Attend, attend, all foe or friend
a tale for you at journey's end…
2238
Philippa Georgiou had been captain of the ISS Shenzhou for a few years when the Klingon incursions began. Conflict between the Terran and Klingon empires was normal, and had reoccurred periodically ever since the two empires made first contact, but the Klingons were unusually coordinated this time. Information out of Terra was scarce, but as a member of a squadron assigned to patrol the Klingon border, she could tell the war was not going as well as the Admiralty made it seem.
Georgiou knew her crew enough to know when they were getting restless, though she couldn't blame them: patrol duty was boring. There was no glory or prizes to be won in interminable skirmishes and retreats, or in squabbling repeatedly over the same few light-years of space. Extra time in the agonizer booths settled down the more vocal crew members before it got so far as mutiny, but that wouldn't last forever. Something had to change.
Unlike the other captains in her squadron, Georgiou had been an engineer before she claimed the captaincy of the Shenzhou, and she still retained an engineer's creativity. Let those brutes from the so-called command track continue to follow orders like sheep; Georgiou chose to make her own way.
The Shenzhou shifted her battle tactics to prioritize capturing vessels and their passengers. Under Georgiou's personal attention, careful questioning of Klingon prisoners, appropriately cross-referenced, produced actionable intelligence about the geography of their homeworld. Although this shift towards capturing ships rather than destroying them lowered the all-important kills ratio used for calculating prizes, Georgiou's hold over her crew was strong enough that they obeyed without significant complaint.
Likewise, when she ordered them to set course for Qo'noS under stealth, disregarding their stated missino orders, they obeyed. Georgiou personally led the team of her most competent officers that infiltrated the planet and deployed hydro bombs in its volcanic core. The rest of the squadron followed the apparently deserting Shenzhou to Qo'noS, arriving in time to help thin out the Klingon ships desperately fleeing their ruined homeworld.
More Klingons escaped than Georgiou would have liked, and inevitably they would regroup, but this was still a monumental achievement. Qo'noS had been rendered utterly uninhabitable, its continents broken and its atmosphere filled with dust. The Klingons would spend the next ten years, at a minimum, scrabbling to reestablish themselves from their colonies. Georgiou had single-handedly broken the power of the Klingon empire.
Officially, mutiny was a capital crime in the Terran Starfleet: the chain of command was sacrosanct, and orders were passed down from the all-knowing Emperor in her infinite wisdom, et cetera. In practice, the Empire cared only for results, and disobedience could be disregarded or passed off as "initiative" if the political winds changed.
Georgiou had performed a massive service to the Empire, but she had acted outside of her orders. The abrupt ending of the Klingon campaign had also overturned the web of patronage arrangements governing this part of space — if nothing else, war was profitable. In unilaterally moving against the Klingons, Georgiou had made her name, but she had also made enemies. Initiative was only desirable in certain quantities, after all; too much, and captains with pretensions above their station would soon find themselves removed from those stations entirely. So there she was, reassigned from the cleanup effort and shoved on a publicity tour while the Admiralty decided what to do with her and if she would ever be permitted to return to active duty.
The orphanage on Doctari Alpha was essentially the same as all the other orphanages Georgiou had visited in the sector, hastily built for the young survivors of Klingon raids. The children were all miserable, the staff apathetic, and the administrators clearly corrupt. Georgiou was ostensibly there to extol the power of the Empire and awaken patriotic fervor in its subjects, but she could tell just from the outside of this trash heap that her efforts would be wasted.
As was typical for these dog-and-pony-shows, the residents of this orphanage had already been rounded up and hastily scrubbed down before Georgiou and her minder arrived, and they were all assembled in the courtyard waiting.
"You're Starfleet, aren't you?" someone shouted, before her Admiralty-assigned minder could launch into the usual speech. To Georgiou's surprise, the speaker was one of the orphanage's children, scrawny-looking and scowling from where she at in the corner.
The orphanage caretaker present bobbed a nervous bow. "I'm sorry, sirs… we've been having trouble with this one —" he aimed a kick at the offender — "since she got here. Please proceed. Maybe she'll finally learn something from it."
Georgiou waved him off. This was the most entertaining thing that had happened since she'd been assigned on this publicity tour. "I am indeed a member of Starfleet," she said indulgently. "Do go on, child."
The girl squared her shoulders. "They told us you defeated the Klingons."
"Have some respect!" shouted the caretaker, but he was ignored.
"The Klingons killed my parents. Why didn't you kill the Klingons sooner?" asked the girl accusingly. "Then they would still be alive and I wouldn't be stuck here in this dump."
The caretaker moved to strike the girl, who shrugged the blow off.
Georgiou said, "You're right. It took time to gather the information needed, but I wish I had gotten to the Klingon homeworld sooner. Every human life lost to those savages is unacceptable."
The Admiralty's minder was glaring at her pointedly. Georgiou mentally rolled her eyes but took the point to begin her prewritten speech.
