Shoreleave 95.1214: I'Kiith Hllue: A Diplomatic Br

[Deleted]

Taev stood near the doorway of the sickbay area. He was quite pleased to have been "taken" from the event. He was none too pleased to have been there in the first place, but this had been just too perfect a plan to pass up. Not only was Ambassador Tedak in pain, Taev got to watch the Ambassador suffer. It was a rather unique sight, giving Taev an unusually pleasant feeling. It was not quite revenge that suited his fancy, but rather the simple fact that the idiotic ambassador had so few friends aboard the S'Harien. It was indeed a pleasant thought.

Looking on into the sickbay got Taev thinking about the newest member of their crew, the engineer (insert name). She was quite attractive and had he have been any other Romulan, Taev might have been intimidated, but she was quite an interesting officer, from what little Taev saw. She was to the point, quite devious, and did not like to play childish games, all qualities Taev looked for in a Romulan woman. Perhaps a pursuit might be in order, but for now....

"Commander, if I may interject. I am needed on the bridge sir. There are a few . . . security issues that need to be addressed." Taev spoke with a bit of sarcasm, obviously hinting to the Commander these "security" issues were meant to give the Ambassador a false sense of ease.

(Govan)

"Understood, sir." As he began to walk out, he opted to pursue a thought. "Uhlan Vyaln, if you would join me please, there is something I wish to discuss with you."

(Kreiala)

As they left sickbay and walked a ways down the corridor, Taev spoke, "I will be concise. I must apologize for my behavior earlier. I was rather annoyed at having to be down at that event as I am certain you were. A woman of your...caliber...did indeed command more respect than I offered." He felt that was enough.

(Kreiala)

Taev nodded. "Now, on to more important matters. Has your quarters assignment been taken care of?"

(Kreiala)

"Good. Its nice to know someone does their job around here. Now if you will excuse me, I am needed on the bridge." Taev offered a polite nod of the head and took his leave.

As he arrived on the bridge, he took command as he waited for orders to depart to be given to him. Taev ensured the S'Harien was ready to depart at any moment and bided his time.

(Tag All)

[Deleted]

With Doctor Sural in his office and Tedak as comfortable as she could make him, Tamir moved to speak with the group again. “He’s resting comfortably and should make a full recovery. In fact, he could regain consciousness at any moment,” she added, glancing around the group with mild curiosity. “Do you know what happened?”

Exchanging glances, Govan and Dor’vel both seemed unsure of what to say. Taev also remained silent, and Kreiala, who had her attention focused on the child, also said nothing. Fortunately for everyone, they were interrupted when the diplomatic aide spoke up from across the room by Tedak’s bedside. "Nurse, he's responsive..."

"Easy, Ambassador," Rhiana insisted, physically restraining him while Tamir grabbed a tricorder and glared at the woman. "You're in sickbay. You took a fall down the stairs after you became unwell. You're safe now. You were saved. I'm Rhiana Mhiessan. I'm a diplomatic aide, though I've yet to find out to whom I'm assigned. I haven't been an aide for very long, so I'm hoping to be assigned to someone I could learn from," the woman continued, even though it was perfectly clear that he was in no condition to process all that information, let alone care about a stranger.

“If you would step out of the way, Miss Mhiessan, I can take it from here,” Tamir insisted more coldly than usual. She didn’t like the girl one bit, inserting herself by his side, holding him down like that, taking charge when there was a Commander and a nurse there, and then prattling on about herself needlessly. It was disgusting...

"Govan..." Tedak finally managed to speak, barely audible above the respirator. "Govan...what...?" he tried before succumbing to a coughing fit, struggling for air.

Surprised that Tedak had asked him and not Tamir, the Commander glanced at Dor’vel quickly before stepping forward. “You ate something that you reacted to,” Echal began, not sure what else to really say. “And then, like she said, you fell…”

Seeing the science officer struggling with the little girl, who seemed to be getting a tad grumpy, Tamir remembered Govan’s earlier request and moved to check on her. Govan and Dor’vel could keep an eye on Tedak for a few moments, and keep that...girl in check. Moving over with her tricorder, the nurse knelt by the child and smiled. “Hi, my name is Tamir. I heard you fell earlier. That must have been scary. I’m just going to make sure that you didn’t hurt yourself, ok?” she offered gently, beginning to carefully take a scan, just to make sure that the little girl was alright.

