Posted by Commander Jason Harn (Executive Officer) in Holodeck side sim: atten: Ael Khev

Posted by Lieutenant Michael Gould (Chief Engineer) in Holodeck side sim: atten: Ael Khev

Posted by Commander Jason Harn (Executive Officer) in Holodeck side sim: atten: Ael Khev
One fine day as the USS Brain A. Olinski was taking a long voyage through space, an off duty Commander Jason Harn was in his quarters sitting at his desk and going through the personnel files. Cluttering his desk was a number of mementos from the 22nd century that he had pulled out of storage in order to become introspective. Rhonda, Loki, Donner, Joseph, Maya, they all seemed so far away in time and space… They all could have come from a different life as far as Jason was concerned. They were reminders of a life and a civilization he could never return to, at least no as long as the Federations top secret Temporal Operations and it’s public face Temporal Investigations had anything to say about it. Even if he could return, was he truly the man he had been over two centuries ago?

Currently he was reading the personnel file of someone else who couldn’t return to the civilization he was born into, Lieutenant Ael Khev, Starfleet’s favorite Romulan defector. The Hobus supernova had shattered the Romulan Empire, and the Tal Shiar, the Romulan military, and the Klingon Empire were carving it up. A series of inhumane orders involving the murders of civilians who’s crime was being on the wrong side of a political orders was enough to drive Khev out of the Romulan navy and into the arms of the Federation. Incredibly, the information he gave Starfleet Intelligence was so good that they had no problem with rewarding him with the only life he knew, the life of a fighter pilot in an interstellar navy, in this case Starfleet.

The whole thing smelled to high heaven to Jason, but when he actually met Ael Khev face to face he could see for himself why both the counseling department and Starfleet Intelligence were completely convinced of the Romulan’s new loyalties. That face was haunted by a past he couldn’t escape, no matter how many light years he put between him. Even Jason, haunted by memories of the Earth-Romulan War of the late 2250’s knew that he could trust this man with his life, let alone Starfleet’s technical secrets. The reason to make sure Ael didn’t have duty on the Federation Romulan border wasn’t because of conflicting loyalties, it was because it would cause such a mental strain on the poor man that the counseling department wouldn’t be able to clear him for duty.

The similarity between Jason and Ael didn’t end with the Romulan Empire being responsible for their exile from their original civilization and their subsequent adoption from Starfleet. Ael was a fighter pilot; Jason had once been a fighter pilot. Ael was fifty, (not that one could tell thanks to 24th century medicine and the Romulan lifespan that was biologically longer than the human norm), Jason was in his fifties. Both were 1.91 meters and weighed over a hundred kilos, nearly all of it muscle. And both had a real challenge ahead of them when it came to making friends.

It was time to do something about it. He would invite Ael to spend some time with him on the holodeck in some physical exercise, rock climbing or something, and see what they had in common. Even if they never became close friends, it would do them both a world of good to know that somebody on this ship really understood them.

“Computer, what is the location of Ael Khev?” he asked out loud.

OOC: Sam, feel free to answer for the computer before describing where Ael is on what is he doing.

Jason Harn, XO

=Lieutenant Khev is in his quarters.= the computer replied.

Ael had recently regained so much, but definitively lost everything else. Out of his parents, two siblings, three nieces and two nephews, his sister was the only one alive.

His morning ritual had changed. He still gazed at his tattoo and prayed for the souls of every innocent he shot down to find rest. Now also he prayed for his family. All those passed, may they find eternal peace.

As a strange coincidence, he thought of Commander Harn as he looked at Red Squad reports, despite this being his day off. He thought of the commander as he evaluated a training exercise the squad had just run. He remembered meeting the XO, he remembered being the enemy. And then that passed an was replaced by something else. Something foreign. Almost fear of something other than Ael’s pointed ears.

-Lt Ael Khev, Apex (Red Squad Leader)

=^=Harn to Khev, are you busy?=^= Jason asked the empty room he was in. =^=This is nothing time sensitive, I just want to know if you’ve got a minute. =^= Jason took a deep breath. This was going to be awkward. Nobody wants to spend time with the boss, and on most ships that Jason served on when the first officer asks to see you, he’s either feeling you out to see if he wants to choose you for an assignment or you’re in trouble for something. The only way to play it was to remain as casual as possible and give the Romulan plenty of opportunities to escape if he was too uncomfortable.

Jason Harn, XO

Ael set down the PaDD he had been staring at and straightened up in his seat. =/\=No sir, not busy at all.=/\= he waited to hear what the XO thought, if this was a test of his dedication to duty.

-Lt Ael Khev, Apex (Red Squad Leader)