Post Number: 320 *GENESIS*

Posted on Mon Jun 22nd, 2026 @ 6:23pm by Captain Marius Pontmercy & T'Kes

1,945 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: A Leap of Faith
Location: Ready Room
Timeline: current

How did that famed mission profile of two hundred years ago go? A five year mission to seek out new life and new civilisations, to boldly go where no one has gone before? The mission of the USS Enterprise had been the pioneer project, a long term deep space exploration mission that would go on to set the standard of what Starfleet and the Federation would become. A century after Kirk had taken his ship out it had been the turn of Picard to follow that lead, and then only twenty years later after the Dominion War, the Shinzon incident and the destruction of Romulus everything had changed, science and discovery had gone out of the window and Starfleet had turned its focus to consolidating that which the Federation already had, no new admissions, barely any new friends, in essence a very un-Starfleet philosophy and a very un-Federation policy.

But this was no longer that Federation, this was no longer that Starfleet they couldn't be not if they were to go from just survival to rebuilding and then hopefully to thriving again. There was some consistency in that the Federation Council's headquarters on Ocampa V was a very familiar Galaxy class saucer section hauled all the way to the Delta Quadrant from Veridian III, the name USS Enterprise and the iconic number 1701-D loomed over the entrance - a boarding ramp that went up to where the aerowing or Captain's Yacht would be expected to be - it had been moved to the shuttle bay. The internal modifications were still being made but it was all having the effect that was desired, a reminder of where they had come from and what they stood for. For T'Kes this had taken some adjusting to, she had been one of the many Romulans who had formed part of Ambassador Spock's underground, she had been drawn to the dream of reunification between Romulans and Vulcans, she had seen and met the great man that had commanded the ship she now lived and worked in.

However at this moment T'Kes wasn't sat in her office down on the planet she was walking the short distance from turbolift to the Captain's ready room, she could have called for him to come to her but that had never been her way. She'd just come from a meeting with the Ocampa and she still had Celine's words ringing in her ears and to be fair Celine was right they needed to get things moving in the diplomatic sense. They needed friends, allies, trade partners and everything else but the question wasn't about knowing what they needed, it was about how they got there. And to coin a human phrase that resonated with T'Kes's Romulan nature if the mountain wouldn't come to them then they would go to the mountain. She pressed the bell on the ready room door.

Marius had just finished looking over the latest operations report and was looking into the medical requests of their CMO when his door chimed. Surprised he looked up, not expecting anyone.

"Come in," he called.

T'Kes smiled at the look of surprise on Marius's face as the door opened "If it helps I come bearing gifts." she said holding up a bottle "A gift from the Ocampa, it's from their first crop that was grown on the surface. I'm assured it's a delicious fruit juice." she paused "And then I have something to ask."

Trying to quickly mask his look of surprise Marius rose and accepted the bottle.

"Madam President, thank you. I'm sure it's delicious, shall I pour us each a glass?"

"It'd be a shame not to." T'Kes said she was still smiling, in truth she probably hadn't stopped smiling for weeks, things were now moving for them "How are you feeling Captain, now that we've got our flag planted and foundations put down?"

Marius thought for a moment as he selected two small glasses and brought them back to his desk. He carefully popped the cork, and poured a bit of the blueish liquid into each of the glasses.

"Honestly it feels a bit... Surreal." He handed the President a glass before picking up his own. "I think we had been in fight or flight for so long that something like this still hasn't sunk in for me. I know that it will, in time. How about for you?"

"Well if you'd told me when I was lobbying the Federation Council on behalf of Romulan refugee's that a few years later I'd be the President I'd have laughed. I've still not got past the weirdness of a Romulan being President of the Federation, anymore than I have living and working within the saucer of the Federation's most iconic vessel." T'Kes said "I believe the human saying is 'when life gives you lemons make lemonade'. Well maybe that's what we're doing out here, I've spent weeks talking with the Ocampa leaders and nothing's signed yet but we may have our newest Federation member before too much longer."

Marius' eyes widened in surprise.

"That's great news Madam President. The first will always be the most difficult, and it's my hope that more will follow in their footsteps." He took a sip of the beverage in his hand, surprised and pleased with it's sweet fruity flavor. "I would not have imagined us having a Romulan President either, especially with the conflict between our people. You took the role in our most trying time, and have done more than could be expected or you, and done so with excellence. I for one am glad it's you at the helm."