"Commander, if I may interject, I am needed on the bridge, Sir. There are a few… security issues that need to be addressed," the Security Chief, Lhoell, requested.

Nodding once, Govan replied, “Find out where Lieutenant Ch’varak is. Inform him to return to the S’Harien, so we can get out of here and be on our way,” he ordered.

"Understood, Sir," Taev replied, moving toward the exit, pausing, and adding, "Uhlan Vyaln, if you would join me please, there is something I wish to discuss with you."

Glancing up, Tamir smiled at the new science officer, “I’ve got her right now,” she offered in reference to Kasia, feeling comfortable with the child and caring for her.

<Tag Kreiala>

Beckoning the doctor over, Govan stepped back slightly to allow Sural to take a closer look at his patient. To his credit, the Doctor didn’t seem too bothered by the fact that the Ambassador was in sickbay and only in this condition because of their now clearly unwise plan. It didn’t seem to phase Sural one bit. “Doctor, how is he?”

<Tag Sural>

It was now or never to execute his hastily concocted plan, so Dor’vel took a deep breath and stepped closer to Tedak. “Actually, Ambassador, I feel I must apologize.” Govan’s sharp intake of breath and the almost comical, semi-panicked expression were hard to miss, but the Sub Commander continued. “You must have reacted to something I offered you, as it happened so soon after... I am terribly sorry. If I had known you would become so ill because of it I never would have given them to you.”

Everything he said was completely true, albeit leaving out the part that he’d known Tedak was allergic and had offered them intentionally. He was sorry, and he would not have done it knowing Tedak would have a heart attack and fall down the stairs. Given the proximity of his providing the appetizers and the Ambassador’s reaction, it was only reasonable to assume the two were connected, and by owning up to it seemed the best way to defer the blame and turn this into an unfortunate accident. “I do hope you will be able to recover quickly and not hold this mistake against me.”

Govan had underestimated his First Officer. Usually underestimation was a very dangerous mistake, but in this case, he’d underestimated an ally, so it had been a fortunate thing. “It was not your fault,” the Commander added in to go along with the act. “It could have happened to anyone or even without anyone’s involvement.”

<Tag Tedak>

Not having caught any of what was being said, Tamir’s attention was fixed on her littlest patient, trying to keep her happy and occupied while getting a few scans to make sure she wasn’t hurt. She was an adorable little girl, and she had to be pretty scared, she seemed to be handling it well. In spite of being perfectly comfortable caring for her, the nurse was happy to see Kreiala return a few moments after she left. “Hey, do you know who she belongs to or where her parents are?” Tamir asked.

<Kreiala>

[Deleted]

With the child taken off her hands Kreiala again assumed the ice cold demeanour it suited her like a well worn pair of shoes.. she had three facial expressions in her repertoire, Neutral.. Sneering in disgust and annoyed frown,, and they all suited her perfectly.

She stood against the wall of sickbay keeping an eye on the child, she didn’t need too really but she felt obliged somehow, so she stayed silent keeping an eye on the child.

After a while she was approached Teav who asked her to follow him, she obliged but only out of curiosity at what he could possibly have to say to her, She followed and raised an eyebrow at his remark about her calibre.

In truth she didn’t remember the remarks he made to her before to warrant an apology, she figured they must have been foolish beyond belief if she didn’t bother to remember.

Stretching her fingers in her gloved hands she replied. “Indeed, well better late than never I suppose.”

He then asked about her quarters and she pulled a face of annoyance, not one to be won over by ‘small talk’ she replied.

“Indeed they have.. I didn’t realise the tactical officer took an interest in those matters.. I suppose you are trying to be friendly.. let me save you the trouble.. I don’t do friendship.. I am not a friendly person.”

She paused and then straightened her shoulders, “And if by some foolish chance you thought me of calibre to take as a mate.. let me tell you this little man.. I would eat you for breakfast.”

She looked him over and scoffed before walking back into sickbay, she wasn’t subtle in the slightest.. and she didn’t enjoy wastes of time such as small talk.

After a minute she was approached by the nurse, a bubbly kind person full of sweetness and joy her mere presence made Kreiala sick with disgust.. so nice and happy.. it was purely sickening.

The question of who the child belonged to was asked and Kreiala made the choice that would get the nurse away from her as quickly as possible.

