Appraisal and Culture

Posted on 04 Sep 2017 @ 12:43pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Lieutenant JG Tris Shizn

2,316 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Earth - San Francisco
Timeline: MD 16, 1950 hrs

[ON]

Ens. Shizn walked beside the Orion woman, Lirha, for a long moment as they looked upon the Art in silence. They had left Nesh and Gideon to walk and venture their own way. They planned to meet up later in 1 hour in front of the Plankton exhibit.

They stepped before a miniature display of a frozen landscape similar to Andoria, or at least someone's interpretation of it. Tris began to recognize all the typical 'cliche' indicators that most non-Andorian expect on a frozen world.

"Your homeworld, yes?" Saalm asked the ensign while she studied the scale model's topography and terrain. She'd never personally visited Andoria but had studied several PADDs worth of data on it as part of her second-year Academy courses. Still, she wasn't 100% positive that it wasn't just another Class P planet.

Tris frowned slightly. He wasn't sure if he should agree with her, just to be polite. Or had they possibly moved magically to that level where two strangers could,be honest with each other. He finally replied with, "It's someone's interpretation." The Andorian shook his head slightly saying, "I see several things that are typically expected in a frozen planet surface, but it's too bad the artist hadn't done their homework."

She looked up at him with a curious expression, then back down to the display. "What is wrong with it?" she ignorantly asked.

Tris looked at the display once more and sighed. There was a long pause, but he finally said, "Well, this is of course their rendition, you see. The mountain formation over to the left is actually a known landmark on Andoria, which is fairly accurate for being a 'distance object'. Of course what they do not realize is that the crevasses that you see in the foreground are not actually on this side of the mountain. On this side of that mountain is a rough section of ice sheets that have piled up over the last millennia." He turned to look at the Orion woman continuing, "That scene is not very pretty, very jumbled, etc. So, . ." The Andorian turned back to the display, " . . it make perfect sense to have this beautiful scene of canyons of ice, with its intricate structure." He paused again and added, "Like I said, it's an artist's perspective."

Saalm tried to follow along with the descriptions of the inaccuracies and find them on the model. She could see the crevasses he'd mentioned and tried to imagine what they might have looked like in their proper position. "A case of forsaking accuracy for visual aesthetics, it seems." She studied the model for a few more moments before speaking again. "Which version do you prefer? The natural or the art?"

Tris looked at the display retrospectively and then sighed. "It really doesn't matter to me." He looked to the woman, "I can understand an artist providing the best scenes that are appealing, all in one view." He was silent for a moment then added, "I do mis home."

Her heart softened a bit for him when he revealed his longing for his world. Saalm hooked her arm around his and looked up at him. "You're half-Aenar? From Andoria?" she asked, suddenly speaking in his native Andorii tongue after taking note of his lighter blue complexion. It'd been years since she'd last spoken in the blue-skins' language and her accent wasn't the best. "I felt the same way when my family and I first settled on Earth. Humans can be kind, but they are...odd."

Tris was rather surprised when the Orion latched onto his arm. Yet, was even more stunned by her knowledge of his family descent. And even more surprised by her speaking his native tongue. He hesitated for only a brief second and responded in kind, "Why yes. Yes I am." He found her question and comment to be non-obstructive and replied in Andorian smiling, "That is a very true statement." Continuing the conversation in English, "If I may ask, how long have you been on Earth and away from . . home?" He wasn't quite sure if that was the right word to use in her situation and hoped it did not offend her.

"My mother settled on Earth almost 20 years ago with my sister and I," Lirha recalled. "My family were traders but it was too dangerous at the time for our freighter to make runs across the quadrants; the Dominion was pressing Starfleet on the front lines and without enough ships to patrol their trade lanes, piracy grew to dangerous levels." She didn't mention her father, Ter, who'd been killed by a band of said Nausicaan pirates just prior to their relocation to Earth.

"But home for me is not my people's homeworld," she then confessed. "While I do enjoy visiting Vajripam where the rest of my relatives live, I spent most of my life in space, aboard starships. I suppose up there," she pointed to the ceiling and the sky above it, "is my home."

Tris nodded his head in full understanding of her reference. The Andorian replied, "I can certainly understand 'Space' being one's home. One of my friends at the Academy was also from a ship-dwelling family. She told me many harrowing stories as they tried to make a simple living." He looked to her with sad and understanding eyes. He then turned away from her and the scene and walked thoughtfully away.

She watched him with a small degree of perplexity as he seemed to wander away from her, then walked at a quick pace to catch up. "Was she an Andorian, like you? What trade was her family involved in?" she asked, now more curious.

Tris was pleased that the conversation was continuing and not necessarily about him. He turned as he walked, smiling at her question and replied, "No, not Andorian. She and her family were human. Umm . ." Tris hesitated in thought as he continued their slow pace forward. He soon added, "As I recall, the majority of what they transported was heavy equipment: earth moving vehicles, construction vehicles. Although," Tris paused and chuckled at the memory, "She said her Mother was very much into trading home made goods at whatever stop they made."

"Industrial traders," Saalm murmured to herself. "There is always good profit in construction and terraforming. My family and I specialized in commodity trading; which for Orions, can be very lucrative. And dangerous," she admitted with a soft sigh.

