Kirk smiled as the entourage came in. Clearly, he still appeared uncomfortable. "Come in, everyone." He motioned to his couch and chairs in the living area.
The romulan reporter offered his hand. "G'ershen of The Romulan Perspective. A pleasure." Kirk took his hand and shook it. G'ershen gave a very strong grip in response, then sat down. "My crew," he offered off-handedly as he motioned to the sound and video people. Then, in turn, sat down, too. Finally, Kirk sat down. T'Nia opted to stand by the door. "I'd like to thank you for spending time to talk to us. I understand you're still recovering from some injuries you suffered during the altercation with the reman terrorists."
Kirk nodded. "I'm recovering quite nicely. Our doctor did a great job. I hear you want to know a little about our Christmas holiday." Stephen tried his best to sound light. He sat back in his chair.
"We certainly do, Commander," G'ershen replied in a sales-person voice. "But in a few moments. First, we'd like to know exactly what happened to you. I've heard that you were shot while aboard a romulan ship. Is that right?"
Where did this guy get his information, Kirk wondered. Instinctively, he sat forward, a look of mild confusion on his face covered the stiffness and pain he felt while moving. "Well, no... that's not exactly true." He started.
"Then, you weren't shot aboard a romulan ship?" G'ershen countered.
"Well, yes... but I wasn't shot by romulans. Remans were flying the ship."
G'ershen feigned intense interest. Perhaps he could get somewhere with this human after all, he thought. "How did you know there were remans aboard?"
He was starting to get flustered, but remembered an easy way out. "I'm sorry, G'ershen... I'm not allowed to discuss the details of a mission until they've been declassified by Starfleet." He shrugged helplessly.
G'ershen's smile faded a bit. He cursed to himself. "Well, here's hoping Starfleet will let us in on what happened. There are a lot of unanswered questions out there." G'ershen figured he better get Kirk to relax a bit and let his guard down before asking any more hard questions. "But... the main reason why we're here. Tell me about this human holiday called Christmas."
The question had its desired effect. Kirk instantly looked calmer. "Okay... where to begin." His mind was awash with different ways to start. "Well... there are many religions on Earth. Christmas comes from a particular religion called Christianity. We believe there is a single God, not many different gods, and He controls everything in the universe."
G'ershen chuckled. "One god for everything? He must be a busy guy."
Kirk smiled. "I guess He is. Well, throughout human history, God tried many different ways to tell us how we're supposed to act towards Him and towards each other, but humanity kept screwing up His instructions."
G'ershen mused, "Hmmm, humans difficult to handle. I think certain members of our audience can relate to that."
Kirk wasn't appreciating the snips this reporter was taking. To his own surprise, he chose to take the diplomatic approach. "Here's hoping opportunities like this will fix that image." His brief, former captain, Lydia Velasquez would have been proud.
G'ershen smiled. "Here's hoping. Anyway, you were talking about the humans being stubborn."
Kirk shook his head and smiled. This guy was just going to get his digs in. He'd have to just roll with it. "Right. So, since God knew what humans were like, He decided to send an incarnation of Himself to show us personally what it meant to live a good life. Christmas celebrates the birth of that incarnation." He nodded, quite proud of the definition he had just given.
G'ershen's 'sincere' look was obviously fake. "What an interesting story. But... if you don't mind my asking... why didn't your god just destroy the ones who perverted his teachings?"
Kirk wrinkled his nose. This reporter was starting to get into aspects of his religion that went far beyond the Christmas holiday. "Um... I'll just give you the short answer. To go in depth would take awhile. In my faith, God wants people who will choose to follow Him. That means He also gave us a choise to NOT follow Him. He doesn't demand obedience, He wants a relationship. Does that answer your question?"
G'ershen nodded, but looked a little confused. "Perhaps we could schedule a debate some other time on our different faiths. So... tell me about this beautifully decorated tree you have. I take it this is part of the celebration?"
Kirk nodded, but his side was starting to hurt again. "I'm not really sure about the origins of the Christmas tree, but my family has always had one."
"I see... you're close to your family?" G'ershen asked.
It seemed like an innocent enough question, but something about how he asked it tingled the back of his neck. "Yes, I am." Out of eyesight from everyone but Stephen, T'Nia's eyes narrowed.
"You know, one of the most notorious war criminals in Romulan history was a relative of yours... speaking of your family." G'ershen's voice deepened, his gaze became more intense. He had been waiting for this moment for several reasons.
This was what G'ershen had been waiting for, Kirk thought. "That was a long time ago."
Wrong answer, G'ershen commented to himself. "Not for some of our viewers, Commander."
The pain in Stephen's side was starting to pale in comparison to the pain in his head, which was matching the pain in the neck seated next to him. The LAST thing he had expected so far from Starfleet was yet ANOTHER person trying to compare him to his great grandfather. Stephen's eyes narrowed. "Look, I thought you wanted to talk about Christmas, not insult my family or blame me for things my grandfather did. I'm not him. I'm nothing like him and I don't want to BE anything like him." Without realizing it, Kirk was glaring at him.
Gotcha, G'ershen thought. He smiled evilly. "And yet, you're in Starfleet, just like him. You graduated from the Academy, just like him. And... at thirty-four years of age, you've commanded a starship, just like him."
Kirk had been had... on a global-wide interview, he had been had. His expression softened. "You know," he started quietly, "we came here as a gesture of peace."
G'ershen's long face turned smug. "I think not, Commander. I think you came here to prod us into capitulating to the mighty Federation. You flaunt your big, new ship in front of us. You show us the descendent of one of our worst enemies is in a command position. You force our own ships to sit back while you show off how clever you are at defeating our own technology. It's nothing more than a scare tactic, isn't it, Commander Kirk?"
The worst part was; in Kirk's mind, that was pretty close to what he thought Bolerov's reasons were. He sat there, silent, trying to think of the right words to say.
T'Nia had enough. Her friend was in troube. She stepped forward and got between Stephen and the reporter. "I believe this interview is over. Your request was to talk about earth holidays, not to politically undermine a peace effort." She began ushering them towards the door.
As G'ershen rose, he countered, "I was brought here for the truth, Lieutenant Commander. I should have known I wouldn't get it from the Federation." He turned towards the cameraman, giving him the smug look of a successful mission. "Citizens of the Empire," T'Nia continued moving them towards the door. "beneath such grand gestures and innocent celebrations lies a sinister plot. You be the judge. This is G'ershen for The Romulan Perspective." Stephen's door hissed shut behind the foursome.
Kirk buried his face in his hands as he leaned forward. "Oh, God... what have I done?"