USS Carter Epsiode 14 - Passion - after action report

[subplotkudzu]

 Caution - more fan service!

USS Carter After-Action Report: Passion

Act I: The Carter rescues the crew of the Orion-built, Federation registered, Andorian captained Kubla Kahn after that ship hit an old graveitc mine in the nebula. The crew turn out to be Deltan pilgrims, being ferried about by their merchant captain. The Deltans quickly have an impact on the effectiveness of any crew who sees them. The Deltans also exhibit the signs of being another lost slowboat colony.

The hook went off flawlessly - a chance for the science & helm characters to show off getting through the mine field to the damaged ship - and the crew was indeed a little stunned by the state of their rescuees. That is to say, looking like they just got out of bed in their translucent Technicolor pajamas. In a perfect example of the dice working for you, security chief Coy Mahn, who is unwittingly half Klingon, blew the top off of her Willpower roll to resist the Deltan pheromones, making her immune to their presence for the rest of the episode. That let Karen continue to play her as the cynical outside observer we have come to know and love in our security chief. Funk & Dr. Mark didn't fare quite as well, taking in the first wave of good feelings.

Dr. Mark found evidence of Deltan's terran origins during their initial medical scans, and she let Dr. Knox know to interview them. Oddly, mark also found herself daydreaming of a certain helm ensign during the physicals. Coy Mahn shooed the growing crowd away from medlab as she escorted the new passengers to their quarters - ever mindful of cultural mores, Funk had arranged for two larger connected rooms for the Deltans and one for their captain, who proved evasive under Funk's initial questioning. Funk might have been a bit distracted, however.

Coy Mahn let Funk know she thought something strange was going on, and he set her to keep watch on the Deltan's quarters, just to be safe. She spends hours shooing away crew who keep coming up with reasons to hang around. Lt. Selzo, (T'prin's foil in engineering) takes on a menial task better suited to an engineering crewman (adjusting their vents, which I had intended as a plot hook to spread pheromones across the ship if the players refused to get into the spirit of things on their own) and vanishes into the room for a while, eventually being caught looking a little disheveled when the captain and Dr. Knox arrive to interview the Deltans. There is much talk about exogamous cultures, religious practices and how the Captain would appreciate it if - in the interest of crew concentration - the Deltans would wear clothes that the ship would provide (Lt. Selzo decided it would be best for him to bring those from the manufacturing plant as well…).

As Dr. Knox continues to interview the two male Deltans (wink-wink) Sakhet, who is willful enough to resist the Deltans unconscious advances (that she has a love interest who is far away helps), questions the Andorian. She learns that he has been ferrying the Deltans - who see expanding their circle of erotic contacts as both a religious & biological imperative - to gas-mining outposts in the nebula. "Wait a minute," Karen blurts out, "He's their pimp?" Those miners are after keltonite, the rare mineral in the nebula that degrades sensor functions. A scan of the Kubla Kahn wreckage reveals enough of the stuff to make it clear how the Andorian is getting paid.

Still, there's no evidence of laws being broken, or of harm being done to any of the parties involved. The Deltans are very friendly and helpful, and their world is already looking to join the Federation - meaning Dr. Knox's claims that they are a terran colony would stir up no end of trouble. Ambassador Rossad provided a wonderful diatribe on that, especially as it applies to his own Betazeds, with the ironic counter-claim that the Deltans & Humans are obviously lost Betazed tribes - perhaps the Betazed are the forefathers of Earth's Aztecs, Toltec and Mayans!

Act II: Nominally unplanned. The pheromones continue their work on the Carter crew, which might lead to advancement and/or resolution of the long standing romance plots (Bernie & Dr. Knox, Pelski & Raven) and embarrassing scenes of other romantic plays. There is the chance of a crew member becoming addicted to their Deltan partner.

Rossad is more concerned by the empathic contact, both scanning & mildly projective, that he feels from the Deltans. Once he informs the Carter crew of this, they ask the Deltans to please tamp it down, which the very agreeable aliens do. After that, Darius and Sakhet decide that what is needed is a cultural conference! They are aware of the empathy, but haven't twigged to the pheromones, and think nothing of putting their Sr. Staff in a room with 6 Deltans. Comedy hi-jinx ensue!

First off, after a short time Dr. Mark finds she still can't get Bernie out of her head. Quietly vacating the party she changes into one of the dresses she "borrowed" from the nightclub, arranges Stellar Cartography with a romantic night sky image, breaks out a bottle of wine and calls Ensign Liefson to join her. Bernie, having no clue what's going on, gets someone to relieve him at the helm and wanders into something he would never imagined possible. Bernie finds all of this too good to be true and does a masterful job trying to change the subject ("why, this is the polar galactic north star field from the Rigel system, isn't it?"). To resolve the issue Jay called for a Seduction vs. Savvy roll, then decided that while Bernie might have put up enough resistance to call for a roll, he certainly wouldn't spend Courage on it. The camera cuts away on a rather passionate embrace.

