Avram Jacobs

"All hands, bury the dead." Lieutenant Commander Shran's voice, clear and calm.

The torpedo room is crowded. Dress uniforms bear gold highlights, precise creases. The Captain speaks, her words straightforward, inspiring. At her gesture, Lieutenant H'suur steps to the simple podium.

There, looking at the faces about him, at the blue flag draped over the glossy black torpedo, his carefully prepared remarks leave him. Hands gripping the edge of the stand, his ears twist back as he chokes out a growl.

"We have to go out. We have to do the right thing."

Another pause, then quieter; "...we don't have to come back."

Unable to muster anything else, a few steps return him to the line of security personnel. By the slightest of leans, by tiny reshufflings of feet they place a protective cordon about their chief.

Two security crewmen lift the draped flag from the torpedo. Folded into a precise triangle, it is presented to Captain Tigan.

Again, the Andorian woman speaks. "Company, present." All attending salute - the wall of red-uniformed Security adds an archaic, precise stomp. It is a martial sound, a tribal sound, a sound to stir ancient memories.

The torpedo slides smoothly into the tube, and the room shudders gently as the empty casing is fired into the star, now bereft of worlds.

The music that rises is simple, a mournful, grateful horn speaking to an end and rest.

At Captain Tigan's nod, Lieutenant Command Shran issues the ceremony's last order.

"Dismissed."

The crew files out in silence. Lieutenant H'suur heads for his quarters, flanked by his redshirts. Captain Tigan heads for hers.

The folded flag and a handwritten letter will go to Avram Jacobs' parents, colonial administrators on a quiet little world, far away.

T'zark dressed in his formal dress uniform pauses while the assembled crew slowly dismiss. Then falls into step next to his friend H'suur. He says nothing ... there are no real words that would mean anything in the balance of the loss of a life.

T'zark's presence is merely the silent support of a friend and battle comrade signifying the unspoken, 'Hey, I'm here... with you for you.'

As the crew disperse T'zark says in step with H'suur, "I'm glad you were there. You got as many of us home as you could. You did the best you could... even though we could not do the heroic ... the... humane thing we both wanted to."

Liara stands talking to Cmndr. Reed, as the security prossesion passes by. "I'm not sure what else can be gleaned by more interviews Commander, but that's your call." Overhearing T'zarks comments, the XO's antennae flatten slightly, and begin to wring, and lash about slightly. The very perceptive Cmndr. Reed picks up quickly on the situation, and leans in close to Liara to whisper something to her. Liara's only reaction being her antennae flatten out even more, as she speaks. "I'll take it under advisement Commander."

H'suur lets out a breath with a slight shrug at T'zark's words, a faint noise of resignation. "Yeah..." he says, "we were stuck." He lets a faintly sardonic smile play across his features. "I'm not sure what else could have interfered that night." As they pass by Shran and Reed, he gives a nod to them both. "Commander, XO." SLightly further on he scratches behind an ear, remarking, "I'm not sure if I should have paid more attention to the Prime Directive lectures, or less." A faint snort betrays his disdain for the whole subject.

T'zark ponders his friend's words in silence for a few moments then replies with some discomfort, "Perhaps more... my friend. 'The needs of the Many do not always outweigh the needs of the few... or the one...', but those directives that we of Starfleet have all sworn to hold to try - admittedly, imperfectly, to see to it that the 'Greater Good' is served. The directives are not always applied in the same way... in fact such would be a violation in and of those directives themselves... but they are a guideline that sets a clear 'Line' we should never be so full of hubris to dare cross... if we hold our... morals and values to any worth at all. The alternative is... horrible to contemplate. As the 'White Rabbit' said in 'Through the Looking Glass', I believe... 'Don't just act... stand there...!' Sometimes it is hard to see inaction as anything other than complicity or agreement, but the only thing we truly all possess are OUR actions. Heartless as it may seem - we are not responsible for the evils of the universe nor required to right them... but we do own and are responsible for OUR actions... and more importantly - their results."

The longer their whispered conversation continues, the madder Liara gets. Her antennae lay practically flat against her skull wringing and lashing about like 2 blue snakes, her fists clenching and unclenching at her side. H'Suur, has seen this before....usually just before someone gets smacked up side the head. Apparently Captain Tigan has as well, as she steps up to Reed and Shran. "Liara?...you've got the mid-watch tonight don't you?" Liara nods, but isn't able to get a word out, before Captain Tigan continues. "Good. Why don't you take a break from your routinue until then. I promise I'll call you if a klingon battle group wants to try their luck against you" she says with a grin. "Besides, I hear we just recieved the video transmissions of the NHL playoffs."
Liara visably relaxes. "Aye Captain" she says as she turns and walks off.

H'suur, looking towards Liara for a moment, shrugs slightly as the Captain intervenes. Turning back to T'zark, he gives the Vulcan a look of bemused incomprehension. "T'zark, the main thing I took away from the Prime Directive lectures was that it's violated all the time, but the Federation ignores it as long as it suits their sense of right and wrong. The people who get in trouble are the ones who are clumsy and self-serving. Inaction is a decision, it's a choice. Don't we then own the results of that? By that logic, I should have just stood around when the colonists, or our crew, or anyone was being attacked. I'm not responsible for the evils of the universe, or required to right them."

T'zarks stops.

His expression one of exasperation.

"All cultures and civilizations make a choice as to what is Good or Evil, Right or Wrong... that the Federation does the same is to be expected... required even! We of STARFLEET have made a dedication to follow STARFLEET'S directives and decision of what is Good or Evil, Right or Wrong for the good of ALL civilizations... not just the Federation. That policy is of allowing self-determination without outside influence - just like all of our cultures and civilizations were allowed... as far as we know, to develop and mature. Its NOT perfect, and its NOT infallible... but it IS a limit, a principle to follow in the spirit of maturely dealing with the unknown and yet respecting the rights of every sentient species choice of self-determination!
If you can't tell difference between making a stand for those principles and stepping across a line of gross hubris to think we have the right to change, decide, or determine what we think is right for the fates of countless beings that we could not possibly know the full outcomes of... you should seriously consider if STARFLEET is the correct path for you, friend H'suur."

He grimaces... his passions riled over the matter and with visible effort calms himself.

Sighing, "I have said enough, likely TOO much... I cannot give you the answer to that personal choice H'suur. You must make that choice in your own heart. Please forgive me if my words seem a bit harsh - it was not my intention to castigate you so... you obviously have a difference of opinion... that does not make you automatically wrong... or me necessarily correct. If it makes any difference... I too dearly wanted to save those people and was torn between action and inaction. But that is exactly when we must hold firmest to our principles... especially when we are tempted to forsake them."

H'suur shrugs again. "I'll have to get back to you on the philosophy bit. I just know that it'd be hard to explain the Federation's sacred self-determination to the guy bleeding out in the dirt, or the girl in chains." His attention turns inward for a moment, but the hesitation falls away to a glimpse of the iron determination that got him across the stars, to the Academy. "Oh, Starfleet is right for me. I'm going to change it."