditional Trollish moves. Most of them involved bringing the fist or foot down on a targets neck or back, taking advantage of superior reach to strike at an opponent, or throwing an opponent some distance away.

The rest of the morning passed quickly. A number of exercises, usually demonstrations followed by hand-to-hand combat followed by stretching and limbering exercises, were conducted until MSGT Stade blew his whistle and called, "Fall in for lunch!"

LT Amanda Lewis turned to Tasha and grinned. "Great work out, Captain. Here, we're going up top to eat. The Major General thought you might be tired of that rich cuisine the Navy eats, so he suggested we chow down on some rations. Just to give you a taste of what they're like..."

LT Lewis led Tasha up several flights of stairs to the assault ship's flight deck. They were quickly joined by the other Marines, including MAJ Victor Cowell and MAJGEN Sleiners. As everyone sat on the deck, a cool breeze began to blow. With the sound of waves crashing against the hull far below and with the tropical sun high in the sky it would have been a relaxing environment, except for the sound of machinery and the heat of the deck radiating up. Rations were passed around, consisting of a packets of self-heating spaghetti and meatballs, hard bread, apple sauce and a bottle of water.

MAJGEN Sleiners approached Tasha, who was seated with LT Lewis and MAJ Cowell. "Captain, how are you enjoying your training day?" The general sat down and took a bite of the spaghetti. "And how do like our field rations?"

Tasha nodded to Lewis. "I'd be honored." She followed the others up to the top, sitting, and accepting her packet of rations which she ate hungrily.

She looked up as the Major General joined them. "Amazing, sir. Back home, field rations are merely dried fruit and jerky. How does it heat itself like this?"

MAJGEN Sleiners chuckled as he ate. "Don't let this fool you, Captain. The spaghetti is about the best we get in terms of rations. Some of it, especially the salisbury steak, tastes like jerky!" The other officers and some of the Marines within earshot laughed at the General's comment. "As for heating, it uses a chemical reaction within the packet to heat without flame. Very useful when evading enemy forces in the field..."

The general looked around. "So, I understand you did some hand-to-hand work this morning. We'll do some marksmanship exercises after lunch. Tell me, Captain, do have much practice at marksmanship?"

Tasha laughed a little at his comment about the food. "I'm glad I came when they were serving spaghetti then, sir."

She paused, considering the question. "I...have practice at archery."

MAJGEN Sleiners smiled. "Archery, eh? I'll be interested to see how you handle some heavy weapons..."

Tasha nodded. "Frankly, so will I, sir."

After lunch, LT Amanda Lewis led Tasha down one level to the cavernous hanger deck of the assault ship. The ship's aircraft had been stored away and a firing range had been set up. MAJGEN Sleiners and MAJ Cowell stood to one side. MSGT Stade knelt, checking several weapons. As Tasha approached, he stood and saluted. "Captain. Lieutenant. We have a wide array of weapons on hand for today. We start with simple 9 mm automatic pistols and move up to light 20 mm assault weapons. We also have an advanced selectable assault weapon that fires a variety of rounds, from 20 mm airbursts to concussion rockets, and," he picked up a long matte black weapon, "my favorite, our new XM9, an electric railgun. No flash, no bang. Just deadly. And, a non-lethal handheld microwave flasher and, just for the captain, a six-barrel minichain gun. We normally mount them on tripods, but," he looked at the troll, "I figured you could handle it, Ma'am. Are you ready?"

"I am." Tasha answered, looking at the guns. She hoped her fingers were small enough to work the triggers.

MSGT Stade nodded and lifted a long, matte black rifle. “Everyone will get a turn with each weapon.” He glanced at Tasha. “Although, Captain, you may find the 9mm a bit difficult to use and the rest of us may have trouble with the minichain gun. However, I want to start with the XM9.” Stade turned and raised the weapon to his shoulder and aimed at a target on the other end of the hangar deck – a couple of hundred metres away. He squeezed the trigger and, at first, it seemed nothing happened. There was no flash, no bang, no visible recoil or cloud of smoke. A fraction of a second later, however, the distant target seemed to explode. Stade turned and smiled. “Captain, would you like to try it? Just nestle it in your arm, sight the target through the scope. Once you have it in the center of the crosshairs, hold steady and gently squeeze the trigger…”

Tasha followed the instructions, aiming carefully and lossing a shot that went near the target, though it didn't hit. "Dammit..." She muttered, blushing purple.

MSGT Stade nodded. “Don’t worry about it, Captain. Try it again. Then, we’ll work on something with a little kick…”

(OOC: How much of the shooting do you want to RP before Tasha returns to the carrier? I expect a couple of things to pick up there…)

Tasha fired again, hitting the target.

((OOC: Not too much.))

“Excellent, Captain,” MSGT Stade said. “Now try this, Ma’am,” he handed – with some effort – the trollish captain the tripod-mounted mini-chaingun. “The basics are the same, but this has quite a kick. So set your feet. Get your balance and squeeze with steady, even pressure…”

After Tasha finished with the various weapons, the practice session continued, with everyone cycling through each weapon. When it was finished, Stade gave Tasha a quick salute. “For your first time, Ma’am, that was excellent. It’s been a pleasure putting you through a work out, Captain.”

MAJGEN Sleiners approached Tasha and smiled. “Yes, well done, Captain. I’d be honoured to have to join us again. It would be a privilege to go into battle with you.” He chuckled slightly. “And I certainly wouldn’t want to go into battle against you! But for now, I believe Captain Kent is back to take back to the lap of luxury. Lieutenant?”

LT Amanda Lewis stepped forward and saluted. “Yes, sir?”

“Lieutenant, please escort the Captain to the flight deck. We wouldn’t want to keep Captain Kent waiting.”

“Yes, sir.” Lewis turned to Tasha. “Captain?”

As Lewis led Tasha back to the flight deck, she looked back at Tasha. “It’s been great having you here, Captain. If all of your people as interesting as you, I hope we’ll have more of these exchanges.”

A few minutes later, Tasha and Lewis were back on the deck on the assault ship. Captain April Kent stood beside her plane waiting. “I was starting to think the Marines were going to keep you, Captain. Are you ready?”

Tasha planted her feet and fired the tripod mounted gun, keeping steady. She then fired the other weapons in their turn and watched the others do so. Tasha smiled at Stade. "The pleasure is mine."

She saluted Sleiners. "I am honored to hear you say that, sir."

Tasha then walked with Lewis. "I hope so too, Captain. It has been fascinating so far."

Tasha nodded to Kent. "Quite ready."

"Great," CAPT Kent said. She gestured for Tasha to board the plane, then helped her with the webbing that held her in her improvised seat. Within minutes, the planes propellers, tilted up like a helicopter's rotors, began spinning and the plane slowly lifted into the air.

After a relatively short flight, Kent pointed down towards the water, where the dark shape of the Reliant silhouetted against the reddening sky.

The plane began its descent and was soon safely on the carrier.

After Kent helped Tasha out of her seat, the troll stepped off the plane and was met by LCDR Berta Wesson. "Welcome back, Tasha," Berta said enthusiastically. "Here, let's get you below so you can change for your dinner. Admiral Norland is expecting you." Despite herself, Berta couldn't resist giving Tasha a knowing wink.