“I did some scans and initial results indicated Ambassador Tedak had some relation.. but they were rough quick scans and the results may be faulty but I would advise looking into it.”

She shook her head slightly as she said. “I must take my leave.” She almost shuddered as she walked out, it was like looking at her pure opposite she could hardly stand it for more than a few seconds.. she made a mental note to steer clear of sickbay as much as possible.

She returned to her office and walked behind her desk, sitting down she gave a sigh as she looked to the very empty and sterilized desk, that was perfectly to her liking, she looked at the door and checked the light on the side that indicated it was locked before she removed the glove on her left hand.

On the back of her hand the Romulan symbol for the number seven, had been carved into the flesh it was an old wound that still hurt from time to time.. she remembered the day she carved it into her flesh as she rubbed at it. The memory came flooding back and she shook of the feeling as she replaced the black leather glove.

She was comfortable with one thing though, nobody on this ship had the slightest idea, she doubted any of them had the ability to track any of the evidence down it was very hard to find and she doubted any of them had the intelligence to dig it up.

Not that their finding out would cause her any trouble, the official investigation all those years ago proved her not guilty.. despite the fact she was, she just didn’t like being asked about it.

[Deleted]

The science officer’s words rung in his mind. Taev was rather amused at her reaction to his apology, but he could tell she was not one to be trifled with. Granted, she completely misunderstood his token of a truce as a personal advance. He had no real interest in her. She was rather unattractive and elitist. Sounds like a typical romulan female… Taev thought to himself. As he finally got to the bridge, he personally saw to the task of locating the Intelligence officer. Tevio was indeed one whom Taev disliked, though for much a different reason than the ambassador. The intelligence officer was an instigator, had his own personal agenda for power, and would stop at nothing to reach his goal. Taev smirked as he scanned for Chv’arak.

There was no sign of him!

Taev quickly recalibrated the sensors, just to make sure they were functioning properly. Again, it was to no avail. He looked at the computer records to find the fool’s last known location. Tevio had been leaving the main room, no doubt searching for some havoc to wreck. That was over an hour ago. Taev left a message for Dor’vel indicating he was returning to the planet to search for the Romulan.

(Dor’Vel, just an fyi)

Taev beamed down to an area displaced from the main room, but close to Tevio’s last known location. He quickly walked out of the main room and followed the path that the intelligence officer had followed. As he walked, he began to notice he was losing his comm. He couldn’t contact the S’harien. Taev realized he must have entered some sort of dampening field, which would explain why he could not find Tevio. Too bad… Taev thought, hoping to find some reason to shoot the Legate. Taev pressed on looking for clues to Tevio’s whereabouts.

After some time, Taev had managed to search an entire section of the building. Tevio was no doubt doing something sinister. Taev decided to return to the ship. He made his way back to the main room and transported back to the S’Harien. Returning to the bridge, he found Tevio had returned to the ship as well. “Commander Echal, we are all present and accounted for. Where shall I set course for?”

(Govan, and Tevio, what were you doing down there? )

[Deleted]

Beckoning the doctor over, Govan stepped back slightly to allow Sural to take a closer look at his patient. To his credit, the Doctor didn’t seem too bothered by the fact that the Ambassador was in sickbay and only in this condition because of their now clearly unwise plan. It didn’t seem to phase Sural one bit. “Doctor, how is he?”

Sural looked round absent mindedly, "The Ambassador is fine. well will be fine. The histamine injection will reduce the swelling and hives within the hour. Nurse Tamir has used the osteo regenerator to fuse the broken ribs he sustained in his fall. It will cause him some pain and he shouldn't lift any weights." Sural shurgged, "I doubt that will be a problem for a diplomat. Im thinking of reserving this bed especially for him" he said dryly before moving off towards his office and a little peace and quiet.

It was now or never to execute his hastily concocted plan, so Dor’vel took a deep breath and stepped closer to Tedak. “Actually, Ambassador, I feel I must apologize.” Govan’s sharp intake of breath and the almost comical, semi-panicked expression were hard to miss, but the Sub Commander continued. “You must have reacted to something I offered you, as it happened so soon after... I am terribly sorry. If I had known you would become so ill because of it I never would have given them to you.”

