The Problem With Belmont

Posted on Sun Jun 2nd, 2024 @ 7:10pm by Lieutenant Darru & Ensign Mercy Mourne
Edited on on Sun Jun 2nd, 2024 @ 7:11pm

Mission: Contagion
Location: Quarters
Timeline: Day 369
3909 words - 7.8 OF Standard Post Measure

It had been a long, tense shift for Mercy. Between the anxiety of possibly being sent away and the feeling she had somehow failed to find missing data, she had been eager to leave the bridge once her shift was over. However now Lieutenant Darru had returned it left her with another problem, that of the Belmont Report.

Upon leaving the bridge she had returned to her quarters and quickly changed out of her uniform. She sighed when she realised she had managed to reopen a previously mended tear in her sleeve. She hung it up to deal with tomorrow before her shift she changed into some comfy clothes, not that they had a huge choice of civilian wear. Her usual choice was a pair of leggings, a high necked t-shirt and a comfy cardigan her grandmother had knitted for her. The sleeves were too long and the buttons were mismatched where some had gone missing over the years and needed to be replaced. She pulled her hair up into a messy bun and then sat on her bunk and tried to read.

It was when she found herself re-reading the same paragraph for the fourth time that she made a frustrated choking noise. “Fine!” She said to a small rock which sat on her desk as jury and confessor. The goggly eyes that were stuck to it giving it a goofy appearance. Her sister had pressed it into her hand when she had first left home saying it was less weird for her to talk to herself if there was a piece of home listening. “Fine I’ll go see if he’s awake and just talk to him about it.” She gave the rock a pat on the head and then headed off.

First she stopped at the mess for a peace offering and then headed to Lieutenant Darru’s quarters. She balanced the two cups of tea she had fetched in one hand and then knocked on the door with the other, her teeth finding her lips in an anxious habit while she waited.

Darru had been sitting cross-legged on the floor, meditating on the enigma of the Luminari and how they had survived on generational ships, when a soft knock interrupted his thoughts. He raised an eyebrow and glanced at the chronometer. It was early evening, a time when it could be anyone on the ship, but visitors to his quarters were a rarity. The last person had been Sloan, and that had been an exhausting evening of a mind meld—a draining experience he was not eager to repeat anytime soon. Ignoring the door would not solve anything, so he rose, smoothing his robes, and opened it. He blinked at the corridor's bright light, contrasting sharply with the dimness of his quarters.

"Um… Good evening, Ensign. Can I help you?" he asked, his tone polite but cautious. He wondered if she wanted to discuss something from the department that he hadn't yet addressed.

Between knocking on the door and waiting for Darru to respond, Mercy had started to second guess herself. She had been about to turn tail and run when the door slid open to reveal LieutenAnt Darru. She flushed, and for a moment nothing came out of her mouth, then she is holding up the two cups of tea. A herbal blend with no need for milk or caffeine. She had heard Vulcans didn’t usually eat meat, and she hadn't ever thought to check with Darru if this extended to dairy so it seemed like a safe bet.

“Can we talk? Somewhere confidential? Uhm I mean may we talk sir?” The words blurt out and then she takes in the dimness of his quaters. “Oh, but… if you were meditating or sleeping, it can wait. Uhm but you can still have the tea. I thought you might appreciate something relaxing after today’s revelations? Or not! I can drink two cups, or go get you something else?” Finally she stumbled to a stop to draw breath.

Darru just stared at the woman waiting for her to stop talking before he stepped back to invite her into his quarters. He was not willing to leave his quarters and it was as private as anywhere on the ship. He only had one neighbour and on the other side, an engineer was on shift so there was no one close by. Once inside he switched the lighting up several notches so that she would be able to see. He glanced around his quarters and the bareness of it and offered the only chair sitting on his bed. "I will have the tea Ensign." He took the tea and put it down on a pile of books.

Mercy let out a sigh as she was invited in, giving him a small nod she takes the offered seat and handed over the tea. “You don’t have to turn up the lights just for me. Your quaters you should keep the settings at whatever level is comfortable sir.” She fiddles a little with her own cup before looking around. As he placed the drink down on the books she eyes the spines, curious about what sort of books he was reading. “Don’t think I’ve been in your quarters before. What are you re- Oh sorry! I should get to the point right!” She blushes and rubs her neck wincing slightly. Suddenly she wished she’d opted to keep her uniform on, a little formality was nice to hide behind. Instead she took a calming sip of her tea before she began.

