[ussgrayson] Different Forms of Wisdom
- From: Anna <tkilyle@xxxxxxx>
- To: ussgrayson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2009 05:06:51 -0400
Some, those who didn't know the Vulcan people well, would have called it
sentimentality to have visited the birthplace of his assignment's
namesake but Senek was of Vulcan and knew himself and his people well.
Not in all his time at the Academy did he have the chance to visit
Seattle. This visit, he made the time. His parents and grandparents
would have been disappointed, even if that was illogical, and, if he
chose to admit it, he would have been, too. The city was cold and
rainy, so unlike what he'd been told the woman was like. Nevertheless,
it was there that she was born and Senek found a suitable place to pay
her his respects. His hand rested on what the plaque said was the
oldest tree in the city. It wasn't as old as anything on Vulcan had
been but it was where the lady came from. He shook of the melancholy
that always threatened when he thought of the world he never knew then,
straightening, headed for the park exit, all the while resolving to
spend more time in his meditations. Remembrance had its place and time
and that moment of letting it out had damned near made him late to catch
the shuttle taking him back to Seleya, where he would step aboard the
ship named for that great man's mother.
Thankfully, the shuttle docked at the orbital station and not aground.
It wasn't that Senek didn't want to see his family but they could be
overbearing, even if it was in the best of intentions. In any case, he
had to inspect his ship personally.
For some reason, the name of the ship had attracted a lot of Vulcan
attention, not least of which was the Ambassador they were to escort to
her next posting. Neria could have done without more Vulcans. There
was only so many times that a person could apologise for an as yet
unborn member of one's race who went back in time and blew up a planet.
It had taken most of her time at the Academy before she realised that by
apologising she was making herself a target and admitting responsibility
for something that was entirely not her fault. An old friend had point
that out to her.
The Romulan's dyed dark purple hair was tied in a long braid down her
back. It was pulled back to reveal eyes of bright hazel and the pointed
ears of her heritage that she'd pierced several times in each. Little
hoops of silver glittered at each piercing but they had been there so
long that it was only when a member of the crew noticed them that she
remembered they were there. Standing on the Bridge of the newly
refitted USS Grayson, she flicked through the memos and reports, double
checking that they would be ready when the Captain and Ambassador arrived.
Even though he knew it cost the transporter tech some amount of anxiety,
Senek asked that his presence aboard not be officially piped in. True
it was traditional to pipe the captain aboard but he wanted to inspect,
to get a sense of the ship. Then, too, was the fact that he hadn't
received his crew roster, which was no doubt sitting in his ready room.
It wouldn't be wise to startle those who didn't need startling. As he
walked the corridors up toward the upper decks, the crew saw a rather
tall Vulcan man, not as fairly complected as many of his race, his dark
hair neatly cut and his eyes seeming to see everything. Even without
the rank pips on his collar, they'd've known just by the presence
emanating from him: the captain was aboard.
The refitters had done a very good job, Neria had to admit that. It was
a damn pretty ship to begin with but now it was a really stunning one.
"ETA on the Captain?" she asked the general Bridge.
Though he hardly believed in coincidences, Senek, as a musician, did
believe in good timing. The doors to the turbolift opened just as the
words were spoken. One brow raised slightly as he caught sight of a
most unusual hair color. This was certainly no Vulcan. Nevertheless,
all he said was, "The captain is here."
She knew that voice of old, she even still remembered it telling her to
quit apologising for being Romulan and simply be Neria. With only a
barely tempered smile on her face, she turned to the Captain and hardly
managed to keep from grinning. "Captain on the Bridge," she said proudly.
The slightly raised brow rose a fraction more and, though he didn't
smile, Senek did offer Neria a nod of acknowledgment. "As you were," he
said to the bridge crew. "Commander, I had no idea that you were posted
aboard the lady."
"Nor I, you, Captain," she said warmly. "I heard about the promotion
though. Congratulations, Captain, it's well deserved."
