Proper Introductions(Back Post)

Posted on Sat Jan 7th, 2023 @ 2:05am by Lieutenant JG Evelyn Stewart & Colonel Galen s'Khev

2,080 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Short Treks
Location: Triton Colony: Captain Culver’s House
Timeline: 2100 hrs

Evelyn made her way through the party, chatting with the crew and socializing between drinks. As the night wore on, she started to feel the humidity from the planet and the warmth of the assembled party. She heard the call from the captain for everyone to join him at the pool. She decided she would join in a minute. First, she needed some air and moved to one of the unused patios for some much needed quiet.

It was there she saw the Romulan XO standing. “You’re still here. There must be something you like about us, or find fascinating enough worth studying at least.” She says with a small amused smile to herself as she approached, but kept a respectable distance. She was savvy enough to not disturb the man outright and turned her attention to watching the ocean in the distance.

"I find it all fascinating and interesting. With all due respect Lieutenant humans have this habit of looking at everything with childlike wonder. This is perhaps the third or is it fourth party since the Captain came aboard. This installation and its mission is historic and instead of giving it the levity it requires, we are here partying." Galen sighed heavily, there was a longing in his voice. A longing for a return to a Romulan vessel and its rigidity. "My original plan was to stay for a half hour and leave. However, I am attempting to reconcile this fascination."

“Sounds like you have your own wonder.”, Evelyn mused. But she understood what the man meant. He didn’t find such levels of socialization necessary. Though not as strict about it as Vulcans, she suspected Romulans were likely very insular like them.

“Humans, Terrans, whatever you want to call us have evolved into social creatures. It was essential for our survival. We may often forget it, but deep down we all know how weak and fragile we as a species. We depend on the group to survive.”, she explained candidly.

She took a sip from her glass and focused on the sound of the waves for a moment, she found them relaxing. She rarely had a chance to enjoy the sound of rushing water naturally.

“Starfleet has always been about exploring the unknown, seeing the possibilities, the future. Often we forget to slow down and focus on the present and the moment. It takes extraordinary discipline to remain still and allow the world to pass us by and to be alone with our thoughts.”, her comments reflecting the core teachings she was taught on why meditation and solitude were important.

"You see with Romulans it is the contemplation, the calculating of every move that is important. To us very often it seems that you jump first and worry about the repercussions later. We evaluate most if not all outcomes before we proceed with a plan. Do be mistaken my people can look at things with wonder just as much as humans. The difference lays with how you handle the wonder. I can see that this is going to be quite the arduous assignment." Galen sipped his drink and allowed himself another glance up at the stars. It was truly where he longed to be. He decided that in the morning he would beam up to the Donatra just to get away from what he thought was madness going on here.

Stewart was surprised by the Colonel’s candidness. The man didn’t know her at all, and he did not exactly hide his dislike for humans, yet he made an honest statement to her, a blunt one by Romulan standards.

Evelyn simply nodded at his words for a moment as she mulled them over in her head. It was then she realized how truly afraid Romulans were, consciously or otherwise. Reports over the years showed a distrust that permeated every aspect of their society, one that was rooted in fear.

She stole a glance at the XO and caught him looking up at the stars, a look close to nostalgic melancholy on his face. She didn’t presume to know what he was thinking but she felt a wave a sympathy for the once, a realistically probably still is, enemy.

She took another sip of her drink and mirrored his behavior of glancing at the stars. “It must be difficult. To prepare yourself for every possible scenario and to have those calculations be for nothing. To lose so much and be expected to give more. All of it out of your control.” She said empathetically about the plight of Romulans and losing their system, and Galen’s current situation.

“I imagine its painful. But if we continued to plan for every possible scenario and allowed ourselves to be dictated by our fears, many more Romulans would have been lost.”, she commented, defending both Starfleet and her people. “And despite what some may say, that would have too painful for many of us to bear.”

There was a Vulcan like logic to what Evelyn said. On the other hand Galen knew better, she wasn't there, she would never know the pain of having your legacy, your family blinked from existence. "While what you say may sound logical, it did not earn any points with my people. Most of my people believe that Starfleet and the Federation abandoned us. You left when there was so much more work to be done. There have been too many deaths, too many families torn asunder..." His voice trailed off as his thoughts went to his sister, who was out there and possibly alone.

Evelyn had moved to lean over the railing of the patio, watching the distant waves. Hearing the anger in the man’s voice, she glanced at him and considered him before taking a healthy sip of her ale and turning her attention back to the waves.

“I won’t claim to know or understand what you and your people have been through. I can’t. I have no family. I never really had a home either. I was born in space and aside from living for some years on Vulcan as a child and at the academy, I have always been a spacer.”, Stewart admits, “So I don’t know what it means to lose a family, a home, a culture, because I never had one.”

