The Gift Horse Part 1

Posted on Mon Oct 3rd, 2022 @ 7:46pm by Rear Admiral Gareth Tau & Captain Akiva ben-Avram & Captain Mrazak

Mission: S1E5: Symphony of Horror
Location: USS Phantom
Timeline: MD 5

"This is Fleet Captain Donal Alastair Mulryan, Commanding Officer Belmont Station, Theta Corvus System. Belmont Station is overrun by abominations created by mad scientists and paranoid spies. What resistance this facility was able to offer has been culled to ten who are defending the Operations Centre. With the lockdown instituted by agents of Memory Theta, we have been unable to evacuate anyone, whether they were infected or not. Whether or not that proves to be a good thing in the long run remains to be seen.
Our support craft have been disabled to prevent anyone leaving the station and transporters have been disabled -– the quarantine is holding. However it won’t hold for long as we are cut off from our supplies as there is a horde between us and the armory.
I am left with no choice but to initiate the Neutron Purge in hopes of ending this so no one can spread this...disease, virus or whatever you would like to call it. With this, my last log entry, I am recommending each and every member of the crew of Belmont Station for the Medal of Valor. Sending all available data we have in a signal buoy – coordinates attached with this log.
Whoever hears this, don’t let our sacrifice be in vain."

At this point, Admiral Tau had to chuckle mirthlessly in disbelief. "Memory Theta's field team reports state the cause for this action was that a planet used to exist in a star system P-5190 but was removed from the spacetime continuum by a superweapon wielded by a supercarrier manned by the mythical Secret Inquisition of Klingon lore. After failing to defend this planet's alleged ... removal... from the known universe, the Phantom began a transwarp pursuit across the quadrant that led back to the Theta-Corvus system in order to prevent a similar attack on the Corvan homeworld, but no evidence remains other than an additional chroniton pulse. And all of this happened to coincide with Administrator Akiva ben-Avram's arrival to lift the quarantine protocol and admit relief responders into the system."

Akiva and Mrazak stood silently, and that suited Tau just fine.

"And that was accomplished," Tau continued, "by revoking licensure from Pathos BioMed, resulting in liquidation of its assets by its parent corporation, Ingram Nanoscale Solutions, and a subsequent lawsuit against the Federation," said Admiral Tau, his tone increasingly aggravated for needing to reference so many details, "for trademark violation, unlawful seizure of intellectual property, and misappropriation of Starfleet emergency orders to effect the same."

Akiva swallowed the lump in his throat and answered as confidently as possible. "I lifted the quarantine on the counsel of emergency responders from the Corps of Engineers and the Federation State Department advisor assigned to Memory Theta."

"Indeed, you did..." Tau gave a terse smirk that failed to hide his wroth disposition. He had not assigned Gregorio to Memory Theta. In fact, he had opposed it on grounds of obstructing investigations. But he had been the one to notify Akiva of the arrangement. "I will not comment on the personal satisfaction I feel that such bureaucratic red-tape has come back to bite the very ones who ordered it. While I am placing a letter of discommendation in Captain Mrazak's file for defying a direct order from Admiralty, I am classifying it as Above Top Secret due to the sensitive nature of the mission logs surrounding its context."

That incensed Akiva. What was the point in a discommendation that nobody could ever read? It was a slap on the wrist at worst, something that was not lost on Mrazak. The Vulcan just stood there, full of arrogance as if he had expected no less. "Admiral..."

"Stow it, Captain." Though Tau did not raise his volume, his tone was nonetheless angry, and his handwave demanded silence. "SFI reports suggest there is a kernel truth to this Secret Inquisition's involvement, as there are simply too many holes in the illegal research being conducted on Alucard to say otherwise. Preliminary investigations can confirm the presence of members from a minor Klingon house on Alucard at the time of the thalaron detonation, a fact that I am told has muddled the current litigation between Starfleet and the Ingram group.. That correlating evidence is the only reason that I am deigning to entertain this outlandish tale spun by the Memory Theta mission report and field logs."

