Surefoot 19: Star Crossed

Hrelle stepped closer to the screen. "Let's cut the crap, Hovat. You lost this one." He pointed to Acres. "And so has this idiot. But he's still wrapped up in the fantasy your agent has woven for him. The least you can do is help shake him out of it so he can focus on salvaging his future."

"Captain, I've been very patient with you-" But then he stopped as he was distracted by someone offscreen but near him in the flesh. Seconds later, he moved aside, replaced by a younger, more handsome Cardassian male. "Captain Hrelle, a pleasure to meet you. We've heard much about you and your career."

Acres reacted, his eyes widening as he drew up beside Hrelle. "Nerim! Nerim, are you okay? I was worried about you!"

The Cardassian regarded him silently, his expression a mix of pity and contempt. "Tom... You should never have been given command. You should never have been put in such a vulnerable position." He looked to Hrelle again. "Not that we are confirming any of your baseless accusations against us."

"Of course not. Thank you for your cooperation- oh, and before you go, one more thing: standing orders for our patrol vessels here have changed. Any Cardassian ships found crossing the border will be fired upon. No exceptions."

Behind the Obsidian Order agent, Hovat bristled. "You would fire on our ships without warning?"

"Of course not, Legate; this is your warning. Ignore it at your own peril. End Transmission."

The screen went blank before the Cardassians could reply, assuming they would.

Hrelle looked to Acres, who continued to stare at the now-blackened screen, his face a picture of shock and disbelief. He was pitiable.

That wouldn't save him from what was to come, however... "Captain Thomas Acres, you are under arrest for multiple counts of Gross Misconduct, Conduct Unbecoming a Starfleet Officer, Dereliction of Duty, Falsification of Official Records, and Misuse of Starfleet Vessels and Equipment. You are not required to give any statement until your formal arraignment at the nearest suitable Starfleet facility, where you will be given access to legal counsel beforehand, but do you wish to say anything at this time?"

The young man's blank gaze dropped from the screen to Hrelle, and his voice was as fragile as tissue in a storm. "Will- Will someone please contact my father?"

Behind Hrelle, Tattok promised, "I will contact Admiral Acres personally."

Hrelle silently motioned for C'Rash to approach. The young Caitian rose - joined by Kami, the two of them flanking Acres as Kami talked softly to him, "Do you mind if I walk along with you, Thomas? We can talk for a while."

She looked to Hrelle for approval, an approval he silently gave; in his present state, he worried for his state of mind. After the three of them left, he announced, "Commander Olir, Lieutenant Commander Blum, come here, please."

They approached, Hrelle looking first to the veteran Engineer, shaking his hand. "I'm sorry we had to meet again under these circumstances, Marvin."

"Same here, Captain. I was speaking with your wife before; congratulations on your imminent fatherhood."

"Thank you. The Tempest needs a Captain until a replacement can be found. By the authority granted me by Admiral Tattok, I'm giving you a temporary field promotion to that rank and position."

Both officers reacted almost identically, Olir speaking first. "Sir, as First Officer I would normally be given that duty-"

"Normally you would. But I have judged you unsuitable for it."

The woman blanched. "Sir, with respect-"

"Like Captain Acres, you should never have been given such a senior position; you lacked the practical experience and maturity. You allowed yourself to be intimidated by your Commanding Officer. You didn't seek support from the other senior officers. And by your own accounts, you've managed to alienate yourself with the rest of the crew. You'll stay onboard for now as First Officer, but I am recommending that you be transferred to a more suitable assignment, and returned to your previous rank."

"Sir, it wasn't my fault-"

"This matter is not open for debate with me; you may file an appeal if you wish."

"Esek- Captain-" Blum still looked stunned by the unexpected news. "Are you sure about this? Putting me in charge?"

"Why not? You have the years, the maturity, you already manage an engineering crew."

"Yes, but... I never wanted a Command of my own."

Now Hrelle's expression hardened, as he felt an unease, an anger, build up inside him over the events. "Yes, well, I never wanted to have to destroy a young man's career today, but I did. Needs must, Captain Blum. The orders have already been transmitted to the Tempest; go inform your crew of the changes, and prepare for undocking within the hour, we have a schedule to keep. Dismissed."

