Proposal

Commander Oseno Jureth smiled and nodded at familiar faces as he walked the passages of Starbase Lotus. He had heard she was in and wanted to go see her before they sent her out again. As he reached the docking ring, there she was as commanding and powerful as the day he'd first seen her..the USS Alsea. Lotus Fleet's Prometheus Class warship, and technically Jureth's first command, had returned from her patrol of the Klingon border and the Bajoran couldn't resist going to take a look at her. The mighty ship didn't look any worse for the wear to him, not like the last time he'd seen her, basically in pieces after her separation system was damaged during Operation Horizon. The Alsea actually looked majestic and yet bristled with more weaponry than many of Starfleet's current vessels. A voice from behind him diverted Jureth from his admiration of the vessel.

"She's just as you left her Commander." 

It was the voice of the Alsea's Captain, Rachelle Rivers. Oseno turned to the see the stunning red haired woman standing behind him with a soft smile on her face.

"Captain, it's good to see you." 

"And you as well. I hear you had quite the adventure aboard the Horizon." 

"You could say that Sir," Oseno replied with a smile remembering Rivers dislike of being addressed as "Ma'am." 

"You're still quite fond of the Alsea aren't you?" 

Jureth looked back at the ship and then at Rivers and nodded "I am, that ship and I went through a lot together." 

Rivers smiled again "That you did, well you'll be happy to know that you will probably get to see a lot more of her."

"Why is that?"

"She's being partially retired, assigned to training cruises."

"You're joking!" Oseno said with surprise, but Rivers shook her head.

"Have you ever known me to joke Commander?" 

"I suppose not Sir, but surely with everything so fluid in the galaxy they could find an older ship to use...the Alsea still has plenty of life in her." 

Rivers shrugged "I wasn't asked my opinion."

"What about you?" 

"I'm not sure yet, that will be for the Fleet Captain to decide." 

"Well, at least they aren't scrapping her." 

"No, they aren't. At any rate, I must move on, it was good to see you Commander Oseno." 

"You too Captain." 

Rivers walked away from the docking ring, and Oseno took one last look at the Alsea and then moved on himself. He strode back toward the living area to his quarters and was organizing a few things when a disembodied voice summoned him.

"Ops to Commander Oseno." 

Jureth tapped his combadge "Oseno here."

"Sir, there is a call coming in for you from a General Alteer on Bajor"

Jureth was puzzled, he didn't recall that name at all.."go ahead and put it through to my quarters please." 

"Aye Sir." 

Oseno moved over to the desk and opened his terminal which displayed the Lotus Fleet logo briefly and then was replaced by the face of an elder Bajoran in the uniform of the Bajoran Militia. 

"Commander Oseno Jureth, I am General Alteer Thanos, commanding officer of the Bajoran Militia." 

Jureth curiosity was piqued, what in the name of The Prophets could the commander of the militia possibly want with a Starfleet officer that wasn't the captain of Deep Space Nine. 

"What can I do for you General?" 

"Commander I will get right to the point.  I have heard your name from multiple sources as the best at what you do, and an accomplished leader and even diplomat."

Oseno smiled slightly "I don't know about that Sir."

The general waved him off "The point commander, is that you are an accomplished officer, and one of the few Bajorans to receive such accolades in Starfleet. The top security officer for the militia aboard Deep Space Nine is retiring and I want you Oseno to take over the post. I am offering you a commission in the Bajoran Militia as a full Colonel, and the position of security commander and liason to the Starfleet commander of Deep Space Nine."

Jureth was shocked, he had never considered joining the militia when he was living at home. Stafleet had always been his goal...to follow in his father's footsteps. At the same time, Jureth realized he had surpassed his father both in rank and accomplishment. Perhaps this was something he should consider...his mother had always wanted him to stay at home.

"I can't give you an answer right now General." Jureth replied after a moment "Might I have some time to consider your offer?"

Alteer nodded "Of course Commander, but don't take forever. I need time to find someone else if you turn me down. Alteer out." 

The screen went blank, Jureth closed the terminal and sat back at his desk...could he really leave Starfleet he wondered. He had come to call Lotus Fleet home since arriving on the starbase as a mere lieutenant junior grade what seemed like forever ago. He made friends, lost some, and found a respect and kinship with the men and women he'd served with here. Would he find the same things on DS9? Say that he did, would he really be happy there? Starfleet offered many things the militia did not. Then there was Catherine Steele, his...well he wasn't sure what she was right now other than the woman he was in love with. If he left the fleet would he ever see her again? Oseno decided he need another perspective, and the man he wanted it from was still recovering from the Horizon's latest mission, but Jureth hoped that Kheren would see him anyway. He made his way to the quarters the captain shared with his wives, and after standing in front of the door hesitating for several minutes he rang the annunciator.

