The Sorrows of Night - Part Four

Posted on Tue Aug 31st, 2021 @ 4:00am by Commander Galiaan Fordring & Lieutenant Commander Elizabeth Yamaguchi-Solusar

Mission: Mission 111: The Sorrows of Night
Location: Various Locations - Starbase Vanguard
Timeline: 0905Hrs - October 24th, 2393

"You worked so hard to get here..." Fordring regarded the smaller woman before her.

"I know... But what did it get me Galiaan?" Yamaguchi-Solusar asked softly. "I'm a parent. I'm pregnant with child two, except this Is my third pregnancy and I'm doing the work of three people..." the pregnant female explained.

"I ask myself that same question often..." Fordring paused. "in my nightmares, I can see them... in my mind, I can hear them and... in my soul, I can feel them... The war left its scars on all of us... We slaughtered our way to victory... and then... They came..." she paused. "I still remember my first time seeing the USS Excelsior... She was... Such a sight to behold..." Fordring paused. "When I first saw her, I fell in love with the design, the sleekness, the curves. It was like admiring another woman that you were about to have sex with... and a religious experience merged into one... I wanted to know what the Federation wanted... They wished for peaceful relations... they proved this with a consignment of foodstuffs and medical supplies... We weren't asking for such generosity... They gave without thought of reward... My government saw this and decided they wanted to get to know the Federation... When the Excelsior departed Vrykul space, myself and some sixty others went with them. I wanted..." Fordring paused a moment. "At the time... I said I wanted to know about the Federation... But that wasn't the whole truth... I was running from my crimes... The blood of billions."

"It was war Galiaan... Both sides are equally guilty of horrors and atrocities... You owe nobody a penance..." Yamaguchi-Solusar answered as she regarded the older, larger female before her. "You hide these demons well Galiaan..." she paused. "I didn't know of any of this..." Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I know... How do I tell people that I helped to murder an entire planet?" Fordring's voice broke as she regarded her friend, she had never expected to speak of this matter, not today and not ever, even her children didn't know of what plagued her. "We wanted revenge... and we got it... The remnants of the Vaxhal government surrendered unconditionally... I went to my government quietly.... and I said we need to restore all of the glassed worlds... Not just our own... and my government listened to me... When I said we needed to restore the Vauxhal homeworld... We did our best... and it was intended to be a surprise, it calmed the hatred... The Vauxhal saw we were serious about peace... But we had the Federation helping us... Captain Craig Lasky and the USS Excelsior were assisting us... That ship... Its name is an honored one among my people... Same with her Captain..." she paused. "I wondered if he was a relation to Tom Lasky."

"He is... Craig is Tom's uncle." Yamaguchi-Solusar gently smiled. "Tom mentioned that his uncle was involved in a major terraforming assignment with the Excelsior but he didn't share a lot of details with me..."

"Is he?" Fordring answered as she gently smiled. "Good... Yes... Very good... Besides victory and honour do not grow from timid seeds, Elizabeth. Captain Lasky's harvest would have been grand, had he lived to see it... When you see Tom again... tell him I send my regards."

"I will indeed... He's babysitting for Kam and me tonight. I think he enjoys spending more time with me than his spouse."

"Your relationship with Tom Lasky has always been complicated," Fordring answered. "To be honest, I'm surprised he's not seeing you on the side..."

Yamaguchi-Solusar raised an eyebrow. "I get laid enough by my husband... I know Kam still has issues with Tom Lasky over what happened..." she paused. "I do know that Tom does have a special place in his heart for me, I know this and I know why too..." she paused. "Rachael feels jealous over it."

"She shouldn't... She has her own husband." Fordring answered with a gentle smile. "She also has a lot more children than I do... I know Ennis greatly benefits from having his spouse close. I got a letter from him not long ago when he and Rachael were reunited, he was happy.. but he did not like the surprise. I can only imagine how I'd feel or how Kam would feel if it were us..."

Fordring regarded the other woman. "Or if it was one of the other ladies in your family," she added.

"Yeah..." Yamaguchi-Solusar answered quietly. "Craig Lasky died at the hands of the Borg..."

"He died well. Saving others from ruin... and damnation at the hands of a plague." Fordring answered. "I wonder how Tom would feel if he knew that my people honoured Craig Lasky with a statue in our plaza of heroes... Along with a second on a small island in the centre of the bay of our capital city... A two hundred tall colossus of a human man in uniform with a book in one hand and a loaf of bread in the other."

"I don't know..." Yamaguchi-Solusar admitted. "I'll ask him..."