A Day In The City

Posted on Jul 22, 2017 @ 2:06am by Lieutenant Jasmine Yu
Edited on on Jul 22, 2017 @ 2:06am

Mission: The Romulan Way

“A Day in the City”
(contd from Susan and Sarah’s ‘Wishful Drinking’)

Location: Ki-Baratan, ROMULUS
SD: [2.17] 0720.2205
Scene: Senate building reception area

Now that was an interesting, no scratch that…unbelievable experience – standing in front of so many Senators, all with gazes ranging from pure curiosity to downright hostility. Jasmine, in all her years at Starfleet, never expected to be in a situation such as being inside the Romulan Senate, well it was taking some time to believe she would be amongst the first from Starfleet in over fifty years to be on the Romulan homeworld. Of course, being security chief, Yu kept those emotions, albeit positive, within herself and wore a mask that radiated a sea of calmness to any who came upon the young woman.

She maintained a state of alertness, despite a welcoming reception, Jasmine still feared an ambush lurking in the corner and those fears heightened when there were objections to Kane addressing the Senate. Yu wasn’t surprised and even expected there to be a faction or more against peace between the two powers. Would there be attempts of sabotage against the peace initiative? Jasmine believed of the possibility but hoped it wasn’t the case.

After Kane granted everyone shore leave for the day, Jasmine was wondering if she could explore the city and see how the Romulans lived – she figured, sighing that there might not be another opportunity ever again. Perhaps she could use this shore leave to do some exploring but the only question in her mind, where would she start and what kind of places would she see? Or maybe she could just head off to the seaside and sit on the beach for a while – from looking through the windows, the Apnex Sea in her view was a beautiful sight to behold. Then again, the Asian American had a fondness for the oceans, lakes and other water bodies.

“Lieutenant Yu, there you are.”

Broken out of her thoughts, Jasmine turned to face the elderly Romulan Senator, approaching with a younger Romulan woman. Yu nodded out of respect. “Senator Dak, it’s good to see you again.”

Aureila Dak jumped straight to the point and as the young woman expected, didn’t miss a beat. “My fellow Senator, Chevet tells me that the Praetor has granted your group, permission to see our beautiful world for the day.”

“Yes…” She nodded but the elder Romulan cut off her flow of words.

“I decided you need a guided tour, as what you humans would say, of certain places that I strongly believe you should see.” The old Romulan woman narrowed her eyes at the security chief, again with the stern look that reminded Jasmine of her paternal grandmother, who currently resided in San Francisco. “You will be witness to our finest architecture, created by the very best of our people and will understand just how yours pale in comparison.”

Jasmine was left lost for words. This woman wasn’t shy to drive home of what she believed regarding the superiority of her species. Then again, it wasn’t that long ago she was succumbed to a long, yet interesting, monologue, given by the Senator, regarding her life story, her illustrious career as engineer and later Senator.

“Of course I cannot take you to our finest technological centre in my province,” she added, a hint of mild disappointment in her voice. “It is not permitted to show a Non-Romulan any of our new technologies that are still in development. I’m sure you understand and your people would have done the same to us anyway.”

“It’s fine, Senator. I completely understand,” Jasmine said in an as politely tone as possible. “Besides, I’m not really the person who deals with technology unless it’s for security purposes as I’m not an engineer. So I wouldn’t really be the right person to show the latest developments of technology anyway.”

“But you will get the opportunity to visit our historical museum of technology,” the Romulan continued on, not paying heed to Yu’s recent words. “Oh it is a fine museum. I have been honoured that there is even a section that showcases some of my most important technical achievements and I love the way they organized the place. You will be amazed, Lieutenant.”

A museum of technology. She didn’t expect this. Jasmine thought it would be the Chief Engineer who should be invited on such an excursion but apparently Malin-Argo chose to remain in the building to check on the Phoenix, regarding his staff. The Grazerite wasn’t keen on being down here in the first place, that much was obvious to her. What a pity to not be appreciative of the opportunity that others would have been happy to accept – be on Romulus and get to see its sights.

“So?” She clasped her hands and gazed intently at the Phoenix officer. “Will you accept my offer to go on a tour?” She motioned the younger Romulan to step forward. “This is Shimneka, my senior aid and she will be accompanying us, along with my bodyguard, who is waiting for us outside.”

Jasmine nodded. “I accept your invitation and am honoured to join you on a tour of the city.”

“Well then, let’s get moving.”

--------------------------------------
Scene: City, outside the historical museum -> Street
TI: Few hours later

Yu leaned against the pillar, her feet on the steps, leading to the museum. The city and the Apnex Sea beyond lay before her. Jasmine let herself produce a tiny smile, the view was beautiful – wonder what the waterfront was like. The young security chief loved water and enjoyed taking a simple stroll on the beach. She wondered whether Romulans also enjoyed something like walking on the beach, playing in the water or just laying around basking under the sun. Then, Jasmine reminded herself that this was another culture so their activities might be different.

The trip inside the museum went better than expected. Jasmine had to admit, she was impressed with the way everything was displayed and how informative was to learn about the evolution of Romulan technological development. Of course all this information was also found in the Federation database – it was also why Dak brought her here, there was really nothing to hide. To no surprise, the Senator spent a long time in the area where her technological achievements were displayed. Yu did notice one thing – the Romulans took great pride in their achievements, even boasting of their superiority over others, including the Federation. Even listening to some Romulans nearby as she was moving along the aisle, of how the Federation developed technology based on their ideas. They also said it, when glancing in her direction as she walked past them, not caring whether she heard them or not.

