Sins of the Empire

Posted on 25 Nov 2024 @ 11:54pm by Commander Morgan Tarin & Ensign Mimi & Lieutenant JG Hovar Kov

2,558 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 20 - Reconstruction
Location: USS Galileo-A - Deck 1, Captain's Quarters
Timeline: MD 06, 0900 hrs

[ON]

With the shoreleave announcement earlier that day Mimi stood outside Tarin's quarters, her and John had discussed before about hoping to plan their wedding for the next bout of shoreleave and this was it, she wasn't sure they were entirely ready for it but this was likely to be the only opportunity to do it. Somewhat gingerly she tapped the chime.

"Enter." The simple reply came after a lengthy moment of waiting and the door to the interior of the captain's quarters unlocked then swished open. The lights were dimmed to 55% ambient luminosity and the standard interior of a senior officer quarters layout presented itself to the Nekomi visitor. Tarin was within view, seated behind her desk with its small LCARS screen deployed in front of her. Her hazel eyes snapped to the room's entrance where she spotted the black-furred ensign. "Mister Mimi. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Captain." Mimi greeted Tarin as she walked in, even in the privacy of her quarters she woman seemed to still be at work. "I was hoping to speak to you for a while, especially with your announcement we are getting some shoreleave."

Tarin turned back to her screen then seemingly ignored the junior officer for a short moment before tapping the large black button at the bottom of her console which blanked the display and collapsed the monitor flush into the desk's surface. She leaned back in her chair and swiveled it with her feet to face Mimi with a discerning stare. "Sit and tell me what's on your mind."

Mimi headed over to the sofa nearby and sat herself down. "I was hoping with this few days of shoreleave we are getting, that we can arrange a day for you to marry us."

The captain performed a double take at the mention of ceremonial bondage. Us? She blinked several times assuming she hadn't quite heard the ensign correctly. "I'm sorry...what? Who are you referring to?" There was no one else in the room.

"Me and Petty Officer Hollenday." Mimi replied quite surprised that the woman had forgotten about it, yes there had been a lot on her plate the last week or more but considering her... mixed reaction to finding out about their engagement she thought it wasn't something to forget about so easily.

Oh. The engineer. Tarin started to recall the seemingly-ancient conversation she'd once had between the ensign and NCO upon first discovering their intended matrimony. It felt like months had transpired since then - years...maybe even decades. Perhaps it was a side effect of the crew's recent temporal travel. "Hollenday, yes, I remember now. It hasn't been long since your engagement."

"No, it has not but I think we are almost ready to make it official," Mimi replied glad that although it took her a few moments she had remembered. "We have been planning since you told us you would and I was hoping we could do it during this shoreleave period."

A slow and short series of nods from the captain accompanied a private reservation she hadn't previously spoken of. Not necessarily an objection to two of her crew members' romantic bonding but rather her own participation in what should be a joyous and celebratory occasion - a once-in-a-lifetime occasion. "About that..." How could she politely phrase this? "Are you both certain I'm the best person for this honor? I'm neither clergy nor familiar with any Nekomi customs and the two of you haven't served under my command for long."

"You are the only Commanding officer around here, the other ships are light years away." Mimi replied, it was true that Tarin wasn't the ideal choice but it was the only real choice. "And Ally... Commander Warraquim has agreed to help with some Nekomi traditional parts, I have been teaching her my language for quite a while."

Tarin lazily crossed one of her long legs across the other and settled her hands in her lap. "It's not a mandatory tradition for captains to wed members of their crew. Especially when we have a new chaplain on board who would be much better suited to the task. Have you consulted with Mister Kov about this?" She then held up a firm hand to pause what she predicted would be an instant objection. "I know your personal history with Klingons is...complicated, but he's the best person for this job."

"I..." Mimi began but did pause when Tarin interdicted her objection. "I do not want him to do it." She eventually said and tried not to look offended that Tarin had even suggested it.

A silence ensued while the red-collared commander studied the ensign's feline features. "Why?" It was a simple question to ask with perhaps a more complicated answer but Tarin needed to know. "Speak candidly."

