Judgement – Stranger in a Strange Land
by Commander Isha t'Vaurek & Cardassian Glen Sulla Parek
Post Details
Ekenda stood still, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly open as she struggled to process the scene before her.
“Stand right in the middle of the exit, great plan,” someone sneered as they shoved their way by and passed into the crowded arrivals area.
Ekenda barely heard or felt the stranger’s rudeness, her attention fixed as it was on the strange array of shapes, skin, scales and colour before her. She had been in crowds before, but the population of Ra'tleihfi was largely homogenous – there she was the one who stood out as alien … in this place, who could tell.
Slowly she moved and joined the queue of new arrivals.
The downy reddish fur that ran from the nape of her neck and down her spine rippled beneath her tunic, an involuntary response, but Ekenda was not afraid. Her mistress needed her, she was in trouble. The stars cried her Lady’s pain, and even though she had insisted that her servant could not come to this place Ekenda could not allow her to suffer any longer.
Ekenda was not a citizen of the Empire.
It had been a struggle for her to acquire the documentation to travel, but one did not serve such a great Lady without coming to know those who could help in such matters. Eventually it was done, and here she was.
---
An hour later Ekenda emerged onto the promenade still bewildered by the diversity of species she found here. She made her way to the board that listed facilities and directions, she needed to find the right Embassy. She waited for a gap and as one emerged one of the creatures turned about to leave.
“What are you?” Ekenda asked. He reminded her of one of the dragons that inhabited the humid band below the equator of Lestar IV, but walking, and presumably able to talk.
Parek was quite taken aback. He had been looking for a tailor that might specialise in Cardassian fashions, but none of the signs seemed clear on that note. Coming to DS5 he had not expected to be asked that question. Looking the being that had addressed him up and down he answered, 'Cardassian.'
Biting down on the imperious sneer and retort that had bubbled up quite naturally. 'Wh- what are you, if I may ask such a question?'
Ekenda dropped her gaze. "I am merely someone's servant," she said, "and I am new to this Quadrant, and its inhabitants, Cardassian," she said, not sure if it was his name, his family's name or his species. She was not here to make smalltalk, but whilst decades ago she may have failed to form a bond with another of her own species, she still had the latent desire to understand and to cherish new lifeforms. She did not understand that he had never seen her own people before.
'Ah. Then we're both in the same position,' replied Parek gently at this new revelation. 'But I was referring to your species, not your occupation,' he gave what he considered to be a winning smile and extended his hand. 'My name is Sulla Parek.'
"I am Lestari," she said speaking in Rihannsu. Ekenda did not think for a minute that her own language would be known, but the guide that she had studied on her journey informed her that the major languages could be instantly translated for another to understand. "but I am named Ekenda." She looked at his hand for a moment then extended hers in imitation of his action though she did not touch his.
Parek clasped his hand around hers, 'it is a pleasure to meet you,' he continued in Standard, 'though I am unfamiliar with your species.' As he shook her hand he said, 'this is a common way of greeting within the Federation.' He thought for a moment, then glanced down at their hands, and a thought struck him, 'I hope I haven't offended you...'
As it was, her species were very tactile as a rule, but it was a habit that she had long abandoned except with her mistress. "I'm not offended," Ekenda replied, "If it is the common way of greeting here, then it is I who would be rude to be offended. Do you know where the Romulan Embassy is located?" she continued, "that is where I must go."
'Not on this deck,' said Parek with certainty. 'Let me check a moment.' He typed a request into his PaDD. It took a few moments for it to retrieve the Embassy's location. It seemed the data transfer from the station's computer had not been of the best quality. 'Ah, here we are. Deck Sixty. You'll need to take one of the turbolifts.' He pointed the closest one out to the Lestari. 'Would you like some company in case you get lost?'
Ekenda chuckled soflty. What she had felt across the Quadrant from the Lady t'Khellian was somehow related to this man, or to people like him, but she did not feel him to be personally responsible for her Lady's distress.
"You have been here longer than I, Sulla Parek. I am content to accept your guidance if you have the time," she said. Ekenda felt no threat.
'I have no pressing concerns here,' he replied as he shepherded the alien towards the turbolift, 'so. You're a citizen of the Romulan Empire?' Parek was intrigued by this new being. Having not seen any of her species before he was eager to learn as much as possible. Briefly he wondered if anyone had seen her species outside of the Empire...
"A citizen!?" Involuntarily Ekenda ran her hand down her long downy throat, "No. I am the current Ambassador's servant. I've been bonded with her since she was six years old."