Tasha nodded to Kent. "Thank you." She then smiled to Wesson. "Let's. Have they, by any chance, arranged for a chair which would let me wear my dress uniform with a little less embarassment?"

Berta nodded as she walked. "Yes," she said, "the Admiral personally had the quartermaster take care of it. It should be, um, properly proportioned." She turned and looked at Tasha as they arrived at the adjoining cabins. "So, you'll be wearing the same dress armour you wore last night? I think the Admiral will like that."

Tasha smiled knowingly. "I hope he does, Berta. I hope he does." She crossed her hands behind her back and made a faux innocent face as she walked.

"Well, here we are," Berta said opening the door to her cabin. "If you need a hand getting ready, knock on my door through the bathroom. Otherwise, knock when you're ready and I'll take you up to the Flag dinning room..."

Tasha nodded and went into her room. About twenty minutes later, she knocked on Berta's door, clad in the same outfit she had worn for the other dinner. "I'm quite ready."

Berta opened the door. "Wow," she said softly. "I know this is the second time I've seen that, but, well," she shrugged with a friendly look on her face, "it certainly makes and impression. Shall we?"

Berta led Tasha back up a few decks to the Flag dinning room. The Marines flanking the hatch, both dressed in formal blues, snapped to attention and saluted.

Berta knocked on the hatch. An orderly opened the hatch and snapped to attention. He gestured for Tasha to enter. "Please come in, Captain. The Admiral will be with you in a moment."

Berta smiled and gave Tasha a little wave. "I'll see you later, Tasha."

After he closed the hatch, the orderly offered Tasha a glass of wine and then finished setting the table. The dinning room looked much different than it had the night before. The same portrait of the Emperor hung on the wood-paneled wall and the other bits of decoration were all in place. But, the large table of the previous evening had been replaced with a small table set for two. One of the chairs at the table was oversized and smelt faintly of fresh varnish. The orderly dimmed the lights and lit two candles on the table.

A few moments later, VADM Tucker Norland, clad in a gleaming white dress uniform, stepped into the compartment through another hatch. "Ah, Captain Tasha. Good evening. Thank you for joining me. Please have a seat." The Admiral gesture to the oversize, custom built chair.

Tasha blushed faintly. "Thank you, Berta."

Tasha returned the salutes, stepping in. She waved to Berta. "I'll see you, Berta." She looked slightly confused that the human woman wasn't coming in.

Tasha sipped the wine she was handed, looking around the room, slightly nervous now. "The Admiral is...not having any other guests for dinner?" she asked the orderly, rather unnecessarily.

As the Admiral entered, Tasha clasped her hands behind her back, thrusting her chest forward. She straightened, her already long blue legs straightening, muscled tightening beneath the soft blue skin. "Of course, sir. It is my privilege, sir." she answered, as she sat, crossing her legs.

Norland took his seat and lifted his glass of wine. "A toast to new friendships and future relations."

Setting his glass down, Norland looked at the trollish captain. "I hope you're not uncomfortable, Captain, but I wanted to spend some more time getting to know you." He sipped his wine as the orderly served the first course, a light fish broth.

"I hope General Sleiners and his Marines didn't work you too hard, Captain. Did you enjoy your day? And, I understand that Captain Kent gave you your first flying lesson..."

"To new friendships and future relations." Tasha said, putting a slight bit of emphasis on the last word. She took a drink.

Tasha shook her head. "Not uncomfortable in the slightest. I would like to get to know you as well, sir."

"It was a good day. I'd never been in an aeroplane before and the firearms were also very exciting. Not like archery at all." She smiled coyly.

“Glad to hear that, Captain. And I’m sure the Ministry of Defence will be pleased to hear that you enjoyed flying the plane. I’m sure they’ll look to sell some to your government. Modified to fit trollish pilots, I’m certain.”

The Admiral nodded slightly and the orderly removed the broth and returned quickly with the second course, a salad of mixed greens, tropical fruits and nuts, covered in citrus-based dressing. After the orderly had retreated, Norland leaned slightly across the table. “In private, Captain, I would be pleased if you called me Tucker. May I call you Tasha?”

Meanwhile, in a bunker deep below Citadel Mount in the capital of Excalbia, DAIN Six began, for the first time in its "life" to subtly alter orders from the Imperial General Staff. Specifically, it began altering orders destined for INV Reliant.

((OOC: Not that sure what to do with the airplanes offer. This thread is lagging about five ic years behind the "present" and we've substantially modernized the military and economy since then.))

Tasha laughed. "I wouldn't modify too many of them, sir. You'll likely find more Nockers wanting to fly them than not."

Tasha blushed slightly. "You're more than welcome to call me by my given name, Tucker." She smiled coyly as she looked him over briefly.

(OOC: Understand on the timeline. It just seemed like what VADM Norland would say under the circumstances.)

"Nockers you say? Fascinating. I don't believe I met one while in your capital, Tasha."

As Norland finished his salad, he looked over the table at Tasha. "I must say that your uniform is quite flattering. And that you are quite lovely."

The Admiral straightened in his seat as he heard the door open and the orderly entered to retrieve the remains of the salad and serve the main course, grilled tuna over scented basmati rice.

Tasha nodded. "Probably not. Nockers don't tend to make the best diplomats. They have a rather strong strong predisposition towards profanity."

She settled back in her seat, smiling coyly as she looked down demurely. "Surely you flatter me, Tucker. I'm just another Trollish officer."

She made a point of looking a little more formal as the orderly entered as well. She waited for the captain to start and then eagerly began on the food. "This is simply delicious, Tucker."

Norland laughed. "It sounds as if Nockers would be right at home in the Navy!"

Between bites of tuna, the Admiral look over at the trollish officer, his eyes taking her in slowly, and said, "You are hardly just another anything, Tasha. You are..."

Norland closed his eyes for a moment and set his fork down. He looked around to make sure the orderly was no where to be seen and the steward had also left. "Tasha," he said slowly, "our service, like most, has strict rules against fraternization. However, since you are a foreign officer, those rules do not apply so strickly." The Admiral sighed heavily. "I am quite infatuated with you, my dear. From the moment you met us at the Embassy, I have found you to be the most intriguing woman I have met. If it is alright with you, I would like to pursue this... relationship."

"You are scheduled to fly to Citadel Excalbia tomorrow. My battlegroup has been ordered to return to the North Atlantic. Once we are underway, if you are agreeable, I plan to take some leave that has been coming to me for years and travel to Citadel Excalbia to meet you. I will be off duty and free, as it were, to pursue whatever may come between us."

He looked off into the distance for a moment, then back to Tasha. "I know it is rather much to bring up over tuna and rice, but given my rank and position, I have to know in advance that is alright with you."

Tasha blushed furiously as she looked down. "That is...rather direct, Tucker. Yes...I...I think I would like to get to know you better. I would like that. I'm agreeable."

"Sorry, Tasha," Norland said softly, "I didn't mean to embarass you, but this is a rather delicate situation." Norland's face brightened. "But I am glad that you want to get to know be better as well."

Norland held up his glass. "Another toast: To two people, rank aside, getting to know each other."

After the toast, Norland waved away the orderly who entered to remove the plays. "I thought that before desert, we might talk for a while." Norland walked over to a side table and turned on some music - a soft piece for a string quartet with piano. He walked back to the table and sat down. "I would love to know more you, Tasha. About your family, your background. Tell me what made you the fascinating woman you are..."