The two officers departed, and Hrelle turned to the three patrol captains on their respective screens, raising his voice to them as he spoke, as if needing to make sure they understood the level of his anger across the light years. "I'll be visiting the rest of you in the coming weeks as part of our tendering operations. I'll also be checking everything - and I mean everything, and I don't expect to find any problems, any anomalies! I'm also sending you new patrol routes, which you will follow with immediate effect. And if you deviate from them by so much as a metre, I'll have your balls for breakfast! Dismissed!"

The images of the other captains hastily acknowledged and vanished. Once he was alone with Tattok's image, he cursed.

"I hope that's not on account of me, Captain?" the Admiral joked.

Hrelle turned to him. "Apologies, Sir. You'll have my full report shortly, along with a list of recommendations for a complete overhaul of the recruitment system being used for border patrol service. Too many of these cubs are using it as stepping stones for promotion. I'm also recommending Counselors be assigned to their ships, and-"

Tattok raised a hand, his scaled skin reflecting light from the holoprojectors at his end of the transmission. "I'll have a good read of it when you send it, Esek, I promise, and I will send a transport to collect Acres, so he doesn't spend too long in your Brig. I know this was a distasteful task for you."

Hrelle tried to shrug it off. "I never wanted to end up the Bad Guy for anyone. Except slavers and pirates, of course."

"As far as I can see, the only 'Bad Guys' here are the Cardassians, and a lovesick fool they duped." He looked up at the Caitian in regard. "My son was right about you; you're very paternal."

"Your son?" Then Hrelle remembered; Captain Weynik of the Starsong, whom Hrelle had met on a previous mission. He shrugged. "I suppose it's inevitable, when half your crew complement are made up of cadets almost a third your age - and one of them is your actual stepdaughter."

Tattok nodded. "And I'm sure you prefer to be the Fun Dad. So do I. I think we've both been spoiled, though, having children who have never given us cause to be the Harsh Dad. But sometimes it's not avoidable. Sometimes, you have to be the Stern Dad."

He nodded. "Understood, Sir."

"One more thing before I go: you warned the Cardassians that you mined Arkady with those Nekrosi mines you discovered a few weeks back. I was under the impression that they had been deactivated and disassembled by an EOD Team."

Hrelle smiled. "They were. The Cardassians don't have to know that, though."

*

In their quarters, Alpha Squad, minus Jonas and Rrori, was getting back into their uniforms despite having finished their shifts less than an hour ago. Sasha remained animated, alternating between finishing off a cold cheeseburger she salvaged from the Mess Hall, and finding a clean uniform. "I can't believe this! S/He should have been locked in irons and hurled into the Brig for what s/he did!"

Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Kit was polishing his boots. "Good Friend Sasha, with respect, we will not know what had happened until the imminent hearing, as all the participants were ordered by Commander T'Varik to say nothing until then."

"I heard Ledit tried to ram the shuttle into the Sureswift and make it look like an accident."

"That is unlikely," Eydiir declared, watching Neraxis, who had been sitting there silent since they came off duty.

Sasha grunted as she swallowed the last of the burger, wiped her mouth on her sleeve - and cursed as she took away relish. "Yes, well, whatever it was, according to Crewman Nkume, who saw it all, Jonas looked like he was going to rip Ledit's throat out." She smiled at Neraxis. "You can get some terrific sex out of a man who has a lot of pent-up energy like that."

"I'm not having sex with Jonas," the Bolian announced blankly.

Kit looked up. "Has your relationship dynamics changed?"

Neraxis flexed her hands into fists. "They will; I'm breaking up with him."

The others looked to her, drawing around her chair, Sasha asking, "Why? You two get along so well together-"

"Yes, until we actually make physical contact, and I end up sending him to Sickbay. He might as well be going Bumpers with a Horta or a Medusan." She looked up, tearful. "He's going places, can have any woman he wants. Someone who won't hurt him." Then she looked at Eydiir. "You were right. Better to avoid relationships-"

"No," the Capellan denied, drawing closer. "I was wrong, and I am sorry I said that. I spoke out of anger and embarrassment, because of an incident I had with Falok."

"An incident?" Sasha asked. "What happened?"

"It is... not important. Suffice to say, I will resolve whatever matters are between Falok and myself - and you will do the same with Jonas."

Neraxis looked doubtful. "Have you seen the things he has to use to be with me? Sex for him is going to be like prepping for a spacewalk! What man is going to want to go through all that for me?"

