SD 960818.14 Log - Dr Alexander D. Graves Part 2

[Toby Latcham]

It was a few hours until Li’ena returned to the safe house. In that
time, she had briefed her supervisor on the particulars of her ruse.
The knowledge of Alexander’s service record combined with her
telepathy had allowed her to weave a clever tale, a veritable web of
truths, lies and opinions. Ultimately, it was only Alexander's
perception she sought to deceive, and with this she had a resounding
success.

Most of the facts Alexander had come to understand were true; It was
the same story, only told from different sides. For any other officer,
they could see Starfleet struggling to hold its own against the
criminal elements of the settlement: defending its supplies and
equipment; preventing the delinquents of society from planting seeds
of dissent and corruption throughout the civilian population; and
ensuring their development of this planet was not hindered by the
growing tensions and violence. They were the peacekeepers.

But for Alexander, he could now only see a once-proud empire asserting
the inhumanity of its martial law on these desperate outcasts:
rationing and restricting access to the most basic of provisions;
brutalizing those settlers brave enough to speak out and organize
against the injustices; and ensuring the Federation's insatiable lust
for wealth and resources was fed from the backs of the oppressed
underclass. They were the tyrants.

This meant that the company no longer needed to feed Alexander any
more stories to secure his loyalty; he would eventually create them
himself.

If Alexander were to find them stealing Starfleet supplies, he would
gladly aid in their 'liberation'.
Were he to discover the genuine assistance offered by Starfleet to the
settlers, he would condemn the recipients as collaborators. In many
ways, to describe Li’ena’s strategy as ‘deception’ would be harsh. It
had become more of a persuasion.

Nonetheless, it was an intricate and plausible tale, one that could be
easily accepted by those with even the slightest distrust for
Starfleet. And for Alexander, 'distrust' was putting it lightly. He
had received several reprimands for the illegal 'redistribution' of
medical supplies from Starbase 517. He had almost faced court martial
for orchestrating a mutiny against Vincent Dharmajiva's first command.
And he narrowly avoided a lengthy prison sentence after becoming
embroiled in a high-profile corruption scandal while acting as a
Director for the Federation's civilian medical program.

He was fortunate that politics was able to wash over his previous
transgressions, however his career never truly recovered after the
results of an internal investigation came to light. Since that day,
Alexander had been suspended indefinitely from Starfleet, pending
review upon acceptance to an available posting. But despite his best
efforts, whenever a posting did become available, it always seemed to
slip through his fingers once his service history made an appearance.

Yes, Alexander's relationship with Starfleet had been uncomfortable at
best. Whether the company knew this and exploited Alexander’s distrust
of Starfleet with a convincing tale of tyranny, or whether this was
simply a story they perpetuated to all their unknowing employees, the
result was still the same. Li’ena’s plea had struck a chord with
Alexander.

The door creaked open, flooding the living room with light and
attracting Alexander’s attention. From his vantage point immersed in
the soft but grubby sofa set behind a worn coffee table, he watched
silently as Li’ena entered first, followed closely by an aging, scar-
ridden mercenary-type. From his build, he was obviously a soldier, a
grunt. But as he closed the door behind him, Alexander could see he
held a makeshift crutch. From appearances alone, Alexander guessed the
man’s fighting days were behind him.

The pair whispered to each other for a moment, with Li’ena motioning
towards Alexander’s cushioned fortress, but they quickly moved on.
Li’ena marched through the room, and the older man followed slowly
with a limp.

“Oh good, you found the hot water,” Li’ena nodded at Alexander’s cup
of tea, and disappeared into the kitchen. Fortunately, even
Alexander’s pragmatism had his limits, and since he wasn’t some sort
of 21st century survival expert who failed to appreciate that just
because something was safe to drink doesn’t mean it should be drunk,
he had indeed waited until he found fresh water before making his
beverage. If only he had granted such patience to his forehead, he
might’ve felt less like a pillock.

