Thinking on Gods

Posted on Thu Nov 29th, 2018 @ 10:22pm by Lieutenant Commander Mnhei'sahe Dox

Mission: Escaped Pantheons
Location: Deck 8, Crew Quarters
Timeline: 2395, en route to the Galactic Core

As the U.S.S. HERA neared it's destination at the galactic core, Lieutenant Junior Grade Melaine Dox's mind wandered on the topic of gods.

She laid in her bed trying to sleep, but her mind just didn't want to let her. What did it mean that they were going to be meeting with and possibly fighting beings considered to be gods?

Being raised Romulan, the daughter of a Romulan Mother and human Father, Melanie wasn't rasied with any supernatural belief systems. Romulan culture once worshiped an antiquated concept of the elements, but even that was a more vague, spitiual belief... more of a philosophy than a religion. And it was one Melaine was educated about, but never indoctrinated in.

And her Father was blissfully absent for much of her childhood and so she cared even less for ancient Human religions. She studied them, of course, during her time at the academy. Comparitive Religious studies was essential Officer training. If you were going to be out here discovering new worlds and meeting new races, an understanding of the underpinnings of why cultures created dieties and the training to be respectful of those beliefs was important.

But on a personal level, Melaine just didn't get it. Whatever these beings were, they weren't just concepts. They existed as part of the universe. They followed the rules of physics even if they possessed abilities that made the contrary seem true. In fact, the crew of the Hera had recently defeated and captured one of these so-called gods. The being from which the mighty Starship took its name, the goddess Hera herself.

Starfleet history was overflowing with so-called gods, Melanie thought. Beings of improbable power who time and again we're proven to be as flawed and petty as any sentient being. Even beings as powerful as the Q had been bested in contests of wits with mortals.

Gods, she thought, seemed to be little more than beings with power who didn't know how to use them responsibly. Anyone on the Hera would be thought of as a god in ancient times. A phaser, a tricorder and a shiny button that lets you talk to the heavens and dissappear would be godlike power to the neaderthalls of Earth history, Melanie thought to herself.

So why, then, couldn't she get these thoughts out of her mind, she wondered. What was she trying to reassure herself of so strongly. STARFLEET had encountered a plethora of beings claiming to be gods. Many members of her own crew did so just weeks ago. But Melanie had remained on the bridge during those conflicts.

She never met with the goddess Hera. Never faced that power directly. In the days following the encounter, she scoured the official department reports and read through them all, it was only data. It wasn't personal experience.

Personal experience that she realized was very likely quickly approaching. And while she hated to admit it, she was scared.

Not so much scared of dying in the coming encounter. The threat of death was just a part of life in STARFLEET that Dox was as prepared for as was possible. Maybe, she thought, she was scared of learning something she was more comfortable not knowing.

About the universe.

Or maybe just herself.