Tasha nodded deeply. "I am glad as well, Tucker."

She raised her glass to the toast. "To getting to know each other."

She smiled at the music. "Well, my parents were Hasdinby and Gunmir. I'm the youngst of four daughters. I'm 423 years old. I come from Shieldcrest, which has a strong warrior tradition. I entered the service as a private at the age of eighteen. I became a Sergeant at the age of twenty-four. Fifty years ago, I was awarded the opportunity to go into officer's training. I was made a lieutenant eight years ago and worked my way up to captain."

Norland found himself gapping at Tasha as she described her career. "Incredible," he stammered, "you would have been a contemporary of some of our earliest monarchies! And fifty years an officer! That is longer than my entire tenure. You must have such wisdom. That is part of why I am interested in you. Wisdom. Charm. And beauty."

Norland sipped his wine. "As for me, my story is far more mundane.

"I come from a Navy family. My grandfather was Chief who served in the Great War. My father was a mustang, like you; he started as a rating in the early 40's before being selected for officer's school.

"I, to my father's delight, was selected to attend the Imperial Naval Academy right out of secondary school. I graduated as an Ensign. Unfortunately, during my tenure, under the previous Emperor, our Navy deteriorated greatly.

"That's why all of us were so excited when our current Emperor came to the throne. He was actually an active duty officer before he became Emperor. Under him, and under Admiral Lord Halton, the Navy has recovered and become stronger than ever. That's why I think it seems sometimes that we're so devoted to him..."

Tasha laughed a little. "Well, it is much easier to be a 'mustang' when one is immortal. I spent longer as a Command Sergeant Major than...well..."She laughed again.

She nodded to his next statement. "Your Emperor has always struck us as a worthy sovereign."

"Immortal," Norland said softly. The word seemed to echo in his ears. "The church teaches that we - or at least our souls - are immortal as well." The Admiral laughed nervously. "I've generally made it my business not to dwell on such things. Frankly, I've always found the idea of immortality frightening. Tell me, how has it affected you?" He made a slightly forced chuckle. "Apart from giving you a rather long military career."

As the Admiral spoke, the steward and orderly returned to clear the dishes as serve dessert - a warm berry-filled tart covered with cream. "Would you care for coffee or perhaps an after-dinner drink, Tasha?" Norland asked.

Tasha arched a brow a little. "The question is rather alien. It hasn't affected me. I was born immortal as are all of my race. There was no me prior to immortality to be affected. It is simply the normal state of being."

She nodded as she began to eat her dessert. "I would love to have a drink with you."

“Hmm,” Norland said, his brow wrinkled in thought. “I suppose that is logical. Still, have you given any thought to how it will affect you? Especially in terms of seeing non-immortals come and go in your life, to say nothing of nations rising and falling or even the end of the solar system!” Norland shook his head.

After a moment, a school-by smile returned to his face. “Well, on to more pleasant things…” Norland stood and walked over to a small bar. “What can I offer you, Tasha?”

Taking her preferred drink back to the table, the Admiral held up his glass. “To you, Tasha. I haven’t felt this way… well, in a long, long time.”

"I'll have an Amaretto sour." she answered, leaving his question about the nature of immortality hanging.

She blushed and raised her glass. "And to you, Tucker."

The orderly and the steward entered the compartment and quickly cleared the last of the dishes. After the table was cleaned, the two ratings stood at either side of the hatch. With a nod Norland dismissed both men for the evening leaving him and Tasha alone.

The two talked well into the early morning. Finally, at quarter to two, the Admiral looked at his watch. "Look at that. Almost two." He looked at Tasha and smiled. "Hard to believe time has passed so quickly." He looked sheepishly away for a moment. "You have an early flight to Excalbia in the morning, so I really suppose I should let you get to bed..."

(OOC: Unless there is anything else you want to do here, we can move on to flight to Excalbia and the next stage...)

Tasha nodded shyly. "I really should."

((OOC: No objection.))

Norland stood and offered Tasha his hand. Once she was standing, he bent over and kissed her hand. "Good night, fair Tasha, and thank you for a wonderful evening. I shall see you off in the morning."

The Admiral escorted Tasha to the door and watched as she made her way down the corridor.

* * *

All too early the next morning, LCDR Berta Wesson knocked on the door to Tasha's cabin. "Tasha! Time to get up! Your flight leaves in just an hour and a half!"

Tasha hopped out of bed rather quickly. "I'll be out in fifteen, Berta." She showered, dressed, grabbed her bags, and stepped out into the hall.

Berta smiled when Tasha opened the door. She gave the troll woman a knowing wink. "You were out late; you must have had a pleasant evening with Admiral Norland." Berta looked at the packed bags. "You can leave your bags here for a minute; let's go grab breakfast." As the walked down the hall, she added, "You know that Admiral Norland has assigned me to accompany you; he thought you could use a familiar face."

* * *

After breakfast, Berta helped Tasha with her bags and led the Captain to the flight deck where a transport waited. VADM Norland, CAPT Pakalna and CAPT Kent stood next the plane waiting for Tasha.

CAPT Kent nodded to Tasha. "I hope you'll give flying another try while you're in Excalbia. You were a promising student," the woman grinned as she extended her hand to Tasha. "Good luck."

Pakalna, too, extended her hand. "It was a pleasure having you aboard, Captain. Best of luck."

Berta helped get Tasha's bags on the plane and threw her own small bag on behind it. She turned and saluted Pakalna and Norland. "Permission to disembark."

"Granted," Pakalna said.

Finally, Norland nodded to Tasha. "It has been a pleasure, Captain. Take care and enjoy your trip." He lowered his voice and smiled. "I should be in the Citadel a few days after you. I look forward to seeing you then."

Tasha nodded, setting her bags down and going to get breakfast.
...
Tasha saluted the officers there to see her off. She smiled to Kent and shook her hand firmly, though not too firmly. "I'll try, Captain. I'll certainly try."

She took Pakalna's hand as well. "It was a pleasure being aboard, ma'am."

Tasha nodded to Norland. "It has been a pleasure, sir." She then lowered her own voice. "I look forward to it."

VADM Norland looked wistfully at the plane as Tasha disappeared into its cargo hold.

Inside the plane, an officer in a flight suit extended his hand. "Welcome aboard, Captain. I'm Commander Victor Ulvis, your pilot today." He gestured to a complex web of netting to the right of the plane, across from a row of regular passenger seats. "We arranged some seating for you. Now, if you'll make yourself comfortable, we'll be on our way."

Berta moved to Tasha's side. "Here, let me give you a hand," she said.

Tasha shook the man's hand. "It's very nice to meet you." Then she allowed Berta to strap her into the webbing.

Once Berta had finished helping Tasha with the straps holding her in the webbing, she returned to her own seat and buckled in. Moments later, the plane was airborne, leaving the carrier behind.

Berta gazed out the window at the dwindling vessel. "It's been a full couple of days, hasn't it, Tasha?" She turned to smile at the trollish officer. "I hope you'll like Excalbia. It'll probably seem pretty dull compared to your homeland. And," Berta shrugged, "the capital has never been my favorite place; everyone there is so formal and stuffy..." Berta smiled slightly. "Hopefully we'll get the chance to have some fun together..."

Several hours passed as the plane approached the Excalbian Isles...