“You must be the doctor to whom Li’ena owes her life,” The new arrival
hobbled towards Alexander with his palm outstretched. His voice had
softened since he first spied Alexander at the bar. It was a more
sympathetic tone than one he used to address other employees. But
Alexander had, thus far, happily followed the trial that was laid out
before him. The man knew he would have more success offering the
carrot than using the stick.

“Surgeon,” Alexander corrected almost in reflex, setting down his
lukewarm tea and rising half-way to embrace the hand, “And Li’ena owes
me nothing, it was the least I could do... under the circumstances...”
He referred grimly to the settlers’ situation.

“Penn.” The man said simply.

“Alexander Graves” was the response.

Penn gave a weak smile and collapsed into the chair nearest to the
potential recruit. “It takes some bravery to stand up against those
thugs, particularly when their presence here is so strong.” He placed
his crutch carefully on the ground beside him, before looking at
Alexander with a weary but discerning gaze, “I can’t help but fear
what may have happened to our dear Li’ena if you had been one of their
officers...”

The Betazoid returned with a mug for the aging soldier, before
silently taking a seat beside her latest ‘saviour’. “Yeah, about
that...” Alexander shifted uncomfortably as he glanced at his new
companions, now at either side. “I should probably let you know... I
actually am a Starfleet officer...”

An awkward silence fell upon the group, and both Penn and Li’ena
exchanged concerned frowns. In reality, both were well aware of
Alexander’s history, but were he to discover they’d accessed his
service record even prior to the events of the previous night, it
would serve to undermine everything they were hoping to achieve.

“Well, I mean...” Alexander hesitated, “I suppose I -was- a Starfleet
officer, but... well, it’s complicated.”

With this, Penn leant forward and spoke with consternation. “But, you
are a Starfleet officer no longer, is that right?” he enquired.

“Yes, I guess...” Alexander grimaced slightly and rubbed his brow, “I
ran into a spot of bother with a political posting. A few bureaucrats
misunderstood my ‘distribution initiatives’. I ended getting dragged
through the inquisitorial process – been on an indefinite suspension
ever since.”

Penn gave a reassuring smile and relaxed into his chair, “Ah, yes,” he
nodded, “You’d be hard pressed to find anyone here with a clean slate,
Doctor Graves.” A whispered ‘surgeon’ came automatically from
Alexander’s mouth before Penn continued, “I, myself, was once one of
the most decorated men in their infantry. I saw many engagements
against an assortment of enemies, Cardassians, Romulans, even Borg.
There was a time I believed that the Federation was a force for good,
a guardian of morality and prosperity throughout this region. It was a
belief I fought for, and one that many of my friends died for.”

“How did you end up here?” Alexander took a sip from his tea, his eyes
locked towards Penn as he continued.

“Security consultant for a mining site. At least, that’s what I was
promised. It became a different story after they saw the leg,” he
motioned to his crutch lying next to him, “But that’s not why I became
disillusioned with the Federation. For me, it came when we were
deployed to assist in the relocation of a colony near the Federation-
Cardassian border. It was... a mess. There aren’t words to describe
the madness that went on down there.”

He paused for a moment as he collected his thoughts, looking down to
his feet as he struggled to get the words out, “When you’re in that
much chaos, you can’t think. You can’t focus. You can only react. We
weren’t sure if the colonists’ were armed, there was just so much
movement. The line between defending one’s property and attacking a
soldier became blurred,” Penn paused again. “They didn’t stand a
chance.”

Silence returned to the room once more as Penn stared at his feet, and
Alexander slowly returned his mug to the coffee table. He had suddenly
lost his appetite for tea. “Ultimately, we should have never been
anywhere near there. Innocent people, good people, died because the
Federation sought to appease the Cardassians.”

“But, you don’t need to hear the ramblings of a jaded veteran,” Penn
added, softer this time, “If you really want to understand the
brutality of the Federation, the way their expansionist agenda and
callous zealotry rip the homes from under the feet of the
disadvantaged, you only need to look around our settlement. It’s the
same story here as it is on hundreds of other worlds, all across the
Federation’s borders.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To be continued in Part 3.