Lieutenant Commander Talia Ohnari ~ Unconventional family reunions (Part 2)

[Roxanna Dorion]

((OOC ~ Sorry for the flood of posts, I wanted to make sure I was caught up on my tags, but again didn't want to push too far ahead. And as always, all thoughts and feelings are IC only.)) 

((Conference Room, Deck 1, USS Khitomer))

Hobart: Oh, thank goodness. All present and accounted for, sir.

Still unable to make direct eye contact, Talia was...pleasantly surprised how, non-freaked out Nolen was being. But, he had also improved vastly on his mental shielding, he could be blocking her out. And she was too torn to pieces to try and pry. If he was...she wasn't sure how she would handle it. 

Kael: I hope you’ll hear us out Captain Shayne.

Admiral: He wouldn't have brought us here otherwise, Kael.

It was very odd to hear Ensign Lacy speaking with such...aged wisdom. But this wasn't the same Lacy. This was a much different Ginny Lacy. 

Shayne: Response

Kael: :indicating Ayemet: What’s her problem? 

Admiral: She's not your mother. Let's focus.

Again, Talia winced. Her focus had been on Kael, in fact, hard to look elsewhere. She still couldn't look at Ayemet. However, there was an instinct to remind him of his manners. Which...did she even teach him manners...? She would hope so. 

Ayemet:Looking at the Admiral: Why are you here? Why the hostility?

Tori: Not hostile. Just tired still, right my love?

Talia looked between the two. A small smile graced her lips, at least Kael had a strong partner. Her eyes became accessing, hopefully this Tori would be good enough for Kael...

oO Gods...what is wrong with me?? Oh...don't open that door. Oo 

She gave an apologetic glance towards Amelia. This had to be weird for her too. 

Shayne: Response

Kael: My apologies :pause: We’ve been through alot, and it’s important that you listen to us. That you give us a fair hearing.

They certainly had been through a lot, so much they risked breaking through time to be in this room right now. 

Admiral: We are your legacy. I'm Imogen Lacy, who you all call “Ginny.” Forty years from now, give or take, nobody does that anymore. This is Tori Semara, my best science expert, carrying on the work of her mother, Amelia. This is Kael Ohnari-Dewitt, our… technical specialist. ::clears throat:: We've come to hold back the tide in the war against the Alliance.

Again, her eyes narrowed. She could sense a bit of judgement from "Admiral" Lacy. Like that little upstart could judge. Perhaps she needed to be reminded about a little time spent in a federation detention center. 

oO Whoa. Dial it back. Oo 

She wasn't going to make it through this meeting. 

Ayemet: Not your responsibility. You can’t just go around changing history to a version that suits you. :: beat :: More sympathetically: I know something of the Sheliak, but what will happen will happen. WE can’t change history to our liking. How many misguided people have tried to do that?

Hobart: A lot of folks want to make history. We only call them misguided when they fail.

She was still unable to look at either Nolen or Ayemet. And had a child with her DNA not been present, she might have been asking similar questions. Instead, she wanted to know if she told him bedtime stories, or taught him the harvesting songs. 

Tori: This isn’t about likes and dislikes. This is about lives. More than you can imagine.

Dewitt: ::at Tori:: Have we lost the Isles?

Tori: Venthis, Emisa III, Theta 122… I’ve lost track. Planets they can’t even use. Simply, they hate carbon life. :: Beat :: We lost all contact with Starfleet over a year ago, and with Alliance ships crawling over the Isles, we have no reason to believe they haven’t kept pushing further.

A chill cascaded down her spine. For a moment, she was back in the thick of it, sensing the Sheliak and their absolute apathy and irritation towards them. They saw them as vermin, needing to be eradicated. It was a cold, hollow sort of feeling.  

Kael: Captain It’s not just the Isles. That’s just the starting point of what happens. The Admiral and Tori :pause: They have a plan that could change all of that.

Admiral: The Lattice Alliance was, at this moment, losing. It may not feel like it to you, but they are. They were spread too thin, and cracks were forming. I saw classified reports that units were beginning to turn on each other. That's why, a week from now, they're going to raid a POW camp on Alpha Trionus II.

Richard: :: Pulling out his tricorder and opening a notes app :: POW camp, Alpha Trionus two.

Ayemet: To what purpose?

Ohnari: A week?! That is all the time we have before...what, all out invasion? 

Admiral: They used overwhelming force, and it took six months before Starfleet figured out where they launched from. No survivors, orbital defenses completely destroyed. High ranking military official was the target, but that wasn't what mattered.

Ayemet: You can’t be serious.

Hobart: Lieutenant.