"Thank you," he said simply, having learned long ago that such niceties,
though often unnecessary among Vulcans, went a long toward civility with
other species. "It is an honor I will try to live up to. How have you
found her so far?"
"Very nice," Neria nodded. "They've done a good job, made her very fast
and smooth. Even fitted one of the new Starfleet cloaking devices. I
didn't even know we had those. I guess the treaty with ch'Rihan is
going well."
Senek stepped down to the chair level and rested his hand on the command
chair itself. He breathed a mental sigh of relief at its fabric.
Leather repulsed him. It was the one personal request he'd made in
reference to the bridge design. One could not be comfortable in the
center seat if it was upholstered in something dead. "Rather well.
Then one must assume that, unlike many diplomats, engineers al speak the
same language. They made it work."
"Maybe all diplomatic talks should be in Engineering-speak," Neria
snorted. "I once heard of a negotiations all done in Mathematics, I'd
love to see our high end officials back on ch'Rihan try that one."
"Then you had best hope they never have to speak to the Bynar for very
long," Senek told her. "There were a pair on my last posting and they
spoke better to the ship's computer than its crew. Contrary to popular
opinion, I was not the computer."
"I did my thesis on Bynars," she mused. "But I've never met them.
Their communication and how it links in with their physiology is
fascinating."
"I ought to introduce you my mother one day. She can go to great
lengths discussing such things," he said deadpan. Slowly, he sat in the
chair, his chair. It would have been illogical to be thrilled at the
sensation so he wasn't yet Senek did feel something. It felt right and
it felt like the honor it was. "This is actually quite comfortable. I
must thank whoever did the sizing. These are usually quite too short."
"Must've been someone trying to show off," Neria snorted. "Do we know
if the Ambassador is aboard yet, sir?"
"I sincerely hope not," Senek replied, shaking his head. "Failure to
greet her properly would not be in anyone's best interest." The very
thought of the glaring faces of admiralty and Seleya's council members
was almost cringe inducing. "Is the crew compliment fully aboard?"
"I believe so, sir, we are now awaiting the Ambassador. The last word
we had from her ship was that she was enroute," she told him with a
small shrug. "Apparently she had dealings on the planet."
"Our families are there," Senek said simply. "My own no doubt expects me."
"If you want to see them, feel free, I can cover the command. Family's
important," Neria said with a small smile.
Senek inclined his head. "The thought is appreciated but, as we are
still in dock and have a ship's day's worth of leave, I would invite you
to visit, too. It is not Vulcan but Seleya is our new heart and the
family always gives guest right."
Neria inclined her head. "I'd love to, so long as your parents won't
mind a Sundered One in their home."
Senek shook his head just slightly. "They will be curious," he said
carefully. "The most scrutiny you would face would be from she who is
my maternal grandparent and perhaps from the paternal grandfather but
they will not cause harm. They were, however, both in Starfleet."
"Then I would be honoured to meet your parents," she said, offering him
a very small smile, careful not to insult. "Perhaps I will introduce
you to my father when we reach ch'Rihan."
"That would be agreeable," Senek said mildly though he almost smiled
with a glance at her hair. "I would like to meet the man who became so
irate over your choice of personal appearance."
"Di'nanov almost died," she snorted. "He was all set to get on coming
straight to Earth to drag me home until my dianvm convinced him I
required the freedom to express myself. He made me promise to change it
all back should I move home again."
"Then let us make an agreement. I will not prod him toward that end if
you will not encourage my grandparents in their matchmaking pursuits."
He sniffed softly. "It is a source of constant discussion to put it
mildly."
"Ah yes, the 'Where are my grandchildren?' routine," Neria nodded
sagely. "I know it well, we are old friends, that argument and I. I'm
lucky, though, one of my dianvmna and my rinam have all produced
offspring so there is little to no pressure on me. The only pressure I
have is not to lead my little brother astray."
"Come then," Senek said as he rose gracefully from the chair. "Let us
take the long way down to the dock so that we can tour the ship on our
way to Seleya." Once at his full height, he offered a rather frank, for
a Vulcan, look. "Allow no one to penalize you for a madman's actions,
Neria. My family will not but I have no idea what others are capable of."