Everything he said was completely true, albeit leaving out the part that he’d known Tedak was allergic and had offered them intentionally. He was sorry, and he would not have done it knowing Tedak would have a heart attack and fall down the stairs. Given the proximity of his providing the appetizers and the Ambassador’s reaction, it was only reasonable to assume the two were connected, and by owning up to it seemed the best way to defer the blame and turn this into an unfortunate accident. “I do hope you will be able to recover quickly and not hold this mistake against me.”

Govan had underestimated his First Officer. Usually underestimation was a very dangerous mistake, but in this case, he’d underestimated an ally, so it had been a fortunate thing. “It was not your fault,” the Commander added in to go along with the act. “It could have happened to anyone or even without anyone’s involvement.”

<Tag Tedak>

Not having caught any of what was being said, Tamir’s attention was fixed on her littlest patient, trying to keep her happy and occupied while getting a few scans to make sure she wasn’t hurt. She was an adorable little girl, and she had to be pretty scared, she seemed to be handling it well. In spite of being perfectly comfortable caring for her, the nurse was happy to see Kreiala return a few moments after she left. “Hey, do you know who she belongs to or where her parents are?” Tamir asked.

The question of who the child belonged to was asked and Kreiala made the choice that would get the nurse away from her as quickly as possible.

“I did some scans and initial results indicated Ambassador Tedak had some relation.. but they were rough quick scans and the results may be faulty but I would advise looking into it.”

She shook her head slightly as she said. “I must take my leave.” She almost shuddered as she walked out, it was like looking at her pure opposite she could hardly stand it for more than a few seconds.. she made a mental note to steer clear of sickbay as much as possible.

Sural had barely sat at his desk when he picked up Kreiala comment to Tamir regarding the child. He rose from the desk immediately and rejoined the small throng of people around Tedak.

"Did I hear the mention of a relation to Tedak" he asked Tamir guiding her to one side.

TAG Tamir

"I see" Sural nodded intrigued by this new turn of events, If this child was a relation of Tedaks then perhaps the child like Tedak and Chvarak would have the same unique genetic markers that might be the answer to his research, he had to find out for sure.

"Tamir bring the girl over here. Lets see if we can't make some headway in identifying this child."

Tamir dutifully collected the girl form the bio bed where another nurse had been occupying her. Sural led them over to a quieter part of sickbay leaving Tedak with the others.

"Hello there" Sural said to the little girl trying to put on his nicest voice "I m Doctor Sural and I just want to check that you are well." he smiled broadly. He crouched down he gently rolled up the girls sleeve. "See this" he said holding up a hypospray, The girl nodded shyly "Well it can be used for adding stuff to our blood and taking some out"
The girl seemed less enthused by this,
"Don't worry. It wont hurt, I promise you. And Tamir here will hold your hand the whole time." he nodded to Tamir, who took the chils tiny hand in hers.
Sural quickly and expertly applied the hypo and withdrew a tiny amount of girl. Although she pulled back slightly the girl remained quiet. "Good girl" Sural said grinning broadly, He again nodded to Tamir,
"Why not get her some sweets from the replicator."

Sural himself went directly to his lab and pushed the blood sample into the analyser it took only a few seconds for the powerful computer to extract and sequence the girls genome and a few seconds longer to compare it those on file. The results flashed up and Sural transfered the information to a Padd.

Back at Tedaks bedside Sural was forced to muscle his way through to his patients side.
"I ve just analysed the girls blood. And there are several genetic markers that match between hers and Tedaks. They indicate a familial relationship, It suggests Tedak could be her Father or perhaps Grandfather"

TAG All

[Deleted]

Little Kassandra glanced up at the doctor, who seemed to be smiling pleasantly at her, but as soon as he pulled out the hypo, she wasn't so sure about liking him anymore. Even at 18 months old, the little girl knew the difference between nice and not-so-nice. As Sural drew his bloodsamples, the girl classified him as not-so-nice. The woman who had held her hand seemed a lot nicer, so she crawled up to the woman, wrapping her tiny arms around her neck as she sought comfort.

From the bed, Tedak watched the spectacle with growing amazement, and even wonder. His head snapped up as Sural muscled his way through to his side and commented on the girl as though he wasn't there. "Grandfather?" he scowled, glaring up at Sural, "I am not old enough to be anyone's grandfather doctor. I am younger than you are." Yet his gaze traveled back to the girl. "Tamir, hand her to me," he ordered, though there was no such sound in his voice. It more sounded like a request that had better be followed through, than an immediate order.

