A/N: Ambassador Shran is a direct descendant of General Thy'lek Shran (from Star Trek:Enterprise), one of the founders of the Federation and frenemy of Johnathon Archer. Matt is Betazed and telepathic, that is, he is able to transmit and read active thoughts. In some cases, a long-term non-Betazed partner can learn to read their Betazed lover's thoughts when in close proximity. There appears to be some debate in cannon about Pike's birthdate and therefore age. For the purposes of this story, Georgiou is not a contemporary of Pike but rather a few years older.
Present – Day 1
Enterprise
After Pike reaffirmed no Federation personnel would violate the terms of the cease-fire despite the unforeseen circumstances, he was called to Engineering. Matt and Isak left the ready room together, engaged in a fierce debate heard only in their heads. Spock and Una returned to the bridge, leaving Phil and Georgiou alone.
Georgiou turned to the man who had grown dearer to her over the years, reached for and held his hand. Her expression was serious. "I'm glad we have a few moments alone. I wanted to say this in person. You were right. Thank you."
He clasped her other hand and gave both a light squeeze. "I always delight in hearing I am right and believe me, it's a rare occurrence on this ship."
Her lips quirked in amusement.
"Are you going to explain?" Phil paused. "It's OK if you don't want to."
"During the month we spent together on Risa before I joined the Archimedes you kindly made clear you cared for me and hoped we would be good friends." She blushed slightly before continuing, "and that intimate benefits would always be on offer. You explained you had lost your beloved wife after a few years of marriage. And you were not looking for nor expecting to find another relationship like the one you shared with her. Then I felt sad for you and the lonely existence I imagined you lived. I was wrong and now ..." Georgiou's voice faltered. Her eyes were sad. "I feel the same way."
Still holding her hands, Phil rubbed his thumbs over her knuckles. "Pippa, I am truly sorry you can understand."
"After Graham's memorial service you promised I would once again, with time, remember and feel his touch. That his love for me would remain tangible. That thinking of him would bring joy rather than sadness. That I would continue to laugh at his bad jokes. That those rewards were waiting once I walked through my grief and reached the other side. It's been almost two years and I am there. Thank you for making the promise. And for repeating it over and over during the endless nights."
Phil's eyes were filled with affection and his tone of voice was warm. "You're welcome." He brushed a stray lock of hair off her forehead.
"I may not make the same choice as you, keeping all my future relationships casual. But like you I received the gift of a cherished love for a brief time, and because I did, I will never be lonely."
They sat in the companionable silence of old friends until the intercom interrupted calling the CMO to Sickbay. Before leaving Phil suggested, "We have a bit of free time at the moment …"
"Doctor, you have permission to board the Shenzhou tonight at 20:00 for dinner and, if you play your cards right, other recreational activities," Georgiou ordered with a slight grin. "Literally play your cards right that is."
"Hmmm, intriguing offer, Captain. Yes, I accept your invitation."
"Yes what?" Georgiou inquired in firm tone. Her grin had turned impish.
Calling back as he left, Phil deadpanned, "Yes, I hope you have improved your poker face, sir. Otherwise you will be naked first and I will get to pick our first interesting activity."
Half an hour later Pike returned to the ready room. "I apologize for the delay Philippa." He gestured to the sitting area. "How is your crew holding up after this deployment?"
"Good, but tired. They were stretched too thin these past two months. Your crew bore the brunt of being on the front lines. How are they?"
"It took a toll. This latest situation included. As word has spread about the situation, everyone is willing those children to reach safety," Pike replied. "I assume you have questions for me?"
"Only if you want to answer them. Even at the Academy your loves and conquests were a mystery." She smiled fondly and it reached her eyes. "At least to most. Your discretion has become more infamous since then."
That elicited a quick laugh, as she had hoped. "Conquests?" Pike asked as the corner of his mouth tugged upward. "There is little truth to those rumors, then and now."
"Given a black hole, folks will fill in the blanks as they choose. Several of the earliest … and latest installments are quite entertaining."
Georgiou filled the resulting silence as she often did, telling a story from her own life. "I was fortunate you know, during my first posting as Captain. Alex was twenty years older, a scientist. Well-grounded and undemanding. Discrete. It wasn't a grand passion, but it was one of my three most important relationships. With him I learned how to balance the soldier, the Captain, and the lover. Without that experience I would not have acted on my attraction to my Security Chief. And if you believe in soulmates, Graham was one of mine."