'Oh, you mean your people ... are slaves?' Parek knew of course that the Romulans employed slave labour, as had the Cardassians until recently, but his upbringing had come with strong suggestions that such practices were wrong.
"My people aren't slaves," Ekenda replied, "their only concern is to nurture their planet. I became a servant and through that, I help them," Ekenda told him. It was too early to discuss the complex scenarios around bonding, or that hre alternative would have been to live by her onw instincts outside of the community, outside of the 'we'.
Ekenda considered herself and her position very fortunate, not least because she had contact with her family, and the agreement in her case had been honoured - Lestar IV benefited from her service.
"I think that your people find it difficult to submit to others," Ekenda suggested as they approached the lift. "For mine it is natural once bonded. I happen to be bonded to a great Lady. You think there is something wrong with that ... why?"
The words emerged very quickly, more rapid than was usual for Ekenda. Of course she had gleaned his mood, his immediate experiences on the promenade, but she still could not put it squarely together with what she herself knew.
'My race has found it difficult to give up their destinies on behalf of others for a long time. There was an era ... long ago, when we were not so proud.' Parek paused, gathering his thoughts, 'then there came a time of great hardship when the Cardassians you know today came to be. After the hardship we became a hard and cruel race for the most part. We used many races for our own advantage and advancement and it did not end well for us.
'There were teachings though, that survived from this ancient time - that which we call the Hebitian Age - and they were passed down through families who kept the flame alive, sometimes at great cost to themselves.' he cleared his throat, 'my nursemaid was one of those, and she taught me these tenets as a child. They strongly abhorred slavery. It is antithetical to me, slavery, through personal experience, and religious teaching.'
As they approached the turbolift he quietened.
Ekenda tilted her head slightly to one side, "whether or not it is abhorrent surely lies in the practice," she said, the idea seemed to genuinely upset him. "I failed to bond with my own species and I had a choice; I could remain on Lestar living on the fringes of society with loose ties to the family that raised me, where unbonded I would never be a true Lestari, or I could seek an artificial connection. To me the choice was very clear," she told him.
'I see. Bonding is not the same as slavery, then?' asked Parek as they stepped into the turbolift. 'Deck Sixty,' he said as he waited for a reply. The 'lift hummed into life as it catapulted them at speed to their destination.
Ekenda sucked in a breath, "Among my species it is a chemical process necessary for reproduction, Lestari means 'we' and when the bind between parents and offspring starts to fade a new bond must be formed that moves us on to the next stage of life, I could not make that bond." Ekenda was not quite sure that he understood the distinction that she was making, "I chose a different one. I might not be a citizen of the Empire, Sulla Parek, any more than I could have been a member of my own society, but I am a member of my Lady's Household which has always been enough to give me purpose. I don't feel myself to be a slave," she finished.
Parek gave a small, conciliatory smile, 'Miss Ekenda, I confess that your culture and species are baffling. Perhaps we could make some time and you could explain it at a later date? It is a fascinating topic. Though if i may venture then, bonding is more akin to what humans call marriage?'
"Perhaps," Ekenda replied, though she did not make it clear if she was answering his first question, his second, or both. "It is very selfless of you to bring directly to the Embassy," she continued, changing the subject, "Do you know it?"
'Not at all. At least not yet,' replied Parek, 'I'm sure though in the course of my duties I will be required to call in from time to time. Whilst it is a good deed, it is in my own interest. Knowing the best route from the Cardassian Consulate to the other two Embassies will make it much easier for myself. But I do know that arriving on this station on your own can be quite daunting.' He shrugged, 'it can be quite disorientating.'
Ekenda nodded and bit her lip before she spoke again. "I did not know that there were so many different peoples. Its like watching a flock of river birds rise," she admitted, "and it is quite disorientating. So now we both know the way here."
'Indeed we do,' replied Parek with another smile. The turbolift began to slow, coming to a smooth stop at Deck Sixty. The ride had been rather quick - surprisingly so considering they had traverse eighty decks or so. 'Have you ever been aboard such a station? I certainly haven't. The few we have left in the Union are much smaller, and used to be used very much for industrial and military matters. Nothing so luxurious as this.'
"Never," Ekenda said, a thought which had been bothering her since she stepped onto the transport that took her off ch'Rihan, "Luxurious, I suppose, but on ch'Rihan I have my garden, and I am always under the sky. Here ... well, I don't know. I've never spent long periods of time in artificial environments, I've been spared that experience."
