Games Of Morality (Part 2)

Posted on Thu Jan 18th, 2024 @ 8:27pm by Captain Banri Edasaki & Lieutenant Commander Lurath, Son of Grogori
Edited on on Thu Jan 18th, 2024 @ 8:27pm

2,189 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: The Search
Location: USS Bismarck Brig

Previously on Star Trek Ermiana:


He turned back to face John and immediately shouted. "I.. don't... CARE!" The Cardassian shouted as he approached the force field, stopping inches before touching it. "You're Maquis scum. Do you want to know how I know? Because only Maquis scum would kill innocent women and children, Cardassian women and children, only to justify it a few minutes later in some big grandiose speech!"

Banri stayed quiet. She knew that the situation throughout the badlands was bad, but she had never suspected that so many people were actually dying every day. She lowered her gaze looking down at the floor. As a Starfleet officer all life, regardless of who they are or what they are is precious.

"Now, let me tell you something Mister... John Casey." He said as he took a step away from the force field, a devious smile on his face, as he lowered his voice slightly. "You think that you taking a ship like this and slaughtering my people will go unanswered? You clearly forgot who you have been playing your little game of morality with. For every one of ours you kill, five of yours will be killed in return. For every ship taken, one of your colonies lost. Hell, we'd sooner take a Trilithium warhead to a star just to wipe out a group of planets you might hiding on and CALL IT A DAY!" The Cardassian let out a deep and frustrated sigh as he looked deep into John's eyes before adding in a dark tone. "For you this may be a suicide mission to make a political statement... but for a Cardassian.. this is just another weekend."

And now the continuation...

"Just as I thought..." John spat in disgust. "You are all monsters. Luckily for you, I need you alive. If I succeed, then there will be peace and no one will have to worry about losing their life anymore." He turned to leave, but stopped just as the doors swished open. He didn't look back, but did speak.

"I don't like taking lives Mister Jalak Rin. Its... regrettable that so many people had to die." he paused for a moment. "You should know. I've never killed any of your children. But I know you won't hesitate to kill ours." With that said he began walking again and strode out of the room leaving Banri and Jalak Rin alone again.

He knew they had privacy as the short in the internal sensors he caused earlier could only be repaired manually so, unless they sent someone to fix it, they wouldn't be able to hear or see them from the computer. With that, Zodrac let out a deep sign and tilted his head back, running his hands through his hair as a few tears seemed to come down the sides of his face. He hated doing that. Being an angry Cardassian and making threats with such a demanding tone. He slowly tilted his head forward, looking down to the close, as he closed his eyes in an attempt to calm himself. "You're going to get out of this. You'll make it back to Arna and Elra. The Prophets will see you through this." He whispered softly.

"Arna and Elra?" Banri asked as she looked up from the floor. She could have sworn she heard something about the Bajoran Prophets, but she wasn't too sure as he was whispering to himself.

Zodrac turned to face Banri and smiled as he wiped the tears from his face. "My family, Captain. Specifically, my wife and daughter. My Bajoran Wife." He let out a calming sigh before holding his hand out to Banri to help her up. "I rescued her, and several other Bajoran prisoners, from a Cardassian Prison camp around the end of the Occupation. That good deed is what turned me into a traitor to my people and allowed me to join Starfleet. Believe it or not, Captain. I'm here to rescue you."

"I see." Banri said in response. "That explains quite a lot." She paused for a moment. "They spoke of a Federation Starship that you were on. How did you end up here?" she asked curiously.

"The USS Ermiana has been sent out to find you and disable your ship. Before it left for the mission, a friend of mine on board, got me onboard. My cover would allow me to get passed checkpoints and my authorization should have allowed us to make it passed with little resistance. However, our friends the Maquis, seemed to have learned about my presence which tells me that someone onboard told them I was there which should not have happened."

"The Ermiana..." Banri said with a wry smile. "Thats Captain Misaka's ship." She locked eyes with the Cardassian. "So if this is a rescue mission, its not going very well is it?"

"Its.... a work in progress." Zodrac replied with a smile before looking around again.

"Well. We've got time to work something out. We should look like we're not working together, make them believe we're enemies. Or at least don't like each other," Banri suggested.

Zodrac raised a brow and shrugged a bit. "I thought I made that obvious, but if you want me to punch you at some point and call you human scum you'll have to let me know."

"Yeah... I'd rather not be punched thankyou." Banri replied. She stretched out and laid down on the small singular bed, placing her arms behind her head. "Well, we might as well get comfortable for now. They can't get the Bismarck above warp one. Before they took the ship my Chief Engineer sabotaged the engines and warp control systems. It'll take weeks for them to fix it." She said confidently.

"That's... unfortunate." He replied as he walked over to wall and leaned against it. He slide down to the floor and sat down as he looked at Banri. "The Cardassian Government is away of the Bismarck and they've made no order to capture its crew alive. They would rather leave no witnesses and claim they've destroyed the ship just to bring it in and see what's inside. And I assure you, Captain, they will make well over Warp one."

