- This character is a member of the Ghemor family.
- For other uses, see Ghemor.
Alon Ghemor was a male Cardassian who rose into a leadership role on post-Dominion War Cardassia. Alon was the nephew of Legate Tekeny Ghemor, and cousin of Iliana Ghemor.
Biography
Education
The young Alon had a compact athletic build and attended the Bamarren Institute for State Intelligence where he was given the designation Five Lubak. Five was recruited by Ten Lubak and Eight Lubak to assist in Barkan Lokar's team in the institute’s mock battle competition. He was part of Eight Lubak's team flanking the enemy. (DS9 novel: A Stitch in Time)
Career
Ghemor rose in political life during his career. In the year 2370, he served as the liason between the Detapa Council and the Obsidian Order. Despite his position, he was, like his uncle, a dissident hoping for the usurpation of Central Command and the Order by the Council. He was involved in the cabal of Meya Rejal and Kotan Pa'Dar. Pa'Dar's son, Rugal Pa'Dar, would argue that Rejal and the others did not understand the need for political change, instead seeking to merely claim the power that belonged to the military and the Order. (DS9 novel: The Never-Ending Sacrifice)
The Rejal Government
In 2371, after the collapse of the Obsidian Order and the new civilian government under Rejal, she would appoint Ghemor became the head of the new Cardassian Intelligence Bureau. Part of his role was to purge the Bureau of much of its Obsidian Order elements. He found this difficult work, and would complain to Pa'Dar of it. He also was angered that Rejal ignored the popular desire for the return from exile of his uncle, Legate Ghemor. He left government after Rejal began to rely on Skrain Dukat, the very worst example of Central Command, to ensure her rule would continue. He was off-world in 2374 when Dukat allied with the Dominion and seized power from Rejal, and disappeared from public life. (DS9 novel: The Never-Ending Sacrifice)
After the war
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Cardassia City, after the war.
In the aftermath of the Dominion War, Alon reemerged on Cardassia Prime and began to form a democratic political movement which he called the Reunion Project. Its goals were noticably different from the failures of the Rejal government, and sought free elections and open society. Ghemor's supporters, including Doctor Kelas Parmak and Elim Garak (the former Ten Lubak at Bamarren), quickly grew in numbers, but he faced strong opposition from a counter political group called the Directorate. The two groups eventually agreed to hold a voting competition. Ghemor's group won four out of six of the sectors of Cardassia City and moved to create a democratic government. (DS9 novel: A Stitch in Time)
Castellan
Ghemor would become the first Castellan of the Cardassian Union in 2376. One of his first acts was to send Natima Lang to Deep Space 9 to try and forge a lasting peace with Bajor. (DS9 - Mission Gamma novels: Twilight, This Gray Spirit)
Later in 2376, Ghemor supported the Andak Project, but faced political pressure from the Directorate and secret opposition from the True Way. (DS9 - Worlds of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine novel: Cardassia: The Lotus Flower)
By 2378 Ghemor had sent Garak to be ambassador to the Federation, resulting on Garak's permanent habitation in Paris on Earth. Years later, Garak and Rakena Garan would reflect that this had been a judicious move on Ghemor's part to remove his potentially toxic reputation from the Ghemor government. (DS9 novel: The Never-Ending Sacrifice, ST - The Fall novel: The Crimson Shadow)
In 2378 Ghemor would support the choice of Rugal Pa'Dar to become a Federation citizen. He supported and congratulated Rugal through Ambassador Garak, and offered no opposition to Rugal's application. (DS9 novel: The Never-Ending Sacrifice)
Ghemor was assassinated in 2379, when it appeared to some that he was becoming too close to the Federation in his efforts to stabilize Cardassia. (DS9 - Prophecy and Change short story: "The Calling", ST novel: A Singular Destiny)
Legacy
The period after the assassination of Ghemor were especially dark for the Union, and were remembered as the worst period since the Dominion War's end in 2375. It seemed like the Union would fall apart, but this did not occur. Ghemor was succeeded by several short-lived administrations before Rakena Garan was elected Castellan. Ghemor, along with Legate Corat Damar, would be remembered as the best leaders of the Union.
In 2385, positive comparison to Damar and Ghemor would be the highest of praise for Cardassian politicians - and a negative comparison a poisonous wound. The then-Ambassador to the Federation, Garak, during a live broadcast debate with the conservative politician, Evek Temet, found Temet wanting in comparison to Damar and Ghemor:
- "Skrain Dukat found fertile soil here for his lies. We let him loose, and now we live with the consequences of the fire he brought down upon us. Corat Damar and then Alon Ghemor tried to bring us back from that. Now Castellan Garan is doing the same. What has Representative Temet done other than encourage fire starters? I knew Corat Damar. I knew Alon Ghemor.” He turned to face his enemy. “You are no Corat Damar. You are no Alon Ghemor."
Privately, Castellan Rakena Garan was also aware how Garak perceived her as inferior to either man:
- “I am not Corat Damar. I am not Alon Ghemor,” the castellan went on, with a slight smile. Of course she would have watched the ’cast too. “And I know that this is a source of great disappointment for you. But I have always tried to do my best for the Cardassian people.” Garak felt ashamed. He didn’t think he’d been so transparent.
When Garak campaigned against Temet to succeed Garan as Castellan, the close associations with both men would aid Garak in winning the election. (ST - The Fall novel: The Crimson Shadow)
Appendices
Appearances
- DS9 novel: A Stitch in Time
- DS9 novel: The Never-Ending Sacrifice
- DS9 - Worlds of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine novel: Cardassia: The Lotus Flower
Connections
| Preceded by: office established |
Castellan of the Cardassian Union 2376–2379 |
Succeeded by: Rakena Garan |
| Castellans of the Cardassian Union | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| primary universe | Eleta Kalis (2399) • Natima Lang (2401-2411) | 
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| First Splinter timeline | Alon Ghemor (2376-2379) • Rakena Garan (2379-2385) • Elim Garak (2385-2387) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||