Fear and Hope

[N'Rycus 0]

N'Rycus leaned against the large stone columns of the vast balcony. The gentle waves beating on the ancient piers below distracted him from everything else and he found that very enjoyable. The young woman beside him finally spoke. "Does it trouble you that you weren't their first choice."

 

"No. The isolationists rejected the first four candidates just to make a point."

 

"And the four that they did accept turned it down."

 

"Their loss."

 

"They knew what they were getting into."

 

"And I don't?" He turned slowly to face her.

 

"Do you? A colony outside Imperial boarders, reliant on the Federation for supplies and defense, on the other side of the galaxy?"

 

N'Rycus shook his head. "We've isolated ourselves for protection but it has only breed fear. Are we not a people capable of this? Are the Humans the only ones who can step bravely into the unknown?"

 

The woman's face became stern. "Caution has kept us safe for two millennia. But we aren't talking about that, we're talking about you. They are setting you up for failure."

 

"If I fail then so be it. But.... if I succeed....", he smiled broadly. "I could be part of the greatest expansion the Empire has seen in ages."

 

She turned and looked out across the great ocean in front of them. It was silent while she brooded on his words. Fear and hope stood beside one another looking out across the great ocean.