Posted Sept. 7, 2022, 8:34 p.m. by Captain Eela Dasca (Lt. Governor) (Lindsay B)
Posted by Civilian Kenzo B’tren-Hyrushi (Governor) in Governor’s Office- New Partnerships
Posted by Captain Eela Dasca (Lt. Governor) in Governor’s Office- New Partnerships
Posted by Civilian Kenzo B’tren-Hyrushi (Governor) in Governor’s Office- New Partnerships
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻(snip)
Hyrushi didn’t move at all, but said “I honestly have no idea. The first, he and I worked well together. And they pulled him after three months. The second was assigned but never even showed up. The third was here long enough to try and shut down the colony’s space traffic control center and move everything to the Star Fleet compound. When that didn’t work, he left without resigning. The fourth was here such a short time I can’t even remember their face. The fifth was arrested by Star Fleet when they arrived, for what I have no idea. The last, before you, I had a single meeting with. He met with one of the Star Fleet Command staff… and then resigned and left. I do hope you are here to stop the revolving door. Because it hasn’t endeared Star Fleet to anyone here that your Star Fleet position here has been, quite frankly, a mess of Fleet’s own making.”
Hyrushi, Gov
She lifted her hand to her mouth, a curled index finger rubbing on the edge of her lower lip before it came to rest in the curve between her lips and chin. ” I can work on fixing that. And yes, that is a significant amount of arrogance I’m summoning,” she said with a grin. “But any captain who thinks they have no ego and could run a ship without a shred of arrogance is lying to you, and themselves. There’s a certain amount of audacity that it take to lead any large group of people. Whether it’s a ship of hundreds to a thousand crew, or a colony of millions. To be able to give orders and instructions, and have people follow them, requires trust but also a particular image that you have to cultivate. I can’t do anything about the people who came before me, but from here on out, I’ll make it my personal mission to repair this particular relationship. Don’t worry about Fleet stuff. I’ve got it. And besides, this is all working in my favour because not only am I retired, and therefore I can’t be reassigned, but I’m highly decorated Kenzo. That means something to the crew here, and if not them, it means something back at Starfleet Command. I have clout there. They will listen to me. And if they don’t? Well, it wouldn’t be the first time I made waves.” There was a sparkle in her eye that matched her determination and her certainty.
~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.
Hyrushi still didn’t move,and his face remains expressionless. “I hope all of that is true, Eela… for your sake. Because I have yet to be impressed by anyone Star Fleet has sent. And to your point… be very careful comparing the governance of this colony to running a starship. They are not the same animal. There is much more to this… and the peolle here are not 9blugated to do what you say. Your Fkeet personnel, of course. But the citizens… even as the Commander-In-Chief of the Fleet forces, you are still beholden to the people of Oed V. And they are not in your chain of command. I would strongly suggest you try to ingratiate yourself to them. And that, I am afraid, will be a very difficult process.”
Hyrushi, Gov
Eela leaned forward, her eyes meeting his. “Starfleet is not my only experience. It’s not all I know. I’ve been a diplomat for the last five years. And a good one at that. I am a representative of these people. Trust me, this I do know. As for it being difficult, well, I’m alive and awake when all the odds said I shouldn’t be. I couldn’t speak and I had to learn to walk again. Believe me when I say that I understand difficult processes. They do not scare me. Hell, it might even spur me on, but I’ve always loved a good challenge.”
She leaned back to her normal upright posture and took a sip of the tea, letting it permeate her being, relaxing her. “You must have questions. Please, go ahead and ask me anything.”
~Eeela Dasca, Lt. Gov.
Kenzo regarded her for a long moment in silence and then asked, simply, “Why are you here?”
Hyrushi, Gov
There were, of course, acceptable answers one might give in an interview. The basic sort that conveyed something personal but maintained a level of distance and professionalism. That was not what he wanted and this was no interview, or at least not the traditional kind. And Eela sensed that such an answer would be a waste of breath and time. No, Kenzo wanted the truth, and truths were a complex set of circumstances and beliefs all rolled into a personal perspective. But she had just spoken about connection and the need for it. To deny him something real now would halt any progress they might have made so far.
