Exercise in Humility

[Cmdr JFarrington 0]

Exercise in Humility

Kree of Qin-a

 

As Kree led the Travelers down the precarious pathway to the Qin laboratory, he reflected on the meeting that had ended only minutes ago. For Kree the meeting had been profoundly humbling. Many things that he had come to believe concerning the Travelers’ culture and technology had been challenged and he had been forced to rethink his strategy.

 

All accounts had painted the Travelers as physically, intellectually, and technologically inferior. Perhaps Kai, their Prime Sentry and chief source of intelligence, had overlaid her own prejudices on her reports. Such was the nature of sentries; they were a cautious, calculating breed, traits necessary to their station. His own experience had found them anything but inferior, especially with the one called Ri’i ta’a and the one called So’o va’ak. True, there were those among them who seemed excessively belligerent, but they remained at the surface and would not be given access to the secrets of Qin technology.

 

As he guided these often awkward and intensely curious beings toward the Seat of Mt Atu, Kree found he had to constantly reminded himself that different did not necessarily mean inferior. He had never seen another sentient species, for the Qin were the only sentients who resided in this system, and it had been so for generations. Yet the Travelers exhibited cooperation among diverse species. Their small vessel housed several. So’o va’ak had named them Human, Bolian, Cardassian, Vulcan, Klingon, and Trill. Intriguing names they were, with interesting thoughts, physiques, and cultures.

 

Contact with these new species reinforced Kree’s belief that Qin isolationism, though it may have kept their people safe for a time, had certainly been detrimental to their understanding of beings beyond their own. One cannot remain ignorant and expect to defend oneself against adversaries, no matter how inferior they seem.

 

It was to the Vulcan called So’o va’ak, that Kree was drawn. He seemed to be more mature intellectually and more understanding of the Qin’s point of view, even if he differed in opinion. Theirs had been a brief, but healthy and stimulating exchange of ideas. Kree had enjoyed it immensely and hoped that their time here would allow more exchange of ideas. For the present, however, their thoughts were occupied with concerns for the one called Coma’an d’r, along with their desire to return home.

 

The Travelers whom Kree led were a vocal group, though So’o va’ak seemed to keep his thoughts to himself as he followed Kree deep into the mountain. From the scientists called Es’s e’er and Sy’n dr’x came a constant stream of analyses – strata, formations, plant life, liquids, atmospheric temperature and pressure, and the constant quest for energy sources. The one called Ri’i ta’a, whom Kree had encountered before when his mate, Vai, had taken her for healing, seemed attentive but quiet. She followed So’o va’ak and seemed to be deeply troubled, perhaps for the one called Coma’an d’r. The one called Ga’ar no’opy puzzled Kree, however. He seemed to differ from the other Humans; he was more forthright and more aggressive.

 

After some time – thirty minutes according to their sentry called Mi’k fl’ai – the path narrowed into a marble stairway that wound its way down the side of the cavern towards the waterfall and past the crystal pool. One slip would send them plummeting hundreds of meters into the frigid pristine waters. Though they seemed to heed Kree’s constant warnings to step carefully, Kree had often sensed someone too near the edge and felt the need to warn them again. It would be a tragedy if their curiosity became their undoing.

 

As they descended, speculation as to the source of the lighting flew from one scientist to the other. Kree explained that the lighting, as well as what they called the dampening field, was a natural property of the mountain and could not be manipulated by any mortals, no matter how much the Ga’ar no’opy insisted it could. It seemed simple to Kree, but did not seem so to the Travelers. Or perhaps they did not believe him. Trust was indeed a two-edged sword.

 

During their meeting Kree had explained the celestial dance, how the twin stars Ama’a and Mi’i, benefactors of the Qin, stretched their arms to the firmament every thousand years. The Travelers had interrupted the dance, though Kree and his chief scientists Mea, Ne’e, and Thora, had not been able to determine how. Soon Kree would lead their scientists into his laboratory, the first non-Qin to enter the hallowed space. He hoped that through collaboration with the Qin the Travelers would find the answers they needed. Kree also hoped that a new understanding would develop among the Qin, one that would embrace new ideas from benevolent species, one that would reach beyond their own realm in the name of peace and understanding.