The door slid open and Oseno found himself staring at a blue abdomen without a navel almost at eye level. Standing before him was the towering security officer of the Horizon, the giantess Tyvya. She was only wearing a very tiny bathing suit that barely covered her imposing frame. And she was staring down at the Bajoran with an unsmiling face that could have been intimidating had it not been for the antennae curving in amusement over the thick long flowing white mane, the twinkle in the large sapphire blue eyes and the light, friendly tone of the soft, sultry voice.

"Commander Oseno! I was just about to go and take a shower. Please come in."

Had it not been for the fact that Andorians had absolutely no taboo about nudity and even less attraction for any but their own kind, Jureth might have been swamped by suggestive ideas and the akwardness of the situation; not to mention the easy misinterpretation of her words. But she didn't leave him any breath to be confused when she turned around to call inside the vast appartment.

"Commander Oseno is here! Lyrya, is he awake?"

"I certainly am, after your belowing." answered a deep, sonorous voice yet strangely soft. 

Following the voice came the familiar athletic form of captain Kheren. He finished putting on a simple silk shirt over his broad shoulders and down his slim, muscular body as he came to greet the Bajoran. His giant wife left for another section of their quarters where running water could be heard. Andorian hearing was much too sensitive to tolerate the standard sonic showers. Behind him, the Aenar chief counselor Lyrya, his other wife, nodded reespctfully to Jureth as she also left for another part of their vast cabin, leaving the main living area deserted but for the two men.

The Captain of the Horizon had dressed himself quickly, but not quickly enough for Jureth to miss the wide angry scar of an old phaser burn that slashed entirely  his broad chest. But then, it was gone from sight and the Captain of the Horizon stood before his visiting Chief Strategic Ops officer. 

Like all Andorians, Kheren did not have enough facial muscles to smile. Nevertheless, even if he did not offer his hand in the Human-style greeting adopted by almost every Humanoid in Starfleet, his whole body language spoke of friendship and respect as he came up to Oseno. And so did his welcoming voice.

"Commander Oseno, what a pleasant surprise. What brings you to this neighborhood?"

Jureth had never seen a naked Andorian, much less two in just a few moments. That coupled with the fact that somehow the captain of the Horizon always managed to intimidate the Bajoran likely without meaning to do so and suddenly  Oseno was feeling much like the young lieutenant he had been when he reported to Lotus Fleet. Combining that with the nature of his visit was enough to make him fumble slightly with his words

"Sir...I..I didn't mean to disturb you, if this is...that is...if its a bad time I can come back." 

The Andorian seemed not to notice at all his officer's uneasiness; or maybe he was too used to it or simply didn't care. He stepped back to allow the younger man to enter.

"Not at all, Commander. In fact, if I do not receive visitors, that counselor wife of mine will send me back to the observation ward for further psychological treatment. healthy Andorians are supposed to be congenial, you know."

The tone was light but there was some tension behind the words. Yes, Andorians were very gregarious... but only with their own kind. They were deemed quite cold, and distant with non-Ghelnoids; and Captain Kheren was notorious for being like that even with his own kind.

But, as a starship Captain, he had always strived to be less so with his colleagues and crewmates, even if only in a courteous professional manner. After all, he was clanless, orphaned and even ostracized by his people; even self-exiled from his own world for the last decade. Starfleet was his own world now; his ship was his clan and his crew were his family. And he had shared much with the Bajoran, especially in the last year. He should not, could not refuse a brother... like Oseno Jureth had become.

With his hand, he showed him the spartan but spacious living room decorated with soft blues, whites and cristalline tones that made it strangley look like the insides of an ice castle to alien eyes. The temperature was quite low within the Captain's Quarters and it made any but Andorians shiver and breath out fumes of condensed breath as if they were smoking inside.

"Computer; raise room temperature to sixteen Celsius."

It would take a moment but the room would become more comfortable for the Bajoran. As he sat down in a rather unusual round  body-contouring leather-like chair that had almost looked like a large stone on the blue-white glass-like floor, Kheren went towards a replicator.

"Anything I can offer you, Commander? How about some hasperat? I just tried that Bajoran dish of yours and I find it very tasty and stimulating... especially if you add a handful of sea salt to it. I was about to make one for myself. How about you?"

It was obvious to Jureth that his commanding officer was going out of his way to act like a congenial host. It was looking almost... alien for him, who always maintained the classic professional distance between himself and his subordinates. The Captain had obviously been greatly affected by his ordeal with the Undines. He was not completely back to his former self and tried hard, too hard, to hide it. 

