The Confession of Tellus

 Episode Name:  The Confession of Tellus

   Written By:  Eidolon

         Cast:  Eidolon, Goodwin, Jatila and Norhalat.

  Produced By:  Starfleet

  Directed By:  Eidolon

     Aired On:  Wed Sep 28 20:45:58 2005

     Stardate:  55297.6

Time: Wed Sep 28 19:00:52 2005

Stardate: 55297.4

The diplomatic conference area on Station 419 is site of a special meeting this evening, one that is for a representative of the Romulan delegation and a Starfleet specialist, dispatched with great speed from Calder II with information regarding a momentous discovery that has been kept a closely guarded secret until now.

The specialist sent is none other than Lieutenant Commander Norhalat, a Horta geologist who heads up the Starfleet contingent on Calder II. It sits patiently in a corner near the viewscreen, rumbling contentedly to itself. One could almost swear that it was a pile of rocks, and that it was purring.

Also assembled this evening are Consul Jatila, Romulan Ambassador K'net-mauri's assistant, and Lieutenant Commander Joshua Goodwin, Station 419's second officer.

The quartermaster's enlisted men have seen that the conference room has been set up according to the second officer's specifications. Mainly, it just means that there have been pitches of water and glasses at each of the seats for the Romulan and the Human. But the observant might also note that what looks like a ceramic candy dish filled with bits of rocks have been placed by Commander Norhalat's 'seat'.

Goodwin comes in and nods his head towards the geologist. "Commander Norhalat. It's a pleasure to meet you in person. I learned your name during the incident with Robert, but we didn't have a chance to meet."

Jatila tears her staring eyes away from the Horta, to glance toward Goodwin, and she sits back, steepling her fingers. "Jolan'tru," is offered with a polite bob of her head. "I must admit, I'm rather intrigued by the request for this meeting."

. o O Jatila thinks, "A pizza. It looks... like a pizza. A very /large/ pizza."

"I understand that Robert is doing very well with the Mother," emits from a small box that is attached to the surface of the Horta, responding to Goodwin. "Your Lieutenant Turtledove is an excellent officer; she and I got along quite well on our trip to the Home." The voice pauses as Norhalat shifts, perhaps turning to 'face' Jatila, such as it is. "As were all the researchers on Calder II. I must warn you that what I am about to tell you... might be somewhat disturbing to you."

The rumbling stops, and a light on the surface of the box winks, activating the viewscreen. "Calder II is an unpopulated M-class world in the Beta Pictoris sector. There is a large area of proto-Romulan ruins on the surface, tenatively linked to the Debrune civilization which died out approximately two centuries after the Romulan diaspora from Vulcan, although some archaeologists on Vulcan suspect that the ruins are not actually Debrune, and somehow relate to the Kolinahru mindlords of pre-Awakening times." There's a short pause as Norhalat collects its thoughts, and then continues on. "You may have learned from the news service in recent weeks that there was an entirely new site discovered on-planet earlier this year. I've been sent to brief you on a discovery which was made at this new 'Site Five' dig."

"If you'd like to visit her during your stay, I believe she is back from her advanced materials training she had departed on," Goodwin replies before the presentation begins. He then, however, leans forward when the presentation begins, keeping out his PADD to take notes. Brow scrunches up in intense concentration as he works to follow the social science anthropological language.

Jatila flicks her fingers in a slight gesture, indicating no worry on her part as to whatever the creature's revelation might be. An eyebrow rises slightly, though, as she turns her gaze toward the viewscreen. "Fascinating. Please go on, Commander Norhalat." Goodwin gets the slightest curious look before Jat turns her attention back to the matter at hand.

The light flickers again, and the screen changes to show an aged parchment, covered with what would appear to be Romulan text. "This, specifically, is our discovery. I've brought the original with me for independent analysis, but this is a good display of what is written on this very well-preserved piece. We discovered it in what must have been an ancient records storehouse, amongst various fragments of supply requisitions, reciepts, official communiques, so on and so forth. Most of what we found was relatively mundane, but this..." the Horta pauses. "Well, I'll let it speak for itself. Consul Jatila, if you wouldn't mind, could you translate what's written there?"

GAME: Jatila contests her Language: Romulan vs Moderate and Marginally Succeeds.

"Your scientists were unable to do so?" Jat wonders, as she leans forward to study the image.

Goodwin knows nothing of Romulan, and so instead he simply sits and watches, looking over at Jatila. "Interesting," he remarks at the parchment, though, apparently, the text is the real kicker, and he doesn't know what that is.

Norhalat makes a rumbling sound, rather similiar to a sigh. "They were able to translate it, but it was the hope amongst my colleagues that we were wrong. We have no one on our staff who actually speaks Romulan; we were depending on our computer translations and not someone who actually speaks, and more importantly, reads the language." It slowly moves forward, covering up the candy dish with the rocks, and there's a hissing noise before it returns to its previous position, and the dish and rocks are gone. "Replicated?" it asks.

