Shades of Grey

Posted on Thu Mar 5th, 2026 @ 12:20pm by Commander Alex Flynn & Ensign Jara'kani & Petty Officer 1st Class Ayol & Staff Warrant Officer Umet'Okan & Staff Sergeant Anot-Olok

1,609 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Shoreleave [3-4]
Location: B-Dock, Pier 2
Timeline: Early Morning, late shoreleave

To those who had served in the Dominion War, the sight of the Vorta Yeoman Ayol flanked by two particularly burly Jem'Hadar may have been unnerving, even if all three were in Starfleet uniforms. As the Captain's yeoman, he rarely had anything to do with the Master-at-Arms Umet'Okan, and as far as anyone could tell, this was the first time the Jem'Hadar security officer had been in the same room with Sergeant Anot-Alok, the camouflage-green clad Marine.

A steady flow of officers were departing from the Swiftsure. Even though like both Jem'Hadar he was less than a decade old, Ayol had been in Starfleet for enough of his life to see that most of the new faces were young and either freshly graduated or enlisted. There was one young face they were looking for though, and she would stand out from the crowd.

Finally, amidst the throng, came a familiar yet unfamiliar sight; a female Jem'Hadar. Ayol approached her politely, focusing his eyes on hers.

"Ensign Jara'kani, greetings. I am Yeoman Ayol. I trust your journey from the Alpha Quadrant was without incident?" He left space for her to approach and clear the path for those alighting behind her.

Now, Jara'kani had read many, many things about her brothers (and their handlers) from the Gamma Quadrant. Not one of those things was nice. Most of them involved killing. Some of them involved sycophancy so sticky-sweet it made her sick. All of them involved drugs. Most of all, honestly, there'd always been a part of her that wished she'd never need to meet them in real life. In no way did she feel like them. Never. Nor did she ever want to be like them. The fact that she was fully capable of being like them if so incensed alone made her stomach churn. The fact that they would definitely call her a freak of science or whatever else they might come up with made her stomach churn.

Well, there's not liking the idea of it, and having to confront that reality with her own two eyes, because the welcome party that'd been sent out to meet her too made her stomach churn. Clearly someone somewhere on board either hadn't had their cultural training, or she was now the subject of a very complex, slightly cruel social experiment.

"I- yes, Petty Officer, there were no incidents." She answered, tightly, knuckles white on the handles of her duffel bag as she shifted it to her front - an act of subconscious more than anything. "I am pleased to be aboard." She was, and she wasn't really. The way her eyes instinctively darted from the Vorta to either Jem'hadar and back in a manner that was one hundred percent Jem'hadar, you'd think she wanted to bolt - but no, she remained rooted to the spot in front of the trio, toes curling in her boots, and not the way that she liked.

"I am glad to hear it. Please don't be concerned, we only wish to greet you. This is Sergeant Anot-Olok and Warrant Officer Umet'Okan." Ayol said with a warm smile, prompting a nod from both the male Jem'Hadar. Ayol turned and gave them a look as if to say 'a little more.'

"Hello." The Marine said first with a flat affect. "Welcome aboard, ma'am." The Master-at-Arms followed with slightly more enthusiasm.

"It is quite natural to be nervous." Ayol said, hoping that acknowledging it would help to soothe her. "When one is the first of one's kind, everything is unexpected. Anot-Olok here was among the first Jem'Hadar to be inducted into Starfleet. Know that we are here, if you need anything."

Jara couldn't decide what was worse: the whiplash she got seeing her male counterparts attempt pleasantries (which, by the way, came off as half-hearted, likely of no fault of theirs) and wear her uniform, or the fact that they had no choice but to call her ma'am. Clearly this assignment was going to be far from simple.

"Okay. I understand." She replied tightly, fingers relaxing fractionally on the strap of her duffel bag. "I was told that I'd be meeting commander Flynn here."

Alex walked and talked to the column of new arrivals as they moved past her, welcoming them aboard and encouraging them to keep proceeding to boarding ops for quartermaster assignments. She soon reached the mountainous Jem'Hadar and Ayol in an instinctual leadership role. The Ensign she'd read about, Jara'kani, didn't seem to love her welcoming party. Whoops.