"Good Friend Jonas will," Kit replied simply. "He loves you. He has stated so repeatedly, and demonstrated it."

"Exactly," Sasha agreed, smiling and patting Neraxis' arm. "He's a good man."

"He is strong," Eydiir added, "And brave, and honest, and honourable. You would be privileged to be his partner, as he would be to yours."

Neraxis looked around at her friends, before finally nodding and giving up. "Fine, fine, I won't break up with him, okay? Satisfied?"

"I do not think you will regret it," Eydiir promised, smiling.

"And after you've done the deed," Sasha added with a mischievous grin, "You have to tell us what he was like."

The Bolian's jaw dropped. "What? No!"

"You are prurient and lascivious," Eydiir declared.

Sasha looked up at her friend. "Yeah, I know it's kind of disgusting, he's like a brother to the rest of us... but aren't you the least bit curious about what he's like in bed?"

"No," Eydiir declared.

"I might be," Kit admitted.

"And I guess I'll find out for myself," Neraxis concluded.

*

Rec Hall:

The room was stifling, despite the environmental controls compensating, or at least it seemed that way to Hrelle. Maybe it was all the people present: not just T'Varik, Kami and himself sitting behind the table, or the people involved in the shuttle incident, sitting in front of them, but the spectators behind them, cadets and crewmembers standing and watching.

Or maybe it was just his temper rising as he heard more and more about the facts behind what happened, as every gave their accounts. T'Varik, on his right, seemingly ignored the sounds and twitches he was making. But Kami, sitting on his other side, more than once reached under the table and touched his thigh, reminding him that his tail was slapping audibly against one of the legs of his chair, and he made an effort to calm himself.

But it wasn't easy. Ledit, standing at attention now giving hir account, was trying to be the epitome of calmness and reason, as T'Varik spoke. "We have read out your statement of the events of Stardate 45348.41. Do you insist that it a true and accurate account?"

"I do, Commander."

"And that you contend your only reason for not immediately coming to the aid of your crewmembers was due to the hazardous nature of the Arkady Cluster?"

"I do, Commander. Nothing would have given me greater pleasure than to have come to the aid of my colleagues, but the situation was too dangerous."

"But the exterior scans of the local area of Arkady at the time indicated that the ion activity was ebbing following the spikes."

"There is an element of unpredictability to phenomena like the Cluster, Commander. It could just as easily have peaked again while I was entering it."

"And yet Cadet Rrori managed to remote pilot your vessel in without incident."

Ledit smiled slightly. "Cadet Rrori is a superior pilot, Commander - he'll tell you that himself. As good as I am, my skills are poor compared to his. And I am extremely grateful that those skills, plus good fortune, allowed me to survive Lt Ostrow's reckless action in endangering my life by gaining remote access to the Littlepaw."

"But when you next contacted us," T'Varik continued, "You stated that you were entering the Cluster to rescue your crewmates. This was not the case."

"I beg to differ, Commander; technically, I was entering to rescue them. But I apologise if there was some misinterpretation of my announcement."

"Were you concerned for the safety of your crewmates?" Kami asked.

"More than concerned, Counselor. I was frantic."

"So frantic you stopped for a drink?"

As the crowd behind him murmured, Ledit blinked and replied, "I did obtain a drink from the replicator, yes, but that was before the crisis rose-"

"It was after," T'Varik corrected. "The timecode on the replicator unit in the shuttle is synced with the main computer; it confirmed you obtained a container of Kasala fruit juice, after you alerted the Surefoot of the predicament."

"Yes," Ledit finally agreed, over the reactions from the spectators. "Yes, I did. My blood sugar felt dangerously low at the time, and I didn't want to pass out and miss an opportunity to help my colleagues."

"You're full of shit," Hrelle declared.

That brought a reaction from everyone in the room, including T'Varik and Kami. Hrelle ignored them, focusing on Ledit, who stiffened and replied, "I beg your pardon, Sir?"

"I said you're full of shit."

