Brin (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
brin_bellway) wrote2019-06-04 11:07 pm
brin_bellway) wrote2019-06-04 11:07 pm
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I've had this sitting around in a notepad draft for maybe a year, and today I'm finally going to add in the links/quotes and post it (now on a different platform than the one I originally wrote it for).
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[cut, just in case anyone cares about Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 6 spoilers]
(Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode 6x26, "Tears of the Prophets"; quote from Chakoteya's transcript)
Okay, it's been a while since I watched more than bits and pieces of the rest of the series, so I'm not sure:
Does Admiral Ross ever experience any consequences for this reckless endangerment of the Alpha Quadrant?
He seems to be treating it like it's some personal religious issue, but that's *really* not what this is. You know what this is?
Consider:
An allied species, upon whom you depend for a vital part of your defence systems, has requested that the primary interpreter between your people and theirs--who, I might add, brokered the agreement that *got* you the aforementioned vital part of your defence systems--stay behind on this dangerous mission.
You might, for some reason or another, decline this request. If you were feeling *really* uncharitable, you might--since you have only the interpreter's word for it that this is what they said--even suspect that the interpreter is lying in order to wriggle out of danger (but Benjamin Sisko has never been averse to dangerous missions before, so this seems unlikely).
But--assuming that the interpreter is truthfully conveying the aliens' request, which is likely--this is a very *reasonable* request, and a request made by people you desperately need to stay in the good graces of. If you are going to decline, you need to do so *gracefully*, *diplomatically*. Under *no fucking circumstances* do you act exasperated, guilt-trip the interpreter for even considering granting their request, and insist that he choose between you and them (!).
edit: postscript
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[cut, just in case anyone cares about Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 6 spoilers]
SISKO: It's not about that, sir. It's about the Prophets, the wormhole aliens. They spoke to me last night.
ROSS: I hope they gave the mission their blessing.
SISKO: They told me not to go to Cardassia. That I should stay here.
ROSS: Did they give you a reason?
SISKO: Nothing concrete. Just that it's too dangerous.
ROSS: In what way? Dangerous to you, to the mission, to Bajor?
SISKO: I'm not sure.
ROSS: What is it you're telling me, Ben? You want permission to stay behind?
SISKO: It's not about what I want. It's about what the Prophets want.
ROSS: That's not a good enough answer, not from a Starfleet captain.
SISKO: The Prophets don't see me as a Starfleet captain. They see me as their Emissary.
ROSS: That's the problem, isn't it? For the past six years you've tried to be both, and up to now I've been patient. I've indulged you, I've gone out on a limb for you many times, but this is it. You've got to make a decision. You are either the Emissary or a Starfleet captain. You can't be both.
(Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode 6x26, "Tears of the Prophets"; quote from Chakoteya's transcript)
Okay, it's been a while since I watched more than bits and pieces of the rest of the series, so I'm not sure:
Does Admiral Ross ever experience any consequences for this reckless endangerment of the Alpha Quadrant?
He seems to be treating it like it's some personal religious issue, but that's *really* not what this is. You know what this is?
Consider:
An allied species, upon whom you depend for a vital part of your defence systems, has requested that the primary interpreter between your people and theirs--who, I might add, brokered the agreement that *got* you the aforementioned vital part of your defence systems--stay behind on this dangerous mission.
You might, for some reason or another, decline this request. If you were feeling *really* uncharitable, you might--since you have only the interpreter's word for it that this is what they said--even suspect that the interpreter is lying in order to wriggle out of danger (but Benjamin Sisko has never been averse to dangerous missions before, so this seems unlikely).
But--assuming that the interpreter is truthfully conveying the aliens' request, which is likely--this is a very *reasonable* request, and a request made by people you desperately need to stay in the good graces of. If you are going to decline, you need to do so *gracefully*, *diplomatically*. Under *no fucking circumstances* do you act exasperated, guilt-trip the interpreter for even considering granting their request, and insist that he choose between you and them (!).
edit: postscript