"Philippa, you never say anything without purpose. I assume your next line is 'Our oaths are sacred, and if you had to make a choice between a loved one and your ship or crew, you would make the right choice."
"I do believe that."
"The right choice is not always clear-cut. What about the commander that imperils a loved one rather than risking ship and crew to save them? In a situation where he would otherwise hazard everything for another member of his crew?" Pike countered.
"Those situations are possible, but that's not you, it's not within your nature."
Pike huffed out a chuckle not in amusement but rather at what he considered an absurdity. He punched out the first two words. "No one can know with certainty what decisions they will make until they are in the moment." He was immediately sorry for his heated and cruel remark, but there was no way to retract it.
Yet Georgiou could always read him. "It's OK. And that is true. I am at peace with my decision. Yes, I left Graham in danger rather than dispatch another away team. It was the correct action in that situation and the one he wanted. But his death was not my fault; another being pulled the trigger; it made the true choice that ended Graham's life."
Pike leaned forward and said bluntly, "Would it surprise you to learn I spent time last night mapping out a plan to locate and rescue Aalin and those children? Regardless of the cost. Including how I would use the might of Enterprise to cower the Aschaski into submission when they retaliated."
Georgiou returned his gaze with a level, direct one of her own. "Would it surprise you to learn I and the Shenzhou would have joined you?"
His shoulders relaxed. "This isn't just any crew member …," before Georgiou could interrupt and join the chorus pointing out the obvious Pike shook his finger in her direction and added, "and that is not what I meant. She has a talent for languages but none of the training we take for granted. I only agreed to Aalin joining the group deployed near the front because she was surrounded by seasoned veterans like Matt who has spent most of his career in conflict zones and Spock who is meticulously careful with all under his command. For heaven's sake, she can't hit the side of a barn with a phaser blast."
"Perhaps not, but then phaser skills are of little use in this particular situation. Nor are hand-to-hand combat skills or," she emphasized the next word, her smile beaming, "astrophysics. Courage, common sense, and tenacity are more important. Anyone who volunteers to work in the refugee camps or opts to join an organization she didn't spend her entire late teen and adult years preparing for must have those qualities in abundance." Pike raised an eyebrow. Georgiou shrugged, "I did a little research."
She stood and held out her hand. "Christopher, I have no way to soften the difficulty of the next week and a half for you. But I am, as I have been since assigned as your orientation mentor at the Academy, here if you need me."
Pike rose, clasped her hand, and kissed her cheek before escorting his fellow Captain to the transporter room.
Noohra
After rounding up the fourth straggler of the afternoon, Aalin decided it was time for a brief rest and a snack. Only with this many small children, the oldest was twelve, no activity was quick nor went as planned. Over an hour had passed by the time the last child had finished their ration. Sitting nearby where all of them were within her view, Aalin pulled out a water pouch for herself.
The symbol on the front of the soft bottle caught her eye.
Dread settled like a rock in the pit of her stomach and anxiety curled upwards.
She took a long, close look at that logo. A circle with a blue background sprinkled with hundreds of tiny white dots representing member planets. Three were emphasized – Earth, Vulcan, and Andoria, the founding members of the alliance – represented by slightly larger and brighter diamonds. Olive branches curved around both sides of the star map. It was the seal of the Federation.
Our first mistake, Aalin thought as her heart raced, all of our supplies are marked with this emblem.
Should we keep the supplies or leave them behind? Maybe bury them?
Being tagged as Federation personnel means certain death. A quick death if I am fortunate.
On the other hand, none of us can complete the ten-day trek without a reliable source of water and the children cannot walk that far without regular meals.
She tried to push away her fear and think through the problem. Approach it objectively, logically, she reminded herself.
How can I be objective or logical when all the options are bad? And dangerous?
Aalin focused on the children, watching while they played and laughed, chasing butterflies and each other as if on a picnic. During the day, when distractions were plentiful, they mostly acted carefree as kids should, comfortable in their environment and secure in the safety provided by the surrounding adults. The nights were different, even in the warm, dry, loving atmosphere of the orphanage. In the darkness the loss of their parents, siblings, and homes settled around them like a dense fog leaving them feeling isolated and frightened. They've lost so much and if I make the wrong choice, they will suffer more.
