In The End

Posted on 01 Apr 2013 @ 1:12am by Raifi Zaren & Petty Officer 2nd Class Jeroen Adlar

1,899 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo: Deck 4, Arboretum
Timeline: MD03: 0500 hrs

[ON]

"And how is Uter? And the children?" Zaren asked, digging into the ground where he'd been told he could plant the lida. The process of readying the ground for lida was a lengthy one, but worthwhile when he thought the benefits the plant would do for the soil, the air, and the health of the crew of this ship.

"They are well," the Bajoran diplomat Blenis Naprem on his PADD said, sipping some steaming beverage from a metallic mug. "Itarn just received a grant to study abroad on Vulcan, of all places, the Prophets only know why; and Klevara is interning at the Ilvian Medical Complex this year."

"That is wonderful news!"

"I told her she can bother you with as many questions as she likes."

Zaren grinned. "I'm always happy to talk about the complex."

"But that isn't what you called about." She smirked as his head swiveled innocently towards her, "I know you, Raifi Zaren."

"We talk all the time," he protested.

"Yes, but you usually don't let me talk for thirty minutes about Galeo-Manada wrestling," she laughed.

"Maybe I'm beginning to appreciate the art form."

"Zaren."

He sighed, sitting back on his heels. His hands were covered in moist soil, flecks of it stuck to his cheeks and hair where he'd absently touched his head. "I was wondering if you might be able to finagle a... multi-cultural interest group."

She lifted a brow.

"Medics, researchers- you have contacts at the Bajoran Institute of Sciences that I couldn't even dream of-"

"For what?"

"I'm working with the heir apparent of Miran province on a research study of Romulans-" He waited for her to interrupt him, but she just watched him implacably through the screen. "You're the first person who hasn't told me to stop talking about them, Naprem."

"I won't say I'm enthused by the notion of aiding the Romulans, for reasons you well know."

"I do." He agreed. "They're history is not an innocent one. But not many histories are."

"Experience is the father of maturity," she said quietly. "Research, you say?"

"Yes."

"You... and a Vulcan?"

Zaren grinned, "Just because something hasn't happened before... Yes. He seems to be startlingly brilliant. You'd like him."

"Hn," she snorted, rolling her eyes. "And the study would be of-"

"Mass psionic symptoms from the Hobus supernova." He rubbed his hands together absently. "Like a global pon farr. Hysteria induced by a disconnection from their Vulcanoid consciousness."

Blenis was silent, and though her face showed no sign of shock, her voice when she spoke, was breathy from concern, "That's a foreboding hypothesis."

"And one that needs answering, not only for the good of the individuals in their refugee camps, but for all of us."

"Indeed." She nodded thoughtfully. "I will speak with the Kai and the councillors to see if there is aid we can offer." She glanced at him.

"My lips are sealed, Nae. The stories are for this. This isn't for the story."

"I knew I needn't ask, but."

"Indeed." He touched the screen gently, "You rest in my mind and heart always, Nae."

"And you in mine, Zaren," she touched his fingers on the screen. "Tevan Bentel veyt ekayha antana."

"Abrem."

Her gaze flicked past his shoulder. "I'll leave you then."

Zaren glanced where she'd looked and saw the man approaching him across the grass. "Tell Klevara I'll be looking forward to hearing from her."

"I will."

As the PADD went dark, he looked up, "Hello."

"I'm sorry," Jeroen Adlar smiled gently, shaking his head. "I was just...admiring the tree. I did not meant to disturb you."

"Not at all," Zaren scrubbed his hands against his worn denim-clad knees. "We can talk ad nauseum if we don't find an excuse to stop," he explained with a grin. "You enjoy lida?"

"I enjoy many things," he said and smiled warmly. "Especially nature..." he moved to kneel, studying it. "Beautiful specimen...it will grow well here. You should see the Japanese cherry blossom tree, it is stunning. Of course, it is modified to be forever blossoming...I find it cheating, but who am I to argue?" he chuckled softly, shaking his head.

"Cheating nature," Zaren agreed thoughtfully. "Everything has its cycle for a reason." He patted the earth around the small lida cutling and stood, tucking his PADD under his arm. "You're one of the science folks, aren't you? I'm clever. I know uniform colors. Science or medicine. But you feel like a scientist to me."

"I am a scientist, yes...a geoengineer," he said and smiled weakly. "I work with terraforming. So cheating nature at the most powerful of all centres...where life should be or not be."

"Are you the one responsible then? For the roots of this?" he waved a hand around the arboretum.

"No...I am relatively new here," he admitted and stood, slowly. "And the life support here and the added soil to the room, as well as the watering system...it is more engineering and labour than terraforming. Regardless, it is peaceful here."

"So it is." He nodded, looking around. "I'm especially fond of the water features. Zimm was telling me they're actually part of the hydration system for the plants. Brilliant. I'm Zaren, by the way," he offered his hand.

