The Sun Will Set For You
Posted on Mon Sep 16th, 2024 @ 10:52pm by Commander Arianna Frost & Captain Akiva ben-Avram
916 words; about a 5 minute read
Mission:
S1E6: Where Skies End
Location: Overwatch Station
Timeline: MD 10
The man who stood in the shuttle bay awaiting the arrival of his deputy barely resembled the one from the day before. When Akiva had called Ari to his office, he was disheveled, dysregulated, barely holding it all together. A long, sleepless night of grieving, cursing, and punching the wall in lieu of succumbing to the bottle. Despite the bruising around his hands, Akiva still presented a prim and proper if slightly wound up picture of a clean cut Starfleet Captain. His luggage was minimal as he traveled light with only a single carry case on the deck at his feet.
It had only been a moment since he'd last checked his chronometer, but he did it again anyway. Did Ari always try to keep him waiting or was it just a cruel joke often played by HaShem or HaSatan at his expense? Akiva shook away such thoughts. They would come to dominate him soon enough upon his arrival. Being inundated by his home world's culture was going to be almost as bittersweet as his reason for being there. All of it stacked up such that he was not happy to be going. No silver lining waited for him. It was just something he needed to do. And so he sighed again, his patience growing thin.
Arianna walked through the door moments later, PADD in hand. She had had a busy morning organizing the change-over and setting Akiva's cover into the system. According to flight plan and the personnel record, he was Captain Moshe Inbal of the Starbase 32, on a personal visit to a family member. She'd spent the night setting up the legend and sliding it into the system so when the manifest check was scanned, nothing would be traced back to Memory Theta.
It also served as a good way for her not to think about what happened the night before, and the implications and consequences of the same, but as potentially wrong as they were tantalizingly right.
"Morning, sir." She greeted him in her usual approachably professional manner.
"Good morning..." He hesitated, deliberating whether to use her name or rank before ultimately deciding on neither. "The time has come. I stand relieved. Overwatch Station is yours."
"I relieve you, sir." Arianna said the words with a nod. "Your itinerary and your legend, Captain. You are Captain Moshe Inbal of Starbase 32, on a personal visit to a family member on Hebron. I believe the Clingerman's in the Capital have some Inbal cousins." She said, keeping the tone in the business waters, although she really wanted to ask how he was doing.
"I will disappear as soon as I make planetfall," Akiva said, his voice as flat as his demeanor. "Aside from family business, I have no one to see and nowhere to go." The fact he had been disowned by essentially being declared dead was not a story he felt like retelling. His stone-faced façade faltered for a moment, though, long enough for a terse gesture. "Thank you."
Ari nodded simply in acknowledgement. "Your legend is for your trip, sir, not planetfall. Insular communities spread news like wildfire so we need to make sure that the right story gets spread. So if you interact with anyone on your way there, you are Moshe Inbal, and you have Clingerman cousins at the Capital. That and doing what we do, we have to fly under the radar when solo," she replied. Then she gave a sigh, looking up at him, her expression dutiful, the truth behind her eyes open. "Good luck, sir. I've got things here. Should have some actionable intel for you by the time you get back. Or a debrief."
"Right, thanks." Akiva's acknowledgement lacked any real care for the distinction she'd made or the thought of a later debrief. He summoned some concern with a deep sigh. "I'm sure you'll do good work. I have every confidence in you."
"Fuck, you are really holding on by a thread, aren't you?" Ari thought to herself as she glanced over to where a shuttle's door opened. His shuttle.
"Thank you, sir." She said. "Your shuttle seems to be ready." She motioned for them to head over. "You remember your call in windows?" Ari asked as they headed over.
"Yes. When I arrive, when I've settled, and when I depart," Akiva said. "Should just be a few days." He walked into the shuttle and turned around to give Ari a parting glance. "We need to talk when I return." Something of the old glimmer came back in his eye but only briefly. "There will be... matters to sort out."
"Yes." Ari nodded, hand now clasped behind her back. "You know where to find me." Her eyes shined back at him briefly before the professional veneer returned. "Safe trip, Captain."
The words held promise and a potential life changing future. She would be certain of her emotions and stance by then. Truth be told, she mostly already was, but she'd been trying not to think about the night before, nor the escaped moments that echoed the underlying feelings. Trying not to nose dive into it, to protect herself as well him and the friendship between them.
"Thank you." Akiva entered the shuttle without saying goodbye.
Ari nodded to herself as the shuttle door closed behind him and turned on her heel. There were things to do, leads to chase and friends to check in on. There were affairs to put in order.
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