Legal Matters

[Keb 0]

Keb enters Faldek's room, smiling at him after her shift.

 

Faldek looks up from his desk, putting down a PADD. "I had quite the day today..." He looks at her. “Wanna hear about it?"

 

Keb nods, wrapping her arms around his torso for a hug. "Sure. We need to compose the message for my family, too--but you can talk first."

 

He hugs her, and starts off with something of a sigh."Ensign Crystal is spending some time in the brig for insubordination." He shifts a little. "Also Lt Cdr Kenickie and myself have been put in charge of watching the Romulan on board to make sure she isn't Tal`Shiar."

 

Keb sits down on the edge of the bed. "And you guys have to find out who sent that message. We were so close, and it's not like it could have been that urgent--I've waited this long to tell my folks I'm getting married!"

 

"I also found out that according to my sources the Annexation of Bajor is coming to an end." Faldek doesn't really seem happy or sad about that Bajor thing. "Speaking of the unauthorized communication, my only job was to make sure it wasn't the Romulan who sent it."

 

"She seems nice enough," Keb shrugs. "Are they really ending the occupation, then?"

 

"According to my sources, the Annexation has become too violent, and no longer worth having Bajor as a member of the Cardassian Union." Faldek put emphasis on the word “annexation”.

 

Keb rolls her eyes. "Not surprising. I wouldn't want to be occupied, either. You have seen some of the federation reports on Bajor, haven't you? It's horrible. No offense, but the whole thing was rotten from the start."

 

Faldek stands up, letting Keb off of his lap. "How much do you actually know about the Annexation of the B'hava'el system?" He starts to walk to the other side of the room. "It was entirely legal by law."

 

Keb shakes her head. "What law?"

 

"Obviously, you are naive. We went there 50 years ago, offering peace and an improvement upon their backward lifestyle. Caste systems, they didn't know how to use their resources to their full potential. We offered to help them, and their government signed a treaty allowing them to be Annexed to the Union." Stated rather matter-of-factly.

 

Crossing her arms over her chest, Keb said curtly, "Yeah, but they weren't given a choice, and the people of Bajor had even less of a say than the coerced leaders."

 

"After we imposed our laws on the citizens of the Annexed B'hava'el system, they started rioting, and attacking Union soldiers. That's when they ended up becoming punished and treated as they had been. Don't think for a moment that we have never done this before, or even to our own people, you must understand during that time Cardassia was starving, literally, millions died from famine; Bajor is lush and full of resources."

 

"According to the treaty that was signed everything that happened on Bajor was legal, by the laws of the Union. I won't deny that perhaps they may have been too cruel, but thousands of soldiers have given their lives for some backward people that can't even get out from under some stupid belief system." Faldek looks almost disgusted.

 

Keb stares at him for a moment. "You are. You really are. You're defending one of the worst humanitarian disasters of our time. I don't care if they are your people, the whole occupation was wrong, and even your government is managing to admit it enough to end it--and you're still defending it!"

 

"They're only ending it to stop the crazy murderous Bajorans from killing more Cardassians. I was there on assignment in the past. I was changed to look like a Bajoran, and trust me, I know all about what they think. You're lucky you don't know certain things about me."

 

"If I'm going to be your wife, maybe I should know. You can't just do things like that to people, and then say it was legal so it's okay."

 

"It was legally sanctioned by my government and our laws. You do not want to know how many people are dead because of the things I've done." Faldek starts to look slightly remorseful, and sits on the bed.

 

Keb stands across from him, looking at him like he's a stranger. "Why not? Is it okay on your planet to keep secrets from your spouse?"

 

"When it comes to state security yes, however I am not a member of the Cardassian Union anymore, but I know you don't want to know what I know, and what I've done." Still looking remorseful.

 

Her eyes narrow further. "Fine, so you're going to treat me like a child. Pretend I can't make decisions for myself. I can so make decisions for myself, and maybe I'll just decide you can have this stupid ring back."

 

"No, wait. If you must know... I am responsible for 17,691 deaths throughout my tenure in the Order."

 

The news seems to stun the helm officer. She looks at Faldek just blinking for a few moments. "Seventeen...thousand...?"

 

Faldek hangs his head in shame. "I did it all for the greater good of Cardassia, I am sorry for some of it because I know innocents got killed, but most of it was designed to save Cardassian lives, and I never killed anyone unless it was properly sanctioned by the Order..." His voice trails off and he stares at the bulkhead.

 

Keb almost falls to the bed, losing her balance with the enormity of it. "There are inhabited planets that don't have that many people on them..."

 

"I'm sorry I never told you any of the details, but it's not exactly a great topic of conversation." He moves over to try and comfort her.

 

Though normally someone who could use a hug at a time like this, Keb shies away from him. "You said you'd killed people before...but...so many, and intentionally? How could you?"

 

"I told you, it was sanctioned and legal for me to do so, and I didn't kill them all once, sometimes it was just a few, sometimes it was a station, sometimes it was a resistance cell..." Faldek frowns. "I guess I will take my leave of you." He turns to and heads for the door.

