A Piece of the Pie
Posted on 15 Apr 2023 @ 1:25am by Lieutenant JG Rafe Caradec
2,230 words; about a 11 minute read
Ganymede, Moon of Jupiter
Remote Medical Facility
Stardate 2389.2 [Flashback: 4 years, 3 months prior to current timeline]
[ON]
"That's not true, Rafe. I am here for you but you have to make sure that you're telling me everything. If the council senses anything awry", Vice Admiral and Counselor Mira T'ang continued, "anything that your not telling them, they will destroy you, your career, and send you to prison for more time than you would believe possible. And I won't be able to stop them, nor should I."
Rafe knew she was telling him the truth. She was always truthful with him. This was somewhat gratifying to him, that he could always depend on her for a clear picture of reality, and she didn't pull any punches, except when they first met. It was eleven years ago, Stardate 2378. She was a Commodore then, who continued to be a rising star of Starfleet, and due to the nature of the liability that Starfleet bore, they wanted someone of experience to make sure all parties were treated fairly. A Starfleet cadet crashed an antique mid-twentieth century airplane which severely hurt himself and his sister.
But then Commodore T'ang stepped in and started talking to Rafe, seemingly about nothing sometimes, just small talk. She touched on the anger bottled up inside him regarding the cadet at the beginning and how they, THEY, would need to work on it. He thought why is she including herself in his anger. He just wanted to be left alone, for her to shut up and leave him alone! But she was someone he couldn't ignore. He started opening up about his life, his dreams, his ideals. She was so disarming. They would end up laughing at times, good belly laughs in their sessions where neither could speak for laughing so hard. He had never felt so safe, so happy, as those sessions towards the end of his therapy.
And then she dropped a bombshell out of nowhere. T'ang looked at him and asked, "Rafe, with all these wonderful talents you have and all the dreams you want to accomplish, why would you let your hurt and anger for this young cadet distract you from being who you are?" And there it was. He had no answer. His silence filled the room. His heart was almost full again with contentment through the sessions they had, but a wave of guilt came over him.
"She's my sister and I should have protected her", Rafe said, hurt written in every line of his fallen countenance. "I should have anticipated it and I didn't. I simply didn't! She wouldn't have had to suffer if I had been aware."
T'ang got up and walked over to him and sat beside him. She put her hand on his shoulder and said, "You couldn't have moved fast enough, you couldn't have been aware enough to anticipate what happened. There was nothing you could have done to prevent it. The power to do anything beyond what you did was not in your hand that day. But the power that is in your hand today is this. With all your talents, strengths, charisma, and laughter, you can live life as your sister wants you to, and not be held back, or you can let that accident define who you are and make that become your identity for the rest of your life. I think the Rafe who I have come to know is much better than that and can do more in life by laying this burden down here, today. You are worth more than this. Your calling in life is larger than this."
He had never forgotten her and they had kept in touch through the years and here she was again. But this time, it was different. Starfleet had given her the okay to speak with him at his request because of their history together, and because of her rank, on the condition that everything would be recorded and available to Starfleet. She told Starfleet a flat no. And there was no wavering in her voice. Being a Vice Admiral had its privileges. She would record everything but would only provide the recordings to Starfleet if Rafe agreed, which he did. He wanted everything to be above board.
Rafe started speaking from memory of the events that suddenly changed his life's trajectory. "I had finished my morning workout and had went home to change. I was running late for a briefing and had finished showering and donning my uniform. I ran out, grabbed a shuttle to Flight Command, and was rounding a corner to the corridor leading to the briefing rooms in which one was a briefing on upgrades to the Nebula class ships regarding ship maneuverability and warp drive capabilities. When I rounded the corner I ran straight into Commander Tim Bagley. I hit him pretty hard. As this was a top secret area of Flight Command, there were only 3 people in the corridor besides myself and the commander."
T'ang asked, "Where were they precisely, in the corridor leading to the briefing rooms or in the larger corridor away from the briefing rooms? And did they see you hit the Commander and did they see where the padd came from?"
"One was walking towards the corridor just after me but coming from the other direction, so she would have seen where the padd came from, that it came from the Commander who was holding it before I hit him." Rafe continued, "The other two were behind the commander about 20 feet on their way to exit the smaller corridor.
Once I realized what I had done, I quickly got up and grabbed the padd and rushed to the Commander, apologizing profusely. As I did so he was getting up and I looked at the screen of the padd. At first I thought it looked like satellite and orbital station telemetry. But I then noticed it was top secret information on Earth's orbital defense grid. I looked up at him and he tried to grab the padd and I moved it behind my back. He then ordered me, yelled at me to give it to him. I asked him to wait until we could call a senior officer to arrive and that's when he lunged at me and I responded with a right cross. At that point he fell backwards to the deck and was out. Security was arriving so I turned the padd off and handed it to them, stating what I saw. That's when they took me into custody and took Commander Bagley into custody to Medical."
"Anything else, anything at all with you, your family, any recent troubles, financial hardships?" T'ang questioned, her eyes level and watching for any reaction.
Rafe could tell she was acting in that moment in her full role as Vice Admiral, not a friend. So he responded to the point, "Nothing Vice Admiral, nothing at all, that's everything."
