Nice Guys Finish Last

Posted on Wed Aug 1st, 2018 @ 6:02am by Captain Akiva ben-Avram & Lieutenant Commander Kiril Nevin

1,122 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: S1E1: Bynars Be Bygones
Location: Administrator Office
Timeline: MD 13

Nevin stood at the door to the Commander's office, trying not to bounce on the balls of his feet. He was nervous, but mostly excited, to head back to his duty posting. Having been aboard this wretched station for over a month, his life, and his boyfriend, were waiting for him. And he was eager to return to them. His fingers drummed against the back of the PADD, a finalized report of the pathogen and its cure held within. Of course he had already logged a copy into the Computer files, the archives and kept a personal copy for himself. But he was sure the Commander would want to see this before he would be allowed to leave.

When the chime sounded, it took Akiva a moment to register the sound. It had been an eventful time. Akiva still didn't know how he felt about this new season of his life, but there wasn't much he could do about it. Like with most difficulties, he resolved to put his nose to the grindstone and hope for the best. Oh, right. The visitor.

"Enter."

At the beckoning, Nevin stepped forward and walked into the room. "Good afternoon, Commander. A wonderful day," he said, trying to contain himself, but his toothy grin would give away his excitement to anyone.

"It is what we make it," Akiva said, doing his best to agree. "What can I do for you, Lieutenant?"

Nevin held out the PADD towards the man. "I have completed my assignment, the reason I was brought to Memory Theta," he said. "I now need you to sign the transfer orders for me to be sent back to my original posting."

The PADD sat on the desk without review. "I wasn't aware of any transfer orders," Akiva said. "In fact, I'm unaware of any recent transfer records outside of medical discharges."

The Bajoran's forehead scrunched. "That was a condition of me coming to Memory Theta. I was supposed to accompany the virus to the station, temporarily, while I develop the cure. Once that was done, I was told I would be going back to my regular life. To my family."

Akiva pursed his lips in repressed skepticism. Humoring the Bajoran, he accessed his desk console to pull up the personnel file. "Let's see what my... predecessor... had noted." A few icon presses later, he began reviewing Nevin's record. "Uh huh... ah, yes. Oh..." If there was a way to combine a frown and a smirk, Akiva did it. "What did you say your previous posting was? Because I feel confident assuming it wasn't... this."

He swiveled the display around for Nevin to see. Highlighted in bright yellow was the service record, whose most recent listing was "Fire Caves" on Bajor. "This couldn't possibly be correct, could it?"

Nevin shook his head, "Not at all," he said. "I'm assigned to the USS Gallagher as a Medical Officer."

"I do see a USS Gallagher in your personnel notes," Akiva said. "But it states an indefinite leave of absence for religious reasons... something here about 'Pah-Wraiths'? Never mind. I don't want to know." Taking a deep sigh, Akiva steepled his fingers over the bridge of his nose. "It also says the Gallagher was reassigned to the Gradin Belt in the Delta Quadrant last month. It passed through the Epatha Gateway almost 2 weeks ago. It looks like you're stuck in the 'Fire Caves' for the foreseeable future."

"That's impossible," Nevin said as his face fell from the news. "No, I'm not sure you understand." He took a step forward, leaning on the Commander's desk as his eyes quickly glanced over his service record. "That's not possible, I'm supposed to be there. My whole life is on that ship! My boyfriend is there, our quarters are there, my belongings are there. I'm supposed to be there!"

Akiva shrugged. "Yeah, I've been hearing that a lot lately. Unfortunately there isn't anything I can do. Even if the Gallagher returns from the Delta Quadrant when the Gateway next opens, that's not for another 30 days, though I imagine they wouldn't be due back for several months to a year. I'm certain the captain didn't go into the frontier without a new CMO at any rate. Sorry about your luck." The old Akiva would have winced at being the bearer of such bad news. But, today, he just took it in stride.

"Sorry about my luck?" Nevin's face twisted with confusion which quickly turned to anger. "Sorry about my luck?!" Nevin stood and took a few steps as he began to pace in front of the man's desk. "I'm not part of this crew!" He stopped, facing the man and threw his hands in the air. "I don't belong here! I was supposed to go back home!"

The ranting was not attractive. Akiva slapped the top of his desk, then stood up. "All right, then." He took Nevin around the shoulders and walked him to the floor to ceiling window. "See that dwarf planet down there? If you don't want to be on this station, then the best I can do is transfer you down there. I'm told Eigthe loves visitors." He stepped back to admire the panorama of the dead rock that hosted the deep storage vaults. "Which is to say, things could always be worse."

Nevin shrugged his shoulder out of the man's grip, and if looks could kill, Akiva would be dead where he was standing. Luckily looks of death didn't go against Nevin's pacifism. "You be forcefully separated from your life and tell me how you would react," he said, stepping away from the large window. "I'm not a pawn for you people to just push around without any regard to feelings. I am still a person and you don't get to just make arbitrary decisions about my life. You have no right."

"You are barking up the wrong tree, Lieutenant Kiril. If you take issue with the actions made by my predecessor, then you should take it up with him. I believe you two are acquainted." He turned back to his desk, but stopped after a few steps. Without turning around, he said, "You know, I have lost everything and everyone I have ever loved. Don't presume to lecture me on what is right."

He sat down at his desk and resumed reading.

"I have plenty of issues with him," Nevin said. "But you certainly have the authority to fix this. You just won't." Nevin turned and walked out of the room.

Akiva stood up from his desk and shouted after the man. "I can't turn back the clock, you fool!" He slunk down into his chair and his melancholy. To himself, he whispered, "Nobody can."

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