Despite representing the best efforts of the Empire's propaganda department, the speech failed to make any observable impact on the orphanage's whelps. Most of them looked as disinterested as they had been when she arrived, and the one who had shouted at Georgiou earlier still looked bitterly resentful. Grief had broken the other children, but this girl had taken that grief and turned it into anger, a much more useful emotion. Georgiou had met commissioned Starfleet officers with less self-awareness.
The minder was trying to get her to leave, but she paused and then walked over to the girl. The other orphans scattered before her.
"What's your name, child?"
The girl met Georgiou's eyes defiantly. "Michael Burnham."
"And how old are you?"
"Twelve," spat Burnham, utterly uncowed.
When Georgiou was twelve, she had been on Earth preparing to enter Starfleet Academy. Out on the frontier, there wouldn't be much of a future for these brats unless they had relatives willing to fetch them home. Otherwise, most of the brats would probably end up as unskilled laborers only a few steps up from slaves. The further away from Earth, the thinner the Empire's pretensions of being a meritocracy.
What a waste it would be to leave Burnham here to such a life.
"Do you want to join Starfleet?" said Georgiou impulsively.
Burnham, the orphanage caretaker, and Admiralty's minder all stared at her.
Undeterred, Georgiou continued, "If you want revenge for your parents, then come with me. What's there for you to lose?"
The orphanage's caretaker looked indifferent at the thought of losing one of his charges; the Admiralty's minder looked scandalized. As before, Burnham and Georgiou ignored them.
Burnham stared at Georgiou, her eyes huge in her scrawny face.
"Do you really want to stay here and scrabble in the dirt for the rest of your life? I can give you the stars, child."
Georgiou extended a hand.
Hesitantly, Burnham reached out and took it.
It wasn't unheard of for successful captains to be called back to Terra for an audience with the Emperor, as a reminder of where the real power in the Empire was and who pulled their strings. Georgiou took her summons as a sign that she had been forgiven for her actions on Qo'noS: why would her superiors bother to summon her to Terra for anything else?
The trip back to Terra was quiet. Her crew had finally accepted Michael's presence onboard the Shenzhou, reinforced by a few deliberately drawn-out executions. Even her first officer had come around from his initial disbelief. He was too disciplined to say anything to her face, but Georgiou knew Lorca.
When she first took in Michael, her intention had been to enroll her in the schools that would prepare her for the Academy once Michael was ready, but the process was taking longer than she'd expected. Michael had night terrors — entirely understandable, considering the trauma of hearing her parents brutally murdered by the Klingons — but such perceived weakness would be fatal among Michael's peers. So for now, Michael stayed onboard the Shenzhou, which meant she was going back to Earth with them. Georgiou helped the change of scenery might help.
When they arrived at Earth, they were all summoned to the Imperial palace complex with her, where they were left to wait with the crews of other ships involved in the Klingon campaigns. Georgiou made mental notes of who made snide comments about Michael — it would be beneath her dignity to resort to violence here, but revenge had no deadline.
Standard protocol for these audiences dictated that the Emperor would summon them into her presence and address them all at once. The majordomo summoning Georgiou individually and by name was a distinct departure from the usual proceedings. Even given her unique role in conceiving of the plan that destroyed Qo'noS, individual audiences typically did not happen until flag rank, and promotions were typically granted in public, with witnesses.
But the Emperor's will was not to be defied; Georgiou had no choice but to leave Michael with Lorca and the rest of her crew. She could feel unfriendly eyes staring at her as she left the antechamber behind, an uncomfortable reminder that she was alone and in unfamiliar territory.
The Emperor stood waiting in the Imperial throne room. Georgiou went through the procedures that the protocol officers had drilled relentlessly — handing over her agonizer, saluting, and then reciting the usual phrases about the glory of the Empire.
Her Imperial Majesty Emperor Hoshi Sato II Augustus Iaponius Centaurius, Overlord of Vulcan, Regina Andor, watched the formalities with cold eyes. "At ease," she said finally. "Captain Georgiou. We are pleased you have come to Terra."
"The Shenzhou made full speed as soon as we received the order," said Georgiou.
"And are you always so quick to obey orders?"
Georgiou forced herself to smile. "I would hardly dare question direct orders from the Emperor."
"In any case, we can hardly question your results on Qo'noS," Sato said. "We thank you for your service."
"It was my duty and my honor," said Georgiou, wondering why she had received the dubious honor of an individual audience. Surely this sort of thing would have had more effect with an audience?
Sato said smoothly, "As is to be expected from such a fine officer. Would that all our captains had such ingenuity. May your service continue."
At least this didn't sound like an Imperial reprimand…? Georgiou breathed a little easier.
"I've also heard that you've taken in a ward," said Sato, shifting into a more casual register.
"Yes, Your Majesty. She was a foundling in one of the orphanages on Alpha Doctari."
