LtCmdr Connor Dewitt - Quiet (Part I)
Tim
((Conference Room, Deck 1, en route to Deep Space 33))
Connor: So what is the exact plan, then, Ginny?
Admiral: Khitomer must get to the prisoner camp before the Lattice attack. We must strike first.
Ayemet: Admiral, I’ve had my taste of the Lattice Alliance hospitality :pause and then speaking slowly: But you can’t seriously think that by killing this individual it will somehow change everything for the better? You’ve no idea the effects their death might have.
Connor barely shifted, but inside, his stomach turned. The words weren't new, but the implication behind them had hardened in his mind. Strike first. Kill one man to prevent a war? Or kill a facility full of prisoners to change a future they didn’t yet understand?
Admiral: You misunderstand. It's not just the one I want to kill. The entire facility needs to go. It's the only way to stop the raid for sure.
Connor's jaw tightened. Around the room, people inhaled sharply. But his eyes didn’t move from Ginny. Not the one he knew. Not the young ensign who used to fix gravimetric relays. This one wore war and time like armor.
Richard: :: Head tilting to the side in confusion :: I really hope you mean ‘evacuate the facility’ and not ‘destroy it all’ because the later is such a stupid plan.
Zerva: I have some security concerns regarding that. What you’re proposing is like using an entire can of bug spray just for one fly.
That was one way to put it.
Korras: Destroying the facility with everyone there will make us the same as the Lattice Alliance. Killing everyone is not the federation way. We are better than that.
Harford: What you’re suggesting is premeditated mass murder of unarmed prisoners, not to mention the Starfleet personnel who operate that prison. And all those lives, to kill one man.
El’Heem: Captain, if I may, why are we entertaining this fanaticism?
Any: Response
Connor stayed quiet. His hands clasped tighter. He didn’t trust himself to speak yet.
Ayemet: Admiral, I’ve had my taste of the Lattice Alliance hospitality :pause and then speaking slowly: But you can’t seriously think that by killing this individual it will somehow change everything for the better? You’ve no idea the effects their death might have.
She repeated herself, voice steadier this time. A line in the sand.
Ayemet: You expect us to help you? Why would we do that?
There was a beat of silence. Connor found himself glancing across the table to Kael. His son. His possible son. His throat tightened again. He did not feel fit to add anything meaningful to this discussion. How could he? On the one side was the entire Federation, including Nolen and Ayemet, and on the other side was his possible son… The choice should be clear if everything what their guests said was right. But the suggested plan also was against everything Connor stood for.
Tori: Not all of you, not all at once, but most of you soon enough. :: Beat :: Mostly pointless deaths fighting pointless battles. If you don’t like the sound of that, then open your ears.
Zerva: My hearing is just fine thank you. ::beat:: So we either help you or die? That’s not a lot of options. I have a job to do as we all do. oO It’s the safety and security of the Federation, right mom? Oo If I am meant to die then that is because I’ve done my duty as a Starfleet Officer. Do you realize how many temporal violations just sitting here having this conversation we are all breaking?
El’Heem: At the risk of sounding fanatical myself, we will die when we are supposed to die. No amount of time travel will change that. This isn’t faith or destiny, it’s paradox. And you threatening us with our futures is hardly a way to illicit the outcome you desire
Nolen cleared his throat, loud and purposeful.
Any: Response
Michaels: ::To Tori :: Miss, unless you desire to become a Cassandra... and if you do not know what that means, I am certain that Admiral Lacy can explain it... you may wish to consider the need for trust. Your male companion's... Kael is it not? I assume you were not named after Superman... Your companion's "answer" to my question has convinced me that there is a great deal you are not telling us. Whatever your reasons, it does give the impression that you do not trust us. That leaves us :: beat :: that leaves me little reason to trust you.
Ohnari: ::stern:: Lieutenant Michaels that was entirely unnecessary. Do not insult them. While this is a lot to take into account..I am sure there is a sense of urgency on their part, considering what was the timeline Admiral? A week's time? A little desperation is understandable.
Connor could feel the empathic weight in the room. He scanned the others briefly. Talia. Ayemet. Himself. Tension was building like static. He felt unfit for duty and he was probably not the only one around here.