The Andorian nodded in understanding. He recalled something else and said, "She admitted that they always felt better in 'space' than when sitting on the surface of some planet or moon." He grimaced thoughtfully, then added, "Something to do with security and the unknown hazards. She never quite explained that, but I assume it had something to do with creatures or stowaways of some kind."

"There's a certain thrill we all feel when we travel the stars, I think." Saalm paused in her stride to look up at him. "That's why you joined Starfleet, isn't it? To explore the unknown even when dangers might be present?"

Tris smiled in response, yet really didn't want to answer that question honestly. He thought, That might be the case for some . . , but not all. "Yes. That is the classic answer for most entering the Academy." He smiled again, but then turned his attention to the next display.

"I see. Most...but not for you?" she continued while following his gaze to look at the new piece of artwork now in front of them. Everyone had a story about how they fell into Starfleet; some more unorthodox than others. But no matter how mundane a person's circumstance might be, she was always eager to hear the details.

Tris heard the words. It was a question, that he was not required to answer, so he was thinking about it. Is this the person I want to open up to and explain all my personal issues? He looked at the display before him. It was a model of an ancient space probe. In his attempt to distract his companion he said, "Oh, this is interesting. This says that Pioneer 10 became the first spacecraft to achieve escape velocity from the Sol System." He then realized that his attempt to change the subject had actually brought the conversation back to 'Exploring the Unknown.' His shoulders kind of sank and the emotion washed from his face, as well as his antennae leaning forward onto his forehead.

She kept looking at him with intrigue, undistracted by his sudden interest in early Earth space probes. "So if you didn't join for the adventure, then why?" she persisted.

Tris realized that he was either going to be rude or be honest. This Orion woman had been nothing but kind to him since they met. His face relaxed, his antennae each angling out to the side slightly. Tris turned to her and said in a solemn tone, "In an arachis casing, 'revenge' and 'honor'." His gaze then lowered before him as his antenna laid forward toward his forehead. It was embarrassing to admit the truth. He knew that vengeance is not something taught at the Academy. It was something that he had held close for many years now. So, how bad could it be to be honest to one person that he would probably never meet again.

"Oh?" Saalm frowned slightly while wondering what it must have been like for him to attend an Academy whose primary goal was to promote peaceful exploration among the stars. "Revenge for what? Wouldn't the Andorian Guard be a better place for such a pursuit?" she asked him.

He breathed in and out slowly, thinking through the words that were so true. Tris then looked upon the woman, a slight smile coming to his face, "That is quite true, . . however it was the Hiarchy of the Andorian Imperial Guard that took away my carrier, there." He paused for a moment then added, "They were only following the instructions of a very influential business man with a grudge against me."

"So you do not fault the Imperial Guard for their decision? What exactly did they do to end your career?" she asked, now wanting to know more about the predicament the ensign had found himself in. "And why would a business man of power have a gripe against a soldier?"

A serious somber expression hung on the Andorian's face for several long seconds. Then, a smile replaced it and he replied, "As so many stories of legend . . true love can cure the greatest of evils, but prejudice is also such a strong force."

He let those words hang in the air. He was sure they were standing in the way or blocking traffic in the museum, but none of that mattered to Tria at that moment. He was living his life's anger.

The Andorian looked directly at the Orion woman and spoke with a (teaching) voice, "I am part Aenar you see." He wasn't sure if she knew he issues of his planet, so he continued, "The Aenar are a sub species that live in the Northern remote wastes of my world. I fell in love with a girl, who's father had no desire to have his descendants to be of unpure blood". He took another deep breathe, looking downward, and sighed.

Pursing her lips after hearing the revelation, Saalm took a slow breath and let her eyes drift down to her sandals for a short moment. "I'm sorry. I was not aware such discrimination still occurred." That was a partial lie, and she caught herself quickly enough. The Orion continued, "To be honest, it happens on my homeworld as well. The Grey Orions are often seen as the least...desirable of society. Many see them as half-breeds."

His eye rose to meet hers. Tris drew back his lips to a thin line and nodded confirmation. After a moment he admitted gently, yet earnestly, "It's not really vengeance that I seek, but earning the respect and honor from my Andorian peers. To prove that respect and dignity comes from that which is much deeper than skin."

"Yes. To charge out into the unknown and earn your own honor," she said thoughtfully while placing a finger to her gold lips. "But what would it take? Surely the Imperial Guard still thinks less of Starfleet than their own?"

Tris humphed in a humorous agreement to her statement, "That is no doubt a true statement." He sighed again, then added, "My plan is to serve Starfleet to my best ability, . . and hope that something does occur that will be 'that one thing' they will take seriously and I will find my resolve." He sighed again feeling all the tension drain out of him. He had not talked about his personal situation in a couple years. He never believed that it would be some Orion woman in a Museum of all places. He turned and looked at Lirha, "Thanks for listening. I don't get to talk like this much."

She smiled and shrugged, happy to have served as a sounding board for the young man she'd just met. "If you ever want to talk about it more, you're welcome to come find me at the HQ. My work since I've arrived back on Earth has been...boring," she revealed.

Tris looked to her with a bit of doubtful expression, "It's hard to believe than anything at Starfleet Headquarters is . . ahem, as you say 'boring'." He smiled and they began to walk again.

"I have many stories for you then, my new friend." Slipping her arm between his once again, they walked together to the next exhibit and continued their conversation.

[OFF]

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RADM Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Ens. Tris Shizn
Temporarily assigned to Starfleet Command Shuttle pool.

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