Briefing the Ambassador

Posted on Tue Sep 22nd, 2026 @ 4:43am by Vice-Admiral J.T Carlson & Ambassador Frederick Forsythe

1,315 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: 1x01 - Homecoming
Location: Confrence Room

Personal Log, Supplemental: After taking on Ambassador Fredrick Forsythe as Station Deep Space Echo-6, Tigerfish is back on course towards the Algonquin Fleet Yards where we will be meeting with the Ambassadors of the Eifie and Federal Rheuysian Republics

J.T sat at the end of the conference table, PADDs stacked around him. A fresh pot of coffee and cups from the ship's service set ready for use. J.T had a cup near him, steam still rising from it as he reviewed the notes from the Starfleet Galactic Memory Banks on the current state of affairs of the Eifie and Rhuysians. Even though J.T had brought them into the Federation, he hadn't kept apprised on what the current affairs were between the two.

Starfleet had assigned the ambassador to the region, Fredrick Forsythe to the Tigerfish and J.T had sent a note to him that he wanted a sit down.

All J.T had to do was wait now.

A few moments later, the doors to the conference room opened and Fred stepped inside. His face was placid and his arms were behind his back, padd in hand. He stepped forward and approached the table, nodding to the room's other occupant. "Admiral," he said. "What can I do for you?"

"I'd like to speak about the diplomatic situation we're about to find ourselves in." J.T elaborated as he gestures to an empty chair near him. "Coffee?"

"Please and thank you," Fred said, sitting down. He placed his padd on the table and crossed his legs.

"I was hoping to discuss the current political situation in Sector 813. Our orders are to divert and assist the Two Governments there. They've requested fleet intervention due to the threat of the Klingon's new Subspace Weapons." J.T elaborated as he poured the ambassador a cup of coffee.

"I," J.T started. "I've haven't been in the region since Starfleet handed over K-9 to the Eifie and Rhuysian governments, so any advice on the current politic would be appreciated.

Fred drummed his fingers on the table, then tapped his padd, bringing up a map of the area. “A lot of noise from our side of the border, surprisingly little from the Klingons,” he said. “The Rheuysians have been a Federal Republic for a mere two decades now. That may seem like a good amount of time to a person, but to a society, it’s the blink of an eye, and calling them a society is generous. There are plenty of people there old enough to remember the Reich they’d been influenced to form, and many more who remember the hell they were in before that. They’re a culture that had no culture. You can’t have a defining, healthy culture and blow yourselves to kingdom come. So, they have latched on to whatever system seems most beneficial to them at the time. At first that was an imperialistic, military-oriented government. It gave them what they wanted: an end to the chaos, and those who were able to seize power did so. Ironically, it was probably the best thing for them, given how rapidly it helped them pull themselves out of the muck.”

He looked at the map on the screen and let out a breath. “Forming the Republic they are now was not an altruistic move, in my opinion. It was, again, self-serving because they did it not because it was right but because they got something out of it. More people had individual power and liberty, less poverty, et cetera. It appealed to the masses, and those in power saw which way the wind was blowing, and made the transition. I have no doubt that if we hadn’t been so keen on accepting them into the Federation, they would have moved on to the next shiny thing soon after, and gotten worse.”

He gestured to the neutral zone. “But we did accept them, because we need every single planet along the neutral zone on our side, on our side. So, we now have a toddler society who are still going through the growing pains of rediscovering who they are as a people and what they truly want.”

“On the other hand,” he said, “the Eifie are fairly well settled, stable, and have been good neighbors. Honestly? Pairing them together to jointly run a station was the smartest thing we could have done. It’s given the Rheuysians a ‘mentor’ culture of sorts, to keep them on the right path. Heavy friction between them had been rare, and the fact that they’ve had three incidents requiring third-party negotiation in the last six months is unusual.”

He eyed the Klingon planets. “On the other hand, the Klingons have done very little in this area as of late. Their usual bluster, or show of their flag along the border, has been muted. Even during our quietest periods in the past, they've shown their ships here. I’m curious why they’re suddenly ‘less interested’.” He settled back in his chair, looking back at the admiral.

"Have you been briefed on recent events?" J.T inquired as he too leaned back in his chair.

"I have not," Fred said. "I assumed that was why you asked me in."

“This is all considered Code Red Classified. Three weeks ago, the Klingons test detonated a subspace weapon near the Delta Warning line. They made another test about a week ago. Starfleet believes that this made be a prelude to more offensive actions by the Klingons. Naturally, those governments close to the Organian Peace lines are concerned.” J.T elaborated for the ambassador.

Fred pursed his lips and took a breath. "I see," he said after a moment. "Do they know we know? Have they given us an 'official' explanation? I've not heard anything through my channels, which means whatever their military is saying, it hasn't gone through diplomatic channels yet."

"I don't think a lot of their government even knows what's goin on at any one time. Most of the Klingon Government is handled by the Great houses, and, I'll be honest, it's a feudal system where one hand doesn't know what the other is doing."

"Something that can be very advantageous to us," Fred said, thinking. "So the next questions to ask are, which houses know of this weapon, which fund it, and which stand to benefit the most?" He tapped his fingers on the counter, looking at the wall, thinking quietly. "I should make some discreet inquiries."

"Not sure. Could be any of them. The last time I was in the region, the dominant house was the House of Khartan. Their house leader, Bra'Kris, died some years ago and we're not entirely sure who's in charge of it. Though I wouldn't put much confidence they're still in command of this region of space." J.T commented. "I'll make inquiries with Section 3 for intel. Their director owes me a favor."

"I'll contact a...I don't want to use the word 'friend' but a trusted associate in Klingon space. He's usually good for reliable gossip. With luck, he'll have an idea which houses are rattling their bat'leths more than usual and we may have some leads," Fred said. "If nothing else, it may give us direction as to which houses we should contact for further information."

"Let me know what you manage to uncover. If nothing else, the meeting with the Eifie and Rhuysians will also probably gleam some light into the situation in the sector."

Fred nodded. "I will, Admiral," he said. "Is there anything else you need from me?"

"Not at the moment. We'll conference again on Fleetyards. Thank you, Mr. Ambassador." J.T stood, shaking his hand before the Ambassador left the conference room.

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Vice Admiral J.T. Carlson
U.S.S. Tigerfish-A
Starfleet Command

Frederick Forsythe
Ambassador
USS Tigerfish

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