In all fairness, she also felt somewhat similarly. It was a lot of information to just....have. 

Dewitt: What matters then, Ens… Gin… ::quietly:: Admiral?

Admiral: A lowly quartermaster, a Tholian. Captured at the Siege of DS33, he proved to be a… unifying and stabilizing figure. Eventually, Supreme Leader. Unified the alliance, and conquered the Quadrant within a decade.

El’Heem: Great man theory? You want us to kill baby Hitler?

Now, her eyes locked onto Nolen. It was unspoken, because it never had to be. It was a deplorable stain on the history of Earth. And a particularly vile scar that still had lasting effects on those of Nolen's heritage. 

Michaels: History is full of examples where a single strong leader dies and another rises up to take their place.

Richard: Even if you took the leader out before they rose to power. You haven’t done anything to stop the situations that are occurring right now to have set them up. Who is to say someone else doesn’t slot right into place. If assassination is your goal here I mean.

Tori: Sorry - who’s Hitler?

Hobart: Somebody worth strangling in the crib.

She gave him a very small nod, she understood. No admonishment, just understanding. 

Ayemet : Hitler was a 20th century dictator who was the leader of Germany on Earth. The war against him cost millions of lives.

El’Heem: What made ::pausing:: uhh makes this…Tholian so formidable?

Tori: He speaks fluent Sheliak.

Her eyes closed in resigned dispare. That would certainly do it. The Federation itself still struggled with correctly translating their intercepted transmissions, which were very few and far between, and usually far too late. 

Tori: You have to understand that, at this time, no member of any species has ever learned the Sheliak language. Even telepaths can’t understand them. It's part of what their sense of superiority is built on. But Tholians being imprisoned side-by-side with Sheliak created a unique environment for one to learn the language. His book will be the first published in their language by an alien to their culture. He will be the first non-Sheliak to deliver addresses in the language. Factor in his radicalization during his imprisonment, and he’s going to become a force of uniting hatred the likes of which this quadrant has never seen.

Tori: Tholian and Sheliak units don’t combine outside of Federation prison. It’s possible there will never be another like him.

Michaels: That is possible. But, it is not impossible that there will be several more like him. Based on what you said, every Tholian or Sheliak in that prison is a candidate.

Ohnari: While I can understand how dangerous an extremely charismatic opportunist can be...how are we certain that this particular Tholian is the linchpin? 

Michaels: I have a question. ::beat:: A two part question. ::beat:: I confess that I do not understand the equations and engineering around time travel or inter-multiverse travel. I will concede that your version of the Ouachita is capable of both. You could have travelled to anywhere in space and time. Why did you pick this place, in a nebula that makes detection difficult, and this time? If the quartermaster is the critical individual, why not travel to DS33 during the siege, where there were numerous dead Tholians, and kill him there?

Kael: Traveling through time ain't like dusting crops! Without precise calculations we could fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova, and that'd end our trip real quick, wouldn't it?

Now her eyes narrowed on her son. 

Ohnari: ::snapping:: Kael. Give the Lieutenant some grace, we're all just trying to come to terms with...::her hands gestured to the trio:: and how it came to pass. 

Her eyes widened. She hadn't even thought beyond the correction. She had just corrected her son...oO I better Connor is the fun parent...Oo her eyes drifted to him momentarily. 

Banks: To clarify: you’re saying that your ability to travel back in time is constrained, and there are only certain places or times you can successfully travel to?

Tori: Yes.

Admiral: Response

Dewitt: So what is the exact plan, then, Ginny?

Admiral: Response

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.

Admiral: Response.

Ayemet: You expect us to help you? Why would we do that?

Tori: Because if you don’t, you die. :: beat :: Not all of you, not all at once, but most of you soon enough. :: The silence in the room was deafening. :: Mostly pointless deaths fighting pointless battles. If you don’t like the sound of that, then open your ears.

And there it was. Bile rose in her throat. Nolen and Ayemet were going to die. In a week. Unless they did something about it. And who else would fall? 

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.

Again, agitation washed over her, and her eyes narrowed onto Lera. Her mouth started moving before her brain caught up. 

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. 

Her eyes widened. She had just corrected a fellow crewman for...insulting her son...? A manic sort of apology was forming before she caught Kael looking at her, she could feel...affection, and a bit of mirth mixed with familiarity. Kael just witnessed his mother mouthing off. And seemed to be completely at home with it. 

oO Great impression you are making to your son....Oo 

Admiral: Response

Hobart: Might as well tell us.

Admiral: Response

TAG/TBC

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Lieutenant Commander Talia Ohnari, MD
Chief Medical Officer
USS Khitomer
C239205ME0