Shoot the Messenger

Posted on Fri Feb 15th, 2019 @ 10:43am by Captain Akiva ben-Avram & Captain Mrazak & Ferrofax

1,441 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: S1E3: Barbarians at the Gates
Location: Administrator's Office | Deck 4 - Overwatch Station
Timeline: MD 1

Mrazak was on his way to the administrator's office. And he cursed every step. What was once a glorious goal to be attained was now an ever present reminder of the mockery that certain members of admiralty had made of his career. If not for his shrewd cunning, he would be little more than an Operations technician twiddling his thumbs in a dead-end assignment. This Akiva ben-Avram was not the first nor would he be the last. Try as they might, they would never keep Mrazak down.

And try Akiva had, loathe as the Hebron was to admit it. Feuding with a colleague was never profitable enterprise, but Akiva could not turn a blind eye to Mrazak's disregard for protocol, much less the way he treated others. It had been a long year so far for the Hebron administrator, and it was proving to be even longer thanks to the Lead Science Specialist. Mrazak was proving to be a bigger thorn in Akiva's side than ever anticipated. Six of the hardest months of his life, and he was still no closer to having Mrazak removed from his position. At least now he had an advantage that he lacked during the JAG hearing nearly a month ago.

At last Mrazak made it to the administrator's office. What should have been his office. Had been his office a number of times, even if on an interim basis. Mrazak punched the door chime but entered without waiting for permission. He just wanted to get this over with. The nauseating face of that Hebron sitting behind his desk was enough to turn his stomach.

"Commander Mrazak." Akiva's greeting was perfunctory at best. "Thank you for coming."

"You have something for me?" Mrazak folded his hands at his waist, face neutral and forcibly indifferent.

Akiva stood up in order to maintain eye level. "No, not me. I'm just the messenger."

As the other man stood up, Mrazak noted the fourth pip of rank on his collar. His eyes grew wide in surprise, though if Akiva wasn't going to mention it, then neither would he. "Well, then. Who has sent us a message?"

"Admiral Nyel," Akiva said, pushing one of three PADDs toward Mrazak to read.

Mrazak took up the PADD and began to read. "This is a notice of a promotion." Mrazak scowled. "Your promotion."

"Oh, forgive me." Akiva grinned with mock embarrassment. "That wasn't for you." Except, of course, that it truly was. That he removed a captain's pip from his desk drawer and affixed it to his collar made that clear. Ignoring Mrazak's deepening scowl, Akiva pushed the middle PADD on his desk toward him. "This is the one."

Though the Vulcan Without Logic found his already deficit humor dwindling, he took up the second PADD in good faith. "Let's see what the old spinster has for us today..." It took a moment to read the communique in detail, after which point Mrazak's mouth slowly upturned into a smirk. "How marvelous. Marvelous, indeed!"

The admiralty had an emergency of something or other. That part didn't matter. For Memory Theta, there was always an emergency, always an interplanetary plague, inter-dimensional invasion, or interstellar anomaly threatening doom over someone. What had Mrazak's attention was a particular note at the end: The Office of Special Investigations had specifically requested him by name. Though Admiral Nyel and her little clandestine oversight committee wasn't going to recognize him, at least one of the parent directorates to whom she answered had him on their good list. That could be a solid turn of events, especially with ben-Avram's promotion to captain.

"I'll assemble the Field Team. Including Lieutenant Dedeker." He smirked at the mention of the lieutenant. That was a sore spot between them that not had faded. Not only did Mrazak spin a deal with JAG that reversed Akiva's attempt to demote him, but he had also conscripted a man from Akiva's past--a former rival for his lady's love.

"Oh, I'm afraid Lieutenant Dedeker won't be back for awhile," Akiva said, his mouth tight. A little too tight. Like he was fighting a smirk of his own.

Mrazak's face split between a grin and a scowl. Something like an amused sneer. "Dedeker is essential personnel, ben-Avram! You can't send him away without my express permission!"

"Oh, I haven't sent him away." Akiva loosed a sly grin. "But he is the designated helmsman for the Phantom, and there was a little errand that needed to be performed..."

It was then that Akiva slid the third and final PADD for Mrazak to read. As Mrazak snatched it up, he couldn't shake the gleam in the other man's eye. He only scanned the contents, searching for the hidden mine that had been laid for him. A cold, skeletal hand seized his innards upon reading the subject heading.

Lieutenant Nevada McKay...

... remanded to Elba II...

... serve out sentence...

... psychological evaluation in five years...

... signed: Akiva ben-Avram, Comm.; Memory Theta Administrator

Mrazak dropped the PADD back on the desk. There were words gestating in his mind, but they felt inadequate to express the fury rising up within him. Though fate had brought the wayward lieutenant into his hands through Memory Theta's hated rivals in Section 31, Mrazak's discriminating heart had began to make room for another. Her sadistic smile when talking about forbidden scientific advancement; the satisfaction she clearly felt at describing the way she had killed off the Section 31 agent that had tried to kill her; the way she had given herself body and soul to him after the brutal Clock Maker mission in New Far Florence. And now this man, this Hebron, had taken her away.

"I will end you," Mrazak seethed through clenched teeth.

The words took Akiva aback. He had expected fire and fury from the Vulcan Without Logic, and with good reason. After going through the effort of dredging up a skeleton from Akiva's past and assigning him to the station, it was only right to return the favor and flex a little administrative muscle. Besides, Akiva had only signed off on McKay's acquittal as a favor to Mrazak for his growing admiration of the young lady. That favor was gone. As far as Akiva was concerned, Nevada McKay belonged in a mental asylum as JAG had ordered. He merely enforced that as an officer of the court; that it also retaliated against Mrazak's act of injustice was a happy bonus.

But the murder in the Vulcan's eyes! It was a cold malice that burned like a sub-zero tundra. Black, frost-bitten extremities that would steal the warmth of life at first chance.

"Excuse me?" Akiva said at length. If Mrazak was going to threaten him, he wanted the Vulcan to do so with full chapter and verse.

Mrazak suddenly turned amicable. "One day, you will retire from here, ending your service to Memory Theta, and I will be here to see it." His smile did not touch his cold, dark eyes. "If there's nothing else, Captain, I have a mission briefing to plan."

The mixed signals were dizzying. Akiva nodded his dismissal, and waited for the Vulcan to leave before retaking his seat. That... that was less gratifying than he had imagined it to be.

"Ferrofax..." Akiva said weakly. "You won't let him kill me, right? You're duty bound to prevent such a thing?"

"My duty is to Memory Theta for as long as this collar keeps me bound. But Theta is more than a single person, and it will survive you once you have passed," Ferrofax's disembodied voice said from the ceiling. "You will need a far heavier coin than duty to bring me to your aid in your darkest hour."

Akiva sighed. "Glad I can count on you. Remind me to have your moral governors scrubbed for tampering. HaShem knows I don't need you getting any worse."

Outside the office, Mrazak stomped through the corridors to the conference room where he would wait for the team to assemble. Sans one. Though part of his heart ached, he closed it off, refused to give it air to breathe. Or to grieve. He would choke off that feeling and so conceal the heartfelt loss that surprised even him. Since when had he cared about another person anyhow? No. He would grant ben-Avram victory in this round, and let the pain burn as a sacrifice on the altar of his wrath. Mrazak would have his revenge, but first he needed to be positioned for it.

There was a mission to perform. A personal request by admiralty. And then...

Mrazak grinned.

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