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Cptn Swain

Captain Talk

Ah-Windu Corizon smiled over the cup of tea Asher Swain had offered him. It felt strange to be sitting on this side of the desk, he thought to himself. Of course, he was sure that the entire experience felt even stranger for Asher.

 

“Thank you,” Corizon said, setting it down. “It’s very good. Your own blend?”

 

Asher nodded and drank from his own cup. “Yes, its a mixture of tea leaves from Earth and from my home planet.”

 

Corizon could feel the tension. He could understand it too. While he and Asher, outside of having commanded the same ship, shared very little in common -- Asher was a career fleet officer, while Corizon had spent most of his behind a desk (when he wasn’t hiding in the shadows) -- but that one commonality tied them in a way few people understood. And in so many ways they found themselves as the only person the other could really talk to without reservation.

 

“How are things coming with the negotiation?”

 

The Dameon’s ears pinned back instinctively. Diplomacy was hardly the best use of his talents. “About as well as you can imagine. The Al-Ucard and the Eratians are trying to wring as many concessions out of the Scorpiads, while the Scorpiads are trying to pretend they’re negotiating from a position of strength.”

 

“Understandable. I don’t get the feeling that the Scorpiads have much experience with these kind of negotiations, either.”

 

“Something like that,” Corizon said with a sigh, his ears falling back to either side of his head. “The Scorpiads are making any deal conditional on the Eratians and Al-ucard turning over any ‘Scorpiad-sourced technology’...”

 

“That’s a fairly broad definition, isn’t it?”

 

“Yes.” Corizon groaned. “They basically want to force both societies back to pre-warp.”

 

“Someone has issues.”

 

“I think, more practically, they’re trying to drive a wedge between the two races. Ambassador Shalza...”

 

“The Al-Ucard representative, yes?”

 

“Mmm,” Corizon said. “He doesn’t trust the Eratians as far as he can throw them. He thinks they’d be more than willing to return to the status quo than they’re letting on.”

 

“Is there anything to that?”

 

Corizon shrugged. “I don’t think it’s completely unfounded. The Eratians have spent a lot more time recently under the Scorpiads than the Al-Ucard. I mean they were both essentially left to to their own devices...”

 

“And what’s stopping that from happening again? Why are the Scorpiads so keen on reyoking them as client races?”

 

“Hell if I know. Shlazan thinks its political.”

 

“Do they know what we know about the Scorpiads reproductive issues?”

 

“No. Not entirely. He knows that something spurred them out of hiding, but he thinks it’s a generational thing. New leaders and what not. Pride, ego... which isn’t that far from the truth.”

 

Asher leaned back in his chair, sipping his tea. When he’d been given command of the Excalibur almost two years ago, he knew next to nothing about the Scorpiads, Al-Ucard, or Eratian people. An ensign from Starfleet Command had delivered a stack of PADDs nearly a half-a-meter deep of information collected on them -- much of it by the man sitting across from him -- but even then it had been heavily redacted and incomplete. “To be honest, I am surprised we’re keeping that from, ostensibly, our allies.”

 

A look of something -- Asher couldn’t place it -- washed over Corizon at that statement. “I learned very early in my dealing with these people to keep a few aces in our sleeves.”

 

“So you’re thinking you might have to extort them... again?”

 

“I prefer to think of it as leverage,” Corizon said, “but if I need to, yes. Though, to be frank, the Federation doesn’t particularly benefit from a peaceful resolution in this conflict.”

 

Asher lifted a brow. He’d heard that Corizon could be pragmatic but he’d yet to see that for himself. “The Federation’s mission...”

 

Corizon held up a hand, waving him off. “I am well aware of the Federation’s mission, and, personally, I am not a big fan imperialism. Besides, if you ask me, the more we can do to weaken aggressive powers like the Dominion and the Scorpiads, the safer we are but -- and this is purely academic -- let’s not forget that the Al-Ucard are an aggressive, predator species genetically engineered to hunt and kill while the Eratians are an equally aggressive, even more predatory species genetically engineered to cull client races like live-stock. These aren’t exactly model next door neighbors.”

 

“And,” Asher added, “we have to consider what could happen if, unrestrained, the Eratians began moving into the former Dominion holdings.”

