S'Krellen

S'Krellen sat with his long legs crossed on the floor, reader in his hand and Marco's head in his lap. Scratching the dog's head for a bit seemed to relax him, but both sets of eyes looked up when the door chime rang.

Brushing down his moustache and goatee to make himself slightly presentable, S'Krellen stood and said "Sit Marco. It is probably one of the children wanting to take you for a walk." Marco's tail wagged enough to make his ears flop. "Stay, bud." Looking at the door, he added. "Come, and welcome."

"Umm...Captain?" S'Krellen said, raising an eyebrow.

Rear Admiral Rebecka James smiled. "Permission to enter?"

S'Krellen brushed off his overly large sweater and brushed off his hands at the same time. "Of course, Captain! It is, I believe, still your ship." Motioning for her to enter he said. "And forgive me for not shaking your hand in congratulations on your promotion, but Marco and I were just lolly-gagging together and I have not cleaned up yet."

James leaned over and held out her hand while Marco eargerly leaned forward but stayed sitting. "He is well trained."

"You haven't seen him around children, then. It takes me hours to get him back into order." Looking down he smiled and snapped his fingers. Marco eagerly cautious approach to James was rewarded with a hand to sniff and then some behind the ears attention.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, Captain?"

James gave Marco a quick pat on the head as the dog headed for his bed and chew bone. "I'd like to ask you about your buiness on my ship, Civilian S'Krellen."

Smiling, S'Krellen replied. "Certainly, Captain! Vulcan Paesen crystals are a fairly new technology and I appreciate the potential we can do for Star Fleet. So far even our most rigorous tests show a fifteen point three-seven percent increase in phaser power based on the recombinant wave patterns. My cargo is to be used for testing once we reach your star base."

James' face stiffened a bit. "Not that business...Civilian...S'Krellen." Her eyes bored into him. "I've just spent several hours sparring with one of the finest warriors the Klingon Empire has to offer. Pardon me if that makes my conversation a bit more straight-forward than you are used to. There is a new captain taking command of this vessel. If you choose to associate with this ship I will ensure she has you personell file for her review. Your real file, sir. Not the one that was originally presented to me."

S'Krellen's smile covered his thoughts like a mask for several moments. "That would explain the increased pherenomes, Captain. May I?"

James nodded curtly and then looked puzzled as S'Krellen opened a box and pulled out a child's toy. She said "That looks like a Rellan lightening ball."

S'Krellen nodded. "It is, with the caveat." He flicked the on switch and the purple electricity danced in the crystal container. "that it was made by my family and never made it to Rella. It has an interesting reaction with the wall panels."

James looked around. The room was spartan, even for a star ship. S'Krellen had been presented as a Vulcan merchant with new technology for Star Fleet testing and had been accorded a slightly larger single room. However, it seemed occupied with a luggage box, a couple other boxes like the one the Rellan toy came from, and Marco ensconced on his bed. She saw a bedroll in the corner and then commented. "I thought your room looked a little small. What are these panels?"

"With floor and ceiling tiles, Captain. Similar to what the walls in your stateroom are coated with, though the next generation formula. Your walls prevent scanning and detection and eliminate signal passage through them. No one should hear what the captain has to say in his or her private quarters."

"And these panels?"

"More of the same, with the caveat that when activated." he said pointing at the pulsating crystal, "by certain electric frequencies they can be programmed to redirect or falsify scan or comm signals. For example, with the right equipment I could present the image to someone spying on us that you were getting details on the Paesen to see if they could be tested on a new ship being built. One of my uncles came up with the technology but we're not ready to market it to Star Fleet yet."