“I spoke to the Captain while you were on mission sir, about the data storage problem. She offered a rather… surprising solution. A core… I assume you know all about it. Well… it’s just…” she trailed off suddenly worried her concerns were not quite as substantial as they had seemed when she was mulling them over alone.

“At the risk of giving you another unsolicited lesson in human history sir, have you ever heard of the Belmont Report?”

Darru raised an eyebrow looking down at what she had started to ask before he realised exactly what the Captain had suggested. “I did know all about it. I was there at its discovery.” He had assisted with bringing it back to the ship and securing it from prying eyes.

Mercy nodded and took a sip of her tea. "Right of course, and I don't mean to be... or rather I don't want to cast aspersions on anyone's character, but... is it ethical? To use technology obtained under these circumstances do you think?" She put her tea down and rubbed the back of her neck. "I don't know enough about how it was obtained to make a judgement call on it. And to be honest, I don't think I know the Captain well enough to ask her about it. But I trust her, and I trust you, so if you say it's the right thing then I will do what needs to be done. But the Belmont Report you see, it's a set of guiding principles for scientific researchers from earth. In a dark part of Earth's history, science was used with great effect to harm people. All in the name of research and acquisition of knowledge. Some might think them old fashioned now, but they are important to me. So... that's why I wanted to ask. Do you think it's right to use this technology?" When she had said her piece she looked up at Darru with wide blue eyes, studying his face carefully.

The man listened intently to the woman. He had, had his own discussions and thoughts on it at the time of them acquiring it all but he had come to the conclusion that they needed all the help they could get. “I do ensign. We need anything we can get our hands on to survive out here and if we don’t we are not going to get anywhere.” 9600 light years from Earth Starfleet was a very long journey and he was the only one left on the ship who could make it home alive.

Mercy hesitated, she took another sip of her tea and then brushed back some of her hair which had fallen out. “And where do we draw the line? Are any of our principles worth drawing a line in the proverbial sand?” She then rubbed her face with her hand, letting out a tired sigh. “Forgive me Lieutenant, I have not been sleeping well lately. Perhaps I am being a tad dramatic. Perhaps you are right, survival must come first. And if we were forced to delete information we might loose valuable knowledge which could aide us in a future crisis. But still… surely there is a place for ethics and morality alongside survival? How… actually I am only just realising now my knowledge on Vulcan ethics and philosophy is largely lacking. Do you personally subscribe to the theory of a moral compass or conscience? How do you know you are doing the right thing?”

Darru raised an eyebrow as he listened and tried to understand what was going on with her. Sleep deprivation could completely explain it but he did wonder if the last year was finally getting to her.

“This data core is not hurting anyone. I subscribe to a moral compass and conscience very much like yourself but I also use people like yourself, like O’Connery as a guiding light for myself in situations like this.” Lexi had been there at the discovery and she had expressed reservations but also the greater need for assistance. “Over the past year with the situations that we have faced have you ever not trusted any actions that the Captain or Commander Gerhard taken?”

Mercy let out a small huff. “No of course not. But it’s also not an entirely fair question because I need to have faith in them. I need to believe that they will get us all home by any means at their disposal. Because without it what have I got? And if I am honest with myself, I would be willing to ignore a great number of concerns in order to uphold that belief and I suppose that worries me. At what point do we say we have paid too high a price to achieve our goal?” She then went silent, chewing her lip in anxious habit before at last shaking her head. Finally she seemed to shrink a little internally. Straightening up in her seat she hides her concerns behind a smile.

“Forgive me Lieutenant, I have interrupted your personal time and I think perhaps I am out of line. It is as you say. I should trust you and the Captain. If you believe this is our only option then I will, of course, begin work in archiving the data once the core can be retrofitted.”

“But I believe without a doubt that the Captain would never cross a line. She did not when the Vrav spent a 100 days attacking us after we took the alarm their planet. She gave them access to a resequencer once they were prepared to listen. I do no believe that she has changed from that woman.” Darru rose and shook his head. “Sit back down Mercy. You have thoughts that you obviously need to get out so speak and I will listen.” He offered.

