Arboretum Blues

Posted on Mon Oct 9, 2017 @ 3:31pm by Commodore Michael Aravan & Lieutenant JG Mirok

Mission: Strange Matter
Location: Deck 6 Ground level aboreteum
Timeline: MD 30 || 1800 Hours

Mirok had been doing his research for months, as felt like he was ready to start a little pet project to brighten up his quarters. It would also help him bring a little bit of Earth to his quarters, he hoped.

He had decided the ground level of the arboretum would be a good place to start, and he was currently browsing the flowers to pick some out to grow in his quarters.

Commodore Michael Aravan had spent a bit of time with his family once he had gotten off duty and then decided to take a stroll in the arboretum. It was one of his favorite places on the entire ship and he had a small niche there where he tended to a few of his larger bonsai trees. He wore a pair of black pants and soft soled shoes and a blue t-shirt which showed his muscles and had the words "My Other Ship Was A Prometheus. I Have No Idea Which Way It Went" on the front in black letters.

He bent down to check one of his trees, a pair of pruning shears in his hands and whistled as he checked the growth of a new outshoot.

Mirok kept walking, lost in thought about his flowers, and about the recent happenings on the ship. He was somewhat distracted, and almost ran into the other man, instead choosing to fall backwards onto his butt. "My bad, didn't see you there."

Michael looked around and saw the man who had fallen, but didn't see his face at first. He got up and went to offer his hand, then saw it was the Romulan/Vulcan Lieutenant whose name kept crossing his desk. "Lieutenant Mirok," he said with a knowing look. "What brings you here?"

Mirok took the offered hand, getting up and dusting himself off, "I was thinking of growing some flowers in my quarters, maybe brighten up the place a little." He responded to the Commodore's question, "what about you?"

Michael gestured towards the niche with the bonsai trees, some of which were four feet tall. "Just down here taking care of some of the larger trees that won't fit in the ready room. I had no idea you were interested in botany, Lieutenant."

"I had plenty of time to do some research." Mirok responded, looking at the tree, "I've heard that those can be rather therapeutic."

"They can be," Michael said. "I've been taking care of them and learning more since I was a Lieutenant in Security." He looked at the man to see what kind of reaction that would get.

Mirok's eyes widened a little, looking at the tree. "Maybe you could teach me sometime, sir." Mirok's voice wavered slightly, as he sounded completely unsure.

"It's not an art for the impatient," Michael replied in Romulan. "Are you capable of being patient, Mirok?"

Mirok glanced at the other man, slightly surprised the other man knew Romulan. "Of course, I've learned a lot about that fairly recently." He responded in kind in his native tongue, "your Romulan is quite good."

"Thank you," Michael continued in Romulan. "I haven't used it in a while, but I've learned that it pays to keep up on things. As for learning a lot, I'm pleased to see that you haven't been getting in trouble lately."

He looked back at the bonsai trees. "These require a lot of time, a lot of patience, a lot of care and an idea of how you want them to be."

"They remind me a lot of a blank canvas, waiting for you to make something out of them." Mirok said in Romulan.

"Much like new crewmembers who think they know everything?" Michael asked with an arched eyebrow.

Mirok glared at him in the sideways way he'd long since mastered, "quite possibly."

Michael gave a chuckle. "So you have been learning after all," he commented. "Or are you still being deceptive?"

"I've learned." Mirok said, "of course, I am a Romulan, so there will always some deception in my blood."

"As long as you channel it to good purposes, I don't have a problem with it," Michael responded. "Now what good purposes can you think of when deception might be called for?"

"Intelligence. Where I wanted to go but couldn't." Mirok said, referencing his ties to the Romulans, and thus his inability to pass the proper checks for clearance.

"We do have a capable Intel department," Michael said as he bent to carefully clip a small branch which was growing the wrong way. "It could benefit you to talk to Lieutenant Rho. Maybe you could offer him some advice."

"Well proper deception depends completely on who you're dealing with." Mirok said, "it's often different dealing with a Romulan over a Klingon."

"A thousand Klingons make more noise than a single Romulan," Michael said as he switched to Klingon for a moment before he went back to Romulan. "But one Romulan can foil the plans of a thousand Klingons. All it takes is the right word. The right move. The right timing."

"And the right weapons." Mirok said, "I think this ship is the longest I haven't carried my knife concealed somewhere."

"A knife is something you don't need if you can wield words properly," Michael said. "It's an artform. If you say the right thing to the right person, you can achieve much more than saying the wrong thing to the wrong person. Such as how you spoke to me on our first meeting."

"I made a mistake that I already paid for." Mirok said, crouching down to feel the petals of a green flower.

"You did, but if you could do it over again and choose the right words instead of the wrong ones, would you?" Michael asked.

"A million times over if I could. That was completely unacceptable even in the Star Navy."

"What would you have said or done differently?" The Commodore asked as he moved to another bonsai tree.

Mirok followed the other man, not wanting to shout across the room. "I wouldn't have said what I did." Mirok said, "and I wouldn't have entered the room with my arms crossed, that's disrespectful."

"Have you imparted the lessons you learned to the younger officers?" Michael asked him.

