Enter Sandman

Posted on Wed Oct 24th, 2018 @ 11:44am by Captain Akiva ben-Avram & Lieutenant Commander Kazyah Linn

985 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: S1E2: Half Past Dead
Location: Administrator's Office
Timeline: MD 3

Akiva had spent all morning drafting up his plans. The previous day had afforded him a second chance with Laena, and he intended to make the most of it. His morning shacharit had nearly blended into his afternoon mincha before his plotting came into full form. He had but a day to pull everything together, and as far as he was concerned, there was nothing more important. He hurried to his office in order to retrieve information from his secure access console -- the one with administrative protocols pre-programmed into it so that he didn't have to confirm authorization at every turn.

Before he walked too far into the room, the chair turned and Kaz was sitting there, hands in his lap as he just stared at the man.

"Took you long enough," Kaz said. "I've been sitting here for two hours."

Akiva paused. "I've been busy." Crossing his arms, Akiva regarded the other man coolly. Their last encounter had not ended in the most friendly manner, and for the life of him Akiva could not imagine what brought him back here. "As have you, I presume. How did you get in here?" It was allegedly a secure facility, after all.

"Locks and clearance codes are hardly going to stand in my way," Kaz said as he slowly stood from the chair. "You don't exactly look happy to see me."

"Fair enough," Akiva said with an acknowledging cant of his head. "I wasn't exactly happy to see you go. What brings you back? If you're here for Van Straten, I hope your vessel's cargo area has a refrigerant capability." He coughed into his hand. "He had to be cryogenically deep-frozen after an accident during transfer involving trace amounts of plasma coolant."

Kaz nodded, "He's...on my to-do list. But hardly enough of a reason to come back."

"Then what is it?" Akiva sighed. "I've got a lot going on right now, Kaz, so I don't have time for your spy games. What do you need from me?"

"We've been through a lot together, Akiva." Kaz slowly walked around the desk, his hand idly touching the Rod of Kel that hung on a chain around his neck. When he reached the front, he leaned on the furniture. "I had a long, quiet trip back to the Vindex to sit and think about my life. Didn't help that my request to go back to field work was denied." Kaz pulled his legs into his lap, putting himself into lotus pose on top of Akiva's desk. "Seems Starfleet Intelligence feels I'm no longer useful in my previous role. They asked me to return to the Vindex as the Chief of Intelligence."

Kaz sighed, his fingers grazing the hem of his pants. "I was hoping your offer was still open. I figure if I'm going to get stuck in a job I don't want, might as well be an interesting job. Or at least away from the woman who blames me for a mutiny that wasn't my fault."

"I seem to remember getting phasered by you," Akiva said teasingly. He really was happy to see Kaz, but now that his old friend had come out and asked for Akiva to make good on his offer, Akiva intended to make him work for it. Or maybe just squirm a little. "But then I've been told I'm a sap and a pansy. What would I know?"

"You can't be upset when someone speaks the truth," Kaz said.

"Oh. I see." Akiva folded his hands below his waist. "The reason you're here is that you have nowhere to go because no one wants you. I suppose I could arrange some field work down in Deep Storage." Akiva fought back a chuckle. "There are some very important things down there that need guarding, you know. Classified, even. Very hush-hush."

"I already know you have someone doing that job," Kaz said. "Eigthe wouldn't feel kindly to anyone who tried to take their job from them."

Akiva arched his eyebrows. Somebody had already done some snooping. "All right, you've convinced me. Start by clearing that frozen traitor out of my detention center, and then I'll get you caught up on what's been going on around here."

"Except you don't give me orders like that." Kaz stood and held out a PADD to Akiva. "My official orders as head of Starfleet Intelligence on this station and on the field team. I decide when the traitor goes or stays. And for now, he stays."

"And there it is." Akiva folded his arms again, a hint of smugness on his face. He disregarded the PADD. "You could have just lead with that, you know."

"Why would I do that?" Kaz asked, tossing the PADD onto the man's desk. "You offered me a job and I wanted to give you the pleasure of seeing me come crawling back. Excuse me for trying to be a good friend."

Akiva tossed his head back and laughed. "Well, I suppose that will take some getting used to." He put his hand out for Kaz to accept. "It's good to have you back."

A normal person would have smiled in this instance. Even Akiva looked generally happy to see him. But Kaz was no normal person, and a smile just wasn't going to be happening today. He took the man's hand and clasped it firmly. "It's good to be back," he said. "Oh, and you remember that door across the hall that neither of us could get into? As it turns out, it's meant for the head of Starfleet Intelligence. Neither of us had the clearance to get in. But I do now."

"Figures." Akiva chuckled at the omen.

"Oh, one last thing," Kaz said as he started to walk towards the door. "I think having Intel representation on the field team is necessary. I'm having someone brought in."

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