And perhaps not survive. What should I do? How do I pick the right, the best alternative with so little information and so much at stake? None of my past experiences have prepared me for this moment.
Tears pooled in Aalin's eyes as she silently debated with herself and found no answers.
What would Chris … I mean the Captain do?
He faces choices as hard and harder than this almost every day. That thought made her pause. And her estimation and appreciation of the man grew.
Enterprise
Matt walked into the security office without preamble, his statement in progress as he crossed the door's threshold. "… we missed it. All the supplies have a …" Isak shushed him and shook his head. Matt drifted to the back of the room, leaned against the wall in the corner and stared at the terrain map displayed on one of the large mounted viewscreens.
A senior guard, the one who had accompanied the medical team to the orphanage yesterday was explaining to the Security Chief and his Captain, "… this is the route Lieutenant Matthews and the children are following." He pointed out ten markers, "these are the distances they need to cover each day in order to make it to the capital city before fighting resumes and to reach the rendezvous point in time for the refugee transports."
"Where was the battle front at the time of the cease fire?" Pike asked careful to keep his expression and tone of voice neutral.
The guard drew a line between the mountain chains. "They will be behind enemy lines at least two more days."
"Choke points?" Isak asked in his matter of fact, mission-focused tone of voice.
"If they are able to keep to the schedule, midday tomorrow they will leave the foothills of the first mountain range and enter a wide plateau with few trees and little natural cover." The guard turned to face Pike. "Are reconnaissance flights allowed under the terms of the cease fire?"
Pike labored to remain impassive as he confirmed, "Yes."
The guard shook his head and said in a tight, strained voice, "I didn't realize how exposed this part of the route was. There was so little time … no time to scout for a better way through. If something happens to them, I'm responsible."
"John, you prepared her as well as any of us could have under the circumstances." Isak assured his subordinate.
"I agree." Pike added. "Get some rest, you've been working without a break since yesterday morning. And please send this map to me."
Isak nodded at John his permission to leave. When only the three of them remained, Isak said in a quiet tone, "Just because they are allowed to patrol the area doesn't mean the Aschaski will."
Pike snorted and shot a disbelieving look at his second in command.
"Yeah, I concur," Isak replied in tired resignation.
The Captain nailed Matt with a piercing stare. "You mentioned a mistake?"
Matt hesitated, having expected to talk this through with his husband rather than his commander. No way back now, he thought before answering, "We gave each child a pack of supplies, water and MREs. All the supplies are stamped with a Federation seal, and, well, I didn't consider the ramifications. Hell, I didn't even notice the markings. If they are discovered … with the supplies …"
"You're concerned it will betray her identity?" Isak prompted.
"I am concerned the bastards will use it as an excuse to act without asking questions." Matt replied in a furious tone and shaking slightly due to his anger. "The Aschaski brutalized the inhabitants of the mountain villages. Having the Federation violate the cease-fire would be like a proverbial Christmas morning for them and provide the justification they lust after to wipe out the remaining settlements."
Both Isak and Matt noticed Pike was staring at a fixed point just over Isak's shoulder. When Matt started to speak again, Isak direct this thought to him, Wait.
But …, Matt thought back.
Isak added, In the split second it takes you to offer more information, our Captain will have walked through each possibility to its logical end.
"The Aschaski are thugs, but they are clever thugs." Pike said a few moments later. "Federation supplies were handed out freely, in large numbers, across the entire planet. It's reasonable anyone fleeing the area would gather as much as they could carry for their journey. Finding a group carrying those supplies may rouse their suspicions, but it's not enough evidence to break the cease-fire nor harm anyone when armed heavy cruisers are a few moments away. The Aschaski may be looking for ways to reengage the fighting early, but they won't risk a rash action which could end the Federation's neutrality and bring us into the conflict on the side of the Noohrans. As long as the Lieutenant keeps the supplies, they should be fine."
"And if she doesn't?" Matt asked.
"Ditching them a few at a time along their path would be the same as leaving a trail of breadcrumbs." Isak pointed out.
Pike added, "And disposing of all the supplies together would look suspect, as if she were trying to hide something."
Matt didn't intend to vocalize his thought, but it slipped out. "If only we could get word to her, let her know the best choice. She has no one to talk these things through with," His voice was rueful, his guilt at leaving a colleague behind resurfacing.
"If only," Pike muttered to himself before asking, "Matt, was she scared?"
"Yes."