The Past Comes Full Circle Part I
Posted on Sat Jul 22nd, 2023 @ 11:10pm by Captain Marc Kidd & Commander Abernathy Rice PhD & Lieutenant Commander Faith Benson & Lieutenant Commander Viessa Kenobi & Lieutenant Jonathan Corwin & Lieutenant Christopher Blake & Lieutenant Claire Fisher & Lieutenant Sorine Kaida & Lieutenant Siadra Molaur & Lieutenant JG Andrew Griffin & Lt JG Adalyn O'Rourke Ph.D. & Lt JG Ansel Lund & Ensign Cihl Theidi & Ensign Nala Rider & Cassandra Frost
Edited on on Sat Jul 22nd, 2023 @ 11:41pm
2,909 words; about a 15 minute read
Mission:
The Sins of History
Location: Minister's Briefing Room - Bajoran Capital - Bajor
Timeline: MD004 0900 hrs
The Artemis had arrived at Bajor and after clearing through Deep Space Nine was in orbit of Bajor. It seemed that they were expected and without delay Marc assembled the staff and transported down to the planet. Marc had never been to Bajor and as they were escorted to the briefing room he took in the sights and sounds. It seemed that the rumor of Bajor being a small paradise were not wrong
Jonathan looked around at the city as they traveled to the briefing area, The city was alive with activity with the hustle and bustle of everyday life. " The city is beautiful, look at the way the buildings blend in with it's surrounding environment. " Stated Jonathan. " It is hard to believe that only a short time ago that this place was a war zone, You can really tell these people are hard working and love their culture. "
"Dang, this place is AMAZING," Nala whistled appreciatively at the beautiful scenery around her, almost giving herself a neck cramp as she looked around and around and around...almost colliding with things and tripping over her feet as she wasn't really looking where she was walking!
He was back. Andrew had been stationed on DS9 before his posting to the Artemis. Funnily enough though in all the time he had been here. This was only his third visit to the capitol city. The city’s beauty always took his breath away. Griffin wondered if the Cardassians had never held the planet captive all those years. How much more beautiful the city would be. But it wasn’t just the sites around him but also the smells. Despite being in a busy city scents of dozens of exotic flowers. Enveloped his nostrils and made his nose very happy.
Kaida stood beside Andy and tried very hard to control her heart beat. She was failing miserably. The planet shouldn't have any pull over her, after all she'd only lived less than a decade here and had spent much more time on Earth. But this was her first love, and also the scene of the crime that she'd spent years in therapy trying not to forget but to control. Now, here she was, standing here. This wasn't the exact spot of course but Bajor in her mind had become the place where her nightmare had started. She swallowed hard and tried to look around for any signs of life approaching them.
As much as Faith figured that Kelly may want to...well no definitely wanted to keep things quiet still. There was no doubt someone, even if it was one person, had at least a suspicion of something going on between them. Or maybe that feeling was completely off. Either way, she wasn't going to shy away from being near her during beam down, or just walking along. It was perfectly normal to be honest. Given what they were there for.
Kelly had been to Bajor near the end of the Occupation to assist in arrests and prosecutions of the offending Cardassians-and the liberation of the work camps. It looked much different-what she had seen was a lot of shanties and the imposing, gated, clinical structures of the "camps"-she could think of better words, really-and seeing the countryside regrowing was a good feeling. It felt like maybe she'd made a tiny difference.
Faith wasn't at all surprised by the changes to the planet and the cities after all these years, she'd been there to many times to count. It was nice however to see that all of it's natural beauty and 'unnatural' beauty from the Bajoran culture. It gave her a smile to see the progress to be honest. Letting a hand brush over a set of flowers as she walked by them. Pointing out some of the street food vendors on the way to Kelly, "We should stop by some of those when we get a chance. Always better than replicated. Nala there might like to try them as well."
Nala heard her name...and nearly ran into a tree!
"Um...was someone talking to me, or just about me?" Nala asked sheepishly.
Kelly smiled. "Maybe!!" She was still trying to calm herself down to behave. She couldn't think about future activities at the moment, really. "Have you been to Bajor before?" She asked Faith.
"I have, a number of times," Faith nodded.
"I was here only twice; once at the end of the Occupation when the Federation moved in. I helped out with processing the Cardassians who were accused of assisting their government. Later, I was at DS9-maybe about 10 years ago now-and we shuttled over for a day trip. It's nice to see it rebuilt." By "we", Kelly meant, of course, herself and her husband, but she assumed Faith knew that. She was really making an effort to not mention John so much, but he was still such a part of the identity she clung to. "What do you think?" She liked when Faith was serious-she WAS beginning to slightly also appreciate the zany part, too, but that was still a work in progress.
