The Mariner had departed from the devastated Avalon Fleet Yards. It had already a lot of work to recover the fourth fleet from their encounter against the Lost Fleet. But the interaction with the Changelings and the Borg didn't make the case any lighter. The ships with minimal repairs and low requirements were put first on the line to make room for other ships that needed longer work. Mariner was one of these ships, its mission was not changed, and they were still going to do a deep-exploration mission in the Delta Quadrant. The ship flew to warp, embarking on their next adventure, but the friction and scars of the last few months remained on the ship.

The crew was going through the hallways to their duty shifts, the relaxing time, or even getting something to eat. But some officers did turn around to look over their shoulders to see Keeyiro walk through the hallway. She had a shift done with Operations and was obligated to read the field engineering guide. But she could feel the eyes burning into her. She also knew why they did so. It made her wonder how L'iera was handling this kind of pressure, though from what she heard, she didn't get out of sickbay ever since they returned from the Lost Fleet mission. 

Taking a deep breath as she entered the mess hall, she grabbed her food from the replicator and moved to an empty table with a window view. Taking a deep breath, she had her fork in her hand, but her mind drifted away while staring at the stars passing by. Only a few months ago, she was sitting here with her friends, talking about disgusting food, having fun, and talking about rumors. But that all changed after she participated in that certain event. Now her future was uncertain. One bad move and she is out of Starfleet. Maybe that is a good thing. Perhaps she was not meant for space life. Maybe Eos Station was not as bad as it sounded right now.

“You Red Flag, get somewhere else a seat” 

A voice came from Keeyiro's side. Her head turned toward seeing some young officers and enlisted standing there with nasty looks on their faces. Keeyiro sighed as she thought, ‘Here we go again’ 

“Tsk” a woman let a sound loose. “Maybe we should look for a different table. She might infect us with her traitor germs” 

She could respond to it. Keeyiro was right to let her fury be unleashed on these people. These people were supposed to act like her colleagues and back each other up. But they lower themselves to pity behavior, find a black sheep, and keep bullying it until it leaves. Keeyiro looked around the mess hall and saw no one reacting or looking away. Of course, she had no backup from this injustice behavior. 

An officer laughs a bit. “And miss out on some good view because of this woman? No way…. clean your seat Red Flag and move along to the dark corner you came from.” He points behind him where there is a darker corner with some supply boxes. 

Looking in the direction the young officer was referring to, Keeyiro smirked. ‘Are they expecting me to sit on some supply boxes for my dinner’ Looking back at her plate, as her emotions were boiling in her, she stood up and lifted her plate, ready to leave. She looked at the group with a true poker face and wanted to say something as her mouth slightly opened. Only to close very quickly, deciding it was not worth it. Walking away from the table.

“Hey Red Flag….”

She stopped as Keeyiro looked back at them as one of them pointed at the seat.

“Wipe those germs off that seat. We don't want to get sick” 

Was this going to be the life that she had to endure, the punishment that Ruslanovna had carved out for her? She was better off throwing in the towel and departing to the next starbase if it was. But that would prove to these bloodsuckers that she was not worth the uniform. Grinding her teeth briefly as she looked away, trying to calm down. She walked calmly back to the table and wiped the chair off as the group laughed.

“Look at her. The girl can listen to commands. Maybe salvation was within her reach after all. But she won't make it for a month here. You belong with the rest of those traitors” A few stated against her.

Wanting to burst into frustration against them, yelling against them, hitting their face at how she was being treated. Keeyiro just wanted to return to her room and escape her problems. This was going to be hell for her. They will never treat her with the respect she wanted to deserve. 

“Enough” a calm voice came letting the group look confused at each other and then to the voice. 

Suto stepped from behind them to the side and looked at Keeyiro with some sadness in her eyes and then back at the group. “What are you doing?” 

The group felt suddenly uncomfortable, seeing they were not in the presence of a senior staff member. “We are educating this woman back on the path of Starfleet. She has done serious damage to this ship and its crew.” One explained as another followed “She is lucky that Commander Ruslanovna gave her that grace of a second chance. The Captain would have put her in the airlock for what she had done….ma'am"

“The Starfleet way…” Suto muttered and eyed Keeyiro, who looked away. “So your way is to treat her as trash is in your eyes, the vision of what Starfleet tries to spread?” Suto looked back at them, seeing some shock “I have read the reports on this mutiny you are talking about, I was not present at it, but I did read the fine details of it” 

One of them stepped up. “With all respect, ma'am, you were not there. You are just new to our ship. You know …” 

“Nothing of the pain and losses you might have endured because of the betrayal of those you considered your friend or colleagues. Again I was not here, but it doesn't mean I don't understand the situation. What the Captain did and what your tiny brain is unable to understand is that she values every single one of the lives on this ship. So if she took charge in choosing the fate of the traitors at that time with that build-up emotion, then this Ensign would have seen the cold dark space within a heartbeat. But every Captain must make the moral step that if your emotions are compromised, take a step back and let someone else handle the situation. In this case, Commander Ruslanovna did so. She evaluated every single traitor and based their judgment on their actions"

The group looked at each other confused. “Are you saying she is innocent because she is still here?” 

“I am saying that she is paying her debt to this ship. She has received her punishment” Stepping closer to that certain officer that just spoke, “Which is given by the command team, are you the command team Ensign?” 

“N…no” He stuttered a bit.

“Then what gives you, or any of you, the right to treat this young lady as trash? She is a valuable member of this ship. If I see anyone treat her this way again, I will make sure you depart this ship faster than you can say Kobayashi Maru. Do I make myself clear?” 

“Y…es ma'am”

Looking at the others “Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, ma'am” they all spoke at the same time.

“Then dismiss” 

They wanted to get to another table “Ho…I said, dismissed. You wasted your break with this joke you pulled.” She waved her hand to the exit as the group shrugged and left the room. Suto looked at Keeyiro, who was looking down a bit. “Sit down Ensign” 

There was a moment of doubt about the request, but she obeyed and sat down with the plate of food in front of her.

Suto sat down also and had her plate, eating her rice. She noticed that Keeyiro was not eating and wondered if her actions offset her in any way. But the way these officers treated her was not the Starfleet way, even though she was far from understanding the Starfleet idealism herself. “Tell me if something like this happens again” 

Keeyiro didn't reply but gave a simple nod, not trying to interrupt a conversation. She took a bite of her food slowly as the two sat there in quiet without anyone disturbing their food moment.