Spoken-To-Flames

Posted on Fri Sep 17th, 2021 @ 6:15am by Lieutenant JG Ezrin Ezee

441 words; about a 2 minute read

Spoken-To-Flames

Personal Log
Lt JG Ezrin Ezee
Set the night after the events of "Standoff"


"In days-before do we weep,
For beings gone to eternal sleep;
Their lifeless joys,
And earthly toys,
For beings left behind to keep.

Days return at last to night,
And beings come from every height,
From far, to past,
To say, at last,
Releas’d for an honored flight."*

*text adapted from an Armellian death-prayer, printed neatly on a paper roll lying next to a small, fist-sized firepot, currently lit.


Ezrin watched the glitter of the death-lamp, reflected in the shiny resin of their Wandering medallion. At the end of the day, 127 had been saved, out of 1,400, give or take. Less than an eighth, in any case. And that was not including the ones who hadn’t even made it across the border. Ezrin looked down at their PADD. By their estimations, out of 11,000 refugees, a total of perhaps 5,400 had survived. Less than half.

Ezrin looked at their medallion. “Ezrin was thinking the Amity was being observed in all-places-far, not just on Armellia. But we are seeing that this is not being true. Ezrin wonders, are beings dying this way in all places? Ezrin is not liking new-mean-Starfleet, but we are liking Trust-Less-Aiyon even less. Ezrin wonders which is being worse: exclusion of entire species, or choices of obedience or death?” They went quiet for a few minutes, just watching the flames, an ear directed towards their medallion. “Ezrin says new-mean-Starfleet is still being better than Trust-Less-Aiyon. Ezrin thinks Federation is being silly about synths, but this is not meaning they will not be listening. Ezrin says this has been happening before with passions-leading-actions-humans. Ezrin says also that we are still trusting captain-being-Warp. Ezrin says that he is blaming himself for happenings, but this is not being true. Happenings are happenings, and are not being controlling by any one being. Or even ships-of-beings.” Ezrin was quiet again, watching the flames and, it seemed, listening to something only they could hear. “Ezrin says few beings were living today, but few-beings-alive is being better than no-beings-alive. Ezrin says is what happenings would have made, if Potemkin-home-ship was not being here.” Silence once again, for a minute. “Ezrin agrees. We are having more chances of Living-Under-Amity if Ezrin is staying where we are being.”

With that conclusion, Ezrin took up the curled paper roll, and held it in the flames until it caught, setting it in the death-lamp to watch it burn, the smoke quickly wicked away by the ship’s ventilation and expunged into space, carrying the death-prayer to whatever gods the slain refugees had had.

~End Log~

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