'You have a point,' said Parek as the doors opened and they stepped out. Much to his surprise, they had landed right in the lobby of the Romulan Embassy. They had done a great job of modifying the architecture he observed. It was distinctly Romulan. 'At least here they have the arboretum. It's a start.'
"There's an arboretum?" Ekenda stopped in her tracks, almost. Arriving at the embassy was oddly daunting for her, she had no permission to even be here. Indeed she had been specifically instructed to remain on ch'Rihan but Ekenda knew that she was needed , so she had come. "I will have to visit it. Some reminder that there is a natural world would help."
'Indeed, the arboretum is a magnificent reminder of the blending of the natural and artificial. The Federation is particularly good at this it seems,' he looked around the lobby. 'Do you require any further assistance?'
Ekenda looked around, turning in the vast empty space. There was another turbolift in addition to the one they had used, four pillars that gave the impression of function, and at the other side of the vestibule two open doorways, one at either end of the wall that bore the emblem of the Rihannsu Stelam Shiar. Neither entrance appeared to be guarded though Ekenda was certain that they were already being watched.
"This is modelled on the entrance of the building that houses the Upper House of the Senate, but crafted in metal rather than stone," Ekenda said, her tone almost a whisper. "If you do visit, Sulla Parek, use the wider entrance to your right, that's the public way in," she advised. "I should be okay from here."
'Very well,' replied Parek, glancing about the room, familiarising himself with the surroundings, and making note of the visitor's entrance. He was discomfited by what he thought was an oppressive silence. Nodding his head he bade a hasty retreat into the turbolift, saying only, 'until we meet again, Miss Ekenda.'
As she watched the doors closed Ekenda shook her head, "What a peculiar creature," she said to herself before adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder and heading towards the visitor's entrance herself.
Getting here was only the first hurdle, getting cleared to see the ambassador would be the next one, the bureaucracy involved with that could be every bit as convoluted as getting her papers had been.
OFF
A post by:
Ekenda
An NPC by Louise
DS5
Glen Sulla Parek
Ambassador's Aide
DS5
by Commander Isha t'Vaurek & Cardassian Glen Sulla Parek
Post Details
| Title | Stranger in a Strange Land | |
| Mission | Judgement | |
| Author(s) | Commander Isha t'Vaurek & Cardassian Glen Sulla Parek | |
| Posted | Sun Jan 16, 2011 @ 10:20pm | |
| Location | Promenade; Deck 60 | |
| Timeline | SD36 14:00 |
“Stand right in the middle of the exit, great plan,” someone sneered as they shoved their way by and passed into the crowded arrivals area.
Ekenda barely heard or felt the stranger’s rudeness, her attention fixed as it was on the strange array of shapes, skin, scales and colour before her. She had been in crowds before, but the population of Ra'tleihfi was largely homogenous – there she was the one who stood out as alien … in this place, who could tell.
Slowly she moved and joined the queue of new arrivals.
The downy reddish fur that ran from the nape of her neck and down her spine rippled beneath her tunic, an involuntary response, but Ekenda was not afraid. Her mistress needed her, she was in trouble. The stars cried her Lady’s pain, and even though she had insisted that her servant could not come to this place Ekenda could not allow her to suffer any longer.
Ekenda was not a citizen of the Empire.
It had been a struggle for her to acquire the documentation to travel, but one did not serve such a great Lady without coming to know those who could help in such matters. Eventually it was done, and here she was.
---
An hour later Ekenda emerged onto the promenade still bewildered by the diversity of species she found here. She made her way to the board that listed facilities and directions, she needed to find the right Embassy. She waited for a gap and as one emerged one of the creatures turned about to leave.
“What are you?” Ekenda asked. He reminded her of one of the dragons that inhabited the humid band below the equator of Lestar IV, but walking, and presumably able to talk.
Parek was quite taken aback. He had been looking for a tailor that might specialise in Cardassian fashions, but none of the signs seemed clear on that note. Coming to DS5 he had not expected to be asked that question. Looking the being that had addressed him up and down he answered, 'Cardassian.'
Biting down on the imperious sneer and retort that had bubbled up quite naturally. 'Wh- what are you, if I may ask such a question?'
Ekenda dropped her gaze. "I am merely someone's servant," she said, "and I am new to this Quadrant, and its inhabitants, Cardassian," she said, not sure if it was his name, his family's name or his species. She was not here to make smalltalk, but whilst decades ago she may have failed to form a bond with another of her own species, she still had the latent desire to understand and to cherish new lifeforms. She did not understand that he had never seen her own people before.
