Summer Foreign Study Project

Posted on Sat Oct 26th, 2024 @ 5:16am by Sub-Lieutenant Osirin Acainus & Ensign Kash th'Kaasniik

2,723 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Character Backstories
Location: Deep Space Nine
Timeline: 2386 Starfleet Academy's Summer Interim

Cadet Kash th'Kaasniik stepped through the docking ring and walked onto the famed Deep Space Nine station with the four other cadets and the professor who would be joining him on the internship he was lucky enough to be a part of working with the second contact team being escorted to Akadia later tonight. The USS Anaheim was scheduled to be arrive two hours from now, but someone had seen the Akadian ship docked at one of the pylons and there had been some buzz about whether or not any of the crew would be on the station.

"Kash didn't you say you've never been to DS9?" Taryn asked. She was a Bajoran first year medical student, and the oldest of the cadets selected for the trip.

"No, I haven't. It wasn't really at the top of my family's list of vacation spots. I'm looking forward to checking out the architecture though. From pictures, the Cardassian design is different from anywhere else I've been. Fascinated how the first Starfleet crews managed to interface our technology with theirs when it isn't compatible at all," Kash replied.

"Or, now hear me out," Jake said interjecting dramatically. "You could forget about work stuff for a minute and just come with us and grab a drink at Quarks, see what the scene here is like."

"I could do that, you're right. It's not like we won't be coming back through here after the internship," Kash agreed.

Osirin wasn't sure how he felt about meeting a new species. He was naturally suspicious and thought that the Federation might have ulterior motives. That was a distinct possibility in his mind and he was not the only one on his world who thought so. On the other hand, he was naturally curious and inquisitive. He heard mixed things about this second contact and wanted to find out for himself. On the plus side he heard the Federation was filled with diverse species. That at least was a good thing.

Now that he was sitting on a stool at Quarks watching the comings and goings, he was intrigued.

With their professor going a different direction, the five cadets grabbed a table near the bar, their uniforms clearly identifying who they were. "The bar's a bit smaller than I expected," Kash admitted in a low voice after a Ferengi waiter had taken their order. I guess I had it built up in my head like some Las Vegas casino."

Still he was enjoying the atmosphere. He wasn't sure he could even identify all the races of the people hanging out - definitely quite a few that weren't from the Federation. Kash's eyes lit up as he talked to the others about the adventure they were about to embark on, his antennae more active than usual, picking up on activity from all around them. When Jake went to check out the Dabo tables, Kash stood up as well, "I think I might try to mingle a little." He took his empty glass up to the bar and patiently waited for one of the servers to make their way back around.

"Are you a regular here?" He asked an olive-skinned patron sitting nearby. The man looked around Kash's age, with thick black hair and piercing eyes, particularly for someone who seemed so young. But then again, it could be hard to tell an alien's age at times.

Osirin looked up from the drink he was holding. It was almost the same hue as the man with antennae standing next to him. "Uh, no. It's my first time here. I'm assuming that question means you aren't yourself, or you are and you're just trying a pick up line on me.

"Either way you can have a seat. I think my little potable here is from your world. It's called Andorian Ale."

Kash felt a warm blush rise to his cheeks, and hoped it wasn't too noticeable. "Sorry, it's my first time here. My friends and I are only around for a few hours. Starfleet Cadet Kash th"Kaasnik. My friends call me Kash."

"Do you like the ale?" Kash asked. He hasn't sat down yet. Something about the stranger made him nervous, though not in a bad way.

"I think it is an acquired taste. I can't say it will ever be my favorite beverage, but I don't dislike it. What do you like to drink?"

"Probably. The Humans consider it more of a spirit than an ale," Kash admitted. "Right now I'm just drinking srjula - a tea. We're meeting back up with our Professor in a few hours to leave for our summer internship in the Gamma Quadrant. I don't know that he'd appreciate any of us showing up smelling like booze - synthehol or not."

"I can agree that it's more a spirit than an ale. I guess, but I'm no expert, I'm probably not much older than you and this is the first ship I've been on. Not to mention, this whole Federation thing is new to all of my people."

"One thing I find confusing, well there's really more than one, but I have to ask you, why did your people invent synthehol? Doesn't it take part of the fun out? I mean, have you ever been wasted?"