She spotted the aid, Shimneka and the bodyguard, a male Romulan, who went by the name, Jirot a few feet away, conversing with each other. Now, Jirot was a heavy set figure, dark haired, eyes always narrowed and filled with suspicion and he barely said more than a few words. Shimneka, well she was quite young for a Romulan, having only worked for Senator Dak for just under a year and unlike her boss, the young woman was a little shy but warmed up to the Asian American as the day went by. Now both were heading in her direction, with Shimneka waving at her to come down with them. Jasmine nodded and left the comfort of the pillar and followed them down the steps.

As the security chief caught up to her Romulan guides, Shimneka spoke, “Lieutenant Yu, I wanted to inform you that Senator Dak will not be joining us for this part of the tour. She has a meeting but she will join us at the seaside.”

Seaside. Jasmine’s interest perked up. So they were taking a trip to the beach then. Maybe the Senator had a fondness for the water and enjoyed spending time there. “Shimneka,” she said, a tiny smile gracing her lips, “You can call me Jasmine. We don’t have to be formal between us.”

“Okay, Jasmine.” The Romulan nodded, giving her a smile. They were now walking down a broad street, which seemed quite busy. Jirot took his usual spot of walking behind them – apparently with the towering Romulan’s presence, others didn’t dare approach the trio.

As she walked beside the Romulan woman, Jasmine frowned, having a rather uncomfortable sensation, like she was being watched. The dark haired woman tilted her head sideways and noticed the planet’s native inhabitants were staring in her direction. It was like their eyes were boring into the back of her skull. She spotted some children halt in their tracks and just gaze wide-eyed at her, their mouths open. Not surprising this could be their first sighting of an actual alien for them. Of course, an older woman ushered the children along, giving the Starfleet officer an angry look and then turned away. Not everyone was happy to see a Starfleet officer walking around in their own backyard.

“Most of us are still rather shocked to see a Federation member here in the capital,” Shimneka said, giving her a sympathetic look. “Many Romulans couldn’t believe that the Praetor would allow people from the Federation on our planet. It is all rather confusing for us right now.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.” Jasmine chose not to mention, there were those amongst the Romulan population very unhappy with their leader inviting their long-time enemy to their homeworld. That was evident from the hostile looks in her direction. “What do you think, Shimneka?”

“What do you mean, Jasmine?” The Romulan raised an eyebrow.

Jasmine said, choosing her words, carefully, “What I mean is, what your own view of this peace initiative is?”

The Romulan pondered for a moment. “Well, to be honest, I am not really sure. It is just that since we were children, we were taught that the Federation are our enemies and our empire is superior to them in every way. So you must understand how difficult it is for many of my people to see you here.”

“Okay.” Jasmine nodded. “And the Senator, what does she think of peace between us?”

The young Romulan pursed her lips together, forming a thin line. There was a hesitant look in her eyes. “Jasmine, I don’t know.”

“Really?” Yu raised an eyebrow. They were walking past rows of buildings.

Shimneka nodded. “Senator Dak is very closely guarded. She rarely ever confides in anyone except those she truly trusts and I’m not exactly one of them, not yet anyway.”

Closely guarded for such a chatty woman. Of course, the age old trick – talk a lot without saying much. It looked like Aureila was quite an expert at such a tactic. By talking everyone’s ear off about herself and her achievements, Dak didn’t really reveal anything she didn’t want anyone to know.

----------------------
Scene: Seaside
TI: An hour later

Wow, what an amazing sight. Jasmine couldn’t believe it, seated on a rock atop a cliff, watching the Apnex Sea. The young woman could see the beach many feet below and Romulans moving about here and there. It was quiet where she was, with a gentle breeze blowing in her direction. Jasmine wished she could dip her toes in the water, which looked so clean but wasn’t going to as she was on a mission, despite being on a day long shore leave.

“You seem at peace, Jasmine,” Shimneka spoke as she sat down on a rock beside the Starfleet officer.

Jasmine smiled, turning her attention to the young Romulan. “I just love the water.” It was true, she did seem at peace – the sea had that effect on her.

“Lieutenant Yu,” came the voice of the Senator, approaching the two women from behind. “How did you find your tour?”

The security chief turned around, replying with a more polite tone than she used with Shimneka. “I found the tour a very informative and enlightening experience. I learnt a lot about your society, just from walking around your capital city and seeing the important sights, particularly the historical museum of technology. Thank you for honouring me with this opportunity.”

“It was my pleasure, Lieutenant,” the old woman said, taking a seat on a separate rock near Jasmine and Shimneka. Jirot maintained his position, a few feet behind the women. “We will remain here for an hour and then return to the Senate Hall.”

“Understood, Senator.” Jasmine nodded.

“I hear you say you love the water,” the elder Romulan said. “Why is that, Lieutenant?”

So now the Senator was asking her a question, which surprised the Asian woman as the Romulan woman didn’t seem to be the type of person to allow another to have a word in edgewise. Jasmine inhaled deeply. “My parents are Starfleet officers so part of my childhood was spent in space, which brought on a fascination and longing for the water. So every time one or both of my parents got an opportunity for shore leave on Earth, the first thing I wanted to visit was the ocean and that’s what we did.” Yu recalled her memories as a child, when she used to visit both her maternal and paternal grandparents in Rochester and San Francisco respectively and on those occasions, she took frequent visits to the beaches by the Pacific or the Great Lakes. “Eventually, my parents settled down on Earth in a place called Hawaii during my teenage years and at that time, I always visited the ocean daily after my lessons.” She stopped, a little astonished at how the Senator was listening to her without interrupting.

Dak remarked, leaning forward, “Well, you certainly have fine taste, Lieutenant Yu for someone who isn’t Romulan.”

“Ah…thanks,” Jasmine said, unsure whether to take the remark as a compliment or not.

*************************************************************************************


~*~
Ranjani S.
Writing for

Lieutenant Jasmine Yu
Chief of Security and Tactical
USS PHOENIX