Need To Know

Posted on Thu Dec 14th, 2017 @ 6:16pm by Lieutenant Commander Kazyah Linn & Warrant Officer Laena ben-Avram & Captain Akiva ben-Avram

Mission: S1E1: Bynars Be Bygones
Location: Delta Flyer en route to Bynaus
Timeline: MD 2; 00:35

With their course set and under way, Akiva accessed the comm systems in order to send the message he had dreaded all night. Fortunately Kaz had taken to the bunk in the rear of the craft. At least there would be some privacy for what needed to be said.

Akiva relayed the subspace signal off the comm buoy and waited for a response.

Moments passed in silence. It was starting to look like there would be no answer to the signal until, finally, the screen changed and the image of Laena filled the screen. "I wasn't expecting you to call," she said, her voice sounding short but soft.

The sight of her took his breath away. For a moment, Akiva could do naught but stare, his dark eyes taking in her beauty, her brokenness, her ire. "Of course... I... I'm sorry that I went without explanation. There's still so much I don't know myself..."

His voice trailed off as he simply looked at her.

Laena crossed her arms, "You said you had to go with Lieutenant Linn and that you'd call me later. That was five hours ago, Akiva."

"I know," Akiva said. The shy grin of his familiar nervous tic crossed his face. "And I'm sorry for that. We received word that Biynah is in some sort of trouble. Somehow she is involved with an unexplained death, and the Bynar vessel she is on has been diverted to Bynaus." He cast a quick glance to the rear cabin where Kazyah had retired. "There's... something else. Linn won't tell me what. All he will say for certain is that something bigger than just the Marshals has become involved."

He sighed. "I'm sorry to dump all of this on you over a subspace transmission. And I wish you could have come with me."

"Why couldn't you have told me that when you were here?" Laena asked, her face losing a touch of anger.

Akiva flinched at the question. "There wasn't time, and for that I will be eternally sorry."

And just like that, the woman's anger returned in full force. "It took you all of two minutes to tell me what you just told me. Are you telling me you didn't have two minutes to tell me this in person before you left?"

"I..." Akiva found himself lost for words. In hindsight, he could have spared the two minutes, but at the time it did not seem so. How could he make her see that? "No... no." He threw another quick glance to the back to ensure Kazyah was not standing there. "Listen, I need you to do something for me. Use my private console and look up anything you can about 'Theta'. I don't know what it means, but I've never seen Linn be so jumpy about anything. Can you do this for me?"

Laena sat there with a dumbfounded look on her face. "Are you kidding me? You're not going to make this go away, Akiva. You keep doing this! You make one-sided decisions without consulting me and I'm just supposed to be ok with it?"

"This is my daughter!" Akiva shouted back in an uncharacteristic display of anger. And, for once, he wasn't immediately sorry. "I will make it up to you as best I can, Laena, but right now I need some la'azazel understanding from you..." His voice dropped down to its usual pitch and volume. "And some help, if you're willing to give it."

She turned away from the screen, wiping away at her eyes to avoid the tears that threatened to fall. "What do you need?" she asked, her voice sounding frail and defeated.

Akiva paused a moment, feeling a little choked up himself. "Well, I'm going to spend the next several days of transport reviewing my old law books. If I establish that Biynah is a citizen of Hebron like myself, then I can put my childhood primary education to use. But if not... then I'll need to have a grasp on Bynar law, if not the entirety of Federation jurisprudence." He sighed at the thought of all the studying ahead of him. "In the meantime, whatever you can dig up with my access codes about this mysterious 'Theta,' that could give me the edge we need to get Biynah out of hot water."

"Just...theta?" Laena asked, writing down the information on a PADD.

"Yes." Akiva chewed his lip. Part of him fondly admired Laena for her willingness to help despite the way he had stiffed her. Another part of him felt guilty for yet another instance of failing to do right by her. "I truly appreciate this, Laena. And I will make it up to you. You will see."

The woman sat there for a few moments, just staring at the man, before she leaned forward and deactivated the console, ending their communication.

"Not exactly the response you were hoping for, I'm sure," came a masculine voice from behind the man.

Akiva froze with barely suppressed panic. "No," he said at length. There was no telling how much Kaz had heard, and he had no intention of saying more now than was necessary.

"Calm down." Kaz walked forward and slid into the chair next to Akiva. "I can't be upset at you for looking for information that I will not give you."

