Finding New Family ((Part 1))
Title: Finding New Family (Part 1/?)
Pairings/Characters: Kethas (OC), McCoy/Kethas, hints of Kirk/Spock maybe
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The story of an original Cardassian character of mine and how she ends up on the Enterprise. Written for Challenge #27 at startrekland
Here's my little visual image of Kethas. Imagine a Cardassian Angela Martini. xD
http://imm.io/1xHM
Everything hurt. Kethas could feel a bit of blood trickling down her forehead, over the ridges on her face. The pain didn’t concern her as much as her current predicament did though. Her heart was beating faster than normal because the Cardassian had just been exiled and through very bad fortune was currently being held in the brig on the Federation ship USS Enterprise.
***
Kethas Nere had joined the Cardassian military at a very young age. Her parents were impressed by their daughter’s desire to fight for their species. Their son, Kethas’s younger brother, had also enlisted and they were placed on the same ship. For years, Kethas was diligent and progressed swiftly through the ranks with her brother by her side. When she was approximately 24 human years old, she became Dal Nere. So close to having command of her own ship.
Of course, not everything was perfect. While she loved her people, she hated the Dominion. Talk of rebellion was brewing, and Kethas waited patiently for words to become actions. Until that happened, she would simply bide her time and stay loyal to the Cardassian military.
Everything was running smoothly until Kethas tried confiding in her brother. He had been shocked and appalled, but kept silent and stayed loyal to his sister. Everything was running smoothly. That was until a month ago when a small human science ship had strayed into the domain of the Cardassian Empire. Kethas’s ship stumbled upon it and immediately captured the humans. Kethas had a night shift guarding them and would also take part in interrogating the five scientists.
Despite her initial distrust and hatred for the humans, she found that they grew on her over time. Especially the leader of the expedition, a female named Elizabeth though she went by Liz. Liz was about 30 and very intelligent Kethas found. Her memory was almost as good as a Cardassian’s. Apparently the humans had been doing routine research and their navigational instruments had failed, leaving them struggling to find their way back home. They had ended up in Cardassian space, a very dangerous mistake.
Liz and Kethas often talked, in the dead of night when the Cardassian was acting as a lone guard or occasionally during what were supposed to be interrogations. Then, one of the humans was killed and it was decided they had outlived their usefulness. They would be killed the next day.
Even though it would likely end in disaster, Kethas stole a shuttle and smuggled the humans onto it. The humans escaped and no one knew Kethas had actually helped them. However, she didn’t escape unscathed. She was blamed for letting them go and instead of being killed like she would if the truth was revealed she was simply banished. She knew that her harsh punishment was because of the Dominion’s control. Hatred burned within her as she pressed her palm to that of her brother’s for the very last time. She would never forget the look on his face as she was sent down to a planet just outside the Cardassian borders. She had a pack with survival supplies and that was it.
Things only went downhill from that point. While exploring her new home, a lush green place with no sentient life, she stumbled upon the camp of three federation officers. Three were human, one in gold with blond hair who was quite attractive for a human and one in blue with brown hair and brown eyes who seemed quite grumpy. The other was a Vulcan, something Kethas had never seen. He was also in blue with a neat cap of black hair, deep brown eyes with sweeping eyebrows, and those strange pointed ears.
Kethas hid in the shadows, watching them, hoping she would be able to make friends with them. When she moved, making the slightest ruffling noise, the Vulcan froze. With acute senses, he found the Cardassian hiding in the trees. The three immediately accused her of spying and identified her as an enemy. She had no time to explain before she was dodging phaser blasts until one hit her in the chest.
So now she was waking up in the brig with a man in red standing outside her cell, acting as guard. Kethas slowly sat up, wiping away the blood and running a hand through her now messy, no longer pulled back brown hair.
The human guarding her looked over when he heard her groan as she stood and stretched. She noticed a black shirt with the Starfleet logo and a pair of black slacks had been provided. Her things had been taken as well as her weapons and her boots. A pair of black ones were in the cell as well. Ordering the human to turn away, she changed out of her dirty old Cardassian uniform and into the provided garments. She held her old uniform close, resisting the urge to cry. When the guard tried to take it away, she snarled and swore at him in Cardassian. He acquiesced and let her keep the clothes.
Kethas paced restlessly until a tray with unappetizing food was given to her through a slot. She forced herself to eat. Growing tired, she sat on the narrow bunk in her cell. It wasn’t much longer before she lie down and drifted off to sleep.
