Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻

<SNIP>

It’s a brave new world,” Jason smiled thinly. Boy was it ever. The Romulans had been allies in the Dominion War, albeit reluctant ones. The mass assassination of the Senate and the destruction of Romulus revealed that they had bigger problems than the Federation.

But when the Enterprise had visited Romulus over fifteen years ago they discovered that the floor of the senate was a map of the Federation-Romulan border. That meant that their ancient conflict with Earth and her allies that would become the United Federation of Planets was how they defined themselves. Like Jason, they STILL hadn’t gotten over it. Jason could understand why he still thought of the Romulans as the enemy but nearly two and a half centuries had passed. Why hadn’t history marched on? What had made the Romulans so xenophobic that they would still define themselves by their conflict that caused their enemies to let go of their xenophobia and embrace their neighbors? Weren’t the Klingons a bigger threat? Or was the idea of tolerance and the mixing of cultures of different species considered more dangerous a form of conquest than mere subjugation.

“It’s going to be toughest on our generation,” Jason admitted. “It’s never easy being the first at anything.”

Jason Harn, XO

“Right you are sir. I have to confess, being older than everyone here, having been flying longer than most of my squadmates have been alive, it’s strange. On Romulus, being 50 made you a kid. Here I’m supposedly “middle aged.” Whatever that means. But, I’d rather feel old than go back.”

-Lt(j.g.) Ael Khev, Apex

“I know what it’s like to start over,” Jason admitted with a grim smile. “And I know what its like to be the oldest guy on the ship,” he added as he glanced around at the younger faces around them. “If you ever need someone your age to grab a beer with my door is always open.”

Jason Harn, XO

“Thank you sir. I might just take you up on that sometime.” Ael smiled. He hadn’t quite expected this reaction, but it was a pleasant surprise that the XO saw the person, not the Romulan.

-Lt(j.g.) Ael Khev, Apex

“Well, the old man has to hit the head,” Jason winked. “See you later Ael.”

OOC: Head = naval parlance for restroom or the toilet.

When Jason entered the head he went straight to the sink and splashed some water in his face. He found himself trembling as if he had cerebral palsy. The !#%&* Romulan had more in common with Jason than anyone else on the ship! The parallels were downright eerie and both of them remembered a time when the other guy was the enemy. Could either one of them escape their past and not get in the way of the future? Poor Ael had it even worse than Jason did, assuming he wasn’t a Tal Shiar agent pulling the “too obvious to be a spy” routine. Could Jason overcome his prejudices and give the poor guy a fair shake? It wasn’t fair to the Romulan that Jason was the officer (along with the ship’s counselor) who made the suggestions to the ship’s captain when it came to promotions. Jason had lost his ship… his life to the Romulans who apparently waited over two centuries to change… How could he trust himself to make fair and unbiased decisions regarding Ael’s career? The only thing he could do would be to just parrot whatever Ric put in the Romulan pilot’s record, and give Trevor the lead on any interpretations or suggestions they had to add.

In the meantime, it was time to schedule another counselor’s appointment. Trevor was going to get sick of seeing Jason’s face.

Taking a deep breath, Jason got back into character and left the head to stroll nonchalantly to the turbolift.

OOC: I’m assuming this scene is over but Jason’s in the hall if someone wants to talk to him.

Jason Harn, XO

Xandra had done her best to stay out of the conversation. She exited after they were gone and nearly bumped into the XO. “Sir… sorry.” She smiled and nodded to him. “So how was the Sim? I hope you enjoyed Ric’s little game of tag. He tends to enjoy running things a little more than he should.” She laughed and reached up to brush a lock of hair from her face. “I hope he wasn’t too rough on you.”

Xandra
Pilot