Zerva: Insult them? ::beet:: We have shown them nothing but hospitality. They have been hostile since they arrived. Especially your s… ::bitting his tongue as hard as he could, causing it to it bleed::
Charles: With respect, Lieutenant Zerva has a point. We’ve brought them on board, assigned them quarters and included them at this briefing instead of interrogating them in the Brig. We could all face consequences for breaking the Temporal Prime Directive, and they aren’t exactly being forthcoming.
Shayne / Any: Response
Zerva: ::stumbling on his words:: Y-yes sir. Apolo- ::clearing his throat:: I’m sorry everyone for my outburst.
Admiral: Lera has a point. We haven't told you everything, because we—I didn't want it to cloud your judgment. Starfleet principles aren't worth much anymore, to us, any more than Napoleonic principles are worth to you. ::to Tori:: Another European conqueror, with a much better reputation.
Connor almost chocked trying to cover it up with a cough.
Hobart: Might as well tell us.
Admiral: Might as well. After the raid, Khitomer and newly-promoted Commodore Shayne were tasked with organizing the search for the Alliance launching point. Khitomer, Ronin, Renown, Lowell, and Cadence were all deployed, but it was Khitomer that got lucky. Or unlucky, as it turned out.
Korras: I assume you found what you were looking for?
Any: Response
Connor kept quiet, absorbing every word. We. They. Future versions of all of them. It didn’t feel theoretical anymore.
Admiral: We followed a lead to an uncharted system, just a series of letters and numbers on a star chart. They saw us before we saw them. The battle was brief. We crashed onto an L-class planet. Survivable—for a while.
Richard: :: Taking notes again :: I kind of would like more info about that. Maybe we could focus on preventing loss with this foreknowledge of how things will go. Before we jump the gun and start assassinating innocent people. :: He looked up from what he was writing down :: Because, again, just to confirm with everyone. ‘The entire facility needs to go.’ sounds an awful lot like kill them all.
Harford: It is, Richard. That’s exactly what they are suggesting.
Connor was torn. They had killed Tholians and Sheliak before. A lot of them. Whether he liked it or not. But killing somebody who was not attacking them and doing so with an entire camp was something else. And doing so to prevent something that might happen sounded difficult to say the least.
Banks: ::softly:: Which is a war crime.
El’Heem: And not something we should be willing to entertain.
Connor watched the Captain. Shayne hadn’t moved much, but he was absorbing, measuring.
Korras: Indeed. Now we know where they are, and what they do, the outcome will be different. A trap is not a trap if the other party knows about it.
Connor almost laughed. So much for non-interference. They were already knee-deep in it.
Hobart: Please continue, Admiral.
Admiral: Between the battle, the impact, and the nearly three weeks it took for Starfleet to find us, less than half the crew survived. Those that did were pulled off the line.
So that might be how Talia and him had ended up alone. A shiver ran down his spine.
Richard: :: Looking down again :: So let's avoid what we can. Who can go over the crash, the events leading up to and after. So we can work out contingency plans? I’d be happy to drop by your holding cells to talk later if that is easier. It sounds like we will be going to the place where we crash anyway, if it’s an Alliance strong hold.
Zerva: Good suggestion, Ensign. We should cover every possibility.
Korras: We might be able to turn their trap around on them. But.. I do not agree with wantonly killing everyone.
Hobart: Ears, officers. Not mouths.
Any: Response
Admiral: That was the beginning of the end. They knew what they'd taken off the board, and hit DS33 hard and fast. Within a few months, the Federation gave up all claim to the Isles. But the Alliance was never going to stop there.
Zerva: ::whispering:: Holy crap.
Connor clenched his fists. It was worse than any future he could’ve imagined. They had fought for DS33 once. They had almost lost it then. He did not know if they could do it again. He did not know if he could.
Korras: That much is clear. They never seemed content to just hold the isles. They see us, as we see bugs.
Banks: ::addressing Lacy:: Admiral, you’ve alluded several times to no longer being in touch with Starfleet or the Federation, and just now you disavowed Starfleet principles. Of which force, then, are you an Admiral?
Admiral: We’re called the Free Isle Fleet. When Vulcan fell, I organized volunteers to slip behind enemy lines. Once Starfleet went quiet, we started recruiting whoever we could. Since then we’ve taken to hitting the Alliance wherever and in whatever way we could, without compromising our security. ::straightening her back:: Where Starfleet was a beacon of light in the galaxy, we’re… more of a refuge from the dark.
TAG/TBC
LtCmdr Connor Dewitt
Chief Engineer & Second Officer
USS Khitomer
A239901CD3