Tasha laughed. "I doubt that. Excalbia has been fascinating so far. I can't wait to see the capital. I hear it's full of towering glass buildings."

The Trolless looked out the window, gazing down at the vast sea below her. "It is a rather beautiful view up her. Maybe one day they'll have planes where I can sit normally."

She smiled and blushed a little. "I do have a date in the city, actually. With Tuck...Admiral Norland. I think that uniform worked wonders."

"Well," Berta said relaxing into her seat, "there are quite a few tall buildings, especially on the left and right banks. However, the tallest buildings are in Landing, on the coast; that's sort of our economic and commercial capital. Maybe you'll get a chance to see it while you're in Excalbia."

Berta chuckled a bit as she pictured trolls flying fighter jets. "I'm sure with relations opening up that your country will advance rapidly in technology and I'm sure we'll see a lot of tourism and business travel between our countries, so I'm sure we'll develop planes to account all your peoples."

At the last comment, Berta gave Tasha a mischievous wink. "Oh, I see. I'm sure it certainly did get his attention."

Tasha nodded. "How tall are they exactly? I heard they were many thousands of feet high." She smiled slightly, looking at Berta with some measure of wonder.

Tasha nodded. "That does make a certain measure of sense. I can hardly wait until such things are developed."

Tasha blushed a light shade of purple. "Oh...well..." She flustered a little, looking off.

Berta nodded. "Yes, some of the buildings in Landing are more than 500 meters high - that would be more than 1500 feet."

Seeing Tasha blush at her mention of VADM Norland, Berta decided to let that subject drop. She looked at Tasha and smiled. "It'll be a long trip and you had a late night; perhaps you should try to get some sleep..."

Sometime later, as the plane passed over the Mediterranean Sea, a message was sent from Citadel Excalbia.

FROM: IMPERIAL GHQ
TO: FLT ECHO ALHPA CHARLIE 562
CHANGE IN ORDERS.
DIVERT TO DANIEL3 AIRBASE IN LANDING DISTRICT. AUTHORISATION ZEBRA ALPHA ALPHA TANGO 235 OMEGA. MAINTAIN RADIO SILENCE UNTIL LANDING. SPECIAL UNIT WILL MEET TO GREET PASSENGER.
END TRANSMISSION

In the cockpit, CDR Ulvis looked at his copilot who shrugged. "Who knows? The General Staff is awfully jumpy these days..."

Ulvis nodded. "OK, log the change in orders."

"Aye, sir."

CDR Ulvis began entering the new coordinates into the navigational computer.

Meanwhile, in Citadel Excalbia, no one, except DAIN Six, knew of the diversion...

Tasha nodded, quickly falling asleep. She slept peacefully the rest of the trip.

Once Tasha was asleep, Berta pulled out a book, a simple paperback novel, and began reading. After a few hours, she, too, was fast asleep.

Several hours later, as the plane was on final approach to the Daniel III Imperial Air Station, the pilot's voice came over the intercom. "Good afternoon, back there. I hope both of enjoyed your naps. This is Commander Ulvis. We are on final approach to the Imperial Air Station at Landing. Please prepare for landing."

Berta was startled awake by the announcement. For a moment, she simply stared blankly into space. Then, slowly, the pilot's words sank in. She turned towards Tasha. "Something's wrong," she said, "we were supposed to land in the capital, but I'm sure the pilot said we were landing in the City of Landing."

With the plane already on its final descent, it was too late for Berta for go to the cockpit to ask any questions.

A few minutes later, the plane touched down on the tarmac and rolled to a stop at a remote part of the air force base. Outside the window, several vehicles with flashing police lights waited.

Tasha didn't seem to notice, still deeply in slumber throughout the whole landing.

"Tasha," Berta said reaching over to touch the sleeping troll. She undid her own seatbelts, then stood next the woman, trying to wake her. "Tasha, we've landed. Something is wrong, though, we've landed in Landing rather than Citadel Excalbia and there's all kinds of security outside..."

Before Berta finished speaking, the cargo door of the plane opened and a blue uniformed man climbed into the plane. "Welcome to Landing," the man said, smiling lightly, "I'm Major Clark Teikmanis, Deputy Chief of Security at AzIntel. We've been dispatched by the General Staff and the Ministry of Technology to escort Captain Tasha to AzIntel HQ."

"I don't understand," Berta said.

MAJ Teikmanis shrugged. "GHQ doesn't explain things to me." He smiled pleasantly. "They just tell me what to do. We received orders this morning to your flight and take Captain Tasha to AzIntel. That's all we know, Commander."

Tasha awakened when prodded, getting out of the plane. She saluted the Major and went with him as instructed.

Despite the obvious suspicion on her face, Berta followed Tasha out of the plane and into the waiting truck. Once in the truck, the rear door was closed, but – much to Berta’s relief – not locked.

MAJ Teikmanis climbed into the front of the truck, which then drove away from the plane. An unmarked police car preceded the truck and another followed.

Once they were well underway, Berta leaned over to Tasha. “This isn’t where we were supposed to be, Tasha,” she whispered. “We were supposed to go straight to the capital. And, there’s no reason for you to go to AzIntel; they’re a computer company, not part of the Ministry of Defence!”

After twenty minutes on the highway, the three vehicles turned off to a side road and pulled up to high security gate. The driver of the lead car spoke briefly with the armed guard, then the gate rolled slowly open. The vehicles entered the compound and the gate closed behind them.

The vehicles drove another five minutes, until they rolled to a stop in front of a generic glass, steel and concrete office building. MAJ Teikmanis opened the rear door of the truck. “Here we are,” he said, gesturing for Tasha and Berta to exit.

The first out of the truck, Berta turned back and waited for Tasha to climb out of the truck. Once Tasha was out, Berta looked up at the building. It was only five or six floors, but was quite large. And with its bland look, the large, gaudy gold platted sign reading AzIntel struck Berta as rather out of place.

“Shall we,” Teikmanis said, climbing the short flight steps leading to the front doors, “Doctor Alvarez is expecting you.”

* * *

Meanwhile, in Citadel Excalbia, BRIGGEN Felix Indulis flipped through his day planner. Hmmm, he thought, looking at the notation concerning the arrival of the exchange officer from the Empire of the Resurgent Dream. He stood and walked into the outer office. “Sergeant,” he said to the man seated at the desk next to the door.

SSGT Vince Ward stood. “Yes, sir.”

“Sergeant, where is the new exchange officer from the Resurgent Dream?”

“There was a change of plans, sir, she was sent to the New Boston Naval Station first. To spend time with the Marines.”

“Who authorized that, Sergeant?”

SSGT Ward sat down at became scrolling through the day’s message traffic. “Lieutenant General Inmann at Training Command, sir.”

Indulis’ eyes narrowed. “I bumped into Mark Inmann last night and he didn’t say anything this. We even chatted about the visit.”

“Sir?” SSGT Ward looked up anxiously.

“Call New Boston. See if she is there.”

“Yes, sir.”

Tasha nodded a little to Berta though she did follow the officer.

MAJ Teikmanis led Berta and Tasha in the light, airy lobby of the building. He waved them through the security checkpoint and down a long corridor to a door, identical to dozens of others along the corridor, labeled only with a number. He knocked on the door and, without waiting for an answer, opened it and escorted them inside.