Jatila's lips move in silence as she reads, and she goes through the oddest series of expressions as she does so. A blink, quickly followed by a frown. Her lips thin until they almost disappear. A growing unease shows in her eyes about halfway through, an unease that gels into solid matter, and she stiffens, as she mouths the last word on the document. Slowly, she sits back again. "Interesting," is her tight comment.

"The dish was, but we borrowed the samples from our geology lab, I think," explains Goodwin, conversationally, as he waits for Jatila to finish her translation. "You can ask Mister McKenna which types he got for it, I think. Or if you need anything while you're here." At her growing unease, he furrows his brow, the only kid in the room to not get it. "What does it say?"

. o O Jatila thinks, "This is... wrong. It can /not/ be."

. o O Goodwin thinks, "I guess it liked the rocks."

"It is rather long, but I have committed our translation to memory," the Horta replies to Goodwin.

"For one hundred and five years we have travelled the endless void, banished from the warmth and light of our ancient home. Whole generations of children have been born who have never felt the heat of Ket-cheleb, nor looked upon the majesty of Shir'kahr as the primaries sink behind the hills.

I am old -- older than any warrior deserves to be. The cold seeps into my bones -- the cold of darkness, decay, and death. But death does not, cannot come for me. These people look to me for guidance, for assurance, for the strength to hold them unified as one.

Even now, Debrune agitates for change. We have passed so many worlds in our search for a place to call our own, where we can continue the traditions of the Vhorani. Many of them have been paradise compared to the world we left, and yet, we have settled none of them.

Debrune wishes to know why. He has followed me faithfully this far, but he cannot believe that we do not settle a place of our own.

I tell him that it is not yet time, but I know the truth in my heart.

D'era is a lie.

I commit these words to parchment because I cannot bear this pain in my soul any longer. I have led all of these people -- people who have wanted to keep their warrior heritage alive, people who believe that I, rather than Surak, am correct -- into damnation. It is through the force of my will that I keep them united. When I am gone, when death has claimed me, they will descend into a war like none have ever seen.

The Romulan people will survive, but I will have lead them to their ultimate doom.

I see now that the way of peace -- Surak's way, though I loathe that name -- was correct. For thousands of years, our people spilled their lives out on the red sands of our homeworld. We were battling ourselves into extinction, and for what? Glory, honor, and treasure? Water? Fertile land?

Surak was right. It could not continue. Each new war would be more terrible than the last. Eventually, all that would remain were the bleached bones of a ruined civilization -- a curiousity for others to explore.

I was young, impetuous. I believed that the Vhorani had designed us to do war, to rule others, to prove that we were the superior. I believed that if our brethren would not follow us, then we would part ourselves from them and make our way into the stars. That we would take what was rightfully ours by birthright.

I was a fool. I will not live to see the harvest, but I have sown the seeds of destruction for the Romulan people. My legacy will be one drenched in blood, tears, and mourning. Our way will isolate us from the other peoples of the universe. Our way will leave us weak and vulnerable while our brethren wax strong through peace.

Our way is extinction.

I will speak with Debrune in the morning. I will give him and his followers leave to do as they will, to make their destiny in the stars. They can do no worse than we will.

I pray that death will take me this night, as I have each night since I realized the truth.

On the eighty-seventh day of the one hundred and fifth year of our exile,

Tellus"

The Horta pauses for a moment. "I will allow the Consul to explain whom Tellus was, as I'm certain she can do it better justice than I can."

. o O Norhalat is weary.

Jatila's voice does not loosen. "He was the father of the Romulan people. The one who saved us from Surak's weak ways."

. o O Jatila groans. "Balin is going to laugh that gourd he calls a head off. Dammit."

"So," Josh says, needing to spell this all out. "If this is correct, if this is verified, this is a document having Tellus renounce the Way of D'era and embrace the teachings of Surak?" Blink. Blink. "Wow." To say the least.

Norhalat rumbles softly, seeming to deflate a bit. "That would seem to be the essence of it, yes. Every test that Starfleet and the Federation Science Council could run has been run on the parchment; thus far, we're convinced it's genuine. Of course, given its... rather controversial nature, we are prepared to allow analysis of the parchment by the Star Empire, and another round of Federation testing." It rumbles once again.

Jatila nods shortly in answer to Goodwin. "We will indeed wish to... test it."

. o O Jatila thinks, "Test, destroy, it's a matter of semantics."

Goodwin nods his head slowly in agreement. "Of course," he says. "We will need to make, of course, appropriate security arrangements for the parchment. Our Social Sciences department is fairly sparsely populated at the moment, but I can see what officers we have available to assist with testing."

