((Conference Room - Intel Suite - Deck 08 - USS Artemis))
Talos sat across from Lieutenant Gila Sadar as they worked through the matter of what to say in their reports following the incident on that world created by the Genesis device that had gone off when the USS Resolution went down.
They both knew that there was a history here. Many of the Senior Staff had roots that lead back to that ship-- Talos himself had been on a Runabout headed for his new assignment the day the ship had gone down.
To say the legacy of the ship and what they found on that planet was an emotionally charged issue was something of an understatement.
Talos tried to pare the conversation down to the basics.
Dakora: The fact is, that there is a new species down there which is pre-warp, and deserving of the chance to flourish on its own. That won't happen if the word gets out about the reality of things. The only way to make that happen is to be selective with what makes it into our reports and logs.
Left unsaid were the implications of what nefarious actors might do if they found out what exactly the Genesis device had been capable of. The Federation had spent the better part of a century suppressing information about the effects of the device in an effort to discourage anyone from duplicating the technology. If word got out about the ability to transform and alter life itself, a new and dangerous arms race would likely develop-- to the detriment of everyone.
Sadar: ... I understand, but I truly don’t know how to explain the sentient plants without including information regarding the Tree of Life as well.
He leaned forward a little, staring down his nose at his companion.
Dakora: So don't. ::He paused.:: Don't explain it any more than you have to. Science is complicated. Can't we just say something like 'We don't fully understand the nature of the sentient plants at this time' yeah? We weren't on the planet long and our primary objective was to enforce the exclusion zone, not study the local flora and fauna.
Sadar: ... I... I suppose not. Some flora is known to have defense mechanisms, even without a purported ‘sentience’, as we understand it, to control it.
He snapped his fingers.
Dakora: Exactly! That nurse a while back... ::He screwed up his face trying to recall her name:: Stinky? Nappy? Something like that? --anyway, she had some kind of sentient plant living in her quarters.-- It doesn't matter. The point is, it's ok to be a little vague. We don't have to explain everything.
Talos could read her discomfort like it was written in bold all over her face, but she seemed to power through it all the same.
Sadar: Yes, Commander. I will... Omit to the best of my abilities. ::considers:: If this is too personal an inquiry, I do apologize, Sir, but... Did you know the individual they say became the Tree of Life?
He settled back into his chair, letting his hands drop onto his lap as he took a deep breath.
Dakora: No. No, I didn't. ::He shrugged.:: I was assigned to the Resolution, but I never managed to set foot aboard the ship. I arrived on a runabout-- with the Captain and Commodore-- to distress beacons, a debris cloud, and escape pods drifting around. It was... a hell of a first day.
He shifted his gaze back up to the Mizarian Doctor.
Sadar: Response
Talos recalled the time and all the discomfort he'd felt-- feeling like he was an intruder while everyone else processed their trauma.
((Flashback - 239810.13 - During the Search and Rescue of the USS Resolution))
((Cargo Bay - USS Carpathia))
Talos Dakora felt everything and said nothing.
He wiped the sweat off his grimy brow with the back of his gloved hand. This one was done. All clear.
The artifacts had been collected and tagged; in this case an award for exemplary performance in bio-medical sciences and a partially destroyed springball with an autograph that Talos didn't recognize. He imagined these trinkets were the pride of... He checked the inscription on the plaque... LtJG Rekawa's collection. He placed the items in a sealed bag and set them aside with the others. It wasn't easy work, going through the chunks of debris large enough to have intact items, but Talos knew that in many cases these small trinkets were all the family of the lost were going to get. It was something. At least this chunk of debris didn't have any human remains, unlike the last two.
Most of the recovered sections had come off during the attack by the unidentified ship, before the...detonation. He marked this chunk completed and it was beamed away, allowing for a second of rest before a klaxon sounded and a message played informing them to make way for another hull section. He'd been at it for a long time, but he wasn't about to stop. He'd stripped down to his uniform pants and undershirt at some point which had gradually become covered in sweat and a layer of carbon-scoring residue. His muscles ached as he grabbed his prybar and little plasma cutter. The small tools made the job harder but nobody on the grim detail wanted to risk damaging something or someone that hadn't been recovered yet.
Talos couldn't stop. If he stopped he'd feel it again; The soul-rending pain of the crew who had lost their friends and their home.
This wasn't the first way he'd tried to help, but it was the first thing that hadn't made him feel like what he really was. An intruder. A trespasser.
The crew of the Resolution, the real crew; exclusive of Talos Dakora, had been through something that he couldn't fully understand. He'd watched it happen from the outside, which was appropriate, considering what he was: An outsider. An Interloper.
They'd probably break up the crew and sit Captain Nicholotti behind a desk somewhere, that was probably it for Talos' career. He'd waited the better part of a year for someone, anyone to give him a chance. Now it felt like it was all up in the air.
Doogan: Dakora!
A voice shook him from his catastrophic thinking. None of that was real. It was the effect of the concentrated worry of the Resolution's crew bleeding into him. His barriers were truly leaking like a sieve at this point.
Talos looked up to see Chief Doogan, the engineering crewman who was running this recovery effort, motioning him over to the cargo bay entrance. He set down his tools on the metal decking with a clank that reverberated through the large space and slipped his fouled gloves off, placing them in his back pocket as he approached the Chief.
Doogan: Dakora. ::He consulted his PADD.:: You've been at it for hours, why don't you go grab some chow?
Talos rolled his neck to the side, producing a rather crunchy popping sound from the sore joints and ligaments.
Dakora: I'd really rather keep working. ::He thumbed in the direction of the newly beamed-in section of hull debris.:: We've got a few more chunks to go.
Chief Doogan's brow furrowed, and the grey whiskers of his bushy eyebrows seemed to twitch a little with the motion. The man was a lifer and it showed.
Doogan: And the rest of them can handle it. ::He bladed his hand and jabbed it in Talos' direction.:: Look, I get it kid. But how're you gonna feel if you collapse down here and we have to pull a doctor from someone who is actually hurt to come take a look at your booboo...
Talos raised his hands in mock surrender.
Dakora: Alright, Alright. I'll take a break. ::He gestured to a lev-cart loaded with sealed containers of... something.:: Where is this going?
The stocky Chief narrowed his eyes slightly.
Doogan: Yeah, okay. You can take this to sickbay, then chow and REST. ::He locked eyes with Talos:: I mean it.
Nodding Talos grabbed the cart's hand bar and pushed it through the door into the corridor.
He approached the turbolift, pausing to let two men exit. The style of the uniforms made it clear that they were from the Resolution's compliment and from their body language it seemed they were a couple. Talos lingered as they walked past, letting the brief beautiful positivity of the pair wash over his wrecked empathic senses.
Despite all that they had lost, they still had each other. Despite everything that had happened there was still hope; For the two lovers walking down the corridor, for the crew of the Resolution, and for him.
Talos Dakora felt everything and said nothing.
((End Flashback))
((Conference Room - Intel Suite - Deck 08 - USS Artemis))
He shook his head, warding off the old memories and redirecting his attention to the here and now.
Dakora: But anyway, did that help clear things up? About what to include and what to... dis-include from your reports?
Sadar: Response?
TAG/TBC