"Let's hope, for our sake that Captain Misaka finds us first then," Banri replied. "I've heard what Cardassians do to their prisoners. I don't want to go through any of that, if it's true of course."

"I can assure you it's all true." Zodrac replied firmly as he looked away. "And they are always coming up with different ways to keep it going. I've witnessed the horrors myself and, reluctantly, participated. Back in my days as a Cardassian Officer I have heard the screams and cries of many of people. Some of them having done nothing wrong but question the authority of the Cardassian Central Command. Others just because someone didn't like how they looked at them." As he kept his head down he placed his hand on the ground and gently moved it around as if tracing something that wasn't there. "It still gives me nightmares."

A moment of silence fell upon the small cell. "In a way..." Banri broke the silence. "I can understand why the Maquis don't want to be under Cardassian rule. However that doesn't excuse them for what they've been doing."

"I sympathize with them." Zodrac replied quickly, looking up at Banri, as he continued softly. "I've even managed to secretly help them escape from time to time. Even warning them, in some way, of when the a Cardassan ship was close to discovering their location. They deserve to fight, but how they are doing it is only going to cause more trouble for them."

Banri agreed with him on that. "This John Casey guy though. He plans on using both of us as an example. An old fashioned ransom so to speak. I think he will release us only if both the Cardassians and Federation give the Maquis what they want." She explained. "At least, that's how he explained it to me."

"The Federation is only after them because, by definition, they are rogue officers who've disobeyed orders." Zodrac countered, remember how he did the same thing which led to his defection and many Bajoran lives being saved. Including his current wife. "If he only knew he was preaching to the wrong person. I've done the same thing when I saved my wife and the other Bajoran prisoners. I found shelter in Starfleet. The Bajorans I saved eventually came to trust me and even became to consider me a friend and ally. The Bismarck is only going to drag the Federation further into the case..." He paused in mid sentence and sat there in deep thought before finally saying. "So... lets remove it from the equation." Zodrac stood back up and looked at her firmly.

"What do you propose?" Banri asked as she sat up and turned to face him.

"I'll be honest with them. Tell them who I am and why I understand their fight. Convince them that, the Bismarck falling into the Cardassian's hands, is only going to hurt the Federation and Starfleet more. They are still Starfleet Officers and heart and don't seem to want to hurt anyone they used to know. You said so yourself, the ship isn't going to get them anywhere fast..." Zodrac stood there in silence for a minute before smirking. "So.. let's change that. Guard! Hey... Guard! Get in here!" He suddenly began to shout, turning toward the closed door on the other side of the Brig.

The doors opened and one of the Maquis walked in carrying a phaser rifle. "Keep the noise down spoon-head! What do you want?"

"Contact your leader, John Casey, and tell him to bring a Federation PADD with him so...." He paused for a moment, looking over to Banri for a second, before turning back. "So I can prove to him I'm not Gul Jalak Rin. My real name is Zodrac Kosh and I am a Cardassian defector who has joined Starfleet Intelligence and I've been working undercover as a Cardassian Gul to obtain information." Zodrac stopped talking for a second before adding quickly. "If he doesn't believe me then tell him to ask his friends about the Maquis Coloney on Iocarro II. They were warned about a Cardassian raid on their headquarters and had enough time to escape. The warning was encrypted so they never knew who gave them the warning. That was me. I was on the lead ship. I warned them. Tell him to look into that."

The Maquis man said nothing in response, simply lowered his rifle and gave him a nod. He turned and left the brig.

"Do you trust me?" Zodrac said as he looked over to Banri. "This is going to be risky. I can't promise you he is going to believe me, I am Cardassian and all, but it may just be the move we need to get you, me, the Bismarck, and your crew free." He took a step towards her before adding. "It's going to take your authorization code to open something. I give you my word it won't involve releasing your ship."

Banri shrugged. "I've not got a choice. We can't let this continue if we want to save everyone's lives." She replied simply.

"I want this to end as quickly and peacefully as you do. I want to get back to my wife and daughter." Zodrac said as he let out a sigh. "What I am going to propose is risky but it will be in the Maquis best interest. You don't have to be a part of it. I can propose it myself and keep you out of it. I must warn you. Going with it may harm your career if anyone finds out, but it will get your ship and people back. I won't expect anything less." He paused a bit before adding. "What I am about to do will be a risk for me as well. I am blowing my cover and, if any of them get captured, they may be in a position to reveal it to the Cardassian Government and my work undercover will be gone. So, we both have something to lose if this gets out."

"Desperate times call for Desperate measures," Banri replied. "Let's keep this 'off the books' and just get it over and done with."

Zodrac nodded his head and walked over to Banri. As he approached her, he extended his hand and gave her a smile. "I promise you, on my life, this will stay between us. It will join me in the grave as I stand before the Prophets to be judged."

Banri took his hand. "Same. Although sorry, I don't believe in the Prophets, so I promise on the values of my Starfleet training and morales."

Posting by:

Captain Banri Edasaki
Commanding Officer
USS Bismarck

&

Gul Jalak Rin/Lieutenant Zodrac Kosh [Lurath NPC]
Undercover Starfleet Intelligence Officer

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