Daddy Issues

Posted on Sun Jan 24, 2021 @ 8:19am by Captain Maritza Soran & Lieutenant T'Lul

2,215 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Si vis pacem, para bellum
Location: Captains Dining Room, Deck 24
Timeline: BackPost - In Arcadia MD40

[ON]

Maritza sat in the Captain's Private Dining room, staring at her fingers, rather than looking at T'lul, who sat across from her. Her private Dining Room was barely used, only for official functions, and she avoided having those. It was private without being in the counselling department.

"So..." she said eventually, when her attempts to Marshal her thoughts was as done as it was going to get. "My father is coming to DS5. Day after tomorrow."

T'Lul knew of the Captain's strained relationship with her father, how she disappointed him by not taking on a symbiont, and how Maritza relished it. They seemed to have a cold relationship now, which arguably was better than no relationship but the fact that the Captain brought this up to her was a minor breakthrough. "Is he now?" The Vulcan counselor leaned in towards the Captain, the tips of her fingers touching each other thoughtfully. "And how does that make you feel?" T'Lul asked, knowing that this was the hardest question in the world for the Captain to answer.

Another long silence. "Livid. He's on commission business after some rogue symbiont." And there were two of those on the station, neither of which she could afford to have found. "So he's harassing my civilians and trying to suborn my staff."

"Livid," T'Lul replied, nodding. Anger was definitely the Captain's go to emotion, but at least it was something that she was willing to discuss. More emotions would come in time. "Define what you mean by harassing and suborning," T'Lul said patiently.

"He puts people on my station to demand scans of the trill population to make sure they're not hiding anything. And they're trying to make Si'lar Trellis go along with it."

"That would likely make Trills feel uncomfortable," T'Lul agreed. "But certainly this is not a personal attack against you." T'Lul tilted her head and asked, "Or do you think that it is?"

"No, its not personal." Maritza sighed. "He just thinks he knows better about everything. And that he's the only person competent to do anything, so he sends in jack booted thugs to do the job, because it never crosses his mind that he might be wrong, or other people could do it without causing an incident."

T'Lul said nothing but noted that the apple did not fall far from the tree. "You are the Commander of this station, no? If you do not approve of his conduct, there are certainly regulations that you could use to curb his activity."

"Because he'd already gone over my head to make sure I couldn't say no. I tried placing limits and he ignored them. And that ended so well; I've got a body in the morgue to prove it." Maritza had no doubt that Hex had killed the agent to keep their identity a secret from the commission. She doubted it was still in the blonde woman she'd met, too many people would know that one. But where had it gone? There was a sizable trill population on board, almost a thousand of them. It could be any of them.

"Gone over your head?" T'Lul asked curiously. "Do you have a specific directive regarding your father of this investigation? And when you say that he ignored the limits and you have a body in the morgue to prove it, can you please explain your meaning?"

"I had instruction from Starfleet Command and the State department to render all possible assistance. And they went in heavy handed, and one of their agents was murdered, most likely by the Symbiont they're looking for."

T'Lul pondered the situation. "It must make you feel disempowered to have this happen. Still, they must follow Federation rules and law, no?"

"No, they have to not get caught breaking the rules. There's a difference, and one they exploit to the full. Except this time, it blew up in everyone's faces."

"But, as you say, you have no proof. If you did, logically, they would have been caught and your problem would be solved. Correct?"

"Correct. And because he didn't get what he wanted, he's coming here to do it in person. Or at least supervise his heavy mob in person." Soran rested her elbows on the table and cradled her head in her hands for a moment. "I don't want him to come, and I can't say no. And I can't shiv him with the nearest sharp implement."

T'Lul nodded. "So what is your plan, Captain? Certainly you must have some thoughts."

"I'm going to have to bite my tongue and try not to let my family drama turn into an international incident." Miraj pressed her fingertips to her forehead. "I may sever my tongue from biting it so hard."

"I would highly advise against that Captain," T'Lul responded, wondering if the Captain would recognize that as her sense of humor. "Regardless, I am a bit more perplexed that you do not have some sort of plan in place. I would have expected you to have some sort of spies or informants available to you, reporting your father's whereabouts and doings. Unofficially, of course."

"That?" Maritza asked relieved. "I have a plan for that. I've got half the security department watching that. I was thinking about..." she sighed. "Family drama. He's bringing my mother too."

"I see," T'Lul replied thoughtfully. "And this means what to you? How does this change your equation?"

"Because she'll back him up, or at least try and keep the peace, but won't ever actually tell him he's wrong. He's wrong about everything."

"Everything?" T'Lul asked, raising an eyebrow. "There is nothing that your father has done that is right?"

"No!" Maritza snapped. "He supports a frankly dated system that Worse than elitism, its insane. Its so focused on a species of grub that we can't even communicate with, except through a group of cloistered telepaths, that it harms our own species. It makes good people, even great people, feel like failures, because if they are lucky enough to have the freak gene that lets them join, they still have to go through a selection process that is insane. I know. I did it.

"And he gives up on anyone who doesn't subscribe to it. When he realised Arjin wasn't going to do it he practically forgot his own son existed. He does worse than not see the damage. He encourages it. Do you know how many members of the senate on Trill are unjoined? Eight Percent. How many of the population are unjoined? Ninety two. Its minority rule and he's busy shoring it up instead of tearing it down!"