(Tamir)

Rhiana Mhiessan stood to the side of the bed, paying careful attention. She had briefly left the medical bay as a crewman had crawled up to her with the message that her assignment had come through. She had scowled at the message, even ranted in private but there was nothing she could do. This man here, this ... She had no word for it, but she was to be his aide, and learn from him. She slapped the PADD onto his stomach, causing him to wince in surprise. "I am to be your aide," she announced curtly, tapping the PADD. "Read it."

Dutifully, though less than pleased with the woman's behaviour, he scanned the file and nodded. "So you are. And while you are here, you'd better start minding your manners young lady. I am addressed as Ambassador, or Sir, whichever you please, but be sure to attach it at any time that you address me. You have not yet earned the right or privilege to call me anything else. Rest assured that disciplinary action will follow, if you fail. Your manners leave a lot to be desired."

Tedak smiled up at Tamir as the little girl was handed to him. He stared intently at the little girl, studying her as he held her with a great deal of care. Pain lanced through him at the memory of his deceased adoptive son, and he wondered how he now could have a daughter. The only woman he'd been with since... He gasped at the realisation, along with the fact that he now recognised the girl's features. Yes, she was definitely his, he could see that in her hair and her eyes, as well as her greenish skin. This little girl definitely shared half of his genetics. But what made him gasp was the realisation that the mother must've been Doctor Eviston, the woman whom he'd been intent on marrying, before she suddenly disappeared out of his life to accept an assignment on Earth. Every attempt at communication with her had failed, letters were returned, calls denied. Eventually, he had given up on trying to find out why she had left, and had resumed his duties while feeling heartbroken.

Kassandra stared back at the man, not understanding why he was staring at her as he was doing. She saw the hurt in his eyes, but didn't understand that either. She was far too young to understand an adult's emotions. She didn't even understand why her mother had abandoned her. Everyone was staring at her, some disapproving, others without expression. And this man who held her, she couldn't make sense of him at all. She fidgeted under his gaze. "What is your name?" she asked at long last, working up the courage to speak with what little words she knew. Of course, she spoke Federation Standard, as the Rihannsu language was beyond her.

Still staring at the girl, and no longer sparing anyone around him a single glance, Tedak smiled at her. He was still weak and in no condition to hold her for a long period of time, but he knew he was going to try, if the doctor and the nurse would allow him. "My name is Tedak," he told her, "what is yours?"

"Kassandra," the girl replied, her eyes widening. The name was familiar, hadn't mommy said that name a few times? She couldn't quite remember. "Or Kasia," she added, "mommy called me Kasia."

"A lovely name," the diplomat praised, then finally spared Sural a single glance. "You said there was blood relation. Can you confirm that she's my daughter?" He couldn't remember Billy having been pregnant, surely she would've told him if she had been? But looking at this child's face, there was no denying that this was Billy's daughter, and with the clearly Romulan features, that were so much like himself, there was also no doubt who the father was. Decorum should have him deny, as this child was born out of wedlock, but he couldn't in good conscience do so. The girl was here, and denying would be a dishonour, to himself. Who else did the child have? If she had anyone else, surely she wouldn't have been sent here? To him?

(Sural, anyone else wishing to cut in)

[Deleted]

“I did some scans and initial results indicated Ambassador Tedak had some relation, but they were rough, quick scans, and the results may be faulty, but I would advise looking into it,” the Science Chief replied, adding, “I must take my leave,” before hastily making an exit.

So shocked at this was Tamir that she completely forgot to say thank you, good bye, or anything at all to Kreiala before she left. For a moment, the nurse just stared at the little girl searching for any resemblance to her friend. The more she looked, the more she saw it, and the more she kept glancing between the girl across sickbay and the Ambassador on the biobed, the more she realized that the results hadn’t been faulty. However, even with this knowledge, Tamir had no idea what to do. Did she try and confirm it herself? Did she speak to Sural or Govan or Dor’vel? Kasia sat on a nearby biobed just swinging her legs innocently with no idea what happened, while Tamir just stood there, dumbfounded.

"Did I hear the mention of a relation to Tedak?" her superior’s voice sounded right behind her, which completely startled her, since she hadn’t even heard or noticed his approach.