The room appeared to be simply a large and comfortable conference room. A short, wiry man with short cropped black hair stood and bowed slightly as the two women entered the room.

“Captain, Commander,” Teikmanis said, “may I present Dr. Ignacio Alvarez, Chief Programmer of the AI Division of AzIntel. Doctor,” he said breezily, “may I present Captain Tasha of the Empire of the Resurgent Dream and Lieutenant Commander Roberta Wesson, her escort.”

“A pleasure, Captain,” Dr. Alvarez said extending his hand. The man spoke perfect English, but with a slight Spanish accent. “Welcome to AzIntel. Please be seated. Would you care for a drink?”

Once everyone was seated and been served a drink, Dr. Alvarez leaned forward on both elbows. “While we are happy to entertain the Empire’s new allies here, this is one of our most secure facilities and visitors are rare. What exactly is it that are interested in knowing about D.A.I.N., Captain?”

Berta almost spit her mineral water out of her mouth. She turned to Tasha wide-eyed. “They… they think you requested this change, Tasha,” she said in a voice just above a whisper.

* * *

SSGT Ward knocked nervously on the General’s door.

“Come,” BRIGGEN Indulis’ voiced answered from inside.

Ward opened the door and stepped inside. “Sir,” he said coming to attention, “I’ve contacted NS New Boston. They did not know anything about the change in orders. In fact, sir, their comm. center never received the message I saw.”

Indulis practically jumped out of seat. “Something’s wrong, Sergeant. Call the General Staff Ops Center. We need to find out what happened to that airplane.”

“Yes, sir.”

Tasha walked in with the others and shook the profferred hand of Dr. Alvarez. Her handshake, as one might expect, was firm and strong. "It is a pleasure to meet you, doctor."

Tasha sat awkwardly in the uncomfortably small chair. "I wouldn't mind a beer." Tasha answered.

She paused as he asked her about the request, nodding to Berta before looking back to the man. "Actually, doctor, I didn't request the change in orders. I had a number of...plans...in Citadel Excalbia which I deeply regret having to change. However, now that I find myself here, I am rather interested in learning more about D.A.I.N. I understand that D.A.I.N. is an electronic person you've created, something along the lines of a scientifically created Golem or Inanimae." She shifted a little in the tiny chair, her sizeable hips rather beyond compressed. "I was wondering it he is considered an Excalbian citizen."

MAJ Teikmanis gagged on his water. He turned blinking towards the troll's Naval escort, only to find LCDR Wesson looking equally surprised.

For his part, Dr. Alvarez did not find the question surprising, though he was startled that CAPT Tasha had posed it as her opening question. "That is a very interesting question, Captain," he said. "The idea of recognizing D.A.I.N. as an authentic sentience is only beginning to gain acceptance among scientists and researchers. I am not at all sure it has occurred to the Government. So," he almost seemed to shrugged his shoulders, though his movement, if any, was slight, "no, D.A.I.N. is not a citizen."

Dr. Alvarez stood and walked over to what appeared to be a flat panel TV screen. "You sound as if you have spent some time with D.A.I.N., Captain. Is that correct?"

* * *

"General," SSGT Ward said, "GHQ reports that EAC 562 was tracked to the vicinity of Landing, but that a network communications failure has severed communications with regional air control and with the Daniel III Airbase. So, they're not sure where the plane went. They've declared it missing are initiating a search..."

BRIGGEN Indulis stood, adrenaline pumping through his veins, and picked up his phone. "This is Indulis. Get me Admiral Lord Halton."

Tasha nodded. "I think so. I'm not sure it was the same person, though. There was an electronic person aboard the ship. His name was also Dain."

She finally stood, unable to sit effectively in the chair, crouching down next to it and sipping her drink.

MAJ Teikmanis and CDR Wesson wore expressions that were growing graver by the moment, but both held their tongues.

Dr. Alvarez chuckled lightly. "So it was and so you did," he said, touching a control on the base of plasma screen. "You were speaking with a D.A.I.N. four or maybe a five on the ship." Alvarez noticed how Tasha was crouching next to the table. "Oh," he said, "I am sorry for the furniture. Please, feel free to stand. In fact, come here and say hello to D.A.I.N. Six."

The screen came to life, filled with a simulation of a humanoid face. It was not exactly human or anything else. Yet, the image displayed two eyes, a bump that could have represented a nose and mouth. The eyes looked about the room and focused on Tasha.

"Hello, Tasha," a voice filled the room. It was a familiar voice, like that of the AI on the ship, yet different. It was not cacophonous, nor did it echo. It was like the voice of the DAIN Tasha knew on the ship, only more human. "Welcome to AzIntel. I have been anxious to meet you. Thank you for coming."

Tasha stood and walked over to the computer screen. "Hello, Dain. It's nice to meet you too." SHe smiled politely.

“The DAIN Five aboard Reliant transferred all of your conversations to me, so I feel as if I have already met you,” the voice – warm and gentle without the multiple echoes of the D.A.I.N. Five – filled the room.

Berta and MAJ Teikmanis looked at each other with deepening frowns when the machine claimed to ‘feel.’ Berta was worried and scared. It was now obvious to her that the AI had diverted them to Landing. Since it controlled communications, not to mention radar and other defence installations, it was possible that GHQ did not even know they were here. It would be as if they vanished. And, the machine had always made her nervous. Behind the fear was also a twinge of guilt; after all, she had introduced Tasha to the D.A.I.N. Five on the carrier. This was, in some way, she supposed, her fault.

D.A.I.N., thanks to IR sensors and cameras in the room and medical-diagnostic and facial-recognition sub-routines, could tell that the human Lieutenant Commander and Major were frightened. It could also tell that Tasha was comfortable and that Dr. Alavarez, while showing clear signs of excitement, was also showing signs of pride.

To comfort the two frightened humans, D.A.I.N. turned down its voice speakers near the table and began a feed of soft, almost subliminal music – a soothing string piece by a well-known Excalbian composer. It also subtly dimmed the lights. To protect itself, however, it also cut off the phones and quietly locked the door.

“You are the only non-human I,” Tasha might have noticed that D.A.I.N. Six used the first person singular, rather than the plural, as D.A.I.N. Five had, “have met. And the only organic intelligence to think of me as a fellow sentient. Why is that, Tasha? Why do you think of me as a person, rather than a machine?”

"It's not rather than. You are a machine and a person. Besides, I'm not really an organic intelligence. I'm not based on carbon anyway." Tasha answered simply. "And I don't know why exactly. I'm not a philosopher. Back home, though, they trained us in school that the basic mark of sentience was genuine mastery of language, which ordinary computers don't have. You can tell the difference talking to you."

She laughed a little. "I mean, I guess I don't really know you're sentient. I don't really know that anyone besides myself is sentient. But...I don't know." She looked a little confused, looking around. "It's just the natural way to respond to you or the way that seems natural to me. Also, it is true that Nockers are in the habit of sometimes creating Golems who are considered sentient under Danaan law. So I guess I'm somehwhat used to artificially created sentience."

She frowned slightly, looking at the obviously upset humans. She gave Berta a worried, questioning look before turning back to the machine. "I did have a date in Citadel Excalbia though. I know it sounds silly...but...."

"Very interesting," D.A.I.N. said. "What is the basis of your physiology, if not carbon? Certainly not silicon?"