"They only ever did that when I was apologising," she said as she
followed him. "The moment I stopped, they accepted me as me and not a
surrogate for a grieving lunatic."
"It's been my observation that people expect it of us," Senek said as he
stepped into the lift. "especially civilians and upper echelon officers."
"Apologies? Yeah well, I quit on that a long time ago," she shrugged.
"Even at Headquarters, when I received word of what the lady's first
mission would be, the admiral asked if I would prefer it be given to
another ship. It's quite illogical to shirk a duty simply because it
causes pain. In fact, your people have been most gracious since the
disaster. Why would I avoid the duty?" He shook his head just
slightly. "It makes no sense."
"One thing I've found since coming to the Federation is that Humans,
among others, are very sentimental," she observed. She leaned against
the lift wall and folded her arms. "They feel deeply and expect all
races to feel the same about the same things. For such an open race,
they have almost no ability to prevent themselves from projecting."
"Are you suggesting that I am too optimistic?" he asked deadpan.
"An optimistic Vulcan..." Neria rolled the idea around in her head for a
while then smirked. "You'd be the first one I've met."
As the lift opened, Senek wore a rather curious expression on his face.
"That may be so but my grandmother has said that Spock was an optimist
at times. One could not do better than to emulate him."
"Emulating someone else can only take you so far until you have to make
your own way," she responded. "After a while, you've just got to be
your own person."
"An excellent point," Senek said with a nod of agreement. "I respect
tradition, I honor it, but I am no slave to it. My parents would be
horrified if I were."
"Mine also," she said. "My father might be traditional, but he always
taught us to find our own way. I guess that's why he never threw me out
after the whole hair thing."
"A wise man," Senek mused. He stopped short as a short green creature
ran into his rather long legs. It looked up to him and proceeded to
burble at him in what was no doubt its native language. "Well, yes,
quite. Carry on then." As it continued its charge uo the corridor,
Senek raised a brow. "I have no idea what he was talking about."
"A cute little creature, though," Neria observed, watching it go. "I
hope we have a translator on the ship. After all, if you don't speak
the language, it must be rare indeed."
He allowed a small frown to cross his face as he looked up the corridor
to where the creature had run. "I would like to know why the ship's
computer didn't engage that function immediately. It wore Fleet ID.
Some of whatever it said ought to have been in its banks."
"Assuming it said anything at all," Neria said, shaking her head and
sniffing in amusement. "Perhaps it simply yabbered at you and ran on."
"Yabbering," Senek said carefully, making note of the unusual word, "at
the captain of the ship is hardly a wise thing to do."
"True," she agreed. "But who said all lifeforms were wise?"
"All are in their own way," Senek opined. "but that creature's way must
be radically different from the conventional."
Neria snorted and shook her head. "Definitely an optimistic Vulcan,"
she chuckled. "All lifeforms are wise, are we? Well, I'm sure I know
many very silly ones that can be exceptions that prove your rule."
"Then I hope that we encounter them after this first mission," Senek
sniffed. "Though the lady's namesake might have appreciated silliness,
I would rather have it show up later rather than sooner."
"Clearly you haven't met many Rihannsu, sir," Neria said with a small
grin. "We may be paranoid, but logic and wisdom have never been our
strong points."
"Neria, you are many things but I would not choose the word silly to
describe you. Contrary, perhaps, but not silly," he said deadpan.
She shot him a smirk and shook her head. "But then I'm not wise or
logical. Perhaps a little more of the former than I once was, but I
would never claim any ounce of the latter."
"Whether you claim it or not, the fact is that it is still there," Senek
said mildly.
That touched Neria deeply and she had to smile. "Thank you, Senek, I
believe that is the nicest thing a Vulcan has ever said to me."
--
"...and I had done nothing...but shoot an unarmed Cardassian in his
underwear."-Li Nalas
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