"And you don't think she'll distract you from your duties to the Empire?" said Sato.
Where was this going…? Sato's tone was too neutral to draw any conclusions.
"I understand your concern, Your Majesty," said Georgiou carefully. "But on the contrary, I find her presence a constant reminder of my duty. Her parents were killed by the Klingons. If I had moved against Qo'noS sooner, they might still be alive."
Sato stared at her. "So the rumors are true. You've grown soft."
Georgiou recoiled at her disgusted tone.
"Children are never a good idea," the Emperor continued. "They will only betray you."
"As is only proper," said Georgiou blandly. Sato II had, of course, had overthrown her predecessor and genetic forbear, Hoshi Sato I. If the rumors were true, Sato I had been smothered in her sleep.
"You've succumbed to sentiment," Sato continued, shaking her head. "This is worse than what the psych profiles projected. I'd thought that having you send her away would be sufficient, but that's clearly not the case. I order you to kill Michael Burnham."
"What?!"
"She's weak. She's not worthy of you, or the Empire. She will only weigh you down."
Georgiou opened her mouth and then closed it, just as quickly. Only a fool would argue to the Emperor's face.
"You don't believe me," said Sato, almost kindly. "That's only to be expected. Only I know all."
As the Emperor turned to order her guards to bring Michael Burnham, Georgiou tried to make sense of the Emperor's motives. Was this mere cruelty for cruelty's sake, or a demonstration of Imperial power, or a much-delayed punishment for her initiative on Qo'noS?
And then the guards were gone, and Sato and Georgiou were alone in the throne room. "Listen to me," said Sato. "You know of the Defiant, do you not?"
"Of course, Majesty," said Georgiou. Any child in the Empire knew of the ship — a top-secret advanced weapons project — that Sato I had used to secure her throne.
"The Defiant is the symbol of the triumph of the Empire and our dominance not only in scientific and military might, but also in time. As the ship came to my predecessor from the future to complete the circle, so you must act in accordance to what has been and will be. The Defiant's files were very clear. You must kill Michael Burnham. So it has been, and so it will be."
Georgiou bowed her head in seeming obedience to hide her face and buy herself time to think. She didn't have long before Sato would be expecting a response.
Georgiou could believe that the Defiant really had come to Sato I from the future — stranger things than time travel had happened, and Sato dismissing her guards before mentioning it confirmed its secrecy — but could the rest of her story be believed? Sato II was a clone, bound by her own genetics; no wonder she believed in destiny. Perhaps some other Georgiou had killed her Michael, but this Georgiou mistrusted the idea of blindly following a course set by others. She had seen potential that day on Doctari Alpha, and she knew that she could make something great of Michael Burnham.
Another part of Georgiou's mind was coming to the rapid conclusion — Michael had already been summoned. Even if Georgiou somehow managed to convince Sato to accept a banishment for Michael rather than an execution, Georgiou had her own enemies. Michael would forever be marked if Georgiou cast her off; she would never be safe.
There was only one way that both Georgiou and Michael could make it out of the Imperial palace alive.
Her heartbeat was pounding in her ears. She had very little time before the guards would return with Michael, and by then it would be too late.
"As the Emperor wishes," said Georgiou, and then she came out of her bow and lunged for Sato.
The struggle was quick.
Sato I had been a serving Starfleet officer in her youth, and (according to gossip) maintained a semblance of that fighting strength, but Sato II had been raised in the lap of luxury as the Imperial heir. Unlike Georgiou, who had made her own way up through Starfleet, she had never known what it was to truly fight for her own survival. She tried using Georgiou's agonizer against her, but Georgiou was used to fighting through the pain. Sato went down easily.
The dull crack of a broken neck echoed through the throne room.
There were footsteps rapidly approaching, no doubt drawn by the sounds of violence. Georgiou grabbed the ceremonial knife from Sato's belt and slit her throat, just to be sure. Blood pooled on the marble flooring; Georgiou worked around it as she took Sato's many-rayed crown and placed it on her own head, then arranged herself pointedly before the throne.
The guards burst in, followed immediately by the crew of the Shenzhou — she noted with relief that Michael was present and unharmed — but they all froze a few steps past the entrance of the throne room. Georgiou knew what they saw: Sato II's corpse on the ground, and her standing over it, wearing the imperial crown of thorns.
"The Emperor is dead!" she shouted.
Lorca was the first to catch on. "Long live the Emperor!"
And slowly, gathering strength, the others echoed: "Long live the Emperor! All hail Emperor Georgiou!"
From her position hiding behind Lorca, Michael stared at her with huge eyes.
Hoshi Sato I is from the mirror episode of ST:ENT; her successor Sato II is mentioned in the Georgiou tie-in novel Die Standing (as well as in the mirror Spock novel The Sorrows of Empire). The information that Sato II is working from came from the USS Defiant, which left the prime universe in 2268 (ie, ten years after Discovery season 1).