"Very well. Computer, stop recording and send the recording and transcript to Fleet Admiral Elizabeth Shelby, encryption level 5.", T'ang said.
Her demeanor changed; her body relaxed. One could tell she did not like interrogating, especially with Rafe. He stood up with her. She walked over to him, grabbed his shoulders and looked up at him. He didn't know if she knew how he felt, how he adored her for saving him, for helping him focus on his future and not his past, that and how she made him feel when she was around him. She was so little, her face like the face of a porcelain doll.
"Stay the course, Rafe. Stay true to who you are. Let the process play out." She grabbed his face with both hands and tiptoed up to him and kissed him on the lips fully, but so gently. He responded in kind and held her close. They parted and he looked in her eyes.
"You're so beautiful, Mira", Rafe spoke. Tears flowed down both of their faces. They looked at each other and laughed.
"Don't! You're going to make me ugly cry!" she laughed. They continued to laugh a while and then they held each other. He wiped her tears and she told him to look her up when this was over. But until then, everything must be professional. Of course, he understood. He was actually still processing them kissing and her opening up to him. Oh, he loved her so. They composed themselves as she lead him to the doorway where security waited for him.
The next few days were extensive questioning by the tribunal, he was under the microscope. The witness testimony was under the microscope, everything was, especially Commander Bagley. After all was said and done, he was cleared of all charges. However, the ruling was unusual. The tribunal's ruling was that in an effort to keep up appearances, to avoid any start of conspiracy theories, and because there were witnesses, he was reduced in rank to Ensign for striking a superior officer and quietly transferred to Starbase 137. Commander Bagley was said to have been moved to a medical facility due to the fractured skull and brain trauma. In truth he was shipped to a black site for interrogation with an extended prison sentence in his future for treason. Then, by order of the tribunal, the proceedings were sealed. They could be revealed, however, to his top tier CO either at his or Counselor T'ang's request, if he was unavailable for any reason. He trusted her implicitly.
Starbase 137
Stardate 2389.5 (3 Months Later)
"Ensign Caradec", said Vice Admiral Mira T'ang, "report to your CO's ready room. T'ang out."
Rafe almost jumped out of his clothes!! Mira here?!? He literally speed-walked/ran from his quarters to the ready room. When he walked in he was greeted by his CO, who was wondering what was up as Mira had explained nothing. She had been waiting for Rafe and said she would explain everything once he arrived.
"It's good to see you Ensign. Please, have a seat", T'ang said. Turning to his CO, as they all sat down, she began to explain the last three months of Ensign Caradec's life in detail, not missing any detail. She had an incredible memory. Every aspect of that event was ingrained in Caradec's mind. She explained what had happened and how important it was what Rafe did. "Not only was he observant in what could have been at most a few seconds, he was able to quickly assess the threat, neutralize it, and hold true to the deepest of Starfleet values. Great job, Lieutenant! Please stand."
Rafe stood, not knowing what was next. Vice Admiral Mira T'ang stood facing him. "Ensign Rafe Caradec, it is my privilege and my honor to reinstate you to your former rank as Lieutenant Junior Grade with all the rights and privileges thereto." She placed the additional pip on his collar.
It caught him flat footed. Rafe was so happy and thankful. There was no one he would have rather pinned the pip on his collar than her. "Thank you, Vice Admiral! Thank you so much."
She turned to the CO and mentioned she was short on time and needed to leave but to treat LT JG Rafe Caradec with the utmost respect and not hold his demotion against him. In actuality, the tribunal had not actually demoted him. In his record the tribunal effected a retroactive amending of his record to show no demotion effective today, the day he was reinstated. Therefore, all his leave and seniority remained intact. Rafe and the admiral left the CO's office together.
She was pressed on time, but she wanted to have the last two hours to spend with Rafe. They went and grabbed some food to go at the mess hall on the way back to his quarters. Thankfully his roommate was on duty. Rafe couldn't believe she was here, his porcelain doll. They ate on the couch and talked of his time near the Romulan neutral zone and some of her strange counseling sessions, without naming names, of course. When finished eating, Mira stood up and took his empty plate and disposed of them in the replicator. Then she came and sat very close to him on the couch, facing him.
They stared into each other's eyes. They loved each other. Their feelings were now on the surface and obvious, but they knew neither could show it, but for now, all their walls were down and the moment was perfect. They slowly undressed each other revealing his muscular build and her perfectly short, fit, and supple frame. They made slow, deliberate love to each other, drinking in the moment, tears of happiness flowing down their cheeks. How or why she fell in love with him he could never understand. The age difference alone made him wonder how. But he knew. They were two of a kind, matched by destiny, joined by fate.
Eventually, she had to leave. "When can I see you again?", Rafe asked.
Mira responded, "I don't know, Rafe. But know that I am yours. I love you. Stay the course. Be who you wonderfully are. I'm just glad I got a piece of the pie."
[OFF]
LT JG Rafe Caradec
Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo
Vice Admiral Mira T'ang
Counselor - Starfleet Intelligence
Jupiter Station
(NPC played by LT JG Rafe Caradec)
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