"It is nice to see," Faith nodded, giving Kelly a smile. It actually didn't bother her that Kelly may or may not still mention her late husband some. It would happen, and that would never completely go away. "I agree that its a huge step from where it used to be, and back to before the occupation. I wish more people could have seen it back in its prime in person rather than photos and holodeck recreations." There was a pause and almost a giggle, "I was, Nala. There's a..tree there."
"Yyeah...this place sure has some pretty trees. So...um...what were you asking me again?" Nala dusted herself off and fell into step beside Faith, attempting to not run into anything else.
Faith giggled just a little now instead of almost, "About trying some of the food around here later."
"Heck yeah! That sounds great!" Nala chuckled softly as she started skipping.
Nala really couldn't help it, she was just having so much FUN!
Where others may have saw beauty and monumental progress forward, change and a vibrant spirituality, Lieutenant Ansel Lund saw bandages covering scars. Bajor had been occupied for fifty years. There had been bloodshed here, terror, torture, and torment from an oppressive militant control. They had made so much progress to conceal the deep wounds but Ansel knew all it took was one good soil sample or dendrochronological look at one of the older trees, and the planet itself would reveal the hurt.
The first thing that stood out to Claire was the air still smelled of flowers, even in the busy city districts. It was how she remembered Bajor when she would come with her family. She had always appreciated the intentional efforts to combine unlikely elements into Bajoran culture as a part of their everyday lives. Nature permeated the city streets with the smell of flowers, the sound of running water in the fountains. Faith and spirituality being worked into the practicality of their architecture. Their history and traditions meeting art and ideas. It always stirred and inspired Claire’s mind when she was on Bajor.
Adalyn wasn't as well traveled as a number of the group, having joined Starfleet later than most and having spent a good chunk of her early career on Earth. O'Rourke had never imagined a bustling city could incorporate nature so effortlessly, and after so many generations of hardship no less. Adalyn's own memories of her childhood in rural Florida were tainted by the trauma she endured, so rural nature didn't have the same positive associations for her that might otherwise exist for others. Rural to her traumatized primitive lizard brain meant isolation, distance, no one to hear your terror. To be in this place now, knowing what the people had endured and how they had come together...despite why they were there now, she felt a sense of hope.
Viessa had visited during her hiatus from Starfleet, not many knew this was her second stint in her beloved blue... even if it had been white for a time. White never made sense, showed too much. Anyway, as she looked around it was vastly different from her time here before as a traveling doctor and she felt warmed by the progress made. However, she still saw in the dark alleys the poor, the weak... those that preyed on them. Bajor's dark zones were no different to Earths or even Vulcans to an extent. She heard coughs that worried her, skin conditions that gave her concern but she knew that wasn't why she was here... but she would be submitted a report of the fly to Starfleet Medical about sending some aid.
Chris looked around quietly absorbing his surroundings. It was beautiful, truly. It was amazing to him how far Bajor had come. He'd read the logs and seen the images from the occupation so seeing Bajor return to such beauty was inspiring to him on a very personal level. Maybe there was hope. He allowed a smile as he ran his fingers gently across the top of a hedge as they walked to the briefing room. It could have been his mind, but the rustling of the leaves in the hedge gave off a sweet and tangy scent.
Having been torn away from the Artemis' engines, Ensign Cihl Theidi was doing his absolute best to seem like he was excited to explore the homeworld of the Bajorans, but had a feeling that he was falling behind in that goal. As they beamed down his first thoughts were not of the splendor of the Bajoran Capital, but was more geared toward how much the planet reminded him of his own homeworld: Ventax II. The city was alive with life, mixed with flora and fauna that could bring tears to the eye; nonetheless, the architecture was really no different to him than that of his own homeworld. Bajor was wrought with the classical style of ancient buildings that were still used to this day, similar in many respects to his brief tour of Rome on Earth during his studies. His world was similar in that style, taking upon the classic look but Ventax focused more on pyramidal structures (like the Atheneum). It really was an impressive and beautiful city, but he would never really admit it.
Instead, he remained silent.