***
A tray of food sliding into her cell woke Kethas an unknown amount of time later. She looked up and saw that instead of the guard from before, the three men she had encountered on the planet were standing in front of her cell. The man in gold was clearly in charge with the other two flanking him. She noticed how close the Vulcan was standing to the blond man and his obvious protectiveness.
“I am Captain Kirk of the USS Enterprise. This is my first officer Spock and my chief medical officer Doctor McCoy,” the man introduced, pointing to the Vulcan then the brown haired man. The doctor was staring at her with slightly furrowed eyebrows.
“I am… was Dal Kethas Nere of the ship Vakor. Now I am simply Kethas Nere,” she replied sadly. At least she spoke Standard among many other languages. Kirk frowned slightly at this and Spock raised an eyebrow.
“What do you mean?” the captain asked.
Kethas smiled a bit. “You found me less than three days after I had been exiled from the Cardassian Empire.”
“Fascinating,” the Vulcan murmured. Now it was Kethas’s turn to raise her eyebrows.
“You are not acting as a spy for the Cardassians then? Your intentions were not hostile on the planet?” he continued.
She shook her head. “No. I’ve met humans before. I… like them actually. I was exiled for it,” she explained. This earned another ‘fascinating’.
“And how do we know you’re not lying?” the doctor finally spoke up. He had an accent Kethas was quite unfamiliar with. Once of the men from the science ship had spoken in a similar way. He had told her he was Southern. She was unsure what that meant. Southern what? How far Southern? Blasted humans and their strange sayings.
Kethas bristled slightly at the accusation and stood. “I am a Cardassian. I have honor. I would not lie about something as serious as exile or liking an alien species,” she snapped. McCoy narrowed his eyes slightly.
“Whether you’re lying or not, for now you are a prisoner aboard my ship. You will be moved from the brig, but constantly be watched. You will be allowed to explore the ship with escorts. If you earn our trust, you will no longer require guarding. Once we are positive you have no malicious intentions towards the Federation, you will be free to go and do as you please,” Kirk told her diplomatically.
The Cardassian female hesitated. She had been taught not to trust humans or the Federation. But what else was she to do? She couldn’t return to her people. She figured after she was allowed to leave the Enterprise she would find a nice planet to live on and perhaps pursue a career in science.
“Very well,” she finally nodded.
To be continued...
Pairings/Characters: Kethas (OC), McCoy/Kethas, hints of Kirk/Spock maybe
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The story of an original Cardassian character of mine and how she ends up on the Enterprise. Written for Challenge #27 at startrekland
Here's my little visual image of Kethas. Imagine a Cardassian Angela Martini. xD
http://imm.io/1xHM
Everything hurt. Kethas could feel a bit of blood trickling down her forehead, over the ridges on her face. The pain didn’t concern her as much as her current predicament did though. Her heart was beating faster than normal because the Cardassian had just been exiled and through very bad fortune was currently being held in the brig on the Federation ship USS Enterprise.
***
Kethas Nere had joined the Cardassian military at a very young age. Her parents were impressed by their daughter’s desire to fight for their species. Their son, Kethas’s younger brother, had also enlisted and they were placed on the same ship. For years, Kethas was diligent and progressed swiftly through the ranks with her brother by her side. When she was approximately 24 human years old, she became Dal Nere. So close to having command of her own ship.
Of course, not everything was perfect. While she loved her people, she hated the Dominion. Talk of rebellion was brewing, and Kethas waited patiently for words to become actions. Until that happened, she would simply bide her time and stay loyal to the Cardassian military.
Everything was running smoothly until Kethas tried confiding in her brother. He had been shocked and appalled, but kept silent and stayed loyal to his sister. Everything was running smoothly. That was until a month ago when a small human science ship had strayed into the domain of the Cardassian Empire. Kethas’s ship stumbled upon it and immediately captured the humans. Kethas had a night shift guarding them and would also take part in interrogating the five scientists.
Despite her initial distrust and hatred for the humans, she found that they grew on her over time. Especially the leader of the expedition, a female named Elizabeth though she went by Liz. Liz was about 30 and very intelligent Kethas found. Her memory was almost as good as a Cardassian’s. Apparently the humans had been doing routine research and their navigational instruments had failed, leaving them struggling to find their way back home. They had ended up in Cardassian space, a very dangerous mistake.
Liz and Kethas often talked, in the dead of night when the Cardassian was acting as a lone guard or occasionally during what were supposed to be interrogations. Then, one of the humans was killed and it was decided they had outlived their usefulness. They would be killed the next day.
