"So Commander, that's what has happened so far," Captain Freeman said to the image of Commander Yilaan on the Bristol's viewscreen, having just brought her up to speed on the events on board the ship during the time that she had been in charge of the troops on the planet Cheron Five. "Lieutenant Valen is also still in critical condition. In my discussion with Starfleet, they have authorized me to recall key personnel from the Cheron Five landing party, so I'll be swinging around to pick you, and a few others, up in a few hours. We'll beam down a couple of reserves to take charge down there as we will still be leaving the bulk of the defense force there. A Gorn warship could easily get past our sensors with their cloak and the safety of the planet is still our priority. The Gorn ship here is too damaged to think about going anywhere however, so we shouldn't have to worry too much about them suddenly escaping on us."
"Very good sir. I'm starting to get sick of banana milk," she smiled at him.
"Hmmm, I'll bet. Freeman out," the captain retorted.
The Bristol limped over to Cheron Five and beamed aboard a few crew members, replacing them with a couple of officers for surface duty.
"Good to have you back Commander," the captain smiled at Commander Yilaan as she exited the turbolift onto the bridge.
"Thank you sir," she responded.
The intercom then buzzed. "Captain, could you come to sickbay please?" Doctor Giovanni requested.
"Be right there Doctor," he replied, and then said aside to his first officer, "The bridge is yours Commander. Get us back to the crippled Gorn ship."
"Aye Captain," said Commander Yilaan and began to give orders to that effect as the captain headed for sickbay.
"What is it Doctor?" Freeman inquired as he entered sickbay. "Is it about Lieutenant Valen?"
The doctor had an upset look about her which told the captain right away that her news was bad. "Valen is dead, Captain. I'm sorry I did all I could, but the damage was too severe," the doctor said with sadness in her voice.
"I see. I'm sure you did your best Doctor," the captain said quietly after a pause, staring at the lifeless body of Valen, which was mostly covered with cloth, on a nearby table. The captain patted Giovanni gently on the shoulder and moved slowly out of sickbay.
Captain Freeman numbly paced the halls of the ship for what seemed like ages. He walked slowly around from deck after deck, feeling guilt and depression at the lieutenant's sacrifice. Eventually, the captain found his way to the bridge.
"Oh, ah, Captain, I," Commander Yilaan started to report from her position overlooking a console, but the captain ignored her and walked straight into his ready room. She looked at him, a flicker of annoyance flashing on her face, before continuing with what she was doing.
After a few moments the door to the ready room chimed. "Enter," said the captain quietly.
Commander Jevor came in, "Status report sir."
"Go ahead," the captain said quietly again.
"We're still working on repairs, Captain. Should be another few hours at least, but I have partial warp power restored," he finished proudly. Jevor then paused and studied Captain Freeman for a moment. "Are you alright sir?" he asked.
"Valen is dead. He died protecting me," the captain said simply.
"I see. And so you've taken this as some sort of fault of yours I take it?" Jevor accused.
The captain stared directly at his chief engineer while Jevor continued. "It isn't you know. People die all the time; it's not necessarily anyone's fault eh?"
"It was my fault," Freeman replied irritably. "I was the one his Vulcan logic told him to protect, even if that meant sacrificing himself. Don't you see? He had to die, so I could live. If he were here, he'd be telling us all about the good of the many, and the one, and how important the captain is, and all this other garbage that is meaningless now that the man's dead."
Commander Jevor paced briefly, before turning to look out a window. He began slowly, measuring his words carefully, "Now that the man is dead, don't you dare stand there and belittle his beliefs like that! You're right, he had to die in that scenario, but he had to based on his own system of beliefs. We don't have to understand them, but we have to respect them. Now you stand there and selfishly blame yourself, and will no doubt continue to do so. You have some very Human desire to shovel the blame on yourself for this, when in fact you should be castigated for such foolishness." The Andorian Jevor stopped, having finished his monologue at a state of near yelling, and nearly smiting the captain's table with his fists. "Sir," he added after a momentary pause. "Don't you see, Captain?" Jevor continued more calmly, "He had to do what he had to do; we should mourn him, but also respect him. Lesser men discard their beliefs during a crisis; he did what he did instinctively and without question. The only way you'd be at fault would be if you had personally shot the weapon that killed him."
The captain stared at Jevor and then off into space for awhile. "You're right of course," Freeman said finally. "And I've ordered officers into situations that were dangerous and wound up costing lives. This just seemed more personal somehow. I've never had anyone give their life to save mine before." The two officers looked at each other in silence for awhile. "Thank you Commander. You're dismissed," Freeman said at last. Jevor nodded and uttered a quiet "Sir!" before departing the ready room.
Around two hours or so passed and the Bristol found itself back where the Gorn ship lay crippled. During the voyage, the captain ordered the doctor to determine if this apparent plague that the Gorn were suffering from posed any threat to the crew of the Bristol.
An hour after returning to the Gorn ship's location, the Bristol received a message from Starfleet.
"Captain Freeman, an arrangement is in the works to send several cargo ships with what should be enough of the medicine to effectively take care of the health risks to the Gorn, at a price far less than they've been paying," said Admiral Lowery from Starfleet Command once the communication was established and the viewscreen filled with the image of the Vulcan's face.
"Excellent news Admiral. I'll contact the Gorn and see what they have to say. Freeman out," the captain replied.
When Freeman contacted the Gorn, the Gorn commander seemed pleased. "This sounds very fair, as well as very gracious, of your Federation, Captain," the Gorn told Captain Freeman.
"Well, I'm glad that we could clear up this unfortunate incident," replied the captain.
"Captain, in the event that a settlement was found that was acceptable to me, my government sent word that it wished me to give you a token of our renewed friendship and trust," the Gorn said abruptly.
"Oh?" queried the captain, as he and his first officer exchanged looks.
"Yes. It is this," the Gorn paused as he hoisted up a large bulky object, which appeared to be the skeletal head of a moose-like animal. "To my people, these symbolize friendship; the tie amongst all beings that all that lives must have an end, and all ends must have a beginning again. This will symbolize the new friendship and cooperation forged today between you and I," said the Gorn, clearly uncomfortable with his flowery prose.
"Well thank you very much sir!" Captain Freeman replied. "On behalf of the Federation, I share your sentiments, and eagerly embrace a new era of peaceful relations. If you'd like, this exchange could take place on board the Bristol."
"Thank you for your offer Captain; ceremony requires a neutral site however. Perhaps somewhere like these coordinates," the Gorn punched a few numbers and relayed some information to the Bristol, "on Cheron Five. Ceremony requires the attendance of the leaders, you and I, without attendants."
The captain hesitated. "Very well," he said slowly, "shall we make our way there?"
"Excellent," the Gorn seemed pleased, and then ceased transmission.
"Captain, I sensed a great deal of deception from him," said Commander Yilaan.
"Mmm. So did I, Yilaan, even without the benefit of your empathic abilities. It's disturbing that they've made enough repairs to be able to move again; our sensors thought they were crippled. I think we may be headed for a trap. Inform the landing party on Cheron Five of our activities, Commander, and get us to where we're supposed to be. I'll be in my ready room," said the captain.
"Aye sir," she replied and set about to carry out the captain's orders.
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