New Perspectives

Posted on Tue Dec 2nd, 2025 @ 1:07pm by Lieutenant Commander Deanna Celes & Commander Jonathan Grayson & Lieutenant JG Kate Kono & Chief Petty Officer Aaron Geiger

1,273 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Wild Wild West
Location: USS Washington

The away team materialized in the transporter room along with Barton. The transport took a moment as the transporter chief had to render Barton's weapons nonfunctional. Once they had materialized Deanna looked to Barton, "You have seen things most on your planet would consider fantasy. I thought perhaps showing you that the fantasy was far more real would make you an ally moving forward."

Barton was understandably stunned at the experience of being transported. Being aboard the Washington, even just the transporter room, was a shock to his senses. "Where the hell am I, and how the hell did we get here?"

Deanna felt the confusion and panic in him, and those emotions were present in his words as well. "You are aboard the Federation starship Washington. You'll note that everyone around you is human or at least appears that way. No one is going to harm you here, so long as you remain calm."

Barton was still panicked, but he was trying hard to come to grips with the situation. He looked at everyone and then focused on Deanna, "You said appear human. You are saying aliens do in fact exist."

Deanna offered a soft chuckle as she looked to Jon. "I mean, I did say that. I suppose I should be clearer with him if we are to gain and maintain trust."

Kate extended her middle finger out to Barton and pointed at it dramatically as she walked toward the door. That's all she had to say to him. The door closed behind her for a moment before opening again. Two middle fingers rammed through the doorway and danced up and down before the arms retracted, causing the door to close again. The door opened up slightly to one last arm sticking through the crack with its middle finger drawn before it went back out into the hallway where it came from. If Kate could replicate more middle fingers, she would but she didn't want to come across as undiplomatic. As a Starfleet officer, she had a duty to be reasonable therefore helium baloons extra middle fingers, and cards expressing the extent to which Barton and Pete could go screw themselves, but that would be boarderline insubbordinate. She'd have to settle with just hinting to how she felt without saying anything. She unstrapped her rifle and handed it to a random security officer as he stood there with utter confusion on his face as he looked at the gun and the crying Asian as she stomped away from him in the hallway.

She walked around the corner and ran into Crewman Kyle who was battling 'The Program' on the holodeck. It only made her feel just slightly better that someone had pulled that prank on the new guy but the grief bounced back like a rubber ball on a racketball court and it hit her in the chest again. Kate couldn't walk any further. She yanked open a cover on a Jefferies tube and just crawled into it so she could be alone with her grief. It wasn't just the dog, it was a combination of everything; every mission was a new wound - death by a thousand cuts. If it wasn't physical, it was emotional and she just wanted to be alone. The ensign watched as Kate pulled the door shut on the tube and vanished so she could break down in peace.

Jon watched Kate leave the transporter room, he could imagine what she was feeling. He had felt like that many times before. He would make a point of speaking to her later. However, right now they had a 'guest' to entertain. "I think he can handle it. He's smart enough." He replied to Deanna.

Deanna looked to Barton, "Well, some aliens look very much like humans, and some do not. Most species do have certain traits that they share in general, such as being bipedal, two arms, two eyes, what you would consider normal human features. I can tell you that while all that is true, at the moment, in this very room, one of the people in this room is not human."

Barton looked around. "You're joking, right? I mean, aliens would be green or blue, something along those lines. Are you telling me aliens exist that look just like humans?"

Deanna smiled. "Considering I'm not human, yes, I am telling you that." This admission got a chuckle out of Traci and Viviana, as did Barton's reaction.

"What do you mean you aren't human?" he questioned, still a bit confused.

Deanna sensed the genuineness of his confusion. He wasn't slow, this was just a rather big revelation that he was having to come to terms with. But if he could, then he wouldn't be quite as shocked when they introduced him to the captain. "I am not human. I am Betazoid. I come from a planet called Betazed. My people from the outside are indistinguishable from humans, but in reality, we have a great many differences."

"I could give him an anatomy lesson if you think it would help" Viviana chimed in playfully.

"I don't think that will be necessary doctor" Deanna replied. "I believe I friend here might enjoy it too much. You might blush if you knew his thoughts."

Barton gave Deanna a side eye glance, "How do you know my thoughts?"

"Betazoids are telepaths my dear sir" Traci chimed in.

Jon silently smirked as Barton tried to make sense of what he was being told. Truth was it was a lot to handle and accept and they were just getting started as they still had to meet the captain, and Jon was sure that was going to be a shock for Barton.

"Telepath. So you are telling me you can read your mind?" Barton questioned.

Traci giggled. "She probably knows more about you than you do."

Deanna offered a sly grin. "Yes, I can read your mind. And they are right, at this point, I know more about you than you probably know about yourself. For instance, I know that when you were younger you worked for the government as a soldier. On a expedition north of the capital you encountered an alien vessel buried in the mountain. You and your unit stayed there for a week before another team arrived, and you were sent home and nothing has ever been said of it. Or if you prefer something more personal, your first kiss was your friend Natasha in your parents barn."

Barton threw up his hands, "Whoa, I surrender. You are a telepath. Let's not tell everybody about my entire personal life now."

"I suggest we take Mr. Barton here to the conference room, let him speak with the captain. We should also look into bringing Judge Haller up here. The two of them will be essential if we are to reconnect these people with Earth" Deanna suggested to Jon.

Aaron looked after Kate's departure and then turned back to the group. "Commanders, I'll go get back in regulation." He said while folding his duster over his arm. "Should I grab the CHENG to meet the Skipper, or do you want me to check on the LT?" Aaron gestured behind him towards the hatch leading out of the transporter room.

"Go ahead and look after Kate, then report to the conference room for debrief" Deanna replied. She looked over at Jon, "Shall we?" she said as she gestured towards the door.

"Let's" he agreed before turning to Barton. "Come along Mr. Barton, you are going to meet the captain, and I can assure you, you won't want to miss this meeting."


TBC

 

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