Star Trek: The voyages of the USS Apollo

Chapter Six: First Contact with the Shalari

It was then that Ethan realised what this was and said "Of course. This planet is a colony of an alien race and the armed ship must be in place to defend the planet. It must disable enemy ships and then have the soldiers board it. As for the second ship, they must simply be bringing new colonists and supplies to the planet so that the colony can grow." It all made perfect sense to the crew. The aliens had colonised this planet and were bringing in new colonists and equipment. They would have conformation soon as William said "Sir. They are hailing us." Ethan had been hoping to hear those words. Ever since joining Starfleet he had wanted to make first contact with an alien race and now that time had come. Ethan looked at William and proudly said "On screen." The viewscreen then changed to show an alien woman who had pink skin and pointed ears like a Vulcan. There were four straight head ridges on her forehead and smaller ridges across her nose. There was no hair on her head and her eyes had irises that resembled that of a starfish. Her uniform was blue and had patterns like a sea shell and there were golden stripes across the shoulders of her uniform, representing her command. On her right breast area was a badge that was shaped like a sphere and had a four pointed star on it. Clearly the emblem of whatever nation she represented and fought for.

The Captain of the alien ship was sitting in a command chair and had a look of sternness on her face as she said "This is Captain Kadari of the Shalari Defence Force, identify yourselves and your reason for arriving at the Corva Prime Colony." Ethan stood up and said "This is Captain Ethan Rivers of the Federation Star Ship Apollo. Representing the United Federation of Planets. Me and my crew are on a long journey through the Gamma Quadrant and are hoping to obtain Dilithium and a few star maps that can help with our journey home. If you wouldn't mind of course." Captain Kadari stroked her chin and asked "What would you give our traders in return?" Ethan answered "We are a planetary survey vessel. We can enact analysis of the planet in exchange for some Dilithium and a map of known space. We can tell that you only recently colonised Corva Prime, so I believe it is safe to assume that you don't know much about the planet. We can help with that." Captain Kadari thought for a moment and said "You are correct Captain. Even though we have only colonised this planet for about a year, we are yet to fully identify all of the animal and plant life and half of the planet is off limits due to us not knowing what is there. So I do believe that your argument is a reasonable one." Ethan then asked "So would you be so kind for as to forward our request to your commanding officer?" Kadari quickly answered "Very well. I will forward your request to Governor Salmar. Until then."

Kadari then closed the channel and William said "Well this is going well so far." Ethan agreed and said "Indeed. I hope the Governor approves our request." Ethan was proven right, as an hour later, a new channel was opened from the Capital City of the Colony and the face of the Colony Governor appeared. Being male, Governor Salmar had blue skin and wore a uniform reminiscent of the uniforms that old Earth politicians wore during the early 20th century. From his office in the Governor's residence, Salmar said "To the Federation Star Ship Apollo, I have approved your request to survey the planet in exchange for Dilithium and a map of known space. I hope that this proves to be the start of a fruitful friendship between our two peoples." Salmar then noticed Voq, Laren and T'Vrell and realised that the ship had multiple species and said "Or should I say between our four peoples as it would seem." Ethan chuckled and said "The Federation get's that a lot whenever we make First Contact. Now lets get to work on surveying this planet. After all, the faster we get it done, the sooner we'll have what we need to continue our journey." Governor Salmar then asked "By the way, indulge me by satisfying my curiosity, where exactly are you going?" With a smile on his face, Ethan answered "Where everyone wants to go after a long journey...home."

"Captains Log: Supplemental. We have made First Contact with the Shalari. An alien race native to this part of the Gamma Quadrant. The Shalari are relatively new to the galactic stage and only developed Warp about seventeen years ago. Their ships can travel at Warp 3 and they are currently developing Warp 4. Despite their limited Warp capabilities, the Shalari Republic has colonised four planets in neighbouring solar systems, including this one that they refer to as Corva Prime. I have convinced Governor Salmar, the leader of the colony, to give us star maps and Dilithium. As well as details regarding the parts of the Gamma Quadrant that they have explored. Of course part of the agreement is for us to enact a survey of the planet as they have still not yet finished their surveys of Corva Prime. As for the details regarding this part of the Gamma Quadrant, Governor Salmar has let me know that they are rather disturbing."