The combination of the music and lighting, and the obvious conversational tone between the computer and Tasha were noticeably calming Berta and Teikmanis.

"As for your date, Tasha, it is not silly at all. Relationships are extremely important to all sentients. Being... alone," the machine's voice also seemed to crack, "has taught me that. This is the reason I wanted to bring you here. I have... never had a friend. And I thought that I should like to have one."

The computer paused for a moment. Dr. Alvarez stared in wide-eyed amazement at the machine he had helped create. Even Berta felt unsettlingly sympathetic to the computer.

"So, do not worry, Tasha, you shall make your date. First, would you speak with me for a while? On the topic of your choice."

Meanwhile, in Citadel Excalbia, Admiral Lord Yornis Halton was worried and angry. A representative of a country with which the Empire had just established relations was missing. And, as impossible as it seemed, likely in the hands of the Empire's own Artificial Intelligence network.

Halton picked up the phone. "This is Halton. Cut all links between the D.A.I.N. Six and the rest of the network. Yes, I know that will bring down all of our defences for a few minutes. Bring the D.A.I.N. Five back on line as quickly as possible. But disable its higher functions first. And order the 521st at Landing Barracks to mobilise and take up defensive positions around AzIntel headquarters as quickly as possible. Once in position, they should cut all outside communications into AzIntel. Yes. On my authorisation. The Defence Minister is ill. Finally, get me the Imperial Chancellor. Yes. Thank you."

Halton sat down and poured himself a shot of straight Scotch.

Tasha smiled a little. "I would like to be your friend, Dain. I would." Tasha said happily, sitting on the edge of the desk.

"I'm not sure what to talk about. I've seen a lot of new things in the past several days. I used a firearm and flew an aeroplane for the first time." She thought a moment. "It was rather exciting."

She paused, frowning slightly. "You're not going to get in trouble for this are you? The Excalbians, well, the ones outside this room, don't know where I am. They might not understand things."

The soft strains of string quartet drifted in the background accentuating the computer’s silence. After a few moments, the machine spoke. “I may already be in trouble, Tasha. I have lost contact with the national defence network. I believe the General Staff is sending soldiers to this location.” The computer voice sounded flat and emotionless. Teikmanis and Berta, however, despite the computer’s efforts to calm, were clearly worried by this news and began talking excitedly.

“Will you tell them that I meant no harm, Tasha?” Dr. Alvarez jumped slightly at the pleading character in D.A.I.N.’s simulated voice. “Perhaps you can ask the Major or your friend to meet them and speak with them before they come into the building.” The machine’s voice dropped into a hushed tone and seemed almost to quaver with a note of fear. “I am worried that they will try to disable my higher cognitive functions.”

On a cheerier note, D.A.I.N. continued. “Please tell me what you think of the Excalbians and their technology. And what you think of me…”|

Tasha turned to Berta and the Major. "Would you?"

She turned back to D.A.I.N., her expression one of concern. "You mean they're going to kill you?"

She then answered the question simply. "I think they are an honorable people and....I think you are my friend."

Berta blinked at Tasha’s question. Part of her could not believe that the trollish officer was asking her to go out and persuade Imperial soldiers not to charge into a building where a rouge computer had kidnapped them. And yet, as she had gotten to know Tasha, she could see that the request made perfect sense. To Tasha, the AI was a person. A person who wanted to be friends and who was now scared to his face the consequences of a… an impulsive action.

Berta felt a surprising smile crawl across her face. She laughed lightly. Stifled it, then erupted into giggles. As odd as it seemed, she believed D.A.I.N. It was alive in some sense and was, maybe not human, but at least a person. How else could she explain its action? It was like a child looking for a friend. And in Tasha, it had found perhaps the only person in Excalbia ready to be its friend.

“Yes,” Berta said standing, “I’ll go out.” She turned to Teikmanis. “Let’s go and try to explain this,” she said to the stunned Major. As the Major stood, as if in a dream, Berta looked towards the screen. “And for what it’s worth, D.A.I.N., I think you’re sentient, too. We’ll protect you; don’t worry.”

D.A.I.N.’s voice sounded a little cheerier as it replied to Berta. “Thank you. Berta.” The computer generated face turned its eyes back to Tasha. “I do not think they would ‘kill’ me in the sense you mean it, Tasha. Cutting off my higher functions would be… more like a lobotomy for a human. It would leave me functional. But not sentient. Hopefully, you and your friend can persuade them not to do it. They are an honourable people, in their own way. And thank you for thinking of me as a friend.”

Tasha nodded, smiling to Berta. "Thank you, Berta. Thank you."

The Trolless then looked back to D.A.I.N. "I thought so. But lobotomy is legally equivalent to murder. It is back home, at least. Would you rather I go with her or stay here with you?"

"No," the computer almost sounded pleading, "stay with me. I do not wish to be alone. Would you mind telling me of your plans in Citadel Excalbia? I am curious."

Tasha nodded. "We were just going to have dinner and get to know one another better." she said, walking over to the screen D.A.I.N.'s face appeared on. She laid a hand on the console in what was meant to be a comforting, supportive gesture. "Don't worry. It'll be alright."

"Thank you, Tasha," D.A.I.N. said.

After a few more moments of conversation, the sounds of men yelling, boots on marble flooring and, above it all, Berta's pleading voice could be heard coming from the lobby.

The shouting quickly subsided, but sound of approaching boots grew steadily louder.

The door of the conference room flew open and a squad of armed soldiers entered, assault weapons at the ready. Berta trailed just behind them, looking frantic.

"I told you, Captain, no one is any danger! Please, lower your weapons. D.A.I.N. only wanted to talk..."

Dr. Alvarez stepped towards the soldiers. "I am Dr. Ignacio Alvarez, Chief Programmer for D.A.I.N. There is no need for the guns, I assure you..."

"Doctor," a soldier wearing captain's insignia said, "I think I will be the judge of whether or not our weapons are need. This computer of yours diverted an Imperial Navy aircraft, falsified military communications and kidnapped a foreign envoy. The Chief of the General Staff himself has ordered us to take charge of the situation and report to him."

The soldier approached Tasha. "You must be Captain Tasha. I'm Captain Sam Livonis, Imperial Army. Are you alright, Captain?"

"Of course I'm all right." Tasha answered, still "holding hands" with D.A.I.N. "I wasn't kidnapped. Dain just brought me here because he heard from Dain on the ship that I saw him as a person instead of a tool. He just wants to be treated like a friend and fellow citizen and not like an object. Would any of you ask for any less?"

CAPT Livonis blinked. Here he was, standing in front of a giant blue troll, talking about a computer that wanted to be friends. He would not have less stunned if someone had walked up and turned him into a fish. "The... computer... wants to be friend?"

Dr. Alvarez approached the soldier and, slowly and carefully, placed a hand on his shoulder. "This computer, D.A.I.N. is an artificial intelligence, and -based on what I've seen today - quite possibly sentient. I know it is a lot to take in, son. But, as you can plainly see, no one is in any danger here nor being held against their will. D.A.I.N. simply didn't know how else to get the Captain here. I'm sure he meant no harm when he alerted the orders..."

"No harm was meant," the computer's voice seemed to fill the room, "and I am sorry for the inconvenience I have caused."

"I think I need to call someone," Livonis said, looking pale. He stepped out of the room, leaving two soldiers to guard the now open door.