"Jeroen Adlar," he took the hand, with a small nod. "It's a wonderful piece of art. Beautiful for us to look at, and yet nurturing everything here. And of course, it is creating oxygen for us and cleaning the air."

"Doing a better job in here than out there," Zaren squeezed Adlar's hand, then let it go. "Better air quality on this ship than many of the others I've been on, though. Must be the size. How long have you been with the Galileo?"

"Feels like I have been here since the beginning...I haven't, of course. I transferred here just before the other mission," he said as he met the man's eyes.

"You mean before Galileo's maiden voyage?"

He met his eyes, blinking for a moment. "Well, I was part of a group of people who were arriving late," he said, as if it made sense. "Always some of us in the Fleet. When people drop out, others get transferred...that stuff."

"Do you know who it was that you were replacing in the original crew?"

He watched him for a long moment, studying him before smiling gently. "I am just an enlisted, lad. No one tells me anything unless I need to know it."

Zaren chuckled. "You don't wonder?"

"I don't ask questions of Starfleet," he admitted before shaking his head. "Too old for that now. I stay out of the politics and focus on my work."

"That's not really an answer," Zaren said quietly. "I understand the system of hierarchy... somewhat..." he added because he'd never actually been in Starfleet or any organization like that. The closest he'd gotten was the FNN and he often slipped around their rules. "But you're not old by any means; my previous host Arjin was still flying shuttles in the Cardassian Union when he was in his seventies. You don't have to step out of line to ask a question. To wonder why something is or isn't. You're a scientist. Aren't questions sort of your life?"

"Answers are my life," Jeroen said as he watched him. "Solutions to the problem. The question is asked of me, I find a way of answering it. How does it work? Well, like this. That sort..." he chuckled and shook his head. "And I feel older than I look."

"That feeling, I know well," the Trill murmured with a wry smile. "So you like answering questions. I like asking them. Seems like we should be able to meet fairly well in the middle on this one."

"It appears so," he said and chuckled softly, giving a small nod. "And I hope you will get most of your questions answered here on the Galileo...we try to be helpful."

"I like you," Zaren decided. "I really like you. So what are the politics you're trying to stay out of?"

Jeroen watched him before smiling gently. "That is a long story. I have made bad choices based on emotions and politics. I can't avoid emotions, but I can avoid the politics."

"I can't avoid something unless you tell me what it is I'm supposed to avoid."

"You don't have to avoid it," he said as he met his eyes. "You seem to like discovering new intrigues anyway."

"I like discovering anything and everything, intrigues included." He grinned. "So have you ever terraformed a planet before? Or a moon?"

"I have," he said and smiled gently. "But mostly as a repair...when war has made the planet's atmosphere unstable."

"Where?"

"DMZ," he said as he watched him, frowning slightly. "After the war."

Zaren tucked his thumbs into his pockets and stood with the other man in silence, watching the artificial air flutter the leaves of the carefully cared for arboretum trees.

Adlar frowned at the silence, taking a deeper breath before nodding. "Seems a world and lifetime away when I stand here."

The Trill nodded thoughtfully. "And there are still so many places struggling with the aftermath of the Dominion War. Even now."

He nodded as he looked at him. "It's not forgotten. From any side."

"Do you ever wonder - what they're thinking on the other side? The vorta, the Jem'Hadar, Hunters, Skrreea, Karemma- I know there's still pockets of Jem'Hadar holding out in the Federation, but the rest... Does the treaty hold in their minds and hearts? The thirst for conquest isn't one that dies easily."

He frowned as he took a deeper breath. "To be honest, I...try not to think about it at all..." he said, feeling uncomfortable with the question.

"Understanding the other side helps us to understand ourselves, doesn't it?"

"Understanding means crap," he finally said as he watched Zaren. "It doesn't help anything in retrospect."

"You don't think so? I've found it goes a long way to comprehending the nature of certain events, how decisions were reached, whether they should have been arrived at in that way, and what can be done to either repeat that course of events or avoid it."

He frowned as he watched him, taking a deeper breath. "I am a scientist. Not a historian...or studying social politics. I just...try and keep my head down and live."

"Science requires the accumulation of facts, does it not?"

"Yes. It does," he said as he watched him for a long moment, sighing. "But it is personal."

"You know talking about things makes them more manageable. Keeping it inside - that doesn't let you get a clear picture of yourself. At least, that's what I was always taught and have experienced to be true."

"I have a counsellor...thanks though," he said as he watched him, arching an eyebrow. "I...should go."

Raifi inclined his head. "As you like."

Jeroen nodded before getting up and leaving, frowning. This...was not good. He should never have talked to him. Especially not now when everything was so uncertain. He pushed it aside, letting out a breath. He'd get there one day. In the end anyway.

[OFF]

Raifi Zaren
Journalist, FNN
USS Galileo
(pNPC Lilou Peers)

Jeroen Adlar
Geoenginer
USS Galileo
(pNPC Aria Rice)

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