"Ensign, welcome aboard, I'm Commander Flynn. Want to go for a walk?" She asked the Ensign, hoping to extricate her from the others.

"I... yes. Yes, please." Jara'kani replied, visibly more relaxed now that she didn't have to face existential dread anymore - not for the time being at least.

"Thanks boys, I'll take it from here." Alex said with a nod to Ayol and the others, leading Jara'kani back the other way, leaving them to sort of stand there until they were gone. "So if I'm remembering your file properly, that's the first time you've met another Jem'Hadar, right?" Flynn asked once they were a good distance away.

"Yes, ma'am." Finally did Jara'kani's fingers clench a little less tightly on the handle of her duffel as they walked together. "I... it was not good." She admitted, more softly than one would expect of someone like her. "They did not mistreat me. Rest assured. But I could not help but feel a sense of mortal otherness when I looked at them."

"I have heard and read the history books. I know deep in my bones I am supposed to be like them. But I am not. I am- was- a human's greedy ambition given form. And I am me. It is a strange contrast."

"None of us choose the circumstances we arrive in this world by. We only get to choose what we do once we're here. But I know what it's like to not be comfortable around them. My first encounter came during the war. When they boarded my father's ship. Took me a while to get used to being around them, but these guys are solid. Without Ayol this whole place would fall apart, and Umet'Okan can teach anyone how to shoot any weapon properly, as long as they've got the required limbs." Alex said in a way she hoped was encouraging.

"And if you don't warm up so easily, we've got great counsellors if anything you feel becomes problematic." Alex said as an aside.

"What I meant was... I feel apprehensive. And surprised." Jara'kani replied. "Apprehensive because I know I am technically an anomaly. Surprised because they did not immediately call me a heretical abomination, or something similar. But I would still have preferred that someone else greeted me - which is not to say that they did not try."

"But I am also glad that they treated me with the same pleasantry as anyone else. And rest assured I shall seek help if I feel the need. For now, I intend to find my place. And the best places to eat."

"I don't think the Epsilons get much into the zealotry you find in the Gamma Quadrant. They revere the founders, largely because its bred into them, but without the engineered obedience and drug dependency they've led rich full lives. I know Umet'Okan eats at the Ring of Honour a bit, but that might just be because he's there for the fights." Alex explained in the hopes of soothing her concerns, but she didn't get the impression it was working. She led them into a turbolift, which Alex directed to boarding Ops.

"But what do you like? I can probably give you a few pointers. I think I've had a drink at every place on the promenade. Even if that drink was kanar." Alex said with a slight shudder.

"Sweets." Jara'kani replied with a wry smile. "Especially chocolate. And I cannot get enough of the cuisine from the region of Earth known as Japan. Especially the soups that are sweet and salty at once. I think it is called sukiyaki."

Yes, none of those things screamed Jem'hadar - but it wasn't as if Jara'kani had ever really considered herself to be one in the truest sense. Besides, people had all manner of weird tastes, so why wasn't she allowed to have hers?

"Oh yeah. I think The Spot has a few Japanese dishes. And people tell me Romulan food from the northern archipelago has a lot in common. But, lucky us, we're popular now, and there's new places setting up every day. Luckily, everyone does chocolate. Well, except the juice place." Alex said.

The turbolift stopped there and the door opened. "Well, I think this is you. Just keep going straight ahead. Listen for shouting. And don't worry about Olsson, you'll know him by the hat. He's all bark and no bite. Well, not while he's on duty, anyway. If you've got nothing better to do come lunchtime swing by my office, just outside the CIC. We'll see if anyone on the promenade does sukiyaki, and if not, talk them into it."

"We'll see." Jara smiled wryly as she stepped forward out of the turbolift. "Thank you, ma'am. If you'll let me be frank, you made me feel a lot better by showing up earlier." Then she was gone, walking down the corridor with much more pep in her stride than she had before.

"My pleasure. See you 'round." Flynn said, before resuming her trip in the turbolift.

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