T'Kes held back the giggle, she'd come to make a request of the Captain and now it seemed there would be a second. "If I may ask something of you. I appreciate that officially the Federation and the Romulan Empire are at war, but the vast majority of Romulans in the galaxy aren't on either side, there are a lot of Romulan colonies that were thrown into limbo after the destruction of Romulus, in truth the war isn't one of governments as there is no unifying Romulan Government, there is only the Tal'Shiar whose leader claims the title of Empress as some sort of attempt at legitimacy." she said "Oh how I fought her in the Senate back in the day... but I digress and I didn't come here to bore you with my life story. The Ocampa are on the brink of becoming our newest Federation member, but if we are to thrive we need members, friends, allies, people we can work with, people we can trade with, at least that is Lieutenant Quinn's opinion and she is correct. So it's time for us to put ourselves out there, as Federation President I don't give the orders, it's been decades since I last gave an order to a serving officer and that was in the Dominion War. So please consider what I'm about to say a request."

Marius thought for a moment.

"Of course. What is it, Madam President?"

"The Kazon, we need some sort of agreement with them, whether it's a treaty of some kind or they join the Federation doesn't matter but we do need an agreement with them." T'Kes said "The system we're in right now is within space that is, according to the best maps we have, controlled by the Kazon Ogla sect, we've been here four months and we haven't seen them. When Voyager was out here Janeway was able to count on not needing to be too worried about a persistent Kazon problem because she knew their territory eventually had to run out, she had an Intrepid class starship that was faster and more advanced than anything the Kazon had. We don't have that luxury so we're going to have to learn to live with them." she paused to let what she was saying sink in "You're wondering what the catch is. Well it's a fairly big one - if we only make an agreement with the Kazon Ogla then the other Kazon sects are likely to become hostile towards us. So we need an agreement not just with the Ogla but with the other sects, the problem there is that the sects are all distrusting and generally hostile to each other." she paused again to sip her drink "We'll probably need to earn the Kazon's trust in some way, and enough of their trust that they are prepared to call a summit of all the Maje's to listen to us. It's not going to be easy but if it can be done then the Talaxian trade routes are unlocked, we could end up with the Talaxian's here on Ocampa V, that's another potential Federation member, but to get there we need the Kazon. The good news is that we may have a way of getting our foot in the door."

The Captain let out a sigh as he digested everything the President had said. It wasn't it of frustration, but rather an acknowledgement of the enormity of the task ahead. He swirled the liquid in his glass before taking another sip.

"What is the way you have to get our foot in the door?"

T'Kes put a PADD on Marius's desk "It's called the Iskaryn system, it's about two days away at warp seven." She said "It's not much to look at according to astrometrics, a water world surrounded by three ice moons but it is mineral rich, there's an orbital platform which would suggest it's a mining outpost for the whole system. We got a signal from it, there's something wrong on the platform, something is affecting the people there, the Kazon Ogla has sent ships to quarantine the system but the reality is that if it's a complex issue then the Ogla likely don't have the medical, scientific or engineering know how to solve it. And if it's a hostile presence of some sort then the Kazon are more likely to sacrifice the outpost and the mining operation than risk their necks. If you can get a ship out there in the next twenty four hours they'll get there either just before or around the same time as the Ogla, it shouldn't be too difficult to convince the Ogla to let you risk your necks for their operation. Do them a favor and they owe us one, at the very least that should mean they'll listen to us."

Marius rubbed his chin as he considered what she told him. From everything he had read, the Kazon were a challenging people, but having them as allies in this sector would be extremely beneficial. Finally he nodded, almost to himself, and looked back at the Romulan.

"Alright, we will see it done. I will select a team and send them within the hour."

"Very well." T'Kes said "One final word of advice Captain. The Kazon have a tendency, at least based on Janeway's logs, of demanding technology that we have, that they don't. We need the Kazon but I don't need to remind you about the Prime Directive. Good luck."

"They can demand all they like," Marius said with a serious expression, "but they will not be flying away with anything of ours. Thank you for your counsel, Madam President."

T'Kes smiled and downed what remained of her drink before putting the glass down on the desk and taking her leave, she had every confidence in the crew, but then this wasn't about them, it was all about the Kazon.

**********

T'Kes
President of the United Federation of Planets
Starbase Obsidian

Captain Marius G. Pontmercy
Commanding Officer
Starbase Obsidian

 

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