TITLE: Dear Annie ("Cogenitor")
AUTHOR: Mara Greengrass
AUTHOR'S E-MAIL: fishfolk@ix.netcom.com. Feedback is better than chocolate.
PERMISSION TO ARCHIVE: Yes, just let me know.
CATEGORY: Gen
RATINGS/WARNINGS: G
SUMMARY: Hoshi writes home after the events of "Cogenitor."
DISCLAIMER: Enterprise and all its crew belong to Paramount and many other entities with expensive lawyers. I am making no profit from this story.
NOTES: The quote I attribute to Annie was actually said to me by Jess many years ago. It's just one of many reasons this series is dedicated to her. Thanks as always for the beta to Captain Average, the superhero who praises.
* * * * *
Dear Annie,
Trip really got into it this time. And the worst thing is, while it's easy to see how stupid he was in retrospect, I don't know that I would have acted any differently.
Practically for the first time on this voyage, we met a friendly species called the Vissians. Not fake friendly, either, really truly interested in meeting other species and talking to them. We ran into the Vissian ship when we diverted to check out a hypergiant, an incipient supernova, and saw a ship closer in than we could go.
The captain had me hail them, they offered to help modify our sensors to gather more data, and we invited them for dinner. (Interesting side note for you: Apparently they found human food rather bland, not in taste, but in smell--which is more important to them. I'll send you my notes under separate cover.)
In any case, several of their crewmembers came and we introduced them to various foods, and they introduced us to the fact their species has three sexes: male, female, and cogenitor. The latter, who make up approximately 3% of their population, provides a vital role in creating a child, some enzyme apparently.
Trip and a few other folks were pretty weirded out by this, although most of the crew took it in stride. Honestly, compared to the space station that tried to use Travis as a calculator, and the time Trip got pregnant, a little thing like a third sex just isn't a big deal. (Although I wonder if the pregnancy thing is what made him so uncomfortable with the idea of a sex/gender setup unlike human-standard?)
The chief engineer of the Vissian ship and his wife were the ones trying to have a baby, and they invited Trip over to see the engines. He seemed uncomfortable, but I think he'd have walked through fire to see their engines, so it all balanced out.
Meanwhile, our captain set off in a little pod with the Vissian captain to go see the inside of this hypergiant. The Vissians asked me nicely, so I gave them some cultural files, like a complete Shakespeare and the Tao Te Ching, all of which they loved. These aliens read and learn incredibly fast.
Trip came back from the Vissian ship coveting their engines and even more bothered by the cogenitor. Or rather, bothered by how the Vissians treat the cogenitor, which is rather like a pet. Cogenitors aren't taught to read and don't really live like the rest of the population. I know Phlox and T'Pol tried to explain that we couldn't judge Vissian culture by our own, or by the tiny slice of it we saw, but he didn't listen. I swear, that man redefines the word stubborn!
Despite everything he was told, Trip still snuck away from his Vissian hosts to talk to the cogenitor, teaching it how to read. After that, he brought it to Enterprise for a tour, and they apparently watched some movies. I haven't gotten many of the details out of Trip because he's been staying in his quarters since...well, since everything went wrong.
When the Vissians realized what was going on, they kicked him off their ship, but it was too late--the cogenitor escaped and requested asylum aboard Enterprise. And that's when the captain got back and flipped out.
Just between you and me, though, I think Captain Archer is being a bit hypocritical, because he's certainly intervened in plenty of situations without sufficient information. Remember when I told you he helped the X escape from a prison camp? Classic case of act first, justify later.
But he's the captain and the decision of whether to grant asylum was in his hands. He talked to T'Pol and met with some of the Vissians, in the end deciding to send the cogenitor back. Trip was pissed, and I'll admit I wasn't too pleased, but no way was I getting between Trip and Jon when they're fighting. I'd rather face down an angry Klingon.
Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, I got a call from the Vissian captain, sounding a lot less happy to be talking to humans, demanding to speak to Captain Archer. I found him in his quarters.
It turns out the cogenitor killed itself.
The ship's pretty tense right now. The captain can't decide whether he's angrier at himself, or at Trip, or at T'Pol for not stopping everything. He's just generally angry.
Trip has barely spoken to anyone since we got the news, so I finally trapped him in his quarters--he's devastated; blaming himself, blaming the Vissians, blaming the captain. He introduced the cogenitor to all the possibilities inherent in sentience, then it had to go back to captivity.
Which brings me back to my original point. It's easy for me to look at this situation in retrospect and invoke cultural relativism to explain why Trip did the wrong thing. But, as you once said to me so succinctly, "Cultural relativism is not moral relativism." If I'd been in Trip's shoes, could I have left things alone? Or would I have done the same thing?
I like to think that my anthropological training would protect me from the same mistakes, but the history of our field says otherwise. A lesson in humility for all of us, I think.