"Don't look at me, the Andorians had nothing to do it, and it's not produced on my homeworld," Kash said with a light laugh holding his hands up in innocence. "You can thank the Ferengi for that invention. You can get a little buzzed off of it, and it's what's served at all Starfleet functions, and from the replicators. Any ship with a bar has the real thing, you just have to know to ask for it."

"As far as how drunk I've been," Kash turned and leaned his back against the bar and smiled. "Are you going to at least tell me your name first?" He asked a playful twinkle in his eyes as his gaze briefly scanned the stranger, appreciating what appeared to a strong physique landing again on the man's eyes and expectant look on his face as he waited for an answer.

The Akadian chuckled in return. "I'm so sorry. That was horribly impolite. My name is Osirin, Osirin Acainus."

"Oh, and by your people, I meant the Federation, But thanks for the insight."

"Do you have to stay with your group, or could you do some exploring?"

"Now or in general?" Kash asked. "There are times I have to be at a certain place. Now isn't one of them," he added with a smirk.

"You probably know this station better than I do. Any ideas on what you want to do? Where you want to go?"

"To be honest, this is my first time out here," Kash admitted. "I think most of the entertainment is set up around the promenade. DomJot or darts here. Do you play?"

"No," Osirin responded placing a friendly hand on his new friend's shoulder, before removing it. "I've never heard of the game what is it like?"

Kash responded by reaching over with his left hand and putting it on Osirin's back. He gently nudged him to turn counter-clockwise toward the activity in the back of the bar. He let his hand linger just a little longer than it needed to as he pointed out the DomJot tables.

"I mentioned two different games. Domjot is back there. It's a billiard game. There are balls on a table. You hit them with sticks called cues. A lot of people gamble, but it's possible to play for fun," Kash explained.

Then Kash pointed to his right. "Over there, see that target on the wall. That's for throwing darts. Almost like small arrows with a needle or pin like point. You aim at the target for points."

Kash took a drink of his tea and watched for Osirin's response with interest. Curious to know his thoughts about these games.

"Darts?" the Akadian responded after looking at both games briefly. "That looks fun. Have you played before?"

Osirin wondered if the hand on his shoulder had been deliberate.

"Yeah?" Kash responded with some enthusiasm that Osirin thought it looked like fun. "Sure, it's pretty popular at the Academy. It's easy to learn with a little hand-eye coordination. Wanna play?"

"Sure," Osirin responded quickly. Akadians were not known for their strength, but they excelled at activities that required agility. "Why don't you show me how it's done?"

"Well, I'd be honored to try," Kash replied picking up his glass. As they crossed the bar to the dartboard, Kash found himself feeling the need to fill the silence so he kept talking. "It's a Human game. Darts, I mean. Throwing sharp objects at a target while drinking alcohol. It's not that far off from how Andorians entertain ourselves, but we tend to throw larger, sharper objects for sport than darts."

"Blue or yellow?" Kash asked when they reached the board. He picked up two sets of darts from a cup behind the board.

"Blue works for me," Osirin responded. "Is that the right Terran phrase?"

"Yeah, that is something they'd say," Kash said handing him the three blue darts.

"Where are you from by the way?" Kash finally asked.

Osirin thought it was rather obvious, but quickly reconsidered. After all, while his mission, or the mission of the ship he was a member of the crew on wasn't classified, it wasn't exactly well known either.

"I'm from a planet called Akadia, in the Gamma Quadrant. I'm on a second contact mission."

"You probably haven't heard of us."

He took the darts and held them down at his side, waiting for the Andorian to demonstrate the game to him.

"Are you kidding? Of course, I've heard of you. Well of Akadia. When Starfleet makes contact with a new race its kind of a big deal. That's actually why I'm here. We're uh, joining the Anaheim in a few hours and I guess being escorted back to your system." Kash seemed pleasantly surprised if not bewildered they had accidentally made an early connection.

Osirin quirked his brow. "We'll I guess we'll be together for a while then. I'll have to show you around the ship when you get there. For now though why don't we play our game? First, though, I have to ask, do Andorians really have four parents?"

Kash let out a small chuckle at the question and nodded. "Yeah. Biologically anyway. Does that seem strange?" He asked.

"Different for sure. Not strange though. Biologically we only have two parents, like most of the Universe I suppose. Socially on the other hand marriages are more open. It makes for some interesting family dynamics."

