Chapter 20: Aftermath
A/N: Thanks for your review, romulanlover! Cretak was a great Romulan, too! Quite open-minded and modest for a Romulan. Asha is conflicted about her feelings towards Thorek. As she mentioned to Christine in Chapter 16, she is curious about being more intimate with him. She highly appreciates the fact that he's touch-sensitive and enjoys being touched by him.
LORIOVER50, thank you for your kind words, and yes, I felt it was time to look at the really ugly side of Romulus.
Anya, it's always a pleasure to read your reviews! Kihika is one of my favourite characters to write :-) I'm rather foggy about Romulan law myself (and reading up on Roman law didn't help, either), but criminals have (in the non-canon Romulan universe) a right of statement before their execution. As you said, I don't think the Romulans will be too lenient about public crime, whether inflicted on a Human or not. While Asha can be very insecure, all the more so given the circumstances of her arrival on Romulus, she has not experienced violence in her past. Just because asexuality is considered a "minor" sexuality by mainstream social concepts, it doesn't mean that a difficult past is a must.
Word about the assault on Asha travelled around quickly. The local news mentioned the attack very briefly. A Human woman had "provoked" an attack from three people in the woods near Thorek and Asha's district. That was it. Thorek was furious about how the incident had been twisted to blame his wife and underline her Human origin. Asha read it, shrugged and focused on getting on with her life.
"It was to be expected. No doubt the Tal Shiar meddles with the media, too," she commented rationally. She looked almost ascetic with her shorn head, and there were dark circles underneath her eyes. She gently rebuffed inquiries about her wellbeing with a cheery "I'm fine" and went about her daily weekday routine.
At his workplace, Thorek noticed uneasy glances being thrown his way by both colleagues and students. Finally, one of his co-workers referred to the news item and asked: "Was that your wife?"
Thorek smiled bitterly. "Now that my wife was assaulted, you mention her. She was non-existent to you before. Why would you care all of a sudden?"
"If Humans are causing trouble and provoking Romulans into self-defense-"
Thorek almost lost control. His face became flushed with green blood, and his eyes narrowed dangerously. His colleague's shoulders stiffened, and he went back a step.
"My wife," Thorek growled slowly, "was enjoying her walk in the woods when those three criminals, who had insulted her once before, attacked her. What is regarded as an unforgivable crime is her Human background. I am proud to have her as my wife. I don't care whether she's a Human or a Klingon. She's worth a million of you."
The other Romulan stepped back even more and flushed, dropping his eyes with shame.
"Pardon me, Ihhei. I didn't mean to offend..."
Thorek gave him a cold glance and swept past him.
In the afternoon, the vice director hesitantly stepped into Thorek's office. "I heard about your wife," he said awkwardly. "I hope her recovery will be speedy."
"Thank you," Thorek said.
"Is that a picture of her?" he asked, noticing the photograph on Thorek's desk.
"Yes."
He must have seen it several times when visiting Thorek's office, but had only commented on it now.
"Please convey my wishes for a quick recovery to her. She must be thinking ill of our people after what happened."
"She doesn't have a tendency for overgeneralisations." His voice softened. "Asha often says that Romulans are as diverse as Humans and our two species have many things in common."
The vice director looked sceptical. "She is very optimistic," he said finally.
"True. A pessimistic spouse would be extremely hard to tolerate," Thorek remarked, in the know that his colleague's spouse was of a rather sour disposition. His comment had the desired effect of the vice director excusing himself most politely and retiring to his own office.
Christine and Vekal had read the news item and on seeing the location, known at once that it could only have been Asha who had nearly been a murder victim. They were horrified and contacted Asha via the encrypted channel, asking if they could visit her. Asha didn't want to see anyone or talk to anyone; but she also knew that withdrawing was the best way to make things even worse, and so she said yes. She was glad she did, because Vekal took her into his arms at once while Christine, who was more reserved, patted her arm.
Later, when she was alone with Christine, the other woman suggested:
"Maybe you should go to a mind soother. That's the Romulan equivalent of a Human psychotherapist. They are known as mind soothers."
Asha felt a spark of irritation. What Christine thought was helpful was in fact coming across as unsolicited good advice from Asha's point of view. Asha disliked having the equivalent of a patronising mother hen overprotecting her.
"I'll think about it," she responded diplomatically. "Have you been to one?"
"No, but I was never assaulted, either," Christine said tactlessly, unaware that a miscarriage could have its own range of mental repercussions. It was probably one of those experiences that had contributed to Christine's know-it-all behaviour as a mask of confidence. Christine meant well. Privately, Asha felt that there were many situations besides assault that could require the services of a mind soother, but she kept her opinion to herself.
When she spoke to Vekal, she felt secure around him immediately.
"Eneh, I am so glad to see you and Christine," she said. Vekal touched her cheek gently.
"What are you feeling like today?" he asked.
She frowned slightly. "This probably sounds strange, but…I'm not certain. I feel like it happened to someone else, actually. Maybe it's because Doctor Metak healed my injuries so quickly and well, so there are no physical traces to remind me. And my new hairstyle saves me a lot of time, though Kihika and Thorek tell me they're going to miss experimenting with Romulan hairdos on me."
Vekal was silent for a few moments. The shock was too fresh, and he knew that when it started to sink in, she would start to feel very vulnerable and scared, much as both Christine and he had felt after the miscarriage. She would have to work out her own way to fight her demons, and she would have help from those close to her, provided she accepted it; but in the end, it would be up to only her.
"You are dealing very well with the situation, paenhe."
"I'm trying not to think about it precisely so there won't be anything to deal with. I just want to get on with my life and not let those thugs waste my time."
"An admirable attitude. But, Asha, as much as time can be an ally, it can be a merciless reminder."
"Meaning, eneh?"
"That time might remind you to confront what happened to you."
Asha bit her lip and didn't answer. Vekal looked at her with compassion. Finally, she said: "I'll cross that bridge when I get there."
"Yes," Vekal said mildly.
It was a cloudy rainy day, and the raptor on the roof of the senate building looked particularly gloomy and ominous. In his capacious office, Merken tr'Vreenak stiffened in his chair. Fresh data had been added to the Human woman's file. Medical and police reports. A complaint had been lodged with a security station near the Darak couple's home. He read the files. He inhaled sharply when he saw the scans of the Human woman's injuries.
He stared blankly at the screen, then got up and paced up and down. He knew about his society's xenophobia and had even been a supporter until he had left his position at the Tal Shiar. He recalled her standing quietly with her assistant in that tourist group of Romulans. He could not forget the way she had reacted to his stare – an ill-mannered thing of him to do when he thought of it. Her hair had been braided, resting on one shoulder. To judge from the pictures, her attackers had chopped it off in a travesty of the popular Romulan haircut.
She had been assaulted in the woods. He knew them well, strolling there often incognito, as did several influential figures who wanted to attend to their recreational activities in peace and for their own safety.
Would she want to resume her excursions after that kind of assault? Maybe she would prefer to stay away for good? He had the feeling that she wouldn't be so easily intimidated.