Martiza had to stop ranting to breathe.

T'Lul said nothing for some time. She knew that this was a sensitive subject for Maritza. However, though there was a good deal of logic to what Maritza had said, each society had its own right to self determination and Trill society was well established. "But he is a joined Trill, is he not?" T'Lul asked softly.

"Yes. That's not excuse. Just ten times longer to chose to be part of the problem." Maritza sat back in the dining chair. "You'd think what I did would stop him, or make him think. In the end he only got worse. He's the chair of the rutting Symbiosis Committee now."

"Captain, did it occur to you that he has a different view than you? You did what you did and he apparently still disagrees. As you say, this is Trill tradition. It has been my experience that beings are unwilling to just cast aside their known way of life based upon one dramatic event. Often times it only solidifies it, because there is a great deal of comfort in sticking with what you know rather than changing." The Vulcan tilted her head at that comment, wondering at how that bit of wisdom might also apply to herself. Perhaps that is an argument to continue as my pon farr self?

"So that makes it okay? To carry on with system wide oppression, just because you're uncomfortable with change?" Maritza snorted. "Symbiosis has to end. There will be no equality until then."

"I understand your point of view. However, I believe your logic is flawed. If the symbionts have no host, there are only Trill. Essentially, you are advocating the extinction of a race. Is that your intent?" T'Lul asked.

"I'm not saying wipe them out," the captain said sharply. "I'm saying leave them in their ponds. They haven't achieved anything as a species that we didn't build for them. And we have writing, and archiving, and video. We don't exactly need their memories any more."

"Who is to say that you don't?" T'Lul countered without emotion. 'Symbiosis works because both species have something to offer the other."

"No, it works, because its been fetishized beyond the point of sanity as a marker of status. To the point that a joined trill will put the wellbeing of their symbiote beyond that of their own children. Right up to and including on their death bed." What Ryan's wife had done to their child had been unforgiveable.

T'Lul was certain that she was not going to be able to convince the Captain of her illogic at this time but the last statement piqued her interest. "What do you mean that a joined Trill would put the wellbeing of a symbiont above that of its child, including on their death bed? That sounds like you have personal knowledge of a situation that bothers you."

"If you read our history, there a more than a few examples of "heroic" trill who did whatever it took to save the symbiont when they were dying. The fact that this left people who are unprepared, or uninformed or even unwilling carrying symbionts is barely mentioned."

"Tell me, Captain, what happens with trill that are joined in such an unusual way?"

"I'm not sure. But everyone knows that if you take the symbiote after its fully linked, you die. And that only takes three or four days. There are some drugs that can try and mitigate the physical problems, but they don't help with the mental side. Many of those joined who lost their symbiotes tend to commit suicide, depression, or shame, normally."

"It is a problem," T'Lul acknowledged. "But is it not the biological mandate of every species to try and survive? Why would you blame one who is joined from trying to continue to do what biology demands?"

"I'm not demanding forceable removal of joined symbiotes." Maritza was genuinely horrified at the thought. "Symbiotes don't need us to reproduce. They do that in their pools, frequently whilst between hosts and definitely once they're too big to join. But joinings have to stop. Leave the slugs alone to live or die in their natural environments."

"I appreciate that opinion," T'Lul said, noting that the Captain was deflecting from the previous question. The Captain clearly was not willing to think that far right now. "However, others disagree and those opinions should be respected."

"Why?" Maritza challenged. "Some people think its okay to molest their own children. Should I respect their opinions just because they differ from mine?"

"There is a difference," T'Lul countered. "Those that molest their children are often mentally ill. Are you suggesting that the majority of your species is mentally ill?"

Maritza pulled her head from her hands and stared up at the ceiling. "Frankly? Yes. When you look at other cultures, you see that fetishizing these worms is just...not normal."

"Interesting," T'Lul noted, filing the information away for later. This was something she would have to work on with the Captain later due to the fact that the Captain had so many more present problems that were threatening to herself and others. "I wish to change the topic, Captain. Do you mind?"

"I'm not sure I have much more time left. I've got a operations meeting to attend in a few minutes."

"We need to have a meeting with you and Geral. IT has been delayed too long. Today or tomorrow?" T'Lul asked. Limiting the Captain's choices was always helpful to productive conversation.

There was a long silence "I haven't spoken to him in weeks. I think that ship has sailed." Maritza said sadly.

"It has not," T'Lul assured her. "And if there is awkwardness, I will take the blame. I should have done this sooner."

"No. I have a hard enough time fitting you in. Couples counselling for a couple that doesn't exist anymore is not a priority. I'll see what a yeoman can carve out towards the end of the week, and not before, but I'll give you three options, in case he needs flexibility."

"I will accept your choices this time, Captain." I also will talk to Geral and let him know that she's being difficult, as usual. I am certain that he will understand. "And I appreciate your commitment to keeping our appointments."

Maritza gave the counsellor a flat look. "You have a phaser to my command. I don't have much choice."

"There are always choices, Captain. I'm confident that you will continue to improve at making positive ones."

[OFF]


Captain Maritza Soran
CO
DS5

Lieutenant T'Lul
Chief Counselor
DS5

 

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