“Uh…yes, Uhlan Vyaln just mentioned that she ran a scan, and it indicated a relation of some kind between the girl and the Ambassador, but she didn’t say how,” Tamir replied quietly, still completely shocked. She didn’t know why it surprised her so much, but it did.

"I see" the doctor replied, his eyes looking distant for a moment, as if he were thinking of something else before once again fixing on her. "Tamir bring the girl over here. Let’s see if we can't make some headway in identifying this child," the older medical officer asked.

Still in a daze, Tamir moved across sickbay to get Kasia, who smiled at her and raised her little arms to be lifted off the bed. She was absolutely adorable, but the more she looked at the child, the more she saw an obvious resemblance, so explicit that it became more and more surprising that she hadn’t noticed it before or that everyone else had missed it. Once her little feet had settled on the deck, the nurse took the tiny hand in her own and led her to another biobed across sickbay from Tedak where Doctor Sural was now waiting.

"Hello there," Sural began, making an obvious effort to be more pleasant than usual. "I’m Doctor Sural, and I just want to check that you are well." Smiling and gently rolling up her sleeve, he held out the hypospray. "See this? Well it can be used for adding stuff to our blood and taking some out," he informed her. Tamir had never seen Sural so openly trying to be kind before. "Don't worry. It won’t hurt, I promise you. And Tamir here will hold your hand the whole time," he assured the child, nodding to the nurse to take her hand once more. Tamir did so, smiling reassuringly to Kasia as the doctor took a sample quickly. "Good girl!" Doctor Sural praised with an uncharacteristic grin. "Why not get her some sweets from the replicator," he suggested pleasantly, moving off to begin his tests.

Now beginning to recover somewhat, Tamir gently lifted Kasia off the biobed and back to the floor. “How about we find something for you to eat,” she suggested as the little girl nodded excitedly, taking her hand and following the nurse to the replicator to get a snack.

Meanwhile, Govan and Dor’vel were standing together a short distance away from the injured Ambassador. Commander Echal had reached the point where he wanted to get out of there, but for some reason, he stayed, wordlessly observing the activity in sickbay. Something was going on...he could feel it even if he had no idea what it was. He said nothing as he watched the Science Officer leave, return, and leave again, Tamir and Sural working with the girl, and the incompetent diplomatic aide quickly take her leave. None of it was at all suspicious, but Govan simply couldn’t shake his suspicious feeling.

“Sir, Lieutenant Lhoell has gone back to the outpost to locate and retrieve Ch’varak after he failed to locate him on sensors,” Dor’vel reported, breaking the Commander’s train of thought. “Whatever he’s up to, I doubt it’s anything good...” the First Officer added dryly.

“Most likely not,” Echal agreed as Sural approached from his lab, and the look on his face only deepened the Commander’s suspicion that something big and unexpected was coming.

"I’ve just analyzed the girl’s blood and several genetic markers match between hers and Tedak’s. They indicate a familial relationship. It suggests Tedak could be her Father…or perhaps Grandfather," Sural reported while he observed the reactions of the rest of them.

"Grandfather?" Tedak replied indignantly. “I am not old enough to be anyone's grandfather, Doctor. I am younger than you are," he shot back, almost as if he hadn’t really heard what the doctor’d said. Finally, as it seemed to really sink in, the Ambassador went noticeably paler and began to stare over at the little girl sitting with Tamir, even as both Govan and Dor’vel had begun looking between the two of them for some resemblance, and found it.

After the silence had stretched almost interminably, Tedak cleared his throat and spoke. "Tamir, hand her to me," he requested loudly enough for her to hear from across sickbay.

As the nurse once again helped girl down to the floor, the aide returned, slapping a padd down onto Tedak’s stomach, seemingly oblivious, or at least indifferent, as to what was going on around her. "I am to be your aide," she announced incredibly bluntly. "Read it."

Rolling his eyes at the woman’s cluelessness, Govan sent Dor’vel a look indicating what he thought of her, while Tamir glared openly at Rhiana. Dor’vel merely shook his head at her antics. The command team was already less than impressed with this latest addition to the S’Harien, and clearly the nurse, who rarely disliked anyone, was also unimpressed.

