The Letter

Posted on 22 Mar 2017 @ 6:31pm by Lieutenant Commander Temerant Bast & Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale

948 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Shore Leave
Location: DS 11

Camila Di Pasquale, Chief of Security of the former USS Black Hawk sat down in a relatively rubble free corridor of Deep Space Eleven. She was now homeless after the ship had been taken down by the Consortium which led to its crash on New Bajor. She had none of her violins or holoprograms which brought her such peace, and no possessions beyond the uniform on her back. She looked at the blank PADD in her hands with the message center up and an addressee filled out already, and she sighed as she slowly began to type.

When she was finished, she put a delayed send on it and sent it to the Deep Space Eleven information node where people left messages for others who traveled to and from the station. It was a common enough practice for those who were transient as she now was, but she had a destination in mind that was two quadrants away. It would just take her time to get there but she would and then she would take the time to heal.

Camila got up from her seat and headed to the airlock where a ship awaited to take personnel to the Alpha and Beta Quadrant through the Bajoran Wormhole to Deep Space Nine. From there, she would arrange a series of transports which would take her back where it all began for her. Venice Italy on Earth, the place she had called home for eighteen years before she joined Starfleet Academy and reached for the stars. She glanced back once in regret, but knew she would meet up with the others again soon when a new ship was assigned to Captain Geisler, but for now, she would walk alone.

A message awaited Lieutenant Temerant Bast when he finally arrived at a location where he could take messages on Deep Space Eleven. While Camila had been there with him as well, the blonde Security Chief had chosen to send him a message instead.

Temerant,

By the time you read this message, I'll be on my way to Earth. The way you treated me and my team on Deep Space Eleven has only proven to me once and for all that we aren't compatible beyond the physical. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed what we had together, but it's not enough to insure a long term working relationship.

As a person, you're a good man and I hope you find someone that will make you happy. As an officer, there is much to be desired. I think you were unfairly thrust into the position of Second Officer and you weren't ready for it. I hope that you can grow into it and realize that other officers can find their own way in the departments that they head.

I'm Security and that's what I know. You're Operations. We may wear the same uniform color, but that doesn't mean we know each others roles beyond the basics. I regret that we couldn't have found a middle ground, but there doesn't seem to be one. You proved on Deep Space Eleven that you were more than willing to override my decisions on a mission that you were only an adviser on, and that was disruptive to the mission itself. I didn't wnat you there to begin with and you ordering my people around and telling me to act like I was in charge was the straw that broke the camel's back.

With that being said, I've decided to end our relationship as a couple. I may have to deal with you as an officer and respect your rank, but as a person, I no longer have any desire to be with you. Take care of yourself, Temerant and may the lifetimes of experience of your symbiont bring you peace.

Camila

By the time she reached Earth, Temerant's response was waiting for her as well.

Camila,

I'm sorry we don't see eye to eye on this one, but the inherent hypocrisy in your letter warrants a response from me. As a Starfleet officer, you and I both swore an oath. An oath to serve, protect and defend the citizens of the United Federation of Planets. You resented having me on this mission - even going so far as referring to me as a "non-combattant", which ignores the fact that all Starfleet cadets have to go through basic combat training. And yet, that didn't prevent you from allowing, and even requesting, that a civilian tag along with the team, thereby putting her in great danger. You failed to live up to that part of the oath that spoke to protecting and defending Federation citizens.

You also failed the oath to honor the chain of command when you ignored a direct order from the ship's Second Officer - even when this order served to remind you of your oath to protect said citizen. Your letter mentions that you respect my rank, but your actions say otherwise. I think you should take a long look in the mirror before saying that my actions as an officer "leave much to be desired". Were you truly ready to become Chief of Security?

As for disrupting the mission, who was the most disruptive? The one who took down more than his share of Selamat, or the one shedding Orion pheromones?

None of us know what the future holds - we may be assigned to different ships, or we may be back on a new ship under Captain Geisler. Time will tell. But I hope time will allow us both to find a way to develop a working relationship, should we end up serving together again.

Temerant

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