Eela allowed herself to settle back into the chair, to relax into it though her back protested slightly. She brought her tea cup with her holding it in both hands, her head tilted downwards ever so slightly as she contemplated how to even begin. This was not the kind of story you usually told in an office. Then again, she had never told this story to anyone, not even Cory or Roger. What made her feel the need to tell him now? The exact point of the story of course. With a slow and deep breath, she began.
“It was a couple years after my accident, and a year since I had recovered enough to go back to some sort of work. That turned out to be the Federation Diplomatic Corp, in part because of my experience as an officer, but more because I had started out in psychology and been a practicing psychologist. So it was a couple of assignments in and they had been going well, but then myself and a team are sent out to the Gamma Quadrant. We had made first contact with a species that had no prior experience with the Dominion so we didn’t risk conflict there. I went in as a follow up to build up ties. It did not go well. At least in terms of the outcome my bosses had expected.
“The planet was extraordinarily beautiful, the ocean the city was situated on the most intriguing shade of green I’d ever seen in water. And the people”-she shook her head-“lovely. Profoundly optimistic. Lighthearted. I asked about it at one point, about the overall positive feeling and it was described to be a part of the planet and they had never known different. To be honest, I was envious. And another part of me instantly felt guilty. Here was I, a person who had experienced some really difficult things, who represented an alliance that had gone some very difficult things and I was there to what? Teach them something? Share our learnings and wisdom? It felt like I would taint this place simply by my presence.
“After a confusing day of discussions where they did not understand the concept of war, and more internal conflict on my part, there was a special event planned. A musical performance followed by a dinner. The music moved me and I was silent the entire time. I just took it in. And then came the dinner and I sat at a large round table with several important people, who would come and go as they mingled.” Eeela looked up, gazing at him intently.
“Suddenly, this very old woman came and sat next to me and I didn’t recognize her as someone I had met already, but everyone greeted her with deep reverence, so I followed suit. We went through the whole dinner and she didn’t say a single word, though every now and then she’d just gaze at me deeply. It could have felt uncomfortable, but for reasons I couldn’t explain, it didn’t.”
Eela paused to sip on her cooling tea. “Finally, near the end, the old woman rests her hand on mine on the table, pressing her fingertips into mine and she stares right at me, no… right though me and she says something that someone else at the table translated to, ‘Every seed needs roots or it will whither and die’. Then she smiled, got up and walked away. The others explained that was a spiritual person, their closest word to Standard was mystic, and that they rarely spoke. I never saw her again, despite trying to find out where she might be, because I was desperate for her to tell me what she meant by her words. Why she told me that.
“And honestly, after that I just carried on. The assignment wasn’t an outright failure but I felt weird about it and communicated my concerns and that was all I could do. I went on to other assignments. And during all of this, I was still adjusting to life post-Starfleet. And trying to be someone everyone expected me to be. But the truth is Kenzo, a part of me did die on that ship. And after I woke up from my coma I had to deal with the consequences of having a brain injury. Despite all the healing and surgery and treatment, one thing was very clear: I was not the same Eela Dasca that I had been. Parts of my personality had changed. I struggled to control emotions, especially anger. And after several years, despite a lot of hard work to temper a lot of my reactions, it was too much for my husband. For me too. He wanted me to be the woman he married and I had changed too drastically for him to catch up, and I haven’t known exactly who I am anymore. Who this Eela is. We’er expected our official divorce decree to be granted in the next few weeks.
“When my friend Roger told me he had tossed my name onto the list of candidates for this position, I thought he was crazy. But later that day I suddenly thought about that old mystic and her words. I haven’t had roots in a long time. I quite happily set them down on every Starfleet assignment, but it’s not been an option. My kids and grandchild are on Earth, but I don’t feel connected to Earth. It’s not home. Quite honestly Kenzo, I am no different than so many of the colonist who come here on a whim, looking for something they can’t quite name, a place they can call home. Maybe it’s all folly, maybe it’ll be terrible, but all I do know for sure is that when I sat down for my interview with the Senate, that same strange feeling flowed over me that I had felt when that old woman placed her hand on me.” Dasca shrugged. “I have no explanation other than I think I’m meant to be here, and I think if I give Oed a chance and truly embrace life here I’ll finally find out who Eela Dasca is now. And I suspect I’ll really like her too.” Was it a bunch of sentimental nonsense? Maybe. But as Eela gazed at Hyrushi with her teacup still firmly between her hands, there was a mixture of hope and yearning in her eyes.
~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.
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