"He came aboard 4 days ago, he does not know me or John." Mimi said desperately wracking her brain for arguments that didn't boil down to 'he's a Klingon'. "Neither of us are religious....." she was swiftly running out of points.

"I said speak candidly, Mimi," Tarin repeated with a hint of annoyance in her dry tonality. These objections being presented sounded more akin to excuses as opposed to genuine concerns and they were trivial at best.

"He is a Klingon." Mimi finally had to say it, she knew the 'bigotry' remark was probably coming up in Tarin's next few words. "I do not want to be reminded every second he is stood before me that his people killed my family and everyone else I ever knew at what is supposed to be the 'happiest day of my life'" Her tone changed slightly on the last few words as if quoting it.

Tarin's eyes drifted down to her fingers while she contemplated the very real and honest expression of emotion the junior officer conveyed. If their lived experiences were reversed, would she feel the same way as Mimi? Become permanently prejudiced against an entire species? Or maybe it had already happened before...with the Vorta and Jem'Hadar; two species she could never forgive for their decimation of the Federation during the war. "He is a Klingon," she agreed matter-of-factly, "but not the one responsible for the atrocity against your people."

"Maybe." Mimi eventually said then paused as if she was still formulating what she wanted to say. "But just seeing him brings back memories and feelings I do not want to remember. I was only the equivalent of fourteen when they came, what I saw that day is burned into my mind."

The subject of the wedding was now superficial compared to the ensign's apparent conflict with one of Galileo's new crew members. Shore leave or otherwise, managing interpersonal relationships was a paramount task on a starship as small as the Nova-class. Even more so when angst and resentment were involved. "Have you been attending counseling like I ordered following your duel with Captain Ke'hG?"

"I have Sir." Mimi replied. "I do not know if it is helping yet."

"Clearly it's not," Tarin quickly deduced with an expression of bewilderment. "That much should be obvious by now based on what you just said. If progress isn't being made, I'll need to pursue more radical measures. Tell me why you can't get past this?"

"Would you be able to get past it? If a group killed all of your family and over a hundred of your friends, people that you knew so well they were almost family themselves," Mimi said getting decidedly more agitated as she spoke. "Saw those friends cut to pieces from bladed weapons, chunks blown out of them from disruptors or fire from the skies, some with their tails cut off and stuck to destroyed buildings as trophies and you were the only known survivor, just a terrified fourteen year old girl now flung into an entirely new alien environment. And all you know about them is that they were called Klingons."

It was an interesting dilemma the ensign posited: would another individual, if subjected to the same circumstances, respond in the same manner? More importantly, could prejudice or bigotry ever be justified? Was there a path to overcome said ailments? Tarin slowly shook her head while holding the deputy operations manager's dark green eyes. "I can't speculate because I've never experienced what you went through. But I know that if I ever encountered trauma like you have, I'd put in the work to resolve and overcome it. Especially as a Starfleet officer. Whatever the reason, there's no place on my ship - or any Federation vessel - for this continued jaundice of an entire race. The buck stops here, ensign."

"I am trying Sir," Mimi said as confidently as she could muster at that the moment after her previous agitated state. "When the Chaplain first beamed on board I tensed up wanting to do something to him but I held on, your Yeoman can tell you that, she came to stand beside me and tried to steady me. Later that day he surprised me in the corridor, shouting in Klingon from behind me, I had my claws out ready to attack him but I did not. I apologised and we talked for a little."

"Talked?" This was an interesting new piece of information Tarin hadn't been privy to. "About what?" If their initial differences had been reconciled or at least brought out into the open nebula, then maybe there was still hope. Dialogue was one of the primary forms of diplomacy, after all.

"About why I looked like I had wanted to kill him." Mimi replied. "Then what he was shouting about, a PADD he was having trouble with."

Tarin tilted her head slightly to the furred Nekomi. "And? Did you assist him?" Her verbal plunge into details between the two officers' interpersonal relationships felt awkward but it was also necessary for her to obtain the proper perspective behind this apparent feud.

Mimi nodded slightly. "It was a simple mistake he had made locking himself out of access to the information he was looking for."

