Why This Candle? Why This Cake?

Chapter 20

"The arc of the moral universe is long,

but it bends towards justice."

Theodore Parker

Jim finished his conversation with Commander Rhodes. "You heard?"

Leonard looked at him, sympathy in his blue eyes. "Guess our part is over, Jim. But at least we'll be able to listen in to Zalaa's interrogation," he added consolingly.

"There is that at least," Jim agreed, looking chagrined.

McMillan shook his head. "How are ye going to do this? Arrest the lass?"

"Commander Bradford and Lt. Connolly will do it. You'll have to call her in to your office later, Commander. She'll be arrested here, then taken to Earth in the Fleet IT shuttle. It will be done as discreetly as possible. Bones and I will be leaving directly after lunch. My "consultation" with Scotty is finished and those are my orders. Scotty, I don't want you here during the arrest either. The C in C doesn't want the Enterprise crew involved in any way."

"Aye, Captain. I'll go back to work after lunch and leave in me own shuttle after Fergus calls Zalaa in to his office." He looked sad and dispirited. Ships engineers were supposed to love the ships they served or serviced. He'd never before seen or heard of one who didn't.

"We'll do it this afternoon, Jim. Well after you, Scotty, Leonard are gone."

Leonard looked at the disappointed Jim and sighed. It couldn't be helped... as Jim said, orders were orders. "Jim, maybe Scotty and Commander McMillan should walk us to our shuttle after lunch."

"That's a good idea, Jim. It'll look much more normal and casual," Gavin agreed. "I'll comm you as soon as we arrest Zalaa and we're heading back to Earth. I'll also let you know what time we'll begin the interrogation."

"Yeah, okay. I hate to leave you and Sonaii to handle all this on your own." Jim said frowning. "I don't like it, Gavin, not at all."

"We've handled a lot worse, Jim. Don't you worry about us. Now you better get to the mess for lunch."

"We're going," Jim huffed. Truth was he was angry that he and Bones wouldn't be here when justice was served. But orders were orders, and it couldn't be helped.

They followed Scotty and McMillan out of the office. Aware of curious eyes following their every move, Jim put on a big smile, tucked his padd under his arm, and clasped Scotty on the shoulder. "Thanks for your help, Mr. Scott," he said loudly. "You and I completely agree on the efficiency of the new configuration of the bridge. Believe me the San Fran yard dogs are going to get an ear full."

"Glad to be of help, Captain. Best I get back to work, though. If you need me again, I'll be here. So long, McCoy, see you in a few weeks."

"Join us for lunch in the mess, Scotty," Jim ordered loudly, then soto voice. "Looks better."

"Aye, Sir, glad to."

There was a small curious group gathered close to the mess, hoping to catch a glimpse of the famous and renowned Captain Kirk. Jim spotted Zalaa toward the back of the crowd. He caught her eye and he gave her a friendly nod. "Don't look, Bones. Zalaa is behind that group toward your right," he whispered just barely moving his lips, close to Bones' ear.

"Yeah, I see her. She don't want us here, is my guess. Our presence constrains her ability to do as she pleases. Well she sure won't get another chance to do more harm. It'll be interestin' to find out why she's been doin' all this," Leonard continued. He was careful to turn his face away from the watching Andorian as he spoke.

Jim gave everyone a friendly smile and they walked in to the mess hall which was already filling up with the Alpha shift crew scheduled for lunch. They chose their food items, and McMillan grabbed a table for four. Conversation was genial, with smiles and nods, keeping up a relaxed appearance. After lunch they walked out together to the shuttle hanger.

Jim keeping up the facade, turned to McMillan, gave him and Scotty a hearty handshake, smiled widely, and walked up the shuttle ramp. Leonard gave Scotty a one armed hug, then shook McMillan's hand. Jim sat in the pilot seat and looked out the wide window. Scotty and McMillan were walking away, but he noticed Zalaa still partially hidden behind a post watching the shuttle.

"She's still watching, Bones. Wants to make sure we've gone. Gavin and Sonaii will wait until we're well away before McMillan calls her to his office."

"Let's git on home, Jim, I've had more than enough of this mission. The whole thing is depressin' as hell. What possessed that young woman to do what she did is a conundrum. Guess we'll have to wait to find out. What I need is to see Peter's sweet face, your mama and Nyota's pretty ones, and one of your mama's delicious home cooked meals." He sighed dispiritedly.

Jim glanced at Bones face. He looked and sounded unaccountably depressed, which was not like the doctor at all. On the ship, he grumbled and groused at the crew, including Jim, mostly about not taking care of themselves, but he was invariably positive and encouraging to those who had personal problems, were homesick, or needed a listening ear, and he was always gentle, upbeat, and compassionate to his patients.

"Are you alright, Bones?" Jim asked him. "What is it that's troubling you? For all intents and purposes this mission is over for us, and it's been successful."

"Guess I've been thinkin' about things, Jimmy. Zalaa has been part of Fleet for a long time. Four years at the Academy, where, from what I heard, she did real well, then she's been working as an Engineer for Fleet for at least a couple of years. First at the San Fran space port then on Planitia. How did we all drop the ball so badly with her? How did she pass all her psych evals, and her an Andorian, you know how hard it is for Andorians to hide their innate psychological makeup. And she went into Engineering, that's so rare for an Andorian cadet as to raise a red flag. How come nobody noticed anything untoward about her? Somethin' very wrong about that."

Jim was silent for a moment, thinking about what Bones said. "You're right, Bones. I hadn't thought of it like that, but you're absolutely right, the ball was dropped, several times in fact. When we have our debrief with Admiral Nogura, that's definitely something that needs to be addressed."

"You think I'm gonna' be included in the debrief?" Leonard looked at Jim dubiously.

"I'll make sure you are, your contributions were of enormous help, and I believe your words and insight about how Andorians are screened and evaluated for Engineering assignments will carry a great deal of weight."

They were entering Earth's atmosphere and there was no more talking until Jim was cleared for Earth reentry and landing at the Academy tarmac.

"This is Captain Kirk. Requesting permission to land, Space Central."

"Permission granted, Captain. No traffic in your lane, sir."

Once back on land, Jim immediately commed Commander Rhodes to give him the mission update. "I'm waiting to hear from Commander Bradford, Commander. Once she's arrested, he will take Zalaa straight to SIS headquarters for interrogation. As per your orders from the C in C, they're handling the arrest and interrogation themselves. We left Planitia way before the arrest was to happen. Dr. McCoy and I will sit in at the interrogation, but out of sight, and only to listen and give input."

"I'll update Admiral Nogura, Captain. I'm sure he'll want to speak with you when he can." Jim could hear the Commander sigh. "He has back to back meetings with Admiral Hahn, Admiral Corrigan, Admiral Northcutt, Admirals Barnett, Cartwright, Jameson, Morrow, Shanthi, and T'Lara. We're circling our wagons, Captain, just in case the Klingons, Romulan, Cardassians, or Orion's have gotten wind of the sabotage attempts on the Constitution ships and decide we're vulnerable right now. The Klingons are still quiet, though, so at least that's positive. I know Admiral Nogura would want me to say, a job well done to you and your team, Captain."

"Thank you, Commander. I'