"Of course, the United Federation of Planets would prefer that the document remain intact during this testing," Norhalat offers, the voice coming out of its box rather soft. "It is a monumental find for our archaeologists on Calder II, one that definitively ties the planet to the Debrune culture, and the Debrune to the Romulan diaspora. The amount of knowledge that it has unlocked for us is nearly immeasurable, and, to be quite frank, it's the most fascinating archaeological discovery in the Quadrant since Richard Galen's seeding theory was confirmed."

Jatila smiles thinly. "I'm sure it will be quite safe in the hands of our scientists. In the end, it's fairly irrelevant. I have little doubt that my government will declare it a trick, probably a Federation plot to undermine the Empire, no matter what the test results are." She eyes Norhalat for a moment.

. o O Jatila thinks, "We're talking about the very foundation of the Empire being weakened, and that thing enthuses about archaeological insight! Lousy priorities."

Goodwin assumes a more 'straight diplomatic' tone of voice. "Starfleet believes in the discovery and promulgation of knowledge, even if that knowledge challenges our most fundamental assumptions about ourselves and our cultures." He needs to make that statement, of course. "Of course, it also hopes to work closely with its Romulan allies as this discovery is further investigated."

Norhalat bobs up and down somewhat, flapping around the edges. "Indeed. We've not made this discovery public so as to give the Empire time to prepare for its eventual revelation, even if that preparation is a denunciation. A secret is kept only as long as there are mouths that are closed, and there are a great many excited scientists on Calder II at the moment. For now, it is a secret... but we cannot say the same for tomorrow, next month, or next year."

Jatila laughs, honestly amused. "Starfleet, in general, believes in keeping knowledge to itself unless disseminating it gives Starfleet an advantage. Remind me to tell you the tale of Commander Ghorev threatening to deport me if I breathed a word of his precious Lithians." She pauses. "There are, of course, individuals who believe in a higher path," she gives Goodwin a gracious nod. "But they are much too rare." Jat looks back at Norhalat, irritated. "I see. Even if this document is likely to toss the Star Empire into chaos and quite possibly civil war, you will still release it. I am, frankly, amazed." And bitter, to judge by the tone of her voice.

. o O Jatila curses fluently, and growls. "You and your false Starfleet morals. To hell with the people who will suffer, as long as you reap your scientific rewards."

"I think one can make a distinction, Adjutant, between military intelligence and scientific discoveries," replies Goodwin, graciously, coming to the defense of his Commander. "Regardless, I will defend the right of the scientific team to publish its findings in any appropriate academic medium. Just as the confirmation of the seeding hypothesis was jarring, but beneficial to our knowledge of ourselves, Starfleet's core values support the free dissemination of scientific knowledge, no matter how painful that truth may be."

"Me? No, I will not release it," Norhalat replies, rather amiably. "But keeping a discovery of this magnitude secret is like me attempting to convince you that your ears are not pointed." It flutters again, possibly agreeing with what Goodwin has said.

. o O Norhalat thinks, "And if this -is- real, it might actually help lessen the amount of paranoia present in your people."

. o O Norhalat thinks, "And if it isn't... then no harm is done."

Jatila smiles, ever so slowly, as she looks toward Goodwin. "Is that so?" she purrs. The sound should be a big huge warning signal to the Starfleeters. "Very well." She sits back, drumming the fingers of one hand on the conference table. "We look forward to your sharing of all scientific knowledge of the Anomaly." A hand is waved toward the transparent aluminum between the room and cold space, then she laces her fingers together, and looks toward Goodwin, sobering, then back at Norhalat. "Are these scientists on Calder II civilians?"

Goodwin seems unfazed by the request, keeping his attention on the Horta and discussion at hand. "I believe at this time we should run additional tests on Station on the parchment to confirm authenticity, in conjunction with Romulan scientists, if they wish to take part. After they have been concluded, and if they corroborate, we should work towards compiling a paper for publication on this finding." He takes some notes for himself.

"Wernecke Science Station is under the administration of the Federation Science Council's Federation Archaeology Council. There is a Starfleet contingent of seventeen on the planet, out of one hundred and two. The vast majority are civilians," Norhalat replies to Jatila. "Do you have any further questions which I can answer?"

Jatila looks sideways for a moment, then shakes her head, pushing her chair back to rise. "I will inform the Ambassador of this... development. I suspect he will send for a scientific team forthwith."

Goodwin rises as well. "I will have Lieutenant Endilev be in touch with you, Commander, to arrange for security for the document," promises the second officer. "I will also brief the Science department so our own teams can assist in this analysis."

The little light on the Horta's box blinks, and the viewscreen shuts off. "Thank you, Commander, Consul. May you both have a pleasant evening." It flutters around the edges again, then makes its way for the door -- having left a lot to think about in its wake.

Jatila turns to head for the door. As it opens, she pauses, turning her head slightly to address the pair over her shoulder without actually looking at them. "Do let me know which academic medium is appropriate for the sabotage of one's Allies. I'm sure I'll find the paper fascinating reading." With that, she leaves.