JP MSPNPCs Ypartin & Zeneth – I had to think of our people
jkpbem
(( Prime Ministerial Offices, Vman – Da’al Capital City ))
With an exhausted sigh, Ypartin untucked the tails of his tunic and collapsed into the chair behind his massive, ornate desk. It was late and he was hungry; he’d just returned from a marathon meeting with the leadership of a minor faction in his coalition, who had threatened to rebel unless the government backtracked on some insignificant matter of domestic policy he couldn’t even be bothered to care about.
On his desktop monitor, he saw several new messages, but they would have to wait. He still needed to prepare for tomorrow; more meetings, more minor leaders to mollify. Despite being prime minister, ostensibly the head of government, he felt increasingly hamstrung lately by implicit and not-so-implicit threats to bring down his government from within. For now, the public was none the wiser, and his personal popularity was still high; but maintaining this came at a cost.
The door chimed. It wasn’t uncommon for ministers and staffers to lurk the corridors after hours, but it was extremely rare for someone to make it to his office door unannounced. Ypartin looked on his desktop monitor and immediately recognized the credentials that the visitor had presented to the door guard.
Ypartin: Come in, Zeneth.
Ypartin stood, not bothering to tuck his tunic back in. He approached a large credenza near the wall of floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Vman’s commercial centre, bustling even at this hour of night, and retrieved a half-empty bottle of rejikeu. As Zeneth entered, Ypartin had already poured two glasses of the chilled liquor.
Zeneth walked into the room, wondering how she was going to admit that she’d contacted the Federation about the Klingons creeping closer to their planet. She knew that he had been adamant about keeping other species far from Da’al’s society, but surely he couldn’t want to keep their world isolated from the rest of the universe forever. She’d been hearing for years about StarFleet and the many weapons they possessed. Weapons that could help Da’al protect itself from enemies.
The prime minister handed a glass to his friend and took a seat in the conversation zone, a cluster of comfortable chairs and divans arranged in a circle on the far side of his office. He gestured for Zeneth to join him as he rested his feet on the central table.
Ypartin: How are things at the Ministry of Defense? Keeping everyone in line down there?
Zeneth: As well as I can. The town of Deloth is convinced they are being cheated from the sale of their latest harvest. There is talk you have not done enough to protect them from unscrupulous millers.
Ypartin: I can’t say I am surprised. It seems all I do lately is appease factions. I don’t know what’s changed, Zeneth; governing this planet used to be easy.
Zeneth: That was before the Klingons decided to encroach upon our territories.
Ypartin: I know. Intel says it’s only a matter of time before the Klingons move against our outer colonies, but they’ve been saying that for five years.
Zeneth: Ypartin, I do not mean to be the voice of dissent. But surely you realize that we will need to have strong allies when the Klingons make their move against us. That is why….
It wasn’t like Zeneth to hesitate, and this made Ypartin nervous about what she was going to say. He lifted his feet from the table and set down his glass, feeling as though the moment required him to behave with a touch more formality.
Ypartin: What is it, my friend?
Zeneth hardened her expression and finished off her drink in one gulp. She put the glass down and looked at him not as an old friend, but as a prime minister that had sheltered his people from reality for far too long.
Zeneth : That is why I sent out an emergency message to the Federation. If the Klingons get any closer, they will surely attack. We can’t defeat them, you know this. I had to think of our people, Ypartin.
Ypartin didn’t remember having stood up. He felt his heartbeat pounding in his ears, and it drowned out most of what Zeneth had said after “emergency message to the Federation.”
Ypartin: You… what?
Zeneth : If knowing that we need reinforcements offends you, perhaps we have different opinions on how to keep our people safe.
She stood up and began to pace, barely looking at Ypartin. The thought of invaders coming in and taking over everything they’d been building for centuries made her furious. Why hadn’t they built up their defenses? Why had they been so cavalier over the safety of their people?
Unconsciously, Ypartin’s pacing was an almost mirror image of Zeneth’s. A million potential futures played on a loop in his mind, and all of them ended in his being swept from power, disgraced, perhaps even violently overthrown.
Zeneth : We have failed to provide the basic protection of a strong military, Ypartin. The Klingons will swoop in and find what? Farmers with pitchforks and an army of children. They aren’t trained for an invasion. They don’t even realize it’s a possibility. We need StarFleet, Ypartin. We need Federation membership.
Ypartin was not a dogmatic neutralist. He had accepted neutrality as an acceptable political reality, but deep down, he knew that the status quo was untenable. The Da’al were relative newcomers to the galactic community, but it was clear from the moment they started exploring the stars that their destiny would be inextricably linked to that of their superpower neighbors. While the Klingons and the Federation made their presences known with increasing vigour, the Da’al had clung to the fiction that they could have consequence-free non-alignment. It was a fiction that Ypartin was complicit in maintaining; domestic politics had demanded it.
Even now, Ypartin’s first concern was not the situation beyond their planet, it was the political implications on the ground.
Ypartin: Who else knows about this?
Zeneth: Just the Federation. And now you.
That was a relief. Ypartin had been shocked at Zeneth’s announcement, though he probably shouldn’t have been. They’d had this conversation more than once over the years, and it was this disagreement which had defined who they’d each become. Both were patriots, but politics had tempered Ypartin’s patriotism, watered it down with compromise and pre-election bargaining. Zeneth was right; Ypartin had allowed the Da’al to sleep for far too long.
Ypartin: What are we hearing from our listening posts? Are the outer colonies in imminent danger from the Klingons?
Zeneth: The reports are becoming a bit more apprehensive. They are afraid, Ypartin. I am not sure how long they will be able to do their jobs without questions being raised.
Ypartin: And how long before the Federation arrives?
Zeneth: That depends on whether or not they have decided to help us, but if all goes well, they should arrive within the week.
Ypartin didn’t like this one bit. Zeneth had forced his hand, but a small part of him wanted to thank her for doing something he’d never have dared. If they survived this crisis, they’d either be heroes, or they’d have a lot to answer for.
Ypartin: As soon as they’re in range, I’ll need a secure channel to speak with their leader. ::stops pacing and meets Zeneth’s eyes:: My friend, this cannot go beyond the two of us. Not yet. We must hear what the Federation has to say before we take any further action. Will you pledge to this?
Zeneth: Yes. Now that you know how serious I believe this is, I trust you to make the right decisions for our people.
The two friends looked at each other, wanting to say more, but knowing that for now, things would need to be left unspoken.
TBC
MSPNPC Zeneth
Da’al Military Advisor
As simmed by:
Ensign Meidra Sirin
Counseling Officer
USS Resolution
Marie
R239707MS0
and
MSPNPC Ypartin
Da’al Prime Minister
as simmed by
Ensign Yogan Yalu
Helm Officer
USS Resolution NCC-78145
Justin
D238804DS0