Respect

I used to think it was built on a system of courtesy and tradition that need only be questioned when the morality of it failed. It was clean and efficient, orders spoken from the mouth of a superior officer with a lifetime of experience. It was young and eager, strong and well-educated people carrying out those orders to the best of their abilities.

That kind of respect shattered when the weapons were drawn. 

That kind of respect would have left me enslaved. 

That kind of respect, the kind that makes decisions based on tradition, based on efficiency…left me prisoner on a dead world for over 100 years. 

I will have to adjust my thinking, and draw respect with the point of this hooked Klingon blade and the words from my mouth. I must no longer hide behind the innocence of rank and youth. I must no longer be Lieutenant Jones of Starfleet…but Captain Hook.