"More open than what?" Kash remarked. "If you spend more time around the Federation, I think you'll see it's hard to pin down any traditional definition of marriage or family to use as a baseline for anything. I know on Andoria, things have changed quite a bit in the last couple of hundred years. I think things are always changing everywhere."

"The game. We each start with 501 points, and the first person to get to zero wins. The bullseye is worth 50, so that's a good spot to aim." Kash pointed out the numbers around the target and the different colors and how the points added up. "Don't worry about trying to remember it all at once. Feel free to ask questions while we play. This is just for fun, right?" He smiled at the Akadian, making eye contact while he waited for an answer. He was trying to read Osirin. Usually, his keen Andorian senses helped him pick up on subtle cues that other humanoids around him were giving off, but Osirin had been a mystery since they'd first greeted one another and it intrigued him.

"Of course it's just for fun," came the deadpan reply. "I rarely play for credits. Clothes sometime, but credits, not so much."

Kash blinked a couple of times as he registered what Osirin had just said. "Clothes, you mean like strip poker or something - or just if someone has a jacket you like?"

"I have to admit I've done both. But, I was just childing. Mostly anyway.".

"Right," Kash nodded, somewhat unconvinced as he walked away from the dart board toward a table that had been set up near the throw line. "So we stand back here and throw. I'll go first. I throw all three and then it's your turn."

"Go right ahead," Osirin responded taking a few steps away from the Andorian, not because he had lost interest, but rather because he wanted to get a better view of the board.

"Go right ahead."

"It's fairly easy at the beginning. It's toward the end of the game when you are trying to make zero that it gets a little tricky," Kash said before launching the first dart at the board. As he threw the other three, he was a bit disappointed having hit the green circle twice, and missing it in the wrong direction.

"Okay, so that's 60 down for me. I'll grab my darts, then it's your turn." Kash went to retrieve the darts and walked back. "You know this game really is better with a beer."

"Why don't you go grab some? I'll stay here. I promise not to cheat. I mean, I wouldn't even if I knew how."

"You too? What can I get you?" Kash asked.

"It doesn't matter. Whatever you're having I guess."

When Kash returned to the dart station, Osirin reported his score was 50.

Kash set their drinks down on the table. "Alright, so your score is 451, and mine is 441. We started with 501, and we're trying to get to exactly zero. Make sense?" Kash explained.

"No it doesn't," he realized laughing at himself. "Darts is a stupid game to teach to someone who is new to Earth culture and sports and games. It is one of the very, very few games, where the entire purpose is to lose points, not win them."

"I can't think of any Akadian games where that's the goal. How did it come about? If you know?"

Kash laughed again. "I really don't. It's an Earth game. I don't know of any Andorian games where that's the goal either."

With a mischievous smile Osirin leaned closer to Kash and in a conspiratorial whisper asked, "So what kind of games to Andorians play?"

Kash responded with a sly grin, tilting his head slightly toward Osirin as he answered. "Honestly, we're a bit more hands on. But if we aren't knocking one another around, games of wit, strategy."

"Hands on, can be very stimulating," Osirin responded with a deadpan expression. "Depending on where the hands are laid. I have heard that Andorians can be quite aggressive in their play. Is that right?"

Kash smiled in amusement and shook his head slightly. He put his arm on their hightop table and leaned against it. "Just where are you hearing all these things about Andorians?" Kash asked meeting his gaze. a

Osirin set the darts down and moved fractionally closer to the other man. "I've done a little research on the Federation. It's kind of my job."

"But you haven't answered my question."

Kash noticed the shift in movement. "I think that depends on who you ask," Kash responded coyly. Leaning slightly toward Osirin he added, "I'd be more inclined to say we're spirited, impassioned perhaps."

The Akadian didn't move closer, but he didn't move further away either. "Not unlike my people. We could continue our game, I am enjoying myself. Or we could adjourn someplace more private for a different type of game. One I'm sure both of our peoples are good at playing."

Kash scanned the room, then Osirin, before he stood up a little straighter and took a long drink from his beer. This could be an interesting summer, he thought. "I'm interested in entertaining your idea. You seem to have picked up the game fairly easily. Shall we move along to something else then?"

Osirin reached out to Kash and laid a hand on the Andorian's shoulder. "That is the best idea I've heard all night. I'm very adept at all sorts of games and I'm sure one of us will come out on top."

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