Not A goodbye

Chapter 4

'I SUPPOSE I AM', Kira answered, staring into the distance.

'I'm so sorry about what happened to her', Fujita said with a sigh.

'It's not your fault. It's not really anyone's fault. Except the Cardassians'. She was just one other of the many war victims – just one other dead Bajoran to them.'

Fujita turned around to look at the Major. 'I just can't understand it. Well no... I can actually. Deadly cravings for power.' She shook her head. 'It's always power, isn't it? Power, territory, religion; but even if people fight about religion, it's still all about power – power to control what someone does and thinks.'

Kira nodded dreadfully, then took a sip of her drink. 'It is.'

Fujita scoffed. 'But how do they justify it to themselves? How do they look at themselves in the mirror and think: "Today, I'm gonna murder a thousand people, that's gonna be fun." How?' She threw up her hands in frustration. 'I'm so sick of it, always sorting out fights, sorting out wars. It's all so senseless. I wish the world would just stand down for one moment and would think to themselves: "What the bloody hell are we doing?" If they would just for one moment look at themselves – not at others – and just realize what they're doing – not what others are doing, but what they are doing – just realize who they're killing; maybe then they'd kick some sense into themselves. But of course that doesn't happen, of course everyone keeps slaughtering each other...' Fujita realized she has been ranting and cut herself off. 'Sorry.'

'No, you're right', Kira responded, and laughed cynically. 'It's all so messed up, isn't it? One mad species sweeps in, and another species is thrown off course for decennia. I mean, look at me! It's been three years and still no day goes by that I don't think of it, of the Occupation. I doubt there ever will.'

Fujita did look at the Bajoran woman. Both of them were right, there were so many messed up people. But they could not possibly generalize an entire race. Yes, the Cardassians occupied Bajor for half a century, doing the most utterly horrible things, but not all Cardassians were like that. She had experienced it herself. She had met a number of Cardassians back on the Enterprise, and sure, they could be annoying – some of them would be considered outright mad by Federation standards – but not all of them were.

Besides, they were only doing what they knew was right. You cannot judge someone by your own standards, definitely not if they do not even know those standards. What the Cardassians did on Bajor was plain horrific, that could not be justified. But, most of the Cardassians were only doing what they had learned all their life, what they had been taught to do. Most Cardassians had no choice. You could not condemn them all for their leaders' deeds.

The train of thought reminded Fujita of Germany in the Second World War. When the War had ended, all of Germany had gotten the blame, even though the real blame was on the Nazis. Millions of innocent men had been forced to fight for Germany, had been forced to kill other innocent men. Not because they wanted to, because they believed it was right, but because their leaders – Hitler, the Nazis – forced them to, forced to murder their families if they did not fight. Because those leaders believed it was right.

It was the same on Cardassia, was it not? Innocent Cardassians had been forced to kill innocent Bajorans. That did not make all of them evil, that made their leaders guilty. Those soldiers were only doing what they were taught to know – fighting for their empire. You cannot blame someone for doing what is wrong according to your standards, you can only blame those who made their "evil" standards.

'What?' Kira asked, and the Fujita realized that she had been staring at the woman while she was lost in thought.

'Nothing.'