"So you heard that." Akiva relaxed his shoulders, even cracked a shy smile. "I appreciate your help, you know. I didn't want to compromise you any more than I already have."

Kaz shrugged his shoulders as he pulled his legs into the chair, wrapping his arms around them. "Places like Starbase Unity have many ears. Discretion is something you could learn, especially if you want to start poking your nose into places it doesn't belong."

"Granted." Akiva gave Kaz a suspicious yet hopeful sidelong glance. "Does that mean you can be more forthcoming now?"

"On one condition." Kaz looked at he man straight in the eyes, despite his inability to see. "I need you to understand that what I am going to tell you is of the utmost secrecy. You're not allowed to know this. And when we reach our destination, it is important that you sit back and stay quiet and let me handle things. I am the expert here, not you. So I am in charge. Understood?"

Akiva gave a solemn nod.

Kaz took a deep breath. "You've heard of Memory Alpha, right?" The man didn't give Akiva time to respond, as the question had an obvious answer. Everyone knew about Memory Alpha. "There is a similar facility known as Memory Theta. The information and artifacts that are held in its database are not available to the public and very few are even aware of its existence. It is jointly owned by Starfleet Command and Starfleet Intelligence and utilizes the JAG office to oversee its facilities and staff."

Akiva stared off, his eyes smoldering as he considered Kaz's words. "But why would they be involved with Biynah's arrest?"

"Well, it's a bit complicated. The reason people like me are assigned to starships is to keep an eye out for anything that may prove to be useful or dangerous to the Federation. If we find something, we alert Theta and then we have it sent back to be added to their database. I've made 7 different deposits to Theta during my time aboard the Vindex." Kaz sat back. "But this incident has been alerted to Theta. I don't know what exactly is going to happen but I have an idea..."

Akiva tightened his fists. "They want to steal her," he whispered with a mixture of anger and horror. "They're going to steal her away and use the Bynars as an excuse to make her disappear." He looked at Kaz. "Aren't they? Why would they do that?! She's just a..." He was going to say girl, but... she was both less and more. Words again failed to give form to what he was feeling.

"She is an android that you've developed an emotional connection to." Kaz said, choosing to be blunt for Akiva's benefit. "You need to understand and accept that the rest of the galaxy doesn't see her the way you do. They see a possible threat to our society and perhaps something to be archived."

"But she's hardly the only android," Akiva said. "I'm not a cyberneticist, just an old computer systems specialist who got pulled into fleet politics. What makes my android--my daughter--so special?" He sank deeper into his chair and groaned. "Oh, Biynah, what have you done?"

"I don't know, but whatever it was, it's set off quite a few alarms." Kaz sunk into his seat a bit more, his fingers idly playing with his hair. "I need you to think about something and prepare yourself."

Akiva inclined his head while setting his jaw. "And what is that?"

Kaz took a deep breath, looking Akiva in the eye. "We might not be able to fix this. They might take her and there might not be anything you can do about it. If she is considered a Theta-level threat, the safety of Starfleet and the Federation is enough of a reason to override any claim you have to her."

A cold grip of fear seized Akiva around the spine. He could feel its spindly fingers spreading the chill from his chest and stomach outward to his extremities. "I know," he said meekly at first, struggling to find his voice. His conviction soon returned, though not as strong as his anger. "Ever since her activation, I've lived in fear of this day. We will do all that we can do, and the rest will be in the hands of HaShem."

"I honestly think your best course of action would be to minimize her threat level. Keep that annoying Vulcan happy and show him that she's not a threat." Kaz shifted in his seat.

Akiva's eyes shot wide in terror. "Saalkan? Don't tell me he's involved somehow..."

Kaz's hand instinctively went to his chest where the Rod of Kel hung from a chain around his neck. "No, not Saalkan," he said, shaking his head. "But a similar Vulcan without logic. Mrazak. He is well known for being cocky and egotistical, but he is Memory Theta's field specialist. When artifacts are to be retrieved, he collects them and brings them back."

Though his pulse slowed a bit, Akiva still felt unnerved. "If we're dealing with anyone even remotely similar to Saalkan, then we're in deeper trouble than I'd thought." A stray thought crossed his mind. "Kaz, how do you get involved with these types of people? Saalkan, this Mrazak... it's like you're a khara magnet."

Kaz sighed. "I've been asking myself the same question for years..."