Nevin's Fam Dies

Posted on Wed Feb 13th, 2019 @ 3:09am by Captain Akiva ben-Avram & Lieutenant Commander Kiril Nevin & Lieutenant Commander Kazyah Linn

Mission: Season 1 Interlude I (E2.5)
Location: Administrator's Office | Deck 4 - Overwatch Station
Timeline: ID 7

"Akiva, I have some bad news," came the voice of Kazyah Linn as he walked through the doors into Akiva's office unannounced and uninvited. While that was his way, Kaz knew it annoyed some people when he just appeared out of nowhere. But sometimes, the need outweighed the social courtesy. Walking up to the Commander's desk, he held out a PADD to him.

The unbidden interruption snapped Akiva from his hourly daydream and back to reality. As Memory Theta's resident spook, Akiva gave Kaz the benefit of not scolding him for such boldness. "What have we got?" Akiva asked as he reviewed the PADD. A few moments of perusing its contents made, he gasped in alarm. "Balagan! All hands lost..." He looked up at Kaz. "Was there really an artifact on board for the Archives, or was that just a bureaucratic ploy to get the ship back to the Alpha Quadrant?"

"There was nothing of interest to us," Kaz said, lifting himself onto Akiva's desk and sitting with his legs folded into a lotus position. "Unfortunately, that was merely a false order given to bring the ship back for him."

Akiva stared at the PADD again, wondering what he was going to say to Nevin. "He's going to be devastated..." He sighed deeply, hoping to build his own resolve. There was none to be found. A sudden horrible thought came to him. "Wait. Did you share this with him?"

Kaz just shook his head. "I don't deal well with feelings. I think I'll leave this one to you."

"Fair enough." Akiva slumped his shoulders for a moment before tapping his combadge. "Lieutenant Commander Kiril, please come to the Administrator's Office immediately."

"On my way, Commander," came the chipper voice of Nevin through the comm system.

"How are you going to tell him?" Kaz asked after the line was closed. "Not that I care, of course. I just..." he shrugged. "Call it morbid curiosity."

Akiva shrugged. "I'll just tell him the truth. Are you sticking around?"

Kaz sat there for a few moments, mulling it over. "Sure why not. I always enjoy watching people cry. He cou-"

He was cut off by the door chime sounding.

"He's here," Kaz whispered.

"Enter!" Akiva called out a little too loudly. He clenched his jaw at the nervous display.

The doors opened and Nevin walked in, a big smile on his face. "Good morning, Commander. And Commander Linn. What can I do for you?"

Bad news was never easy. Akiva stood up in welcome and gestured to the chair in front of his desk. "Hello, Lieutenant. Won't you have a seat?"

Nevin's forehead scrunched in confusion as his smile faltered slightly. He took the seat but said nothing.

"There's no easy way to say this," Akiva began to say, then paused as he searched for the right words. The fading smile on Nevin's face made them even more elusive. "It's about the Gallagher. The ship won't be coming. It... they never made it to the Epatha Gateway." He offered Nevin the PADD that Kaz had brought with him. "We just learned of it today."

"I don't understand," the Doctor said, not reaching for the PADD. "What happened to them?"

"The details are in the report, but the short version is they responded to a distress call that put them in the path of a Borg scout ship." Akiva winced at the next part. "Caught by surprise, the Gallagher was overrun. All hands were lost."

"By assimilation," Kaz stated. He ignored the glare from Akiva, sometimes ripping the bandaid off was better than letting questions linger in the air.

"I don't..." Nevin's breath became shallow as he took the PADD. "Was it..." he looked up to Kaz, then to Akiva. "Was it because of me?"

Akiva didn't want to lie, but he didn't want to confirm it either. "How do you figure?" he asked. "The Borg possess technology above and beyond what we have. Even the Phantom would be hard-pressed to outrun them."

Nevin looked down at his lap. "They wouldn't have been near the Scout Ship if they weren't coming back for me," he said quietly. "So now what do I do?"

"Take a few days," Akiva said, then quickly corrected. "As long as you need. Decide what comes next."

"You can always stay here," Kaz said, raising an eyebrow.

Nevin shook his head as he stood, "May I be dismissed please?" he asked, his voice hollow and quiet. Without waiting for an answer, the Bajoran turned and walked out of the door.

When they were alone, Kaz turned back to Akiva. "Well that was...not as bad as I expected?"

"That's because you're used to delivering bad news at the end of a knife," Akiva said. "Try being the nice guy just once. You might like it."

Kaz slid off the man's desk, "I'd rather not," he said. "Being nice is a gateway drug to people liking you. And I don't much want to be liked."

"You're doing a great job at that," Akiva quipped. "I hope it's worth it one day when you die alone with nothing and no one to console you. There's more to life than the mission, Kaz."

Kaz rolled his eyes, "You get to have that belief because of people like me who do the dirty work to keep this Federation safe. I, and people like me, are the reason you can sleep well at night. Remember that," he said as he walked out the door.