𝙻𝚒𝚎𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚃𝚘'𝚁𝚊 𝚝'𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚔𝚑

A black and white potrait of Bertrand Russell

“First they fascinate the fools then they muzzle the intelligent.”

― Bertrand Russell

"No, I am clarifying that Beldas and Zorvaan are not to be dismissed as simple targets."

𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑎 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘, 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑑

"If I believed you had a chance of killing Zorvaan or Beldas you would be dead."

"They think themselves the saviors of the galaxy...a questionable idea at best."

// It's the 50 year anniversary, she was the last great wreck in the Great Lakes.

Her last transmission was to the 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘳 𝘔. 𝘈𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯

"We're holding our own."

😭😭

I see.

Are you not concerned a relationship may be premature given the transient nature of a cadet's posting?

One of the Zarthans, then

𝐻𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑤 𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑠𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑙𝑦

Oh? Another cadet?

Greetings, Cadet.

Are you finding your time on the station acceptable?

"Humans enjoy it, but they are themselves quite loud."

"It is not typical Vulcan food, either, though I do find the texture interesting. It is...loud."

"Yes, you may have some. It is unusual, I had never had it before joining Starfleet."

"That remains to be determined. However, Veren is on the lower level of the Promenade, by the Bajoran restaurant. You may find him there."

𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚.

"Incorrect, you do not care for Veren just as I do. You take pleasure inflicting harm upon him...as well as others...I understand you have been attempting to improve some of these behavioral anomalies but the fact is you are a threat to my husband."

"They are fortunate to have you as their uncle. I've heard your gardens are thriving on many worlds, and that your temple on Barradas is now a protected site."

"Wall climbing...are you certain he damaged the artifact or are you merely assuming?"

𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑑𝑑, 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛'𝑠 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛...𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐵𝑒𝑙𝑑𝑎𝑠.

𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝐵𝑒𝑙𝑑𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐵𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑙

"What has he done to incur punishment?"

𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑, 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 𝐵𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑙 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡

"Is that so? How may I be of service?"

𝑀𝑢𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑛

"I sometimes fear he rubs off more on me than I ever have on him, but I would not wish him to be any other way. Tōrik takes after him, far more than Tō'Ren. We are proud, they are worth all we went through for them."

"Our Sun is a second- or third-generation star. All of the rocky and metallic material we stand on, the iron in our blood, the calcium in our teeth, the carbon in our genes were produced billions of years ago in the interior of a red giant star. We are made of star-stuff."

-Carl Sagan

"I have met them both a couple of times, they are Veren's family after all. I have told Sokel no balls of light in the bedroom; he and Veren's children are welcome wherever we reside, I'm glad they and my children get along. Tō'Ren and Tōrik look up to them all, they are proud of their siblings."

"Oh yes, between Veren and the children I hear a lot of it. Many of my young officers enjoy it, also. They are always a bit overwhelmed when he is onboard."

"We do our best, we wish for them to be worthy of being Romulan. I am honored you think so of us." 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑, ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑤 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑.

"The Republic is far different from the Empire, but we still hold tradition dearly. Veren says we make new traditions, too."

"They will enjoy it, they always enjoy spending time with you. As much as they are loved here, and among family, I know you're their favorite, e'lev. I am sure they'll behave, they are to the point where they realize their status and want to be adults, and won't want to risk offending you."

"Thank you, Uncle Mestral!!"

𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑏𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑, 𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑎𝑟, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑟𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦. 𝑇𝑜'𝑅𝑎 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑔𝑜.

"My infinitely precious ones...I hate to leave them, they miss Veren and I when we're away. They don't see Mother or Father often, either. They would love to visit you."

"I won't expect special treatment," 𝑇ō'𝑅𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑙𝑦, "I want to be a riov and know Father is a good teacher."

"May we stay with Uncle and the Senator?" 𝑇ō𝑟𝑖𝑘 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟, ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑒.

"Mestral will put you both to work weeding." 𝑇𝑜'𝑅𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑, 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 𝑀𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦.

-goes back out on her ship can we go stay with you and the Senator? We'll behave, and can take classes on N'Viell." 𝑇ō𝑟𝑖𝑘 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑑, ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑀𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑙 (𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝐿𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡).

"When I join the Republic Navy I will serve on Father's ship." 𝑇ō'𝑅𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑚𝑙𝑦, 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝑇𝑜'𝑅𝑎 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑, 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑤 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑓 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐.

"Uncle, when Mother-

Appreciation for our favorite science communicator, Carl Sagan.

"For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love."

Happy 91st Birthday to Carl Sagan – a true pioneer of science who ignited our cosmic curiosity. ❤️