Meanwhile, Lt. Cmdr Pelski finds himself equally beset with thoughts of Lt. Raven; he's been avoiding his attraction to her as she reports to him and he's is a by the book officer who is not going to romance a subordinate. He too exits the party finding himself halfway to Raven's rooms before checking himself and heads to the shuttlebay. There for the first time he joins in the impromptu handball games and, as a legacy of his time as a pro athlete, proceeds to work off tension by wiping the floor with the other players. He then takes a very cold shower. He also works up a resentment of the Deltan's messing with his head, knowingly or not.

I was very happy with how both of these played out in defining the PCs involved: Dr. Mark’s inherent sensuality, Bernie's capturing the PCs original conception of the young, romantically inexperienced Sinatra in Anchors Away and On the Town, and the central importance for Pelski of his position as a Star Fleet officer in his life. Asha stated outright that Dr. Mark feels no guilt, but we haven't yet decided on the long term state of the relationship.

Dr. Knox feels herself becoming unaccountably catty with anyone who impinges on her time with Dro, one of the male Deltans - Dro's empathy catches this and he gracefully makes her the focus of his attentions. They too eventually vanish. Funk fights down an inappropriate urge to proposition the captain, and eventually pairs up with a Deltan woman. Lt. Fujita likewise finds small talk moving to other things and places, grateful that Commander Fraiser let him represent engineering at this, because with Fraiser's heart he'd be dead by now. Comm Officer Sigfried also disappears with one of the Deltan women.

Coy Mahn, who had been guarding the door, watches the various paring off with disbelief & distrust. She can't suppress a snort when Darius, who had been in earnest talks about cultural adaptability with Sakhet & the two remaining Deltans, surveys the otherwise empty room and beams, "Well, this was a stimulating gathering!" Sakhet realizes that nice as the Deltans are, it would be best to get the off the ship as soon as possible. To this end she explains her concerns to Alia, the nominal leader of the Deltans, who agrees that this makes the humans, and thus the empathic Deltans, uncomfortable. When Sakhet explains her plan of cutting through the nebula to reach the Sagan observatory, where they might safely leave the Deltans, Alia volunteers her people's navigational skill, which was what let the Kubla Kahn navigate in relative safety.

Act III: The Carter stumbles across the Klingon's hidden base in the Nebula, forcing them to flee to get the message to Star Fleet. Once they escape the admiralty names the Carter the flagship of the Nebula Fleet, given Sakhet orders to bring the Deltans (for their navigational gifts) and the Betazeds (for their ships) into the alliance.

Asha played right into my hands by cutting through the nebula, making their discovery of the Klingon base behind keltonite heavy clouds perfectly logical. The look of shock on the players faces was wonderful, and the call for Red Alert heartfelt. At no point did they think they should engage the Klingon battle stations (though they did wonder how the things got there….). Careful helm work, Deltan navigational instincts and a willingness to dodge through gravemtic sheer points in the nebula let them escape their pursuers and get safely to the Sagan.

Captain Sakhet took her new orders stoically, though the players boggled at the little Carter being named fleet Flagship. Sakhet, armed with the promise of accelerated processing of the Deltan request for federation membership if they were willing to help here brought the Deltans into the action, with the six currently on board being split among federation ships. The Deltans are by their nature pacifists, so they are staying on support vessels rather than warships - though Dro is staying on the Carter. Lr.. Cmdr Pelski did complain about the continued presence of one of the pheromonally charged aliens, but Dr. Knox didn't mid a bit.

Now comes convincing the culturally & security sensitive Betazed that the Klingon/Orion alliance is a large enough threat to justify putting their fleet at risk. Of course, one of those who need convincing is Rossad's ex-wife, Commodore Jemma Stadi. Rossad's Disads are coming home to roost!

Comments

[cmdr-zoom.livejournal.com]

My compliments to you and your players. Sounds you all threaded the twists and shoals of a tricky subject as well as the nebula.

[brianrogers.livejournal.com]

In general this sort of romance/sex isn't as much of a tricky subject, since we're all happy with a little comedic squirming before the fade to black. In that way the TV show's ratio of displayed:implied physical intimacy works just fine.

It was interesting that Kris had the Pcs with the two most extreme reactions. Knox barely spent time with clothes on in the episode. Pelski was ready to beat the hell out of someone rather than succumb to the outside influence and moral temptation. But even with Dr. Knox's reactions it was just statements of how she was "occupied" or "Interviewing the Deltans".