Even though it would likely end in disaster, Kethas stole a shuttle and smuggled the humans onto it. The humans escaped and no one knew Kethas had actually helped them. However, she didn’t escape unscathed. She was blamed for letting them go and instead of being killed like she would if the truth was revealed she was simply banished. She knew that her harsh punishment was because of the Dominion’s control. Hatred burned within her as she pressed her palm to that of her brother’s for the very last time. She would never forget the look on his face as she was sent down to a planet just outside the Cardassian borders. She had a pack with survival supplies and that was it.
Things only went downhill from that point. While exploring her new home, a lush green place with no sentient life, she stumbled upon the camp of three federation officers. Three were human, one in gold with blond hair who was quite attractive for a human and one in blue with brown hair and brown eyes who seemed quite grumpy. The other was a Vulcan, something Kethas had never seen. He was also in blue with a neat cap of black hair, deep brown eyes with sweeping eyebrows, and those strange pointed ears.
Kethas hid in the shadows, watching them, hoping she would be able to make friends with them. When she moved, making the slightest ruffling noise, the Vulcan froze. With acute senses, he found the Cardassian hiding in the trees. The three immediately accused her of spying and identified her as an enemy. She had no time to explain before she was dodging phaser blasts until one hit her in the chest.
So now she was waking up in the brig with a man in red standing outside her cell, acting as guard. Kethas slowly sat up, wiping away the blood and running a hand through her now messy, no longer pulled back brown hair.
The human guarding her looked over when he heard her groan as she stood and stretched. She noticed a black shirt with the Starfleet logo and a pair of black slacks had been provided. Her things had been taken as well as her weapons and her boots. A pair of black ones were in the cell as well. Ordering the human to turn away, she changed out of her dirty old Cardassian uniform and into the provided garments. She held her old uniform close, resisting the urge to cry. When the guard tried to take it away, she snarled and swore at him in Cardassian. He acquiesced and let her keep the clothes.
Kethas paced restlessly until a tray with unappetizing food was given to her through a slot. She forced herself to eat. Growing tired, she sat on the narrow bunk in her cell. It wasn’t much longer before she lie down and drifted off to sleep.
***
A tray of food sliding into her cell woke Kethas an unknown amount of time later. She looked up and saw that instead of the guard from before, the three men she had encountered on the planet were standing in front of her cell. The man in gold was clearly in charge with the other two flanking him. She noticed how close the Vulcan was standing to the blond man and his obvious protectiveness.
“I am Captain Kirk of the USS Enterprise. This is my first officer Spock and my chief medical officer Doctor McCoy,” the man introduced, pointing to the Vulcan then the brown haired man. The doctor was staring at her with slightly furrowed eyebrows.
“I am… was Dal Kethas Nere of the ship Vakor. Now I am simply Kethas Nere,” she replied sadly. At least she spoke Standard among many other languages. Kirk frowned slightly at this and Spock raised an eyebrow.
“What do you mean?” the captain asked.
Kethas smiled a bit. “You found me less than three days after I had been exiled from the Cardassian Empire.”
“Fascinating,” the Vulcan murmured. Now it was Kethas’s turn to raise her eyebrows.
“You are not acting as a spy for the Cardassians then? Your intentions were not hostile on the planet?” he continued.
She shook her head. “No. I’ve met humans before. I… like them actually. I was exiled for it,” she explained. This earned another ‘fascinating’.
“And how do we know you’re not lying?” the doctor finally spoke up. He had an accent Kethas was quite unfamiliar with. Once of the men from the science ship had spoken in a similar way. He had told her he was Southern. She was unsure what that meant. Southern what? How far Southern? Blasted humans and their strange sayings.
Kethas bristled slightly at the accusation and stood. “I am a Cardassian. I have honor. I would not lie about something as serious as exile or liking an alien species,” she snapped. McCoy narrowed his eyes slightly.
“Whether you’re lying or not, for now you are a prisoner aboard my ship. You will be moved from the brig, but constantly be watched. You will be allowed to explore the ship with escorts. If you earn our trust, you will no longer require guarding. Once we are positive you have no malicious intentions towards the Federation, you will be free to go and do as you please,” Kirk told her diplomatically.
The Cardassian female hesitated. She had been taught not to trust humans or the Federation. But what else was she to do? She couldn’t return to her people. She figured after she was allowed to leave the Enterprise she would find a nice planet to live on and perhaps pursue a career in science.
“Very well,” she finally nodded.
To be continued...