"And the rescue operation," Akiva cut in.

Tau glared at Akiva, clearly loathing the fact the man had spearheaded the actions which had saved his life. "Indeed." He took a deep sigh. "I suppose you have earned a bit of credit. For what it's worth, I did not expect the situation to go the way it did, but I had full faith in your ability to mount a successful defense." The look Tau spared for Mrazak was still contemptible though.

That caught Akiva sideways. He had been sure that the admiral had it out for Memory Theta. Now, after they came through not one but two crises victoriously, he was changing his tune? Akiva found it hard to swallow. "Thank you, Admiral. But... why..."

"Don't be stupid," Tau said with a shake of his head. "I gave you a compliment. Don't look the gift horse in the mouth."

"Gift horse?" Mrazak's brow wrinkled.

"Yes..." Tau said. "Things aren't what they seem. Just believe that what was done had to be done for reasons you may never be permitted to know, and that includes your deputy administrator who has arrived at Overwatch Station before you. As a gesture of gratitude and perhaps some consolation, I am ordering shore leave for Memory Theta's staff on Risa. Details will be forwarded by my assistant. Do try to stay out of trouble." And the screen went blank.

Mrazak and Akiva were left standing next to each other.

"Deputy Administrator?" Mrazak repeated.

"Uh, yeah..." Akiva confirmed. "Apparently."

The Vulcan's lips curled. "Passed over for Administrator and Deputy Administrator?! Injustice knows no bounds!"

"Are you serious?" Akiva was appalled. "Five days ago, our entire agency was under threat of being decommissioned. Two days ago, you were placed under censure essentially for being AWOL. Now you're angry because you were passed over for a meaningless assistant role?"

"You're welcome, by the way," Mrazak said. "My efforts exonerated myself along with all of Memory Theta, just as I predicted they would from the start."

"You are unbelievable." Akiva could only shake his head at the foolish Vulcan.

"I am inevitable!" Mrazak shouted. "You'll see. One day I will be calling the shots around here and you will rue the day you set foot here."

Akiva kept shaking his head and turned to leave. "I already do, Mrazak."

"Then leave!" Mrazak shouted at his back. "Nobody wants you here! I have given a decade to this agency! I am Memory Theta, you fool!"

Stopping in his tracks, Akiva took a moment before responding. "People died for your vainglory, Mrazak. A lot of them," Akiva said, finally turning back around. "Good men and women who were only doing their jobs but were in the unfortunate position of being in the path of your reckless actions."

"That is our duty!" Mrazak yelled back, hands balled into fists. "Starfleet officers put on this uniform every day knowing it could be their last!"

Akiva's nostrils flared. "Yeah. And yet it never seems to be yours."

"That is because I am smart," Mrazak said snidely. "And capable."

"You are a coward," Akiva said, "like every other V'tosh Ka'tur I've met."

The insult made Mrazak's eyes bulge with fury, enough that Akiva slightly
flinched. Instead of a punch, Mrazak merely held a finger in Akiva's face. "That is the difference between us, ben-Avram. When push comes to shove, you can't help but blink."

"I wish I'd never saved your worthless career, Mrazak." Akiva's eyes were hot and full of ire.

"We already established that it was me who saved yours," Mrazak said with a glib smirk. "Enjoy your little love nest with your little Orion whore. Consider it my gift to you because yet again I chased the universe's monsters back into the shadows. When you have gone the way of every other administrator, that is what the corridors of Memory Theta will remember."

Akiva's temper was getting the better of him, and it robbed him of words he wished to speak. The arrogant smirk plastered over Mrazak's face was just begging to be struck. Did he really want to do it? Yes, he decided that he truly did. Without further hesitation, Akiva struck Mrazak across the face with the back of his hand. "Let Memory Theta remember that."

"Oh, I will," Mrazak said with a sinister chuckle despite rubbing the raised mark on his cheek. "You can take that to the latinum exchange."

The two of them glared at one another before Akiva took the first step away. Despite the hostile exchange between the two captains, there was still good news to share.