"Yes sir. I showed them the right--and wrong--way to address and meet with senior officers."

"Have you had any more encounters with other officers who attempted to bait you, such as Lieutenant Corsa?" the Commodore asked as he worked on pruning another bonsai tree.

"A couple, I had to hold myself back--Starfleet frowns upon throttling other officers." Mirok admitted.

Michael finished his pruning, then looked up. "Speaking of Lieutenant Corsa, did he approach you after the incident in the Mess hall?"

"He did. It wasn't pleasant. Why did you stick up for me, sir?" Mirok knelt down to another flower

"I would do the same for any officer on this ship who had been wronged," Michael said. "Lieutenant Corsa came to me and admitted what he did and I felt that he not only needed to make amends with you, but learn more about your dual nature. I cannot have officers on this ship who are intolerant towards others because of a racial perception."

"I think what really did it was the likening of Surak to a pudding."

"So I heard," Michael said as he came to his feet again. "He could learn a lot from studying Surak. I have read many of his teachings even though I am not Vulcan and I have found that logic is needed most often by those in positions of command."

"It does tend to help, just don't start going unemotional and a mindless robot to it like Vulcans." Mirok said with a smile.

"Vulcans are neither unemotional, nor robot-like," Michael said. "They just do lot let it rule them and they consider the ramifications of an action before they take it. I would think that being in Security and Tactical that you would benefit from such things."

"You and Corsa both." Mirok said with an eye roll.

"So what does that tell you, Lieutenant?"

"I should make it a point to travel to the monastery on Vulcan on my next shoreleave."

"Or perhaps integrate some of what you have learned into your daily activities on and off duty," Michael said as he came to his feet and cracked his back with a side to side twist.

"You think it'll work, sir?"

"The important thing is that you believe it will work," Michael told him. "If you don't, you've lost before you even started."

"I just don't want to surrender. It feels like betraying who I am." Mirok said.

"Who said you'd be surrendering?" Michael asked. "If anything, you'd be merging your dual nature and become stronger and better for it."

"I never thought of it like that."

"You don't have to fight yourself," Michael said. "All you have to do is stop fighting yourself and you'll be a better person."

"Who I am is the son of a Tal Shiar officer, or at least that's what I've always believed."

"The Tal Shiar doesn't even exist anymore," Michael said. "If they do, it's in groups so isolated that they have no power to do anything."

"Trust me, they still exist. Small pockets of them of course, but once they figure out if anyone from the senate--or the Praetor even--survived, which is highly unlikely, with how stubborn those people are, then they'll start the rebuilding of the government." Mirok said, having checked up on the status of that effort, "so far I'm right, and it's only a matter of time until they come crawling to us for help."

Michael shook his head. "I seriously doubt that even if the Romulans ever manage to pull everything together again that they'll let anyone like the military or Tal Shiar run things. They've been fighting each other since the Hobus Event when they aren't being thrown off of worlds they occupy. Every person who had a line to the throne is fighting to collect every body that they can to join their cause."

Mirok shrugged, "let them fight it out, doubt damn time they fight each other." Anyone who knew Mirok would be surprised he said 'they' over 'we'.

"They aren't just fighting each other. They're resorting to piracy, working for the Orion Syndicate and others who can't withstand them," Michael said. "Spock was making headway with the reunification project before everything went sideways."

Mirok smiled at the other hybrid's name, "I know. They were trying to use me as a poster boy, Spock is why I know so much about Surak, he's also the reason my father despises Vulcans even more than normal."

"Trying to?" Michael asked. "That sounds like they didn't succeed."

"When they came to me I was working on trying to find a way into Starfleet. They coulda offered me instant Praetorship and I woulda said no."

"So where do you see yourself going from here, Mirok? he asked.

Mirok shrugged, "I hope to at least make full lieutenant before I get forced to either retire or end up on the receiving end of an enemy weapon. If I get high enough maybe be a Department Head or XO."

"I've reviewed your records, as you know," Michael said as he brushed his hands clean. "How did you manage to spend nearly twenty years at one base and never make beyond your current rank?"

"I was wondering when you'd ask." Mirok said, turning to face the other man. "I wasn't a great officer, they were always finding one reason or another to pass me over for a promotion. One year they literally said it was because I got my physical 2 days late when I was sick the previous 2 days."

"So why did you stay there for that long?" Michael asked. "It strikes me as a move that anyone else would have done long before you transferred."

"Wasn't really sure where else would take me, to be honest. With my record, I'd have to have gotten a miracle to get somewhere to take me that was worth it. I had a bunch of tiny ships that woulda gotten me full lieutenant, but it would have put me lightyears from any of action and I probably would've become a drunk."

"I doubt that," Michael said. "I think it's more that you held yourself back because of your nature. You sabotaged yourself without even realizing it."

Mirok narrowed his eyes at the other man, and shrugged, "honestly, I don't even think I deserve full lieutenant, not with some of the shit I've done."

"That's what I'm talking about, Mirok. You keep holding yourself back and sabotaging yourself every time you begin to think you may be capable of something. Didn't they teach you in Academy to keep going forward instead of back?"