'Ah. Then we're both in the same position,' replied Parek gently at this new revelation. 'But I was referring to your species, not your occupation,' he gave what he considered to be a winning smile and extended his hand. 'My name is Sulla Parek.'
"I am Lestari," she said speaking in Rihannsu. Ekenda did not think for a minute that her own language would be known, but the guide that she had studied on her journey informed her that the major languages could be instantly translated for another to understand. "but I am named Ekenda." She looked at his hand for a moment then extended hers in imitation of his action though she did not touch his.
Parek clasped his hand around hers, 'it is a pleasure to meet you,' he continued in Standard, 'though I am unfamiliar with your species.' As he shook her hand he said, 'this is a common way of greeting within the Federation.' He thought for a moment, then glanced down at their hands, and a thought struck him, 'I hope I haven't offended you...'
As it was, her species were very tactile as a rule, but it was a habit that she had long abandoned except with her mistress. "I'm not offended," Ekenda replied, "If it is the common way of greeting here, then it is I who would be rude to be offended. Do you know where the Romulan Embassy is located?" she continued, "that is where I must go."
'Not on this deck,' said Parek with certainty. 'Let me check a moment.' He typed a request into his PaDD. It took a few moments for it to retrieve the Embassy's location. It seemed the data transfer from the station's computer had not been of the best quality. 'Ah, here we are. Deck Sixty. You'll need to take one of the turbolifts.' He pointed the closest one out to the Lestari. 'Would you like some company in case you get lost?'
Ekenda chuckled soflty. What she had felt across the Quadrant from the Lady t'Khellian was somehow related to this man, or to people like him, but she did not feel him to be personally responsible for her Lady's distress.
"You have been here longer than I, Sulla Parek. I am content to accept your guidance if you have the time," she said. Ekenda felt no threat.
'I have no pressing concerns here,' he replied as he shepherded the alien towards the turbolift, 'so. You're a citizen of the Romulan Empire?' Parek was intrigued by this new being. Having not seen any of her species before he was eager to learn as much as possible. Briefly he wondered if anyone had seen her species outside of the Empire...
"A citizen!?" Involuntarily Ekenda ran her hand down her long downy throat, "No. I am the current Ambassador's servant. I've been bonded with her since she was six years old."
'Oh, you mean your people ... are slaves?' Parek knew of course that the Romulans employed slave labour, as had the Cardassians until recently, but his upbringing had come with strong suggestions that such practices were wrong.
"My people aren't slaves," Ekenda replied, "their only concern is to nurture their planet. I became a servant and through that, I help them," Ekenda told him. It was too early to discuss the complex scenarios around bonding, or that hre alternative would have been to live by her onw instincts outside of the community, outside of the 'we'.
Ekenda considered herself and her position very fortunate, not least because she had contact with her family, and the agreement in her case had been honoured - Lestar IV benefited from her service.
"I think that your people find it difficult to submit to others," Ekenda suggested as they approached the lift. "For mine it is natural once bonded. I happen to be bonded to a great Lady. You think there is something wrong with that ... why?"
The words emerged very quickly, more rapid than was usual for Ekenda. Of course she had gleaned his mood, his immediate experiences on the promenade, but she still could not put it squarely together with what she herself knew.
'My race has found it difficult to give up their destinies on behalf of others for a long time. There was an era ... long ago, when we were not so proud.' Parek paused, gathering his thoughts, 'then there came a time of great hardship when the Cardassians you know today came to be. After the hardship we became a hard and cruel race for the most part. We used many races for our own advantage and advancement and it did not end well for us.
'There were teachings though, that survived from this ancient time - that which we call the Hebitian Age - and they were passed down through families who kept the flame alive, sometimes at great cost to themselves.' he cleared his throat, 'my nursemaid was one of those, and she taught me these tenets as a child. They strongly abhorred slavery. It is antithetical to me, slavery, through personal experience, and religious teaching.'
As they approached the turbolift he quietened.
Ekenda tilted her head slightly to one side, "whether or not it is abhorrent surely lies in the practice," she said, the idea seemed to genuinely upset him. "I failed to bond with my own species and I had a choice; I could remain on Lestar living on the fringes of society with loose ties to the family that raised me, where unbonded I would never be a true Lestari, or I could seek an artificial connection. To me the choice was very clear," she told him.