Yet, his silver eyes shone with the laser-like sharpness of mind Oseno was familiar with. Whatever he wanted to discuss, Kheren was ready and able to listen, to understand... maybe even to help.

While hasperat was quite possibly Jureth's favorite dish from his childhood, he wasn't particularly hungry right then. Beside that the replicators just didn't seem to do the dish justice. The last time he'd had good hasperat was when he'd first reported aboard the Alsea and Captain Siduri's chef had prepared the dish. 

"No thank you Sir, I do appreciate the offer though. I came by first to see how you were, and second to elicit a bit of perspective." Oseno normally would have paused to allow the captain to respond to the first part of his statement but he seemed to forget propriety at that moment and pushed on "I received a subspace call a short time ago. It was from the commander of the Bajoran Militia, who I didn't even realize knew my name. He has offered me a position with the militia, as a full colonel and chief of security and liason to the Starfleet commander of Deep Space Nine." 

There, he'd said it, and suddenly felt better for having told someone else. He tried to read the Andorian's reaction to his statement, but as usual the captain was nearly impossible to gauge any emotion at all from. It was sometimes disturbing for the security officer who'd been trained to read body language when trying to perceive potential threats. 

Kheren then turned back from the wall were he was heading and sat in another body-contouring chair sideways to the right of the Bajoran. This the experienced Commander could immediately interpret as both a non confrontational seating arrangement, nullifying the oppositional nature of seating face to face, and an open gesture of trust; this was the best angle for Jureth to strike Kheren with a blade if he had been wearing one. Although it would have been almost meaningless between naturally ambidextrous-born Andorians, it was a symbolic gesture that clearly showed to the Bajoran that his captain was now welcoming him as a friend, not as a subordinate or even just some other fellow officer.

His tone of voice as much as his next words told it plainly.

"Congratulations, Commander. This is a singular honor, a tribute to your expertise, your experience and your accomplishments. Taking such a position will make you one of the key individuals in the whole of the Federation. Deep Space 9's importance is second to none, at least as prominent as that of Starbase Lotus; it orbits Bajor, the leading world among our new Federation members and guards the only stable wormhole so far discovered, the prime access to the almost completely unexplored Gamma Quadrant and the priviledged point of contact with a still unknown lifeform."

Kheren did not say 'The Prophets'. Like all Andorians, he was totally alien to any notion of the supernatural. Their own 'gods' had always been understood to be only revered ancestors and their myths the symbolic embellishement of historical events or just moralistic fables. On his homeworld, the very concept of religion, as other species understood it, never came to be until fairly recently; even then, they were more akin to social and political affiliations than anything else. Their very basic psychological make-up and dangerous life-style made Andorians too pragmatic and too skeptical to easily submit to dogmas and uninsubstantiated beliefs.

Kheren even less than most, despite his reputation of being a 'by the book' officer to those who did not know of his bewildering talent to 'put out rabbits out of hats.' Still, he had been in Starfleet long enough and mingled with 'outworlders' long enough to recognize the mindset of spiritual people like Bajorans. He did not understand it, could not aknowledge it, but he could at least leave it be... as long as it didn't interfere with his ship, his duties and the well-being of those under his protection.

But here was not the point of Oseno's visit. It looked to the Andorian Captain that his Chief Strategic Operations Officer was not here just to announce this promotion opportunity.

Patiently, he waited for the Bajoran to get to that point.

Oseno nodded "Yes Sir, it's an important posting...but I would have to leave Starfleet to take it. I'm uncertain if I'm prepared to do that. In terms of my career...I've more than accomplished what I set out to do. My father was Starfleet, and I wanted nothing more than to follow in his footsteps, but I've done more than that; I've surpassed him in every way possible, and to leave it all now...it's a lot to consider. I would ask the Prophets for guidance, but to be honest I've never exactly been the most devout worshiper, much to my mother's dismay." He smiled remembering his mother constantly scolding him for not making it to services on time.  "It's not that I don't believe, it was always more that it got in the way of other things. But I suppose I'm digressing a bit. I guess what I'm asking Sir is what would you do? Have you ever considered leaving Starfleet?  If so what made you stay? Sometimes I wish I was more like Captain Syntron, it might make something like this easier"

Kheren's antennae curved inward in the typical Andorian way of smiling.

"I am not sure that Captain Syntron would agree with you. He just lost his Chief Medical Officer over his command decisions during the maiden voyage of the Phoenix. Nothing is easy... even if you go at it logically... because logic may always be true, but truth is not always logical."

He made a pause, obviously thinking hard about what Oseno had said. Then he sighed.