Love,
Hoshi
AUTHOR: Mara Greengrass
AUTHOR'S E-MAIL: fishfolk@ix.netcom.com. Feedback is better than chocolate.
PERMISSION TO ARCHIVE: Yes, just let me know.
CATEGORY: Gen
RATINGS/WARNINGS: G
SUMMARY: Hoshi writes home after the events of "Cogenitor."
DISCLAIMER: Enterprise and all its crew belong to Paramount and many other entities with expensive lawyers. I am making no profit from this story.
NOTES: The quote I attribute to Annie was actually said to me by Jess many years ago. It's just one of many reasons this series is dedicated to her. Thanks as always for the beta to Captain Average, the superhero who praises.
* * * * *
Dear Annie,
Trip really got into it this time. And the worst thing is, while it's easy to see how stupid he was in retrospect, I don't know that I would have acted any differently.
Practically for the first time on this voyage, we met a friendly species called the Vissians. Not fake friendly, either, really truly interested in meeting other species and talking to them. We ran into the Vissian ship when we diverted to check out a hypergiant, an incipient supernova, and saw a ship closer in than we could go.
The captain had me hail them, they offered to help modify our sensors to gather more data, and we invited them for dinner. (Interesting side note for you: Apparently they found human food rather bland, not in taste, but in smell--which is more important to them. I'll send you my notes under separate cover.)
In any case, several of their crewmembers came and we introduced them to various foods, and they introduced us to the fact their species has three sexes: male, female, and cogenitor. The latter, who make up approximately 3% of their population, provides a vital role in creating a child, some enzyme apparently.
Trip and a few other folks were pretty weirded out by this, although most of the crew took it in stride. Honestly, compared to the space station that tried to use Travis as a calculator, and the time Trip got pregnant, a little thing like a third sex just isn't a big deal. (Although I wonder if the pregnancy thing is what made him so uncomfortable with the idea of a sex/gender setup unlike human-standard?)
The chief engineer of the Vissian ship and his wife were the ones trying to have a baby, and they invited Trip over to see the engines. He seemed uncomfortable, but I think he'd have walked through fire to see their engines, so it all balanced out.
Meanwhile, our captain set off in a little pod with the Vissian captain to go see the inside of this hypergiant. The Vissians asked me nicely, so I gave them some cultural files, like a complete Shakespeare and the Tao Te Ching, all of which they loved. These aliens read and learn incredibly fast.
Trip came back from the Vissian ship coveting their engines and even more bothered by the cogenitor. Or rather, bothered by how the Vissians treat the cogenitor, which is rather like a pet. Cogenitors aren't taught to read and don't really live like the rest of the population. I know Phlox and T'Pol tried to explain that we couldn't judge Vissian culture by our own, or by the tiny slice of it we saw, but he didn't listen. I swear, that man redefines the word stubborn!
Despite everything he was told, Trip still snuck away from his Vissian hosts to talk to the cogenitor, teaching it how to read. After that, he brought it to Enterprise for a tour, and they apparently watched some movies. I haven't gotten many of the details out of Trip because he's been staying in his quarters since...well, since everything went wrong.
When the Vissians realized what was going on, they kicked him off their ship, but it was too late--the cogenitor escaped and requested asylum aboard Enterprise. And that's when the captain got back and flipped out.
Just between you and me, though, I think Captain Archer is being a bit hypocritical, because he's certainly intervened in plenty of situations without sufficient information. Remember when I told you he helped the X escape from a prison camp? Classic case of act first, justify later.
But he's the captain and the decision of whether to grant asylum was in his hands. He talked to T'Pol and met with some of the Vissians, in the end deciding to send the cogenitor back. Trip was pissed, and I'll admit I wasn't too pleased, but no way was I getting between Trip and Jon when they're fighting. I'd rather face down an angry Klingon.
Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, I got a call from the Vissian captain, sounding a lot less happy to be talking to humans, demanding to speak to Captain Archer. I found him in his quarters.
It turns out the cogenitor killed itself.
The ship's pretty tense right now. The captain can't decide whether he's angrier at himself, or at Trip, or at T'Pol for not stopping everything. He's just generally angry.
Trip has barely spoken to anyone since we got the news, so I finally trapped him in his quarters--he's devastated; blaming himself, blaming the Vissians, blaming the captain. He introduced the cogenitor to all the possibilities inherent in sentience, then it had to go back to captivity.
Which brings me back to my original point. It's easy for me to look at this situation in retrospect and invoke cultural relativism to explain why Trip did the wrong thing. But, as you once said to me so succinctly, "Cultural relativism is not moral relativism." If I'd been in Trip's shoes, could I have left things alone? Or would I have done the same thing?
I like to think that my anthropological training would protect me from the same mistakes, but the history of our field says otherwise. A lesson in humility for all of us, I think.
Love,
Hoshi