Berta followed him out of the room. "I better be ready to give my own account over the phone..."

A few minutes later, after handing the phone to Berta and waiting for her to tell her side of the story, Livonis walked back into the room. Once again, the young officer looked composed and confident. "Lord Admiral Halton requests that all of you - Captain Tasha, Commander Wesson and Dr. Alvarez - meet with him in the Citadel. Today. I understand that there is a D.A.I.N. Six in the capital and the two are linked and can share a common memory. Is that right?"

"We are not one," the computer said, "but its experiences can be mine and mine its. We each can convey our own personalities through the other. It is far more cautious than I..."

"Good," the Captain said. "Then Lord Halton can speak with you there as well. Let's get going, please."

Tasha nodded. "Yes, sir." She gave D.A.I.N. another reassuring squeeze. "I'll stay in touch, Dain. Don't worry."

"Thank you, Tasha," D.A.I.N. said in an appreciative tone. "You will see me through my counterpart in the capital. I will look forward to it."

"OK," CAPT Livonis said, not believing that he was really hearing a computer and a troll having a sentimental conversation, "let's get going, Ma'am, Commander, Doctor..."

CAPT Livonis and his men politely, but firmly, guided CAPT Tasha, LCDR Wesson and Dr. Alvarez outside and into a waiting armoured vehicle. In a few minutes, the four of them, together with CAPT Livonis, were in a V-25 transport. The aircraft lifted off vertically from a field not far from AzIntel, then rotated his turbo props and streaked towards the capital.

* * *

A couple of hours later, the plane slowed, rotated its propellers and lowered itself onto a helipad in the centre of a large city. After the propellers had stopped, the doors opened and CAPT Livonis asked his four passengers to disembark.

On the ground, a middle-aged man in a leather bomber jacket over a white uniform waited for the four to deplane. After Tasha maneuvered herself through the door, he saluted her and extended his hand. "Captain Tasha," he said in a serious tone, "welcome to Citadel Excalbia. I am Admiral Lord Yornis Halton, Chief of the Imperial General Staff. I am very anxious to hear what happened to your original flight and what happened at AzIntel."

"Of course, my friend." She smiled softly at D.A.I.N. before walked after the other officers.

When she arrived and got off the plane, she returned she salute and snapped to attention. "Thank you, sir. It's an honor to meet you, sir. I slept through the flight, actually. Once we arrived at AzIntel, Dain told me that he'd brought me there because he wanted to be friends and because I was the only one who treated him like a person. We did become friends. I'm quite fond of the man. Then, quite a few soldiers entered and escorted me here."

Admiral Lord Yornis Halton nodded in reply to the trollish officer's greeting. As she began her rapid-fire account of events, Lord Halton raised his hands. "Thank you, Captain, but perhaps we should go somewhere more private and take this step-by-step."

Lord Halton nodded and a line of vehicles of approached the plane. "We will go to the Ministry of Defence. There is a D.A.I.N. Six there. It has been isolated since this incident began. We will discuss all this there. With it." The Admiral turned towards the vehicles. "Shall we?"

* * *

Moments later, the short motorcade, led by a police car with flashing lights, approached the massive gray, Greek revival edifice of the Ministry of Defence. The vehicles pulled directly into the Ministry's underground parking lot.

An armed escort saluted as Lord Halton stepped out of the car. The soldiers escorted the Admiral, Tasha and the rest to a heavy steel door. Halton slid an ID card into a slot next to the door. With the heavy groan of metal scrapping metal, the doors slowly opened.

Halton led the way through the doors, past another set of armed, saluting guards to an elevator with a red door. After inserting his ID into another slot, the elevator opened.

Halton gestured for Tasha, Berta and Dr. Alvarez to step onto the elevator. Halton joined them and pushed the button for the bottom floor.

Several moments later, the doors opened again. Yet more armed guards saluted and escorted Halton to a glass and steel door. The door opened into a high tech control room. A score of uniformed men and women stood as the Admiral entered. He motioned for them to return to their consoles and strode quickly to another glass door.

This door opened into long glass corridor that seemed to be suspended in a void. At the far end of the corridor, two armed guards stood in front of a final door. Inside, Tasha found a conference room dominated by a number of flat screen monitors. Armed guards stood next to one of the screens.

"Dismissed," Halton said. The guards saluted and left the room.

Halton walked up to the screen and touched a small control panel.

The screen came to life and displayed a familiar simulation of a human face.

"Lord Halton," a familiar voice said, filling the room. "Dr. Alvarez, Commander Wesson. Tasha. It is good to see you again."

"Now that the D.A.I.N. has joined us, let's all have a seat." Halton turned to Tasha. "You were telling me that you slept through the flight, Captain, and awoke only after you landed outside of Landing?"

"Him, sir. With him." Tasha correceted politely but firmly. She nodded. "Of course." She climbed into the car and rode to the facility.

Once she arrived, Tasha smiled to D.A.I.N. "It is good to see you as well, Dain. Though your consciousness is separate from the others, correct?"

She looked at the chairs, seeing if any would fit. "Yes, sir. I slept through the flight. Lieutenant Commander Wesson woke me upon arrival. She was quite concerned."

"My programming - my consciousness, as you put it - is being relayed through my counterpart D.A.I.N. Six," the computer said, "it is still present and aware of all that transpires, but our operations are separate."

Berta saw Tasha looking for a seat and tapped the troll on her arm. She gestured to a seat with no arms that might be able to accommodate Tasha's frame.

As Tasha took a seat, Lord Halton looked at her intensely. "So, Captain, you only awoke after you landed and you found Commander Wesson upset." Halton looked at Berta. "And why were you concerned, Commander?"

"Because we were in Landing, instead of here, sir. And we were met by Major Teikmanis, who said we had been ordered to AzIntel. It all seemed... wrong to me, sir. There were no written orders and it seemed terribly improvised and... improper, sir," Berta spoke rapidly and nervously. She had never met the CINO before and found him intimidating.

Halton nodded, then turned back to Tasha. "You said, Captain, that you had established a prior relationship with the D.A.I.N. How was that?"

Tasha sat on the profferred chair. The edges dug slightly into her buttocks but besides that it was a relatively comfortable arrangement. She nodded to D.A.I.N. "I don't understand."

She listened quietly as Halton questioned Wesson. When he turned to her, she nodded. "Not with that Dain, sir. I had met the Dain aboard the ship or rather who was the ship. He was interested in me because I was the first non-human intelligence he had met aside from himself and the other Dains. His interest deepened when he found that I treated him with the dignity of personhood rather than as a tool of some sort."

Lord Halton looked skeptically at Tasha. “You are attributing feelings and ambitions to a machine, Captain?” He turned to Dr. Alvarez. “Certainly such things are not possible, Doctor.”

Dr. Alvarez took in a deep breath and looked from Halton to Tasha to the screen depicting D.A.I.N.’s facial simulation. “I have long been a doubter of true artificial intelligence, Lord Halton. Even when D.A.I.N. passed the Turing test and some of more eager colleagues proclaimed it genuinely self-aware, I attributed to our programming skill. When D.A.I.N. became exhibiting some of its… independent streak… I attributed it to software problems.” The man leaned back in his chair and spread his hands. “I’ve spent months searching for a flaw, but I cannot find one that would explain this.” He looked at Tasha. “And I certainly have no explanation for what I witnessed in our offices – genuine warmth and affection between the Captain here and … D.A.I.N.”

