Stardate: 61129:4968
Title: "Decisions"
Author: Ensign Tarek
Time: Current
Scene: USS Relentless, Captain's Ready Room


Ensign Tarek walked briskly to the bridge. "This is the logical course of action," he thought to himself as he entered the turbolift. It was almost as if Tarek was trying to convince himself of his own logic. It had been several days since his last meditation and he could feel his mental control beginning to slip away. The young ensign entered the bridge and proceeded directly to the Captain's Ready Room.

"Enter," responded the captain as the door chimed. "Ah, Ensign Tarek. I was wondering when you were going to show up," said the captain in his usual casual yet business like tone.

"Sir, I have a suggestion regarding our involvement in the Dominion War of this universe," reported Tarek.

"Let's hear it," responded the captain.

"I believe that the Prime Directive would apply in the case. However, one could also argue that we are Starfleet officers and have a duty to uphold. It is my suggestion that until we can gain a further understanding of the timeline of this universe that we abstain from any direct conflict when at all possible." Tarek was himself torn with this decision and he could sense that the captain was also.

"That would be the logical thing to do, but would it be the right thing to do?" asked the captain.

"Sir?" Tarek showed a slight bit of confusion. To his Vulcan side, the right thing to do and the logical thing to do went hand in hand. While he understood the urges of humans and even Betazoids to follow their emotions in situations such as these, he relied on his logical mind to balance his thinking.

"Put yourself in my position, ensign. You are the captain and we are in a universe where the war is not with the Dominion, but the Borg. How would you proceed?"

The question hit Tarek like a hammer to the chest. It was at that moment that he realized he and the captain were not that different. The difference was in their enemies. Tarek thought very carefully before he spoke. "Logic would dictate the same response that I have given you. However, I believe that I would do everything I could to defeat the enemy and offer aid to my allies."

"Then now you understand the dilemma that we are facing," the captain said as he turned to look out into the beautiful blackness of space.

Tarek pondered for a moment that felt like an eternity. Then it came to him. "Sir, perhaps there is a way to both uphold the Prime Directive and fulfill our duty as officers. While it is true that in order to uphold the Prime Directive we must not become involved in direct conflict with the Dominion forces we can still follow protocol for answering distress calls much as we have done with the Solar Wind."

"And that would be the logical conclusion?" Captain Khavok asked almost musingly.

"Yes, sir" Ensign Tarek responded in his cool, Vulcan fashion. "However, if we encounter another Starfleet vessel our situation could become more complicated," Tarek added in his matter-of-fact tone.

"We will just have to wait and see then, won't we," responded the captain.

"Yes, sir. Permission to leave, sir?"

"Dismissed."

And with that Ensign Tarek turned and left the bridge. There is some tactical data from the last encounter with the Dominion that the young ensign would like to analyze and compare to the data from his own universe. Tarek had an unusual feeling during the last skirmish with the Dominion. Something felt oddly familiar to him. It was a feeling that Tarek had not felt in a very long time. There was something in the way that the attacking ships aligned themselves and in the method of attack. There was a pattern there that he had seen before. It was something that only he would notice. He knew he could not decipher this problem without a full analysis. Tarek knew that he would need more information from this universe before he could make a definitive conclusion but this was one time that he hoped his gut instinct was wrong.

As he arrived in his quarters, Ensign Tarek set the computer to run a tactical analysis from the last battle with the Dominion and to check that information against the Federation tactical database, as well as his personal tactical database which included extensive strategic breakdowns of every commander involved in the Dominion War of his own universe. Tarek knew this analysis would only provide a piece of the puzzle. Tarek sat on the floor and entered into a deep state of meditation in an attempt to find an explanation.

=/\= Ten hours later =/\=

"Analysis complete," chimed the computer at the workstation in Tarek's quarters.

Tarek had finished his meditation just a few minutes before and was still lacking the answers that he sought. He walked to the computer to review his results and found exactly what he expected and was at the same time surprised.

"Ensign Tarek to Captain Khavok," Tarek said as he thumbed his com badge.

[Go ahead.]

"Sir, pardon the interruption but I must speak with you immediately."


============
Ensign Tarek
Tactical Officer
USS Relentless
NCC-11966
============