Ledit seemingly ignored the amused responses from the audience, folding hir hands behind hir back as s/he replied, "Sir, I am aware that you have been critical of me in the past - and with good reason. I have at times acted in an overzealous manner-"

"You're not a zealot," Hrelle corrected sharply. "You're a bully. A lying, manipulative bully, driven by ambition. You have been reprimanded, penalised, have had complaints raised about you from cadets and crew... frankly, if it wasn't late in your final year, and your Squad didn't need a Leader to meet its requirements, you would have been kicked out on your ass long before now."

Ledit swallowed. "I... am aware of the faults I have exhibited, but you must acknowledge my attempts to improve myself." The breath seemed to catch in hir throat as s/he added, "W-Why would I want to see harm done to my colleagues?"

Kami leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand. "Oh, I can think of several, Ensign. It might simply be a case of cowardice on your part - though that would at least be a point of sympathy for you. More likely, you were waiting to sweep in and rescue the others and earn some acclaim, but lost the chance when the other shuttle took over yours." Her gaze narrowed. "Or maybe you just wanted them dead, to clear the path for someone else to take over the position of Strategic Engineering Officer, someone you can manipulate? Sadly, and frighteningly, I'm beginning to think that's not beyond you."

Ledit bristled at the reaction from the audience, hir chin shaking, hir eyes welling. "Counselor... that is a terrible accusation! I don't- I don't know if I can-"

Suddenly she leaned back and clapped her hands slowly in response. "Oh, Bravo, Ledit, Bravo! A masterful performance! It's nice to know those holodeck lessons haven't been a total waste."

"Excuse me? Counselor, I'm sure I don't-"

"Liar. I prescribed therapeutic holodeck sessions for you to improve your empathy and sense of cooperation. But you appear to have used these to improve how well you can conceal your true nature. And from what I've heard from others, it's been mostly successful... unless you have enhanced senses and training in microexpressions and psychology."

"What's the old Terran saying?" Hrelle asked. "'The secret of success is sincerity. Fake that, and you're in.'"

Ledit regarded the Caitians.

And dropped hir mask. S/He turned to T'Varik. "Commander, was I or was I not in command of the Littlepaw?"

"You were."

"And that Starfleet General Order 6 confirms that the commanding officer of a vessel is the primary authority, except when orders from a higher authority are received?"

Clearly the Vulcan saw where this line of questioning was leading, but proceeded. "It does."

"And did I not receive explicit orders from this very ship not to take any risks with my own safety?"

"No unnecessary risks, yes, however-"

"In fact, do you have any evidence to present to this hearing that I deliberately endangered the lives of the crew of the Sureswift?"

T'Varik paused this time, before finally replying, "No."

Ledit allowed hirself a smile. "Then I must insist that these proceedings are brought to a conclusion. Now."

The Vulcan raised an eyebrow, looking to Hrelle and Kami before responding. "While there may not be specific charges brought against you, questions have been raised about your behaviour and attitude that demand attention."

The Hermat smirked. "I have a better suggestion, Commander, one that would save all of us a great deal of unnecessary trouble."

"Indeed? And what would be this suggestion?"

"You arrange for my transfer to another vessel participating in the Academy's Advanced Work Placement Program."

The three senior officers reacted to that, T'Varik asking, "What would be the reason for this transfer?"

"May I speak freely?"

"You may."

Ledit seemed to gather hir thoughts before drawing hir hands behind hir back. "In the four months I have been onboard this misbegotten ship, I've been the victim of a campaign of harassment." S/He ignored the murmurs behind hir over that and continued. "I don't know if it's due to bigotry because of my race, or intimidation about my superior knowledge and qualifications, but whatever the reason or reasons, it has occurred.

And every member of the panel who sits before me has been a witting or unwitting accomplice to it. I have witnessed all of you favour certain individuals over others more deserving, granting missions and promotions and opportunities to relations, to people of inferior abilities... even unstable mental defectives like Ostrow." S/He paused when someone in the crowd cursed hir, before continuing. "And superior cadets such as myself, who attempt to take pro-active measures to advance themselves, are penalised."

"Pro-active?" Kami exclaimed. "You call conspiring to imperil others 'pro-active'?" She shook her head. "I have no idea how you managed to get past the initial Academy psychological screenings, Ledit, but I will be making enquiries about it."

"Your opinion means nothing to me, Counselor," Ledit glowered. "You are inextricably biased, both by your marriage to an old man unfit physically or psychologically to hold his position... and by whatever hormonal imbalances you're currently experiencing in your capacity as his breeding sow-"