Mercy blinked in shock as the Lieutenant used her name. She plopped back into her seat and looks at him a little stunned. “I know, I know the Captain is a good woman!” She held her hands up in a slightly defensive gesture before dropping them back into her lap. “I honestly do believe everyone on this ship, has their hearts in the right place. However sometimes we loose our way not just because we are thrown across the other side of the Galaxy in one big incident. Sometimes it’s a slow creep. Small decisions lead to normalisation.”

Mercy ran a hand through her hair again as she leaned forward, which resulted in her looking even more dishevelled. “The Belmont established three guiding principles for scientific endeavour. The first is that we, as researches, will preserve and protect autonomy of those involved in research and act with honesty and integrity. That we will consider consent and truth before anything else. The second is that we will do no harm. The last is that we will ensure reasonable, non-exploitative and well considered procedures are administered fairly and equally.” Mercy paused for a moment and she searched for her next words.

“In using stolen technology we have endangered every one of those principles, all be it in a small way. I understand it is necessary that we must place the safety and survival of the crew over guidance written centuries ago. But what about when we return home? What will we do with the core then? Or anything else that we have to acquire for our survival? It may seem like I am being difficult sir, but these principles are about more than short term survival. The decisions we make will establish precedence for future behaviour. And although I trust everyone on this ship, I think we have already crossed the line when we stole technology that we had no right to. I worry that I am about to willingly cross another line in using it, and I think I need reassurance that we will find our way back. I’m not saying it isn’t necessary, but I fear the implications of what comes after if we don’t question the decisions we make.”

She then stops, takes a deep breath and gives him a slightly defeated look. “Sir… Darru. Does any of that make sense? Am I…” she waved her hands in a vague gesture and gave him a weak, self-effacing grin. “Am I being too much?”

The man blinked and decided to rewind the conversation ever so slightly. “I know you did not get much experience on the future ship - The Caelestis but we did not steal the core. The ship was deserted after Nathaja died.” He said almost bursting with emotion for a moment before he became logical again with his next words. “That ship had no use for it but we did. So no you are not being too much but I do believe that you do not know the complete story of how it was acquired.”

Mercy shook her head before she gave him a sympathetic look. “You are right, I don’t have much experience of what happened. And the Captain made it clear that discretion is very much needed around the topic so that’s why I’ve come to you. I’m hoping you can tell me more about what happened. But also, just because an object isn’t missed, doesn’t mean anyone has a right to take it. We didn’t hurt anyone in its acquisition, but we still took it. It didn’t belong to us until we decided it did. I’m really not trying to be difficult sir, please believe me. But I just want to understand the situation more.”

Darru nodded and leaned back a little to get more comfortable. What he was going to share was common knowledge but he knew that the woman had shut herself away and that was his fault for not bringing her out more before now. “It is more discretion because of what information is on the core than anything else.” He reminded gently picking the cup of tea up. “The Caelestis was a colony ship from the far future. But its equipment failed killing all the people in status other than a boy Nathaja who was raised by the Emergency Disaster Engagement Network.”

Mercy hummed, and went quiet for a few moments, her brow furrowed as she thought. Sometimes she knew she had herself to blame, in a job which was all about information, sometimes she was overwhelmed outside of it by too much. So she did shut herself away. “So the core has information about the colonists?” She prompted, she not fully understanding why discretion was needed.

She also didn’t understand why that would absolve them from the moral conundrum of having future technology aboard that they were about to exploit for their own gain, but she was trying to see it the way Darru and the Captain obviously did. “I’m sorry I’m…” She waved her hand about to say something self-deprecating but not wanting the sympathy it might illicit so she keeps the last of it to herself.

“Maybe the difficulty is simply that necessity out weighs all other factors in this instance, and I just have to find a way to live with that.” The rules that had kept her life clear back home, maybe didn’t apply anymore.

“It holds information from a thousand years in the future. Darru did not say reply for a long moment as he thought on what to say properly. Sometimes less words were needed but she needed something profound and logical. “The world is not as black and white as we thought once upon a time. But we still hold what we believe close. Nothing that had been done is not in keeping the ship safe.”

