Subject: Grail: "The Great Brightness"; "A Word in Edgewise"

<OOC: I was astounded to receive 23 messages yesterday! You guys were

really fired up, I must say. :) >

"A Word in Edgewise" by: Lt. Brennan.

Kait took to observing the nonverbal exchanges between people instead of

the verbal kind.

She noticed how many seemed to look at each other with a knowing glint in

their eye.

She could see it when Lt. Mallory looked at Lt. Cmdr. Castle, and even more

surprisingly,

when Janice and Captain Terrakian exchanged glances. It seemed like every

time people

were given a new assignment, they'd christen it by forming a new

relationship.

Kait couldn't help but remember that she had done the same exact thing

before, and she

wouldn't stop herself from allowing it to happen again. The Academy was

worse though,

she smiled to herself. A new assignment was a new paper to write, and that

came every

day, just like the new relationship she'd always christen it with.

Kait looked at Captain Terrakian again. What did her cousin ever see in

him? He really

didn't seem like the committing type, nor the commanding, though he feigned

it well. He

obviously liked it better when a person, especially a woman, took charge

over him. That

was evident in his earlier relationship with R'Laurent, who looked to be a

full-blooded

Klingon, and also in his choice of LtMaj. Brinn who was no different.

Brinn took charge,

and showed who was boss. These types were definitely nothing like her

cousin, and it was

doubtful that the Captain would give a kid like Kestra a second thought,

except for maybe

a pat on the back, if the girl was lucky.

Maybe Kestra was just like Kait when she was younger: not very choosy. But

why did she

show interest in him, and no other? And why would the girl be so

fascinated with

someone she never even so much as talked to? Kait thought about setting

her cousin up

with one of the engineering officers, maybe even her "favorite", if she

could stand to.

Kait broke the strain of thought, only then becoming aware of the fact that

she had lost

total sense of her surroundings, and had lost track of the conversation.

"It might just work!" Lt. Mallory exclaimed.

Kait was wondering she had missed, but it seemed that everyone else was as

clueless as

she. Then a few solutions were presented for saving Kerestia.

What were they trying to save the planet for? They only needed to make an

exchange for

some medicine. Did the Kerestians demand that kind of help for such an

exchange? It

could be that these people thought they would be acting in a humanitarian

way by

violating the prime directive, or perhaps they were anxious to play god.

The latter was

purely derogatory, but the former would not explain why these people were so

enthusiastic about ignoring the prime directive. If they were to do

something so serious,

then there should be a graver consideration given to it, instead of this

spirited motivation

to do otherwise.

Kait wanted to give her opinion but she had trouble getting a word in

edgewise. Then her

chance came when Captain Terrakian presented a question to both her and her

superior.

Unfortunately, it was something that was totally Lt.Cmdr. Hargen's domain.

As far as

Kait could tell, the probe was in perfect running order, but it was Hargen

who had so

highly specialized the probe for detecting even the most minute anomalies,

and for

analysing the changing gravimetrics of the great brightness.

Janice Hargen sat down, then glanced at the junior lieutenant across from

her. Kait

couldn't tell what kind of look it was, but she imagined it to show that

Janice was not the

kind to have a singular interest. Kait would've liked this (since it made

Janice's disposition

seem more natural), had it not been someone Kait had just been thinking

about in the same

way. Then Kait had to stop herself there, because she was starting to get

out-of-hand

again. She was much too much the jealous type, and that had only lead to

more problems.

She had no claims to anyone, after all, so it was rather presumptuous of

her to assume

any, whether it was intentional or not.

The junior lieutenant, apparently from flight control, continued to explain

the intended

path through the great brightness. Kait found this to be much more

intriguing than the

pointless banter that had occurred earlier. Then when the junior

lieutenant was finished

giving his explanation of the chosen path, he asked, "Kypper, Hillary, do

you have

anything to add?"

Hillary shook her head no, and there was no response from anybody called

"Kypper" for

as far she could see. Either "Kypper" had nothing to add, or he was off in

his own little

world.

So Kait took this as her turn to speak, and she did so not without a show.

Standing up

and calmly holding her hands behind her back, she began: "Under normal

circumstances, I

would say that the variant nature of the great brightness would pose too

much of a threat

to this ship, and that it would be best to spend the extra time required to

go around it in

order to make sure that we aren't putting this ship in any _unnecessary_

danger."

Kait paused to take a breath, so that she could prolong the sour expression

that the junior

lieutenant gave her.

"However, it seems that the majority of the people here are wanting to save

Kerestia, a

planet whose life is nearing an end, and time is not a luxury the

inhabitants have. I do

want to say that I find it hard to believe that everyone here is quick to

throw away the

prime directive. The prime directive was put there for a reason, and it

was not made by a

couple of fools who only wanted to complicate your problems. For a case

where a sun is

dying, not by any fault of the federation or one of its citizens, the prime

directive clearly

does apply.

If this doesn't convince you, have you ever thought that if we save a

planet that is under

the rule of drug lords who keep almost everyone in a narcotic state, do we

want them to

be able to survive and prosper and make an impact on everyone else in the

Beta Quadrant?

It is improbable that the Kerestians will even make very good allies.

Unless we are willing to make this ship go renegade, then we should obey

the prime

directive." Kait looked imploringly at Captain Terrakian after the last

statement.

She sat down, not bothering to ask for opinions, but almost knowing that

she would get

some. As she sat down, she realised how fast her pulse was racing from the

adrenaline of

making an argument she so ardently believed in.