"So you are,” Tedak replied, his expression also displeased. “And while you are here, you had better start minding your manners, young lady. I am addressed as Ambassador or Sir, whichever you please, but be sure to attach it at any time that you address me. You’ve not yet earned the right or privilege to call me anything else. Rest assured that disciplinary action will follow, if you fail. Your manners leave a lot to be desired," he commented with a clear degree of irritation before once again turning his attention on the, or his, little girl.

Casting another glare in the diplomatic aide’s direction, Tamir gently lifted the girl so that she was sitting on the edge of the biobed facing Tedak. There was another long silence as the two stared at each other, sizing each other up and thinking who knew what. After a sizable pause, Kassandra spoke first. "What’s your name?" she asked, clearly curious.

With a slight smile, the Ambassador replied, "My name is Tedak. What is yours?" he asked.

"Kassandra or Kasia," she replied very softly, quietly adding, "Mommy called me Kasia."

"A lovely name," Tedak responded before turning to the doctor. "You said there was blood relation. Can you confirm that she's my daughter?” the Ambassador requested seriously.

Honestly, Govan wondered why he even asked. It was clear to anyone with eyes that the child belonged to Tedak now that they realized it was a possibility. The resemblance was clear, almost unmistakable. How could he, or any of them, have possibly missed it? It was so strange to look at this little girl whom he had instinctively protected now that he knew she belonged to Tedak, the man who had attacked him and whom he loathed with a passion. Did that change how he felt about the child? It should, but sadly it hadn’t yet... It wasn’t her fault that her father was an incompetent moron with Federation ideals or that her mother had been stupid enough to sleep with him. Where was the mother anyway...?

“If you’ll excuse us, we have other matters to deal with,” Govan interrupted, not liking the way his mind was thinking. “Doctor, inform me of the results, and Ambassador, do let me know what you plan to…do…about this,” he concluded, not wanting to frighten the child.

<Tag Tedak and Sural>

~

Neither Dor’vel nor Govan had said a word as they made their way back to the bridge but both were thinking plenty. Having a child on the S’Harien changed everything at least as far as Govan was concerned. He didn’t want to be responsible for placing the little girl in harm’s way with his decisions, but did he really have any choice? He couldn’t just change his command style or reject dangerous missions because of her presence. Not only that, but what did this mean for how he dealt with Tedak? Did his being a parent change anything? It shouldn’t, and though he’d probably killed plenty of parents during his career, it was another thing entirely to know your enemy had a child and know the girl in question.

As they arrived on the bridge, Govan simply dismissed these thoughts, at least for now, addressing the Tactical and Security Chief. “Report, Lieutenant. What’s the ship’s status?”

“Commander Echal, we are all present and accounted for. Where shall I set course for?” Lieutenant Lhoell requested, and that was a very good question. Where should they go?

“Anywhere but here...” Govan muttered to himself before actually replying. “Set a course away from the Outpost, out of this system,” he ordered. It was clear Taev required more information than that, so answering his unasked question, Echal added. ”Surprise me...” It really didn’t matter which direction they went after all, as soon enough they would get a new mission and be sent…wherever. At least it wouldn’t be here at this miserable outpost. He could always hope that whatever came next would have nothing to do with diplomacy.


OOC: Alright guys, that's the mission. It went way longer than I'd planned, but I think that's a wrap, pending Sural's confirmation of Kasia being Tedak's daughter. I'll be working the next few days on coming up with a new mission, so if you have any ideas or something you'd like to see, just post it in the ideas thread, send it to me, or talk to me on MSN!

[Deleted]

Sural nodded as the commander gave him his orders. It was the order he required. With the Commanders approval he now had full access. Romulans were very particular about their identity and medical specialists needed Command approval before full access to a persons genetic code was allowed. Of course Sural had ignored those protocols and had every crew members enitre genome sequence registered and logged in his lab.

Now however he had a green light to publicly use this information.
"If you look here" he said indicating to Tedak to look at a screen beside the biobed, "This here is your DNA." A graphic of the tightly whorled helix sprang into view and unwound before them, "And this is your daughters" he said as a second strand was called up.

"These highlighted markers in her DNA are the same markers as in yours they indicate Paternal kinship. Here" he continued pointing to even more base pair " Are Maternal markers that indicate that the childs mother was indeed not Romulan, it is not however specific to one race, the markers have a certian degree of commonality with many Human and human like species and Bajorans, Betazoids etc etc. So I think you can clearly see that this child is your daughter. Congratulations Ambassador you are a Father oncemore."