“I understand that, I never doubted that the priority had been the survival and safety of the crew. It was at what cost and what comes after we have survived that was keeping me up at night. And now it will be what is on that data core no doubt.” She gives him a wry grin. “But worrying about what happens won’t change a thing. I assume it will be limited those who can access the core to do the archiving? Or do you think we can find a way to separate and classify the information that is on there? Or is the information open to everyone on the crew?”

Darru was patient. Eventually, people would start to realise that they had to survive or they might as well have stayed on Relea. He for one was glad that they had not, he would have frozen within a month of the cold world. The ship sometimes was too cold for him but it was why he kept his quarters slightly warmer and wore thermal clothing under his uniform. "We can compartmentlise what is there and we can keep it safe from anyone wanting to know about the future."

Mercy sighed, she was not entirely reassured, but seemed to have at least made peace with the fact this might be the closest to comfort she was going to get, especially from her commanding officer. “Well that will have to do in the absence of an alternative storage device. Madi- I mean Ensign Moore has agreed to help. I will leave it to you to decide if she needs access or if it is better if she works on categorising the data. I am happy to input it to the core alone if you would rather limit the access.” She hesitated a moment, almost letting slip a teasing question before she remembered exactly who she was talking to. Maybe drinking tea in her comfy off duty clothes wasn’t the best idea. “I’ll leave you to your reading.” She gestures to the pile of books, before she stood again. “Thank you for taking time to hear me out sir. Sorry to have interrupted your personal time with thoughts of work.”

He could have argued the point. Could have carried on poked at the beast still wanting a fight but chose to let it go for now. He could poke at that point another day when the subject was less raw for her. “You can look at the books to see if any of them interest you.” He assured.

Mercy had been about to bid her retreat but paused, eyes wide with surprise before she recovered herself. "R-really?" She couldn't quite keep the excitement out of her voice. "I must confess I have read the books I brought with me more than once and was starting to consider writing my own if only to have something different." She took a step towards the pile. "Is there one you would recommend?" She looked down the spine of the pile.

The man smirked a little. “Have you not considered the library that has been set up?” He offered before looking down and picking three up offering it to her. “They are mostly what Sloan had in his quarters and by extension what Captain Morgan brought onboard.”

Mercy blushed slightly, not sure if she could admit that she had been too shy to go to even a library. "I uh... hadn't found the time?" The statement came out as more of a question as she winced. What a poor excuse, she hadn't found the time but she had read each of the books she had brought with her 6 times over instead? You didn't need to be well versed in Vulcan logic to see through that one, she could only hope he was kind enough not to press her. "Although I should probably hand in my books so someone else can enjoy them, if anyone would find historical accounts and trashy ro-uhm novels interesting."

She gathered the three close checking the spines of the books and smiling slightly at the choices. "Although if you are interested in Human culture sir, maybe we could trade before I do. I have one book about the history of art which is quite good? The chapters on Expressionism and Art Nouveau were my favourites. As well as collection of late 20th Century poetry, although that was a gift from one of my brothers so I would prefer to have it back when you were done. I think he only got it for me because he liked that there was a lot of swearing. If it interested you though of course?" She tapped the covers of the books with her fingers in a nervous gesture.

“I will consider it when I get bored of what the crew have been sharing.” Darru stated. “But I would consider if you have books that you are willing to share to give them to the library. I am sure that others will enjoy whatever you have there. This crew is very talented at learning and devouring all information they can find.” The whole experience of joining the Earth Starfleet crew had changed his life and changed his whole view point of humans from what he had been brought up to believe.

Mercy smiled and nodded. “I’ll drop them off in the morning. Thank you for the loan Lieutenant.” She then hovered a moment before she nodded once more, and then turned on her heel to leave. “Good night. Oh and Lieutenant, would you do me a favour and not mention this conversation to anyone? I don’t want the Captain to think she’s not doing her best. She’s doing a tremendous job under difficult circumstance, I wouldn’t want her to doubt that, I do trust her, despite my reservations about using the core.” She bumped into the door frame in her haste to leave, nearly dropping the books, but managed to recover them at the last moment.