 

“Precisely. From our perspective, this is a largely no-win scenario. On one hand, the Scorpiads are an imperialistic race bent on conquest and destruction who, in a period of a few months, crippled the Dominion and who are literally enslaving billions. And on the other, you have two races who could be just as dangerous in the long-term, if not more. I mean, at least we know the Scorpiads have issues that we could exploit.”

 

“We could just retreat to the Alpha Quadrant,” Asher offered. “It might not be good for the president’s approval rating...”

 

“Oh, I don’t know about that. Do you think anyone really wants to die out here in this godforsaken quadrant? Does anyone back home really care what happens to these people? Do we?”

 

“It must be nice,” Asher said, “to be able to ask those questions now, hmm?”

 

Corizon frowned. “I was asking those questions long before I retired. I never thought this was a good idea.”

 

“This mission?”

 

“This entire expedition into the Gamma Quadrant. Oh sure, we’ve discovered new life, new civilization and all that jazz -- but at what cost? Have the lives we’ve lost been worth it? Has the drain on the Federation’s resources and attention been the highest and best use of those resources? I mean for godsake, Cardassia is still a mess, the Romulans are having political turmoil and we’re busy putting out forest fires with squirt guns in a quadrant falling apart at the seams.”

 

“I can see why you did it.”

 

“Did what?” Corizon’s tone cut sharply as his ears stood attention.

 

“Ordered your crew to construct a device to seal the wormhole shut.”

 

Corizon looked away as his ears feel to either side. He’d largely forgotten about that, and though he wondered just who had told Swain about it, he simply closed his eyes and recentered himself. “My orders,” Corizon finally said in a low-voice, “were to protect the Alpha Quadrant at any costs, including the ability to navigate the wormhole. That’s all.”

 

“I wasn’t passing any sort of judgement, just commenting on your convictions.”

 

“If you have a tool to do a job, use it,” Corizon said through a shrug. “My point was just, I am not entirely sure that it’s worth giving up a valuable piece of leverage over these negotiations.

 

“My instructions” he said, making clear they weren’t orders to follow. “Were to attempt to negotiate a peaceful end to this conflict, if practical.”

 

“Awfully vague.”

 

“For a reason,” Corizon said, leaning back into his chair. “At any rate -- “

 

“Can I ask you something personal?”

 

Corizon cocked an ear. He was unaccustomed to personal entreaties, and loathe to indulge them. Yet, the bond between the two men as Captains and as officers required him to oblige. “Of course.”

 

“What’s in this for you?”

 

The Dameon frowned, deeply. “I was asked to do this.”

 

“But after everything you’ve been through? Why are you helping the same people who forced you into retirement?”

 

“Poetic irony,” Corizon said, with a mirthless grin. “Or guilt. Take your pick -- if you haven’t already. And don’t go worrying about your chair. I’ve been repeatedly told that as soon as we’re back to Camelot, I am back on the retiree mailstring.”

 

“I wasn’t,” Asher said matter-of-fact. “Even if you do manage to pull this off, I would be shocked if Command let you within a hundred light years of this place in the big chair of any ship, let alone this one.”

 

The two men nodded an understanding at each other. Corizon glanced towards the window. “So, why are you still here? It’s clear this isn’t the type of command you’d choose.” He left unspoken that Abronvonvich would almost certainly approve a transfer request.

 

“It’s not. I won’t sit and lie to you about that... “ Asher paused. He had considered it. It was even offered to him by the Admiral. Yet, he had chosen to remain. His thoughts drifted uncomfortably to Arden. “To be honest, I don’t know why I am here either. I was given this command because I was available and because I was about as far removed from you as possible.”

 

“They chose well,” Corizon said. “You might not be what they wanted as it turns out, but your a good man who cares about his crew, his ship and the Federation. The Excalibur deserves better than I was ever able to give her.”

 

“When it was clear we were going to win the war,” Asher said, his voice going in and out of strength. “I thought I’d leave Starfleet after it was over. I’d seen so much death, so much destruction. I didn’t join Starfleet to be a soldier. I joined Starfleet to explore the galaxy. But when I wrote my letter of resignation -- I couldn’t send it in. I guess its the same thing now. Whatever it was that held me back then...”

 

Corizon nodded. He started to say something, but stopped himself. “Well, I should go get some sleep before the next round of talks start.”

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