Jonathatn listened to the chatter of those in the group as they talked about Bajor and the city. " I've never been to Bajor before. " He said. " The closet I've ever been was a transfer for one ship to another at Deep Space nine. I had time to get something to eat and visit a traveling museum on the Bajorian occupation that was at the station while I was there. Never had the time to come down and see the planet though, such a pity really. This planet and it's people are well cultured and beautiful. " He said smiling with admiration for their host.
Walking towards the rear of the group, Cassie was fascinated by this space fairing culture that still held their religious beliefs close even after leaving their homeworld. She could see aspects of their religion almost everywhere she looked from the way they dressed to simple building designs. Unlike the others, Cassie had chosen to dress in civilian clothing as she still didn't feel right wearing her uniform outside of the ship before she actually earned the right to wear it again, so as a compromise, she figured acting as a civilian contractor might serve the mission a little better.
Once again there were four different perceptions in Siadra's mind. She remembered having the onslaught of the different perceptions, when she went from DS9 for the first time she had stepped upon the soil of Bajor. It had a dizzying affect on her. This time she was able to manage it. From the first host he had been to Bajor on mulitiple occasions to indulge seeing their cultures artwork and architecture. It was splendid. The second host had visited Bajor on mulitiple occasions helping to catalogue both Bajoran finds, as well as finding out about the Cardassians. All a part of being a historian. Keema she had gone to visit to enjoy the culture and interact with the weavers and other artisans until Bajor had been annexed. Keema revisted Bajor after the Cardassians had left. It had wounded Keema deeply seeing what had happened. Siadra, she had first stepped upon the soil of Bajor, on her assignment to DS9. So many memories bubbling up once more.
Moving to walk beside Siadra, Cassie gave her a nudge with her elbow, “so Mr Historian, what do you think about Bajor? Have you been here before?”
"I've been here on multiple occasions, so much has happened here. Just so much, happiness, pain, suffering, scars upon the beauty, also now it has been healed even more." was Siadra's comment. "it can be dizzying all the memories.
Cihl maintained his silent vigil with the rest of the group, listening to their conversations and banter back and forth. He was somewhat envious of them and how naturally such discussions came to some people. He had always struggled with developing relationships with others and, to be honest, he knew he wasn't the most social fellow aboard the Artemis. His first priority always would always be the engines and equipment aboard the Luna Class starship, but he wished he could be more open to possibilities.
Siadra gave a brief sigh of relief seeing the doors of the building they were going to enter in. This will help her to get back into focus as to why they are going to be here.
Abe joined the group, savoring the sights of the complex. Being on a planet's surface was a rare treat for him, so he seized the opportunity with enthusiasm. The ship provided a certain level of comfort, serving as a home away from home. However, it couldn't match the radiant warmth of the sun, the gentle caress of the breeze through his hair, and the delightful scents filling the air. From the corner of his eye, Abe observed the rest of the away team. It appeared that he wasn't the only individual relishing their excursion away from the confines of the ship.
Viessa noticed Abe and smiled subconsciously. She'd taken a shine to the young man when they'd last spoken and as she passed him placed an hand on his arm. "Nice to see you Commander." she said simply giving him a small squeeze before moving passed him and onward.
With a sigh of relief, Siadra stepped inside the building. The memories that were racing around in her mind, quieted down. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, cleansing herself from the negative thoughts that cascaded in her mind.
As Andrew followed the others he turned around suddenly. Was someone following them? Griffin looked around and seeing no one he turned around and continued walking with the others.
A Joint Post By
Captain Marc Kidd
Commanding Officer, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Commander Abernathy Rice PhD
Executive Officer, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Lieutenant Commander Faith Benson
Chief Security/Tactical Officer, USS Artemis
Second Officer, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Lieutenant Commander Viessa Kenobi
Chief Medical Officer/Medical Examiner, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Lieutenant Christopher Blake
Chief Flight Control Officer, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Lieutenant Jonathan Corwin
Defense Council, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Lieutenant Claire Fisher
JAG Officer, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Lieutenant Sorine Kaida
Criminal Investigations Officer, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Lieutenant Siadra Molaur
Chief Forensic Science Officer, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Lieutenant Junior Grade Andrew Griffin
Criminal Investigations Officer, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Lieutenant Junior Grade Adalyn O'Rourke
Ship's Counselor/Profiler, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Ensign Cihl Theidi
Chief Engineer, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Lieutenant Junior Grade Ansel Lund
Forensic Entomologist, USS Artmis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Ensign Nala Rider
Facial Reconstruction Specialist, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Cassandra Frost
Criminal Apprehension Officer, USS Artemis
Commanding Officer, Emergency Services Unit
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
RSS Feed