Ad Astra :: Star Trek Fanfiction Archive ^{Beam me up, Scotty.}

Chapter Text

The Star Beagle Adventures                                                
Episode 2: Astral Traveller
Scene 5: Dax

2.5
Dax

“I’m sorry, Captain Yui, but in my opinion, Project Manager Tidun is competent to stand trial.” 

Ezri Dax had established her offices in a previously unused storefront on the second floor of the Deep Space 9 promenade. Storefront space in the promenade was at a premium, but Colonial Kira Nurys had agreed that the counselor’s office should be a warm and inviting space separate from the medical center. Not a place you go because you’re sick, but a comfortable resource for a quick word with a willing listener.

“As project manager, she is the only one being charged,” Dax continued. “The other trills will be called as witnesses. And while I’m no fan of the trillian justice system, Manager Tidun will have the ability to appeal her case to the Federation Tribunal.”

“What is wrong with trillian justice?” asked Yui Song. “I was under the impression the trill had one of the most advanced ethical and legal systems encountered by the Federation.”

Ezri Dax almost regretted inviting the question. Almost.

Following her interview in Ezri Dax’s office (or salon as Dax preferred to both characterize and present it), Kiasias Tidun had been remanded into custody in the station’s rather barbaric brig. The other 10 surviving trill miners had been moved into guest quarters on the habitat ring - only two small apartments with 5 trill each.

Dax indulged in a deep sigh. “For trill like me, yes. Only the best. But did you notice Tidun’s spots?”

“Rather faint,” Yui observed. “I found myself checking the transporter log just to verify she wasn’t half-trill.”

Dax shook her head. “The real thing. She’s a southern plains trill. Very little spotting. You might not have seen equatorial trills either - almost all spots. Or if you saw them, you might not recognize they were trills. Humans tend to think that all trills look like me.” Dax brushed her nails against her neck to emphasize her spots. 

Clear lacquer nail polish. Yui realized suddenly that she had become acutely aware of such things. Such as Ezri Dax’s light, tasteful application of blue eye-shadow.

“Forest trills,” Ezri continued. “That’s what I am. When Dax required a new host in extremis, the Sanctuary passed over a far more qualified candidate because he wasn’t the proper race. By choosing me instead, they took a gamble with Dax’s life. But equatorial trills never get symbionts. Especially not a historically significant symbiont like Dax.”

“Surely the trillian justice system is not so racially biased,” Yui said.

“Officially, legally, legislatively, no,” Ezri Dax replied. “But a justice system is only as good as the people running it. There are still quite a few judges who are racially biased - some of them without even realizing it. And you can bet that the judges in the Tidun case will be forest trills. I really don’t like Tidun’s chances in that system. But since the Treaty of Trillus Prime has made our government a full member of the Federation, our court system now falls under the Federation Tribunal for ultimate authority. So even if Tidun doesn’t get a fair trial, she will get a fair appeal.”

2.5