"They might've mentioned it a few times..." Mirok admitted.

"So what does that tell you?" Michael asked him.

"I should probably listen."

"Now what are you going to do with that knowledge?" Michael asked as he gathered the pruned limbs into a small container.

"Stop holding myself back and start believing in myself."

"If you wish, you can take advantage of the subspace Academy classes that we offer on the ship," Michael said. "All you need is a senior officer recommendation...but would you make use of new knowledge?"

"Of course! If I got the opportunity to better myself, I would!" Mirok said, almost sounding like he was begging for the recommendation.

"What courses would you be interested in?"

"I've heard about a newer course in advanced interrogation techniques that sounds rather interesting."

"Go ahead and sign up for it and when it crosses my desk, I'll authorize it," Michael told him.

Mirok blinked at him, "are you kidding? I thought you didn't like me!"

"What gave you that impression?" Michael asked with a confused look.

"I dunno...maybe the fact that you damn near yelled at me when I reported in, as well as--" Mirok said, cutting himself off when he looked up from his ramblings.

Michael raised an eyebrow. "Could that anything to do with you declaring in Romulan that you'd do whatever you wanted?"

"Again, if I had known you coulda understood me either way, I wouldn't have said it."

"Twenty years of service and you forgot about the Universal Translator or that other people can learn different languages?" Michael gave a chuckle.

"Its not that I forgot, its that I forgot the damn thing learns." Mirok smirked.

Michael stopped and looked at him again. "Romulan isn't a new language to the Federation."

"Now I feel like even more of an idiot."

"Your Romulan betrayed you, Mirok," Michael said. "If you had joined your dual natures, that never would have happened."

"I'm not becoming a poster child for the reunification project. that's what they want, its ridiculous." Mirok said, "at least that's what they've all told me they want me to do."

"Unify yourself and that'll be the most important step," the Commodore said. "After that, it'll be easier."

"You're on the side of reunification, aren't you?"

"I'm on the side that wants the best for you, Mirok," Michael said. "The United Federation of Planets and Starfleet."

Mirok rolled his eyes, "I'm an adult, you know." He said sarcastically, "but I guess you have a point."

"You as much as admitted it, so why not go for what you know is best?" Michael said. "After all, you're the one who will benefit from it."

Mirok narrowed his eyes at him, "Hwi hhaonn nim Rihan*"

"I'm a student of various cultures and as a starship commander, it's my duty to know my personnel and their points of view," Michael pointed out in Romulan.

"Then think about how it must feel to be raised as one race and then be expected to combine them, when for years you've been told that's not the way to go."

"You have time and people around you who embrace many cultures, Mirok. Learn from them and learn about yourself."

"You're a father, aren't you?" Mirok asked.

"I am," Michael confirmed. "I have a daughter and a son."

"You sound like it." Mirok mused, "and I guess you're right..."

"Do you think I'm talking to you like I'd talk to one of my children?" he asked.

"A little bit."

"Maybe I should start yelling more and tell you to pick up your toys," Michael joked, knowing he didn't have to yell at his kids.

Mirok gave the other man a half hearted glare, "I have missed out on the first 5 years of life of a child I apparently had during my emergency leave following Hobus. It just brought up some thoughts of missed firsts."

"That...is something that cannot be replaced," the Commodore said softly. "Where is your child now?"

"Right now? I'm not fully sure, he was supposed to be living on Earth with his mother, but knowing her she probably dropped him off somewhere and he's by himself." Mirok swallowed hard, "and I'm not there for him."

"If you give me their names, I'll send a message back to Starfleet Headquarters and see what can be done to find them," Michael said. "It may take a while, but you're a Starfleet officer and I'm sure extra effort will be put into finding him."

"I only care about Kolor right now, his mother is no longer a concern of mine." Mirok sounded genuinely worried.

"How long has it been since you last had his whereabouts?"

"Six months. That was the last time she cared to call me. She said she was taking him to live on Earth. I shoulda known she meant she was gonna abandon him somewhere he's never been. He's probably confused and scared."

"Where on Earth?" Michael asked as he gathered more information.

"She didn't say. Maybe San Francisco, she knew I was Starfleet, so maybe she thought that they'd get him back to me?" Mirok ran a hand through his hair, "I don't know where he'd go even if they do find him, he can't live with my father and I've yet to meet my mother on Vulcan so I don't think anyone there would accept him."

"Why didn't you try to contact anyone after the last time she contacted you?" the human starship commander asked as they walked.

"I didn't think anything of it, I thought of it only after enough time had passed for her to have left him." Mirok chewed on his lower lip, "I'm not good at this parenting thing."

"Then I think that this would be a good time to start," Michael said.

"Well first I gotta find him." Mirok sighed, "if he's still alive."

"What are you waiting for, Mirok?" Michael asked. "Isn't it time to get to a computer and start making inquiries? You'll have my backing on it."

"Yes sir. If I need your authorization I'll personally put it on your desk." Mirok practically ran to start his search.

Michael watched the Lieutenant take off and had a feeling that soon, more than the young officer's career would be taking off.

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*You sound like a Romulan.