A Tellarite Among Humans

Posted on Tue Jan 27th, 2026 @ 2:41am by Lieutenant Varkl Brukh & Captain Maddox Greene

1,392 words; about a 7 minute read

Gathered in a forward observation lounge aboard the Daedalus class USS Anson, at least 12 individuals wearing Starfleet uniforms with different color piping and ranks indicating their eventual positions. Some gathered in pockets of up to 5, while others stood alone, patiently observing the slowly growing star which their new home was situated near.

Eventually the observers would notice that the star was no longer directly in front of the ship's course, and it would slide by the port side at a reasonable distance. As the ship dropped to sublight, a new dim point of light reflected by the star was now directly ahead, but was still to far to make out any features. Nervous chatter began among the crowd in anticipation, except for the only non-human present.

A lone Tellarite stood next to a bulkhead idly gazing out the transparent aluminum window, and grumbling as he gnawed his bearded lower lip. "At least that vibration stopped when we dropped out of warp... Any engineer worth his ale should be able to feel that..." he muttered so low that no one near would have heard. "And why do Human ships have to be so damned cold and dry!", he shrugged his jacket tighter around his robust furry body in hopes of increasing body heat by a degree or more.

"That's Sentinel!" someone on the other side of the room cried out, causing everyone to press forward to the windows. Varkl Brukh gazed out the port and indeed noticed the once small dot of light slowly becoming an unnatural form that could only have been a structure. The Anson was approaching at a 45-degree angle allowing an oblique top view of the station revealing three branches off a central core. Brukh studied the growing structure with a critical eye first noting the large shuttlebays and docking ports, and the telltale spike of the communications array became visible; closer still the location of tactical systems were observed, and lastly as the ship cut to 1/4 impulse he observed the attitude thruster ports which kept the station oriented in the desired location.

With a slight bump the great bulb of the Anson nudged against the station's arm end labeled with a large "3". Most of those assembled in the lounge had already gathered up their various bags in hopes of departing at the first opportunity, Brukh held back to avoid the predictable crush at the door. Someone of his bulk had learned first hand to allow the smaller, eager Humans to proceed on their hurried way, and not be slighted at their impatience.

A few minutes after the room had cleared, he shouldered the large synthetic bag that was at his hooved feet, and proceeded to the corridor beyond which was bustling with activity in both directions. Heading toward the port side that was docked with the base he curved around the hall to a now gaping portal; which formerly had been a sealed airlock. As he turned the corner he got the first look at the interior of the place he would soon have great responsibility for. Numerous crew shuffled through the opening, some with similar bags holding their belongings, while others came aboard the Anson holding various tools, computer tablets, and equipment.

Stepping through the airlock he set hoof aboard the station, stepped to one side to avoid blocking the portal, and laid a meaty 3-fingered hand on the wall while closing his eyes. Complete stillness. No noticeable vibration, tremor or quiver. He grinned silently until he was brought out of this reverie by someone clearing his throat nearby. Opening his sunken eyes revealed a Human with the rank insignia of Captain on his shoulder. Brukh dropped his hand from the wall, stood straight and introduced himself.

" Lt. Varkl Brukh, Captain. Request permission to come aboard."

Captain Greene had been standing off, awaiting the arrival of the USS Anson. Whenever possible, he wanted to make it a happen of greeting the members of his senior staff as they arrived at the station. Today, his Chief Engineer Varkl Brukh was arriving. Outside of brief interactions, Maddox had little experience working with Tellarites. So, this was something that he was excited about. When Brukh, noticed him he stood straight at attention.

Smiling at the man, Maddox moved in closer. "Permission granted, Lieutenant and relax. I trust your journey here was smooth and without issue?"

"The first part was pleasant enough. I had the fortune of catching a ride with my brother's ship, a freighter heading by Rigel. From there to here however..." he held back while moving his bag to the other shoulder while gazing toward the airlock. "Human ships are... let's say a bit too cool for my people, and no disrespect to the Anson's engineering team, but if they were ground zero during a seismic event they wouldn't feel it. That's why I was feeling the wall when you found me, not a tremor." He paused and looked back at Greene, "Pardon me Captain, if you haven't met many of my kind you won't know that we like to complain, it's a particular quirk of my species. Being among Humans I shall try to avoid it in the future."

"I'm well aware of the uncanny ability of the Tellarite to complain," the Captain replied with a chuckle. "Got the feeling that those complaints will keep the engineering staff on their toes and things will run extremely well on this station. Let's get you out of here." Green led the Lieutenant out of the airlock.

As they moved along the long corridor linking the docking arm to the main core they discussed the station's layout while Brukh continued to note engineering details about the station; the location of utility hatches along the wall which would hide various conduits, floor hatches which would contain piping to transfer deuterium fuel to docked ships.

"I'm sure you have done your homework on this place. What's your opinion?"

They had reached the end of the corridor and Brukh paused briefly. "I went over the schematics on route, and at some point I'd like to take a pod out for an external examination and get some close-up look at the arm junctions." He indicated the area they were now in, "this will be a structural weak point if we ever get attacked, and it wouldn't do to have one arm shear off from stress or weapon damage - we'd lose a portion of the shield grid, not to mention life support in the area beyond before the airlock could close."

Brukh stroked his beard momentarily and added, "At present there is a main power grid, and a secondary backup. It would be well to add a third for redundancy... that's yet another Tellarite trait I'm afraid, built in resilience. Vulcan's tend to believe everything will function as it should, but we understand that anything that can break eventually will. Best to be prepared and have a fall-back plan.

"Humans and Tellarites are quite similar in that manner," Maddox admitted. "Not surprised to hear about the weak points. Brand new station means there are new problems to discover. Looks like you get the pleasure of working out those flaws for Starfleet. Put a list together when you get a chance. The last thing we need is to be dealing with flaws in the middle of a fight."

They continued a brief tour of the main areas of the station, concluding at the Chief Engineer's assigned quarters, where the they parted. Brukh surveyed his new berth, dropped his bag on the bed and started unpacking. Spare uniforms and other assorted clothes were placed in a wardrobe, and drawers smartly concealed in one wall.

Lastly came some mementos; a holographic family picture, one of a young lady he had begun to fancy before leaving, and lastly a collection of old tools and devices he had collected over the years on the shipyard. Among them were a small handheld computing device of 20th century Human origin, a plasma cutting tool from Andor's middle history, and from Vulcan a scanning implement for locating ore deposits. These he placed on the narrow shelf running around the room, he then sat at the desk and started composing a list of tasks for the next day.

=================
Captain Maddox Greene
Commanding Officer
Sentinel Station
and
Lt. Varkl Brukh
Chief Engineer
Sentinel Station

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