"Well, at least you did your job there and then. As small as the task was." It was a start. A small one, perhaps a baby step, but nevertheless a welcome revelation. "Have you encountered him since? What other recent interactions have the two of you had?"

"We have passed each other in the corridors a few times but our duties have kept us apart." Mimi replied, which was partly true, with a more thorough lock on his scent now it was easier to tell exactly where on the ship he was and know where to avoid him.

It was a political answer if Tarin'd ever heard one but the reality was true enough that neither officer had served with one another aboard Galileo very long. A short pause developed while she returned her thoughts to the original request made of her several minutes ago. "It's your prerogative where and how you choose to perform this ceremony; it's your wedding, after all. If you want me to adjudicate this formal bond, I can do that...if it's what you really want."

"I would prefer it," Mimi replied, if Lirha had been an option she'd have preferred that even more. "I want the ceremony to be part human part Nekomi, as I said Commander Warraquim has agreed to do the Nekomi parts."

Tarin expressed a rare open and offering palm to the ensign. "Then I'll be there. Send me your ceremonial details for review tonight. When is this event scheduled?"

"We are nearly ready but I think we would need a few more days to sort everything out and have my 'hen' party." Mimi replied.

"Make it quick. Command could give us new orders any day and send us back out." A latent thought surfaced to the forefront of her mind dating back to the earlier portion of their conversation. "When was the last time you ate?"

Mimi cocked her head to the side slightly, the question surprising her quite a lot. "I had breakfast about four hours ago." She replied not quite understanding why Tarin had asked.

Four hours. Enough time to fully digest and turn sustenance into bodily energy. "Go back to your quarters and get changed into something casual then meet me in Holodeck 1 in an hour. We haven't had officer PT in several days so you and I are going for a run. We can talk about these wedding details then."

Mimi blinked a few times definitely not expecting that, especially with the announcement they were all having shoreleave. "Aye Sir." She eventually said, hoping that this PT wouldn't involve a volcano again.

Tarin inhaled a deep and semi-satisfied breath which she proceeded to exhale through her slim nostrils. "Good. Anything else on your mind?"

"Not for the moment Sir, I will speak with Petty Officer Hollenday if there is anything he needs to ask you." Mimi said as she shook her head slightly.

"I'll see you at 1030 in the holodeck. Make sure you're dressed and stretched before you arrive." A flick of the captain's hazel eyes toward the exit door of her quarters conveyed the conclusion of their private conversation.

"I will." Mimi said as she stood, she didn't need to notice the woman's eye flick to know that it was time to leave, time to leave and find John to hive him to good news.

Galileo's commanding officer watched the young gold-collared ensign extricate herself from the room which was punctuated by a prominent double-swish of the exit door. Finally there was silence and a semblance of tranquility again within the captain's quarters but thoughts lingered in Tarin's head surrounding the Nekomi woman's personal troubles. Solutions were abundant but some less effective than others. No CO desired to dismiss one of their crew on the grounds of ethical conduct violations. Remediation was always an option, and so was...exposure therapy.

Her hand reached up and tapped the commbadge pinned to her upper breast. "Tarin to Kov, are you occupied right now?"

It took a relatively brief moment, but the deep voice from the Klingon Chaplain answered, "Negative, Captain. How can I help you?"

Tarin rubbed her chin in a pondering yet conclusive manner before continuing after her brief verbal pause. "Report to Holodeck 1 in one hour in PT gear. I hope you're up for a quick run."

There was a pause at the other end of the communicator. It was the pregnant pause that individuals have that the silent individual is having a discerning moment. On the one hand, this could be the chaplain's chance to have a one on one with the captain, to get some kind of understanding of Captain Morgan Tarin the woman, not the Star Fleet officer. It was also the pregnant pause that usually followed up with the question of was he in trouble and if he was going to be taking a quick run into a volcano simulation with the safeties off? There was only one way to find out.

"Aye Captain. I'll meet you down there."

[OFF]

--

CMDR Morgan Tarin
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A

Ensign Mimi
Deputy Operations Manager
USS Galileo-A

Chap [LTJG] Hovar Kov
Chaplain
USS Galileo-A

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