Evelyn knew that she loved Captain Naal like a father, that she was in love with Remy, but it wasn’t the same. She knew that what she had with them wasn’t what people mean when they speak of family.

Stewart took another long drink and reacted to the pungent bite. “As I said, I don’t know what it’s like to live with the pain of knowing you will never see your family again.” She repeated, “But I know its infinitely better than to live without ever knowing it.”

She looked directly at the Romulan. “Do not presume to know how all Terrans feel about the situation, or that your people have experienced pain alone.” She said firmly, standing up to the Colonel. He may have been XO of the base, but he was still a member of the Romulan government. Ultimately, Evelyn did not answer to him. “Romulans need to take some accountability. Both the Romulan government and your scientists knew for a long time the star was going to go nova and not only withheld the information, but delayed asking for assistance from the Federation until it was almost too late. Millions, perhaps billions, more could have been saved if your government put the people first. And yet, you point the finger at your disappointing saviors for not doing enough.”

Evelyn watched the man carefully, she was curious to see his reaction to calling out of the Romulan government’s actions, more like inaction, over the events over a decade ago that Terrans are still being forced to atone for.

Galen exhaled sharply through his nose and sipped his ale. He decided to compose himself for a moment before he replied. He knew that Humans did not follow the chain of command when off duty like Romulans did and so Evelyn was well within her rights to say what she just did. "I never said that the Romulan government was not to blame. That they could have and should have done more is well known and documented. However, the big difference here is that Starfleet's help was never asked for, it was offered. To make it worse the matter in which it was offered made it sound like it was the savior we looked for." He paused to change gears. "However, as the Terran saying goes we should let sleeping dogs lay. That is in the past and is not changing, now is it."

Evelyn nodded in agreement and took a large sip of her ale as she considered the view. ”You studied under Ambassador Spock when he came to Romulus, didn’t you?”, she asked in Vulcan. ”I read your file.” she in toned, ”May I ask why?”, her own curiosity on why Romulans would seek to take a step back in their culture to study Vulcan teachings perplexed her.

Galen rarely deigned to speak in the Vulcan tongue however, he decided he would indulge Evelyn regardless of how much disdain he had. So his response was in Vulcan as well. "I did know and learn a great deal from the brief time I spent with Spock. I sought that knowledge for the same reason that your people have spent centuries trying to learn where they came from. Romulans come from Vulcans, so learning Vulcan teachings is to learn about one's past and in a way their family. Cousins if you will."

Evelyn nodded at his words. She couldn’t blame the Colonel for being curious. She also couldn’t help the small amused smirk upon hearing the subtle inflections as he spoke what was essentially her native language. She could hear the condescension in tone of speaking the language. Vulcan, when spoken properly, and held no inflections. Instead it was spoken with steady, emotionless tones. Only the message mattered. The Romulan told her what she wanted to know. As admirable as Ambassador Spock was, this was a true and proud Romulan that wasn’t dissuaded by stories of ancient ancestors.

“My apologizes. I meant no disrespect.”, she apologized, speaking normally again. “But it is refreshing to see that not all Romulans were indoctrinated into their insipid culture.” Stewart commented, not able to keep her disdain for Vulcans out of her voice. As much as she respected Spock, he was an outlier and a point of contention among Vulcan society. He was half human and therefore looked down upon by many Vulcans simply for that, much less for his ideals and method. Even in her own home she would hear talk of him being a respectable and logical being, but not a true Vulcan.

"No disrespect taken Evelyn. That is if I may call you that. You of course may call me Galen when not duty." The Romulan rarely made friends. In fact this woman may be the first one. In truth he was not sure if he even did it right. However, he did feel a kinship with this woman, a mutual respect of sorts. As if they had been through similar circumstances.

Stewart took his offering of being more personal as the sign of respect and kinship it appeared to be. She nodded graciously at his suggestion of being more personal when off duty. She didn’t trust Romulans, she’d be stupid to do so, but she had a genuine respect for them as a culture and race. The similarities between her and Galen were not lost on her. They had different lives and perspectives, but shared many commonalities.

Hearing the laughter of the party, Stewart turned back to watch the people. “I should probably get back inside.” She inclined her head respectfully to the man. “Good night, Colonel.”, she said in farewell before heading inside to be more sociable.

"Good evening Lieutenant..." Galen said as she walked away. He took the last swig of his ale, and then took one last look at the stars. Galen was never one to party or let his hair down. "I have the bridge..." he whispered to the wind before him and walked inside and back on duty.

 

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