Affair on Astate: A New Assignment
Mars Colony, Sol System SFI Divisional HQ
“What the hell is the matter with you Akina”, Captain Peter Harris shouted as he paced around Captain Zane Akina who stood silently at attention in the captain’s office. “Do you know how much trouble you’re in – I’m in? I have half the brass on this rock clamoring for someone’s ass over this! I’m more than happy to send them yours. And look at this!” The captain read from a padd as he paced back and forth. “Excessive use of force, damage to public property, damage to Starfleet property, one wrecked transport, one dead, two wounded, and let’s not forget this one, operations outside of applicable jurisdiction. What do you have to say for yourself and what the hell were you doing there in the first place? We have rules and policies Akina – ones you are supposed to follow!”
“Well when I see three men assaulting a female in the middle of the night, I shoot the bastards, that’s my policy”, Akina answered.
“Captain, mowing down civilians in the wee hours of the morning is not acceptable especially when they are outside of SFI jurisdiction.”
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“Let me get this straight sir, you’d have me stand by while those criminals had their way with that woman?”
“YES”, came the heated reply. “Akina, you’re a field agent, a damn good one, one of the best, but you don’t just don't see the big picture. You’re undercover remember! Now your ugly mug is splashed across every media source on Mars and beyond. You’ve just exposed yourself. Everything we’ve been working on for the last six months just evaporated, its gone – finished. And so are you . You can’t work here, at least not for the foreseeable future until this mess blows over. You’re a celebrity now, a damned hero to the masses.”
Akina grimaced. “I stand behind my decision sir. I’m not going to stand by while innocent civilians are violently assaulted by punks who had it coming to them. If I had it to do over again, I’d do the same thing.”
“Oh you would? What about the credits that went into this operation, what about all the intelligence work that’s now useless? What about that Akina?”
“A small price to pay in exchange for someone’s life sir.”
“We don’t pay you to make those types of decisions!”
“So if it had been your wife or daughter I should have done nothing?”
“Don’t change the subject!”
“You listen to me Captain”, Akina replied gruffly. “I did my duty to uphold the law and protect Federation citizens. If I rained on your parade or disrupted SFI’s timelines so be it. Right now there’s a women recovering from a terrible event who is still alive to tell about it, you have one dead perp, and two others in custody off the streets and away from the public. So there was some minor damage in the firefight, but I'd call that acceptable collateral damage. In any other outfit, they would call that good work, why the hell am I getting the first degree?”
“You just don’t get it Akina. As intelligence officers were supposed to be invisible, unseen, subtle – you’re a god damned supernova! You’re on the news ten sectors away and beyond. Hardly what I would call invisible.”
“Are we done here”, Akina asked annoyed at the Captain’s incessant barking.
Harris grumbled something unintelligible and threw a padd at Akina. “Read that. Your orders. You’re being shipped out of here. Report to the spaceport at 09:30 hours tomorrow to catch a transport.”
“Where am I being sent?”
“As far away from here as I could manage”, Harris replied with a smile. “Astate, it’s a small planet on the border with our friends the Romulans. I don’t care what you do there. If you start a war with the Romulans at least I won’t get the blame for it.”
“But…”
“You’re rated in Romulan culture and language so shutup. Its done. Be on that transport.”
“Great”, Akina muttered.
“One more thing. Here”, the captain said shoving a small black box into Zane’s hand. “Now get the hell out of my office!”
Zane shot a sour look at the crusty captain and existed the office his butt having been sufficiently chewed for the day. Opening the box he looked inside to reveal a commendation ribbon for his recent actions. Turning he poked he head back into Harris’s office.
“Thank you captain. You really do care", he said sarcastically.
“GET OUT”, Harris erupted. Zane left the office and as the doors slid closed he swore he heard something heavy hit the wall from within Harris’s office.
Akina shoved the ribbon into his pocket. He didn’t care much for accolades or awards. He did his duty whatever the circumstances. He glanced at the padd. Astate. He knew something of it though would need to do his homework on the area if he were to be prepared for his assignment which still wasn’t exactly clear. The padd contained only scant information, transfer orders, and little else. Harris appeared to have been in a hurry to transfer him otherwise the orders would have had more detail and specificity.
Turning down the hall, Akina headed to his desk to collected his few belongings. He had a transport to catch in less than 24 hours and little time to take care of any outstanding issues before that time.
Captain Zane Akina Intelligence Operative Starfleet Intelligence (SFI)