"To answer your question; no I never considered leaving Starfleet. It is the home, the keth, clan I made for myself, because it agrees with what I beleive in... and with what I am. "

He stood up and walked a few paces as if to first face the thoughts he was about to share before voicing them; or just to decide to. He did not turn around when he spoke next, after s moment of silent introspection.

"I did however leave my homeworld... and I never intend to come back. But, unlike you, it was an easy decison as it was not because of a sense of accomplishment; quite the opposite... but it was to move to bigger and better things. And for me, that was Starfleet."

Now he turned around to face his guest.

"You come to me for guidance like you might have turned to your Prophets... I am deeply honored... and to tell the truth, quite at a loss to answer you. I am no 'prophet' or 'messiah' in any sense of the word, despite what some of my people may want you to beleive. Yes, I have been a teacher once... but showing someone how to hold a uushan-tor without cutting himself is much simpler than counselling a friend how to go on with his life."

His silvery eyes stared a moment at the softer orbs of the Bajoran. Then his dark blue finger pointed at the combadge on his chest.

"You say you went beyond your initial goals in Starfleet. But, is there anything else now in Starfleet, or through Starfleet, that could become for you a new goal? Isn't there anything that could make you want to stay in Starfleet?"

"Of course there is Sir. Starfleet, Lotus Fleet, has been the only home I've known since I started at the Academy. It isn't that I dislike Starfleet at all, in fact quite the opposite. The things I've seen and done in Starfleet, I could never have done if I'd joined the Militia. The people I've served with and the officers I've helped train... the security force on the Alsea... those are still my people for the most part; and there is a lot of galaxy out there that I've seen only a fraction of. Of course I do still have family on Bajor, and I'm sure my mother would love to have me on Deep Space 9, and that is something to consider as well."

Oseno paused, as he'd noted before it was a lot to take in, and some of it he realized the captain likely could not understand as he was ostracized by his people and had no homeworld to return to. 

The Andorian indeed took a moment to ponde rwhat he was been told. The slight wavering of his antennae said how deeply he was thinking it over.

"Then, consider it from the other angle; what would you loose by staying in Starfleet... or if on the other hand you resigned your commission?"

Oseno thought for a moment.

Points to the captain for turning it around on me, but he's right, I need to examine this as best I can and that means taking everything into account. 

"I have nothing to lose really by staying, my service record is very good, and I hold a command rank on one of the most prestigious ships in the Fleet. If I resigned, there's no telling on what I'd miss out on not to mention the friends and comrades I'd be leaving behind. Then there's C-err... Lieutenant Steele, we're...close, and if I leave there's no telling when I'll see her again. Of course I do have family and friends on Bajor that I haven't seen since I left for the Academy, and as you said DS9 is a very important posting both to Bajor and the Federation." 

Kheren blinked but his antennae curved slightly towards Jureth.

"Family is where you come from... and where you may return to... But is that really what, or who, lies now before you?"

Before the Bajoran could answer, he sighed briefly and spoke pointedly.

"And consider this; up until now, the liaison between the Federation and Bajor on DS9 had always been a Militia officer. Why could it not be now a Starfleet officer? And an accomplished and respected one from Bajor at that?"

Oseno was silent for a long moment. Obviously stirred by his problem and moved by his decision to come to him, of all people, for counsel, Kheren stood up and walked to the nearest transparency. He looked outside, at the splendid view of the ringed, disc-shaped form of Starbase Lotus and beyond, at distant lights of the stars.

After a moment, he spoke again, his eyes still to the vastness beyond.

"You asked me what I would do; for me there would have been no hesitation. To you, to most, Starfleet is a career. To me, it is my life; all that I want to be, all that I want to have, all that I want to share. Anyone or anything who would want to take that away from me would simply be wanting to take away my life. My wives know it; I know it.Thus, of all people in this universe, I am the least person you should listen to."

Then, the Andorian turned on his heels and walked back to his seat to face Oseno.

"Kontaëmpl lae gleaççae daen tänn Aômm...  You should look at the ice of your soul, as we say on Andoria. You should listen, really listen, only to yourself."

"Thank you, Sir," Jureth replied truly grateful for his friend and commander's advice "I will take what you have said to heart, I have a lot of thinking to do before I reply to the General. I'll be going, and leave you to your recuperation. Please thank your wives for allowing me to steal you for a bit." 

"Stealing me from my wives these days is not a bother, Commander; it is a relief."

If ever Kheren was joking, none could tell by his face alone. 

"Glad if I have been of any help to you. Whatever you decide, it should be what is best for you... and that is all that really matters in the end. The rest of the universe will have to deal with it."

Oseno bowed slightly and made his exit heading back toward his own quarters to get some rest as well.