 

Keb tries to stand up, but still feels floored. "We're in your room, Beran. And...I'm not done talking yet. I need to talk about this--I need to understand. Otherwise...otherwise how can I even think about building a life with you? This is part of who you are, isn't it?"

 

Faldek stops, realizing that he is in his room. "Ahh right..." he takes a seat."Well I obviously cannot change the past, I was born into this, you must understand that from the age of 12 I was trained to be in the intelligence community. Cardassia has a certain type of politics. We are expected to put the state first, then everything else. When I found out that had my father killed for sympathizing with the Bajoran issue, and wanting to withdraw, they had him silenced and that’s why I defected."

 

"But you keep saying, 'It was legal.' You know legal doesn't make things right...and vice versa. I mean...it's not exactly legal to fly into Romulan space, but I did it, because it was the right thing to do."

 

"My destruction of a d'Deridex class construction facility helped slow production of their most devastating vessel, thereby saving lives in the long run, but of course also postponing the inevitable, but you must understand that I did everything I did, at that time because I was brainwashed into believing it was all for the greater good."

 

Keb gives him a skeptical look. "Brainwashed?"

 

"Ever since you are old enough to go to school on Cardassia you are taught that the State is more important than anything, and if the State tells you to do something, you have to do it, or you will suffer than consequences, and dishonor your family... my father was a key member of the Detapa Council, I could not dishonor him."

 

Twisting the ring on her finger and looking at it, Keb gives a faint nod of understanding. Family is a motivation she can well understand. "How can your whole people operate like that, though?"

 

"You are familiar with forms of government aren't you? I mean, did you ever get involved in political sciences at the academy? Perhaps also being familiar with Earth history... Cardassia uses an extreme form of Fascism, also the form of government used by Nazi Germany, back in Earths 1930's and 1940's. It's the same principle..."

 

"Yeah, and you know what we get taught on earth about the Nazis?" Keb looks up at him with a bit of the fire returning to her eyes. "They're pretty much synonymous with 'evil' in our language. There are piles of books about what they did, because it's so unbelievable--even in context of their time. They're our prime example of how Not to Run a Government."

 

"I'm not defending the form of government Cardassia employs, I'm defending myself in the fact that I lived in that government, and there was nothing I could do about it. My only point out of all of this, is that granted I regret most of things I did, I believe that the Annexation of Bajor was not entirely wrong, that Cardassia is not entirely to blame for what has happened there. The Bajorans regardless of what their people thought, signed a treaty to become a member of the Union, and when they started killing soldiers, they broke the law, and that's why things went down hill. I wish you could understand at least that part of the whole ordeal."

 

Rising from the bed, Keb walks up to Faldek and stands directly in front of him, looking up into his eyes. "This isn't about Bajor or Cardassia really, is it? It's about you and me. Are you different from the Cardassians who think what happened on Bajor, or what happened to your family, or all the people you killed, is perfectly all right because some law says it's perfectly legal, or not? What are you going to do with me if your duty conflicts with us being together? What are you going to teach our kids? Who is it that I am engaged to?"

 

"I only do what I do, to make sure that where I am is safe. If the Federation were to give me a choice to go back into clandestine work I would decline. I am happy where I am, and I fully believe in the form of government the Federation employs. What happened on Bajor is very soon going to be history and doesn't need to be repeated. This last mission we were told to cross the neutral zone, which is an act of war. We are technically in the military... the Navy of the stars. We sometimes have to kill people, to defend ourselves and the Federation. My job was similar but the law and rules were somewhat different. I would never go back to that life given the choice."

 

Keb watches his eyes as he speaks, her expression deadly serious. Then she unexpectedly wraps her arms around him, pressing her head up to his chest. "I'm sorry, Beran. I needed to hear that. I know you didn't have a choice then."

 

Faldek welcomes the embrace, and silently lets a tear fall down his cheek, wrapping his arms around Keb. "I'm glad this got sorted out, I don't know what I would do if I lost you..." He thinks for a moment. "What do we tell your parents I did, before defecting to the Federation?"

 

Keb looks up at him. "We tell them the truth. Maybe not everything, but they ought to know the truth. They're going to be your family, Beran."

 

"Ahh... hi Mom, hi Dad, this is my fiancé Beran; he's a lieutenant commander like me, on the super tug Manticore, but before this he was an intelligence operative for the Obsidian Order..." he shakes his head. "Uh, I guess that could work.”

 

Keb grins. "We don't have to tell them first thing. They can get to know you a bit first.” She runs her fingers over his shoulder ridges idly. "We should do something else, too. For the people who died. Yours...and mine."

 

“What do you mean, do something for the people who died?"

 

“I was thinking, some kind of memorial. To acknowledge their lives were important, too. I still haven't had a chance to do anything for the people who were killed in the collision after we got back from Andromeda."

 

Faldek blinks. "All right, well then we should probably get started..." He takes her hand in his. "I love you."

 

Keb bites her lip, squeezing his hand. "Love you, too."

Edited June 19, 2009 by Keb