Jhalib Ekal, "Take all chances."

[Deliera Jay]

((Starfleet Temporal Integrity Commission, Gateway))

::Narm’ei Constable gave a PADD to him.::

Constable: From now on, your credentials are listed under ‘Jhalib Ekal’.

::The brown haired man with a mixed heritage simply gave a flustered breath, following the Romulan down the busy corridor, trying to keep up with the nonsensical things she was spouting. That last sentence had been the first one he’d understood in the fifteen minutes, maybe twenty full minutes he’d known her.::

Ekal: So where am I starting?

Constable: You’ll start in the timeline section. Learn your history until you know it back to front, upside down and inverted. You will learn all versions of every event, run through all holo-recordings, and know them all as if you were there yourself.

Ekal: Not that I don’t appreciate the faith you’re putting in me to do all that, but why not a Starfleet officer?

::She stopped walking when they reached a desk and picked up another stack of PADDs, going to each individually and sending files to the PADD in his hand. But if he thought he had room to breathe a little, he was wrong - she just continued to speak.::

Constable: Every Starfleet officer available is working as support or offense against the disasters outside. That leaves everyone else to either be victims or pull their weight.

::His blood turned to ice at the words, forehead creasing at the harsh description. His voice was calm and collected, but his eyes were sharp as he stared into the brown orbs of Narm’ei.::

Ekal: “Be victims”? Are you *joking*? You think people just roll over for the Tholians?

Constable: Menthar Anchorage; one of the first stations established in the Menthar Corridor - when Tholians showed up, every member of the station’s staff rose their hands in surrender and pledged loyalty to the Tholian Assembly.

Ekal: Because the second they put up a fight or left traps for the Tholians, every single life aboard the station would have been wiped out or *worse*, in an instant!

Constable: So you believe slavery is better than death.

Ekal: Death is absolute. Our quality of life is not. Yes, what the Tholians do is abhorrent and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. But even if there’s the smallest chance we can get those people back? Yes. We should take it.

::The Romulan merely stood and gazed at him, only looking away from him when an awkward moment passed. She put the last PADD back onto the desk, and walked away without a second glance at him.::

Constable: You’ll do great things here, Blake.

Tbc . . .

Jhalib Ekal

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