'I see. Bonding is not the same as slavery, then?' asked Parek as they stepped into the turbolift. 'Deck Sixty,' he said as he waited for a reply. The 'lift hummed into life as it catapulted them at speed to their destination.
Ekenda sucked in a breath, "Among my species it is a chemical process necessary for reproduction, Lestari means 'we' and when the bind between parents and offspring starts to fade a new bond must be formed that moves us on to the next stage of life, I could not make that bond." Ekenda was not quite sure that he understood the distinction that she was making, "I chose a different one. I might not be a citizen of the Empire, Sulla Parek, any more than I could have been a member of my own society, but I am a member of my Lady's Household which has always been enough to give me purpose. I don't feel myself to be a slave," she finished.
Parek gave a small, conciliatory smile, 'Miss Ekenda, I confess that your culture and species are baffling. Perhaps we could make some time and you could explain it at a later date? It is a fascinating topic. Though if i may venture then, bonding is more akin to what humans call marriage?'
"Perhaps," Ekenda replied, though she did not make it clear if she was answering his first question, his second, or both. "It is very selfless of you to bring directly to the Embassy," she continued, changing the subject, "Do you know it?"
'Not at all. At least not yet,' replied Parek, 'I'm sure though in the course of my duties I will be required to call in from time to time. Whilst it is a good deed, it is in my own interest. Knowing the best route from the Cardassian Consulate to the other two Embassies will make it much easier for myself. But I do know that arriving on this station on your own can be quite daunting.' He shrugged, 'it can be quite disorientating.'
Ekenda nodded and bit her lip before she spoke again. "I did not know that there were so many different peoples. Its like watching a flock of river birds rise," she admitted, "and it is quite disorientating. So now we both know the way here."
'Indeed we do,' replied Parek with another smile. The turbolift began to slow, coming to a smooth stop at Deck Sixty. The ride had been rather quick - surprisingly so considering they had traverse eighty decks or so. 'Have you ever been aboard such a station? I certainly haven't. The few we have left in the Union are much smaller, and used to be used very much for industrial and military matters. Nothing so luxurious as this.'
"Never," Ekenda said, a thought which had been bothering her since she stepped onto the transport that took her off ch'Rihan, "Luxurious, I suppose, but on ch'Rihan I have my garden, and I am always under the sky. Here ... well, I don't know. I've never spent long periods of time in artificial environments, I've been spared that experience."
'You have a point,' said Parek as the doors opened and they stepped out. Much to his surprise, they had landed right in the lobby of the Romulan Embassy. They had done a great job of modifying the architecture he observed. It was distinctly Romulan. 'At least here they have the arboretum. It's a start.'
"There's an arboretum?" Ekenda stopped in her tracks, almost. Arriving at the embassy was oddly daunting for her, she had no permission to even be here. Indeed she had been specifically instructed to remain on ch'Rihan but Ekenda knew that she was needed , so she had come. "I will have to visit it. Some reminder that there is a natural world would help."
'Indeed, the arboretum is a magnificent reminder of the blending of the natural and artificial. The Federation is particularly good at this it seems,' he looked around the lobby. 'Do you require any further assistance?'
Ekenda looked around, turning in the vast empty space. There was another turbolift in addition to the one they had used, four pillars that gave the impression of function, and at the other side of the vestibule two open doorways, one at either end of the wall that bore the emblem of the Rihannsu Stelam Shiar. Neither entrance appeared to be guarded though Ekenda was certain that they were already being watched.
"This is modelled on the entrance of the building that houses the Upper House of the Senate, but crafted in metal rather than stone," Ekenda said, her tone almost a whisper. "If you do visit, Sulla Parek, use the wider entrance to your right, that's the public way in," she advised. "I should be okay from here."
'Very well,' replied Parek, glancing about the room, familiarising himself with the surroundings, and making note of the visitor's entrance. He was discomfited by what he thought was an oppressive silence. Nodding his head he bade a hasty retreat into the turbolift, saying only, 'until we meet again, Miss Ekenda.'
As she watched the doors closed Ekenda shook her head, "What a peculiar creature," she said to herself before adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder and heading towards the visitor's entrance herself.
Getting here was only the first hurdle, getting cleared to see the ambassador would be the next one, the bureaucracy involved with that could be every bit as convoluted as getting her papers had been.
OFF
A post by:
Ekenda
An NPC by Louise
DS5
Glen Sulla Parek
Ambassador's Aide
DS5