What's Past_ The Future Begins (Book 2) - Michael Schuster [5]
Biotechnology—the one thing the Kropaslin could offer the Federation where they could be sure that the Federation would pay every price to obtain it. Despite extensive research in that field, Federation scientists still lagged behind species such as the Breen and the Azziz. They managed to incorporate elements of it in their technology, certainly—the bioneural gel packs used on some of the newer ship classes were evidence of that—but that was a far cry from having entirely biological vessels at one’s disposal, ships that you could basically grow in your own backyard while enjoying a quiet drink on your veranda, so to speak.
Scotty had become somewhat familiar with the technology while working on the construction of the newest Enterprise, and that was when he had first come across a reference to Kropasar. Nechayev must have known about his interest in those people’s biotechnological accomplishments when she had picked him for this little “ice-breaker,” an informal get-together of Kropaslin and Federation luminaries to ease tensions, now that membership negotiations were once again in full swing. Before the war, Kropasar had applied to become a member of the Federation, but then the revival of Klingon hostilities and the subsequent Dominion War had changed the Federation’s goals. Since Kropasar was located a couple dozen light-years rimward of Omicron Ceti, far from the conflict zone, its admittance had fallen to the wayside, given the Diplomatic Corps had much more pressing matters to deal with.
But now, the president had decided the time was right to get things back on track, which was why Scotty was here on the fourth planet of a star system with no name, just a number, searching for a drink.
The bar, as Scotty had guessed, did not serve Scotch. However, one of the ambassadors, an El-Aurian, had recommended the Andorian ale, and Scotty soon held a glassful of that in his hands. Fortunately, it was a delightful vintage, possessed of a strong blue hue. Wandering over to the buffet, there was also an unsurprising lack of any good food. It seemed as though the Kropaslin had a big liking for foods imported from the Vega system, which was very unfortunate, as one of the many things he had disliked about Vega IX had been the food.
What he really wanted was some haggis, but he hadn’t had a good plate of that for almost three years, since his time on the Enterprise-E; helping build a ship from almost the ground up meant you could hardwire the replicators just the way you liked. In the end, he reluctantly settled on a kebab of vegetables from Xaraka XII.
No sooner had he began to munch on the kebab than he was approached by another Kropaslin. This one was taller than Iamor, rising to about two meters. “I hope you don’t want to talk politics, laddie,” said Scotty. “You are a laddie, right?” He frowned, realizing he had no idea how the Kropaslin genders were differentiated.
“A what?” asked the Kropaslin.
From the way the translator rendered the person’s voice, Scotty was willing to gamble that it was a she. Perhaps the taller ones were the females? “A laddie is a boy,” he said, “but you seem to be a girl.”
“I am a bit older than a girl,” said the Kropaslin wryly. “Dr. Delasat Vantimor.”
“Captain Montgomery Scott,” said Scotty. “I’d shake your hand, lassie, but…” He held up his hands, each of which was presently occupied holding something, and shrugged. “Not enough limbs.”
“Oh, I know who you are,” Vantimor said. “I worked on the team that designed the special bioneural gel that was used on the Enterprise and the other Sovereign-class ships. Your reports and complaints made for…interesting reading.”
“Lassie, let me tell you, interfacin’ alien gel with isolinear computer systems is a tricky job.” Scotty hadn’t and still didn’t recognize her name, but that was to be expected, as he had worked with far more people than he could recall