—- Gym —-

Chief Engineer Lieutenant Commander James Young put down the weight and studied Doctor T’Rala. The Lieutenant was peddling a stationary bicycle, but had seemingly stopped.

”You okay there?” he asked. Though engines more than people where what he understood he knew the Romulan well enough to know that she was distracted by something. He had a guess as to what had distracted her and it was not him.

”I’m just thinking I should be down on the planet, there’s a case of scurvy that some of the children have been fighting,” she said.

”Who gets scurvy in 2401?” Young said.

”People with no access to easy medications and who don’t eat vegetables or fruit,” T’Rala pointed out, so much of what they took for granted had been lost either in the crash or over the two centuries that the survivors and their offspring had been down on the planet that it was as if they had stumbled upon a pre-warp civilization. In some ways they had.

Young nodded, giving her the point. It was not as if he had been down on the world, he’d welcomed the chance to work on the USS Seattle’s tractor beam a little which had been acting weird before they had last docked. While he knew that he had been able to tackle passion projects, she was busy caring for people and it was her people. Well not exactly, she was raised by humans after all, but he realized that T’Rala had likely never been in amongst so many Romulans before. It must be odd for her, and easy to picture herself as one of them In a way that nobody else on board the Seattle did.

“We’re shipping out tomorrow,” she said.

”You and Doctor Va’Tok have been down there almost constantly since we arrived, you’ve done good. You need to take care of yourself too,” Young said.

“I’ve watched you pull all nighters with the warp core,” the Assistant Chief Medical Officer said, “So this is my warp core.”

Young nodded, “I get it, but you need rest too. We’ll go to bed after a few more reps and you can get up bright eyed and bushy tailed tomorrow and head down.”

Shaking her head Doctor T’Rala said, “No I should go down now.”

Young nodded, “Okay, take someone in security down with you. And you know I care right? I mean about you.”

T’Rala smiled, “I know James. I’ll be back.”

—- Planet Side —-

With Lieutenant Junior Grade Rose Flores from security with her Doctor T’Rala beamed down. It was daylight on the particular part of the planet that the survivors had settled even if it was 20:00 onboard the Seattle. The doctor distributed some vitamin C shots to those that lined up, and ran some more scans. It was true, she had never been around more than one or two Romulans at once, and now suddenly she was surrounded by them. But not Romulans, since most of them had not grown up with the same governmental structures that modern Romulans dealt with. The Tal Shiar had been around two hundred years ago, but not here. By the time most of these Romulans had been born they had long ago given up being rescued.

”Thank you,” a man who T’Rala recognized at B’Var said after the scanned and injected his daughter. 

“You’re welcome,” T’Rala said as the young girl ran off to play. T’Rala smiled, realizing that she had never really spoken in a social way with a member of her race. Back home they mostly distrusted her, or like her they were more human than Romulan. 

“You were raised by humans?” B’Var asked, clearly interested in the idea.

”I was yes,“ she confirmed.

”You’re an odd one then, like we will be,” he said, “Raised savages.”

T’Rala smiled, “Well I imagine since Romulus is gone, now you can be whatever you want. There’s no more central authority, no one really knows who anyone is.“

B’Var nodded at his daughter, “Her mother died last year. I’ll die this year, I’m glad that she may finally be able to see our people, to be among her own kind.”

“What do you mean?” Doctor T’Rala asked getting her scanner.

”She got sick, and now I’m getting sick in the same way,” he said.

T’Rala scanned him, “Cancer, we can treat it back at Starbase 72.”

He shrugged, “I’d rather you take her and so would most of us want you to take the kids.”

”We can’t take thirty or so kids,” Doctor T’Rala said, she realized that there was no exception to be made, they were not taking anyone, it was an all or nothing kind of situation.

He nodded, “Just our luck, to be saved but not really saved.”

”This close to Cardassian space, it’s a shock we even found you at all,” T’Rala said, “Until recently the Cardassians would have claimed this space and we’d have a ship chasing us off.”

“Your fellow Romulans are still dying, regardless of why you’re leaving us,” D’Var said.

While she wanted to argue that they were doing their best, and had supplied a year’s worth of clean water and varied food, Doctor T’Rala knew he was right. For once she could held her people and she was turning her back on them. She was leaving them to their own fate, and counting on Starfleet being able to find someone in one of the many factions of Romulus’ outcasts to take them in. It was up to someone else to come and rescue them.

Had this been anyone else, but a bunch of forgotten about Romulans, their government would be there in no time. Cardassians, humans, Vulcans, anyone. But because it was Romulans, well nobody was going to take the chance to trust them, not in a way they would for their own. 

“I’m doing everything I can,” Doctor T’Rala said with a sigh.

”Sure you are, but is your Federation?” B’Var asked as he stood and with a nod to T’Rala went to follow his daughter.

—- Nine Forward, Lounge —-

Chief Counselor Lieutenant Kolem watched as the more logical members of the crew left. Pr’Nor had work in the morning and Tashai did as well. The couple departed leaving Kolem and Lieutenant Commander Dornall on their own.

”Your mother left,” Dornall joked, referencing Kolem’s threat to invite her mother which was an impossibility since she was back in the Sol System.

”My chaperones maybe, not my mother,” Kolem said.

Dornall shrugged, “So if you make a mistake now, there’s no one to catch you.”

”Are you saying you’re a mistake?” Kolem asked.

The Chief Intelligence Officer laughed, “I am what I am. Call me a mistake, or a force of nature. I get what I want.”

”Well I didn’t need to be empathic to tell that much,” Kolem said, “You have the swagger of someone who doesn’t hear the word ‘no’ a lot.”

Raising a glass Dornall smiled, “Confidence. You attack every problem with confidence, and every so often you get that you want.”

”Now you’re a mistake and I’m a problem,” Kolem said, doing fake math on her fingers.

”A mystery waiting to be solved,” Dornall said.

”And once you solve me what happens, you get bored and wander off?” Kolem asked, “Go chase the next problem?”

”I plan to be around for a bit, as much as your Captain might not like me,” Dornall said.

”I wonder why that is, you’ve taken her ship from her,” Kolem said.

”Sure but to do something important, more important than babysitting two hundred year old Romulans,” Dornall said.

Kolem offered him a shrug, “We had to respond to the distress call, we’re Starfleet. You want to run around like Romulans or Klingons, you go join up with them.”

”Nah, this is where you are,” Dornall replied, “I don’t want to be nowhere else.”

”Were I’ll be is in my quarters,“ Kolem said standing, “I’m going to bed.”

”Gunna keep making me wait?” Dornall said.

”Yup, Kolem answered.

”Well it’s time to up my game clearly,” laughed Dornall. He smiled and added, “Good night.”

”Good night,” Kolem nodded.