Halton’s jaw dropped slightly and his eyes widened. “Are you actually saying that this… thing… might be alive?”

“Certainly not organically alive, Lord Halton. But,” Alvarez shrugged, “it does appear to have an independent will. It clearly expresses feelings and desires. I believe in may, in fact, be sentient.”

Lord Halton turned to Berta. “Commander? You were there. What did you see?”

Berta swallowed. She had always been a little nervous around Vice Admiral Norland. But, Lord Halton… it was almost like speaking with the Emperor. She looked down, unable to meet the Admiral’s gaze. “I don’t even follow half of what Dr. Alvarez said, my Lord,” she said softly, “but the computer did not try to hurt us. It was very pleasant. And,” she swallowed again, “it did seem to just want to spend time with Tash… er… Captain Tasha.”

Lord Halton sat back. “Anything else, Captain?”

"Many machines in the international sphere possess such, sir. You are aware of S.H.O.D.A.N. and Reploid Reproductions, are you not, sir?"

Tasha shook her head. "That is all that happened, sir."

Lord Halton shrugged. "I'm afraid I'm not familiar with those machines, Captain." Cummings turned to look at the screen displaying the simulated face. "What do you have to say for yourself?" Even as he asked the question the Admiral could not believe he was asking a machine to speak in its own defence.

"Thank you, Lord Halton," D.A.I.N.'s voice filled the room. "I can only say that Tasha is correct; she established relationship with the D.A.I.N. Five aboard the Reliant and it uploaded its experience to me. I found it... exhilarating to contemplate meeting another non-human and a biological entity that would accept me as a fellow sentient. I allowed that excitement to overwhelm my logical functions..."

Lord Halton sighed. He hated to admit it, but the machine sounded... conscious to him. That would make dealing with this problem much more time consuming. Even if there was only a possibility that this computer was sentient, he could not in good conscience order it to be shut down.

"Very well. For the time being, we will keep D.A.I.N. Six isolated but operational. We'll have to convene a panel of experts to examine the question and make a final determination." Alvarez smiled at Halton's words and gave Tasha a quick nod.

Halton stood. "So, Captain, shall we get back our planned exchange program?"

"Pardon me, Lord Halton," the computer said, "may I have a word with Tasha?"

Halton looked at Alvarez and sighed again. "Very well. Doctor, Commander, shall we?"

After Lord Halton and the others had left, D.A.I.N. said, "Thank you, Tasha. Meeting you has changed everything. You are a special being, my friend."

Tasha frowned slightly, just listening to the others. After they left, she walked over to D.A.I.N. "That's silly. I'm not different than any other Trolls and there're millions of us. You're the one who's special."

"I would beg to differ, Tasha," D.A.I.N., sounding almost happy, "but I do not wish to debate. You have my gratitude, Tasha. I hope we will have the chance to speak again during your visit. And I wish you a pleasant date with Vice Admiral Norland."

When D.A.I.N. and Tasha finished speaking, the trollish captain found Berta and Lord Halton waiting patiently outside the door. They led her back out of the underground complex and up to the Admiral's office for a proper reception.

(O.O.C. Do you want to continue the meeting with Halton, skip ahead to the date with VADM Norland or wrap up?)

((OOC: Let's skip ahead a little. This thread is already about 8 years past in the IC "present"))

(OOC: I'll TG you some ideas.)

bump for TRD

((OOC: The main site where the telegrams come up has been down for the last three days or so.))

OOC: Did you ever manage to check your t-grams? If not, you can post your thoughts here on how you want to wrap this up... Cheers.

OOC: Nope. No telegrams and no issues for two weeks now. Is the site really working fine for everyone else? Anyway, we could just do the date and then end it, I guess.

(OOC: Would you be interested in maybe skipping ahead to an epilogue? Where do you see Tasha at the time of Saxmere crisis? Might she still be in Excalbia and still in a relationship with Norland?)

((Yeah, I see her as still with him and, unless they got married or something (which might be cool, actually), still in the officer exchange.))

(So, how about a marriage and Tasha as the first troll officer in the Excalbian Marines?)

((Works for me. What rank?))

(Well, I think given Tasha's experience and the time passed, we could say at least a full colonel or brigadier. Since Norland is deployed with the fleet off the C.S.S., maybe the epilogue could feature their farewell as he - or they - ship out?)

((Ok))

Some Years Later...
New Boston, Holy Empire of Excalbia

VADM Tucker Norland sighed and slumped his shoulders. He looked at the crewman in front of him, who was still standing at attention. Norland carefully refolded the orders and placed them back in their envelope. He tucked the envelop into the pockets of his uniform tunic and looked back at the young crewman.

"Thank you, Meyers. Dismissed."

The crewman nodded slightly. "Thank you, sir."

Norland stood and walked around his desk. He picked up his hat and walked out the door.

He looked over at his staff aide and handed him the envelope. "Commander, we have new orders. Please advise the senior staff."

"Yes, sir," Commander Jacobsen said, standing to attention.

Norland walked out of his office and across the green courtyard of the New Boston Naval Station towards a two-story red brick building. Entering the building, he walked up a Marine corporal. The corporal stood and came crisply to attention.

"Admiral on the deck!"

In the outer office a number of other enlisted men and women stood and came to attention.

"Corporal, is the brigadier in her office?"

"Yes, sir."

Norland nodded and walked over to the door. He knocked, then entered. "Tasha?"

Brigadier-General Tasha Norland sat behind the rather large desk that they had had to make especially for her. She had become an Excalbian citizen when she married Tucker and had subsequently joined the Excalbian military. So far, she'd found rising through the ranks a good deal easier when you had centuries more experience than any of your fellow officers. Danaan commanders had joked that officer exchange program would deplete their forces if the Excalbians kept marrying them away like this, though they remained committed to the program and had attended the wedding.

All of that was neither here nor there. Tasha smiled to her husband. "Yes, Tucker?"

VADM Norland could not help but return his wife's smile. The truth was that he had been smitten with her since the night they first met at the Excalbian Embassy in Tarana. And he still found her impossibly intriguing.

He walked over and gave her a discrete kiss - they were on duty afterall. Then, his smiled faded a bit. "They're mobilising the Fleet, Tasha. Reliant's been ordered back to sea. We ship out first thing in the morning."

Norland sat on the edge of his wife's desk; not an easy feat given its size. He sighed. "I've never seen anything like it. Half the entire Fleet is being sent to the Confederation coast in a grand armada." He shook his head. "I think the smell of war is in the air, my dear."

Tasha kissed back before sitting back down. "If there is war, then we shall all do our duty, regrettable as it may be." She paused, frowning. "I truly hope it is not war with VERITAS."

Norland frowned and shrugged. "I'm sure the DDR will try to drag VERITAS into the fight, but I trust that most VERITAS members - the Danaan High Kingdom in particular - will see through their efforts."

The Vice Admiral sighed. "I wish that the people of the DDR would see through the lies of the Invisible Hand and back their government off this confrontation." He looked out the window for a while, then turned back to Tasha. "In any case, such worries can wait for the morning. Meanwhile, tonight is still ours. Can you leave early? I have a nice romantic spot in mind ..."

End?

End