From: Sarah Albertini-Bond (serendipity77_at_gmail.com)
Date: Tue May 15 2007 - 13:51:24 PDT
"The Prophets Love Me, This I Know"
<cont'd from Steve's "Unexpected">
=/\=
Location: GATEWAY STATION – 2
Stardate: 2.70512.2324
Scene: Temple of the Prophets' Nursery -> Promenade
Children who were too young to participate in services at the
Temple of the Prophets could go to the nursery where they would learn about
the Prophets on their own level.
"What exactly is a 14-month old going to learn about the
Prophets? Isn't she a bit young for theological training?" Xana had
whispered to Gene when they dropped off Dahlia before services. Gene
shrugged his shoulders at that and pointed out that getting dark looks from
the Prylars and Vedek for when (and that was the key word – not "if" but
"when") Dahlia would be "boisterous" would be problematic. So dropping off
Dahlia at the nursery would at least alleviate any problems they would have.
With that in mind, they had dropped off their daughter before service
figuring it would be best for all.
Since Gene was caught up in a conversation with another officer,
Xana waited patiently until it was her turn. "Hi, I'm here to pickup Dahlia
Bonviva/McInnis," she said to the aide. After that little run in with Roh
about the wormhole, Xana just wanted to pickup her daughter and go home so
she could watch Gene celebrate Dahlia's first Gratitude Festival with her.
"Ah yes," the aide nodded, "I'll go get her."
Xana waited in the foyer for the aide to return with her
daughter when another woman came over. "Ambassador Bonviva? I'm Norial
Jora, the headmistress of religious studies here in the Temple," a
middle-aged Bajoran woman said. "I was wondering if I could speak to you
and Commander McInnis about your daughter."
Maternal alarms were beginning to buzz. "Is something wrong
with Dahlia?"
"Oh no, no," the headmistress smiled, "she's a delightful child.
But there is something about her development that I thought that the three
of us should discuss."
That did nothing to alleviate the tension in Xana so she nodded
and murmured, "Let me get my husband." Turning around she walked over where
Gene was still in a discussion with another service attendee. She would
have worried about interrupting something important but it sounded like they
were discussing the latest intergalactic water polo match, which had BAJOR
up against ANDARIA in the semi-finals. Tapping him on the shoulder she
said to both of them, "My apologies for interrupting." Addressing Gene only
she said, "The headmistress says she must speak to both of us about Dahlia."
"Everything ok with her?" he asked with a quizzical expression.
Xana shrugged, "She says Dahlia is fine but the headmistress
says she needs to talk to us about her development."
Gene nodded at that. Turning to the other man he quickly
wrapped up things and went with Xana to the headmistress, who kindly led
them into her office.
The headmistress, still smiling, got them seated and offered
refreshment, which the parents politely turned down as the first aide
returned with Dahlia. "I'm so sorry for worrying you. It's just that
while we were watching the children during services we noticed something
about Dahlia that made her stand out from the other kids her age and I
thought bringing it up with you now before any problems arose would be
wise."
Gene and Xana exchanged looks with each other and looked at
their daughter. Aside from the obvious blue skin, they hadn't noticed any
difference between Dahlia and the other kids her age. And right now Dahlia
was blissfully unaware of what was going on, babbling on happily as she sat
on her mother's lap playing with a fingerpainting that she did which said
"The Prophets Love Me, This I Know". "Sorry, we don't mean to be obtuse
but we don't know what it is you're talking about," Xana said as she turned
in her chair to look back at the headmistress.
"Dahlia doesn't have her earring yet," the Norial said. "Now,
of course, the younger a child has her earring the better off it is for
everyone involved. Aside from the slight pain she'll have when her ear is
pierced, having a child wear her earring from a young age is good spiritual
development and education. We find that children who are raised from an
early age with a strong belief structure in the Prophets are more likely to
continue that for the rest of their lives." Smiling at Gene she continued
on, "And Commander McInnis, I'm sure you understand that as a Commander's
daughter Dahlia will be looked to…somewhat as a role model and we do want
her to give the right kind of example to the other children on the station."
"She's only a little over a year old, I'm happy when she doesn't
pick her nose in public," Xana muttered under her breath as she tried to
redirect Dahlia's fingers from her various orifices. Realizing she was out
of her depth here, she gave her beloved look while saying, "You know maybe
you should handle this."
Gene's face went blank for just a moment. Xana knew he hadn't expected
this. He'd been away from BAJOR long enough that he'd acclimated to the
diverse nature of Federation and Starfleet. Living in a polyglot society,
one got very good about handling the cultural differences and traditions of
*other* species, and neglected one's own. But Xana also knew that Gene
would not stay surprised long. He would act. It was in his nature to act,
and she saw the signs in his face long before Headmistress Norial Jora
would.
"Thank you, Headmistress," Gene smiled politely, "for bringing
this to our attention. I have been somewhat remiss in this area. My
expertise has been military for so long, I've quite neglected the spiritual
arena. However, there is a certain delicacy required in this decision, and
we might need some time to work this out."
"Delicacy?" the headmistress asked mystified. "It's an
earring that most Bajoran children wear by the first birthing day. What
could possibly require more thought?"
"As you may have noticed, my wife is not Bajoran," Gene began in
that conciliatory tone that Xana knew meant that he was in full out
diplomatic mode. "She is, in fact, quite involved in the spiritual life of
her own people. And since Dahlia is the child of two separate cultures,
we've long believed that she should have access to both."
"Certainly," the headmistress nodded. "A celebration of
cultures is a wonderful thing for Dahlia, but we are speaking of her pagh,
and that is clearly Bajoran."
"Actually Dahlia is also part Terran, from both sides," Xana
interjected. "And I'm sure the Bolian and Terran religious traditions that
she's from would also feel a link to her."
The Headmistress gave Xana a pitying look, as if the mother
couldn't recognize what was plain as…well the nose on Dahlia's face. "Your
daughter, Ambassador, is Bajoran. That is clearly where her path lies."
Gene fidgeted a moment, and covered it by taking his daughter
into his lap. The little girl reached a playful hand toward his ear, and he
skillfully evaded her grasp.
"One of the things I've learned in my years in Starfleet,
Headmistress, is that nothing is clear. My wife and I have decided that
Dahlia should have the benefits of instruction in all her cultures and
traditions, and that in the end she would make up her own mind on how to
worship. She may find comfort from all three. And being the daughter of a
Starfleet officer and an ambassador, she'll likely need all the help she can
get."
"This is disturbing," Norial frowned. "You're electing not to
give her an earring?"
"I'm electing for her to make that decision, and as you can see,
she's not quite old enough to make it yet."
"The other children will tease her, you know."
"Perhaps other Bajoran children will tease her," Gene
admitted. "But she plays with children of all species. She's going to have
to be more, do more and understand more than most Bajoran children do about
the universe out here. And giving her an earring to keep her from being
teased is just a form of spiritual camouflage. She needs to be tougher than
that."
The rest of the conversation was polite, but cool. Headmistress
Norial Jora was no fool, and certainly not a racist, but her concern for
Dahlia was evident, and her disagreement with Gene sincere.
"You know," Xana commented as they left the Temple, "I'm not all
that opposed to the earring."
Gene smiled and hugged her, Dahlia secure in his other arm.
"It's more than just the earring."
Xana smiled. She understood completely.
Gene gave Xana a kiss on the top her head. "You did well in
there," he whispered as they began walking. When Xana gave him a
questioning look he clarified, "You know for not completely not believing
the Headmistress' motives."
Xana bit her lip at that. She didn't want to start a fight, but
Gene didn't seem mad which helped her immensely. But her husband knew her
better than anyone else, and he was right. The entire time Xana had been
suspicious of the headmistress – which was part of the reason why Xana had
mostly tossed the whole earring question to Gene. "I am merely suspicious,
given Bolian and Terran history, of the complete separation of religion and
politics." As they kept walking, Xana made sure no one of note was around
before continuing on, "You heard the Headmistress – it wasn't just Dahlia's
eternal soul she was worried about. If it was, you know I wouldn't have had
a problem. It was the soul of a *Commander's* daughter that she was
worried about. There was an emphasis there that I think you're missing."
"I didn't miss it," the Bajoran replied, "I just don't think it
was as great as you thought it was. And politics and religion on BAJOR are
different."
"That might be," the Ambassador conceded. "But the bloody wars
of BOLARUS IX and EARTH have for nothing else taught me that men and women
will stop at nothing, leaving common sense long behind, when it comes to
religion. Say what you want of my job, but politicians only promise for
the here and now. Religion promises for the hereafter and that's a whole
new ballgame. Mix religion and politics…and it's guaranteed to be a
showdown. The problem is, no one can seem to completely separate the two
without abolishing one or the other."
"It's different on BAJOR," Gene pointed out. "I know what
you're saying but you have to trust me on this."
"I don't think we're on BAJOR anymore, Toto," Xana reminded him
gently.
Gene was going to ask about that and figured it was a reference
to a musical his wife and Dahlia were fond of watching. But still she had a
point – this was a Starfleet Station, not BAJOR. But he also had faith in
his fellow Bajorans that they would respect that difference.
=/\=
Kenneth Field
envision_at_fidalgo.net
aka Commander Gene McInnis
CNS/GS-2
Sarah Albertini-Bond serendipity77_at_gmail.com
Ambassador Xana Bonviva
Federation Ambassador
GATEWAY STATION – 2
I think men who have a pierced ear are better prepared for marriage. They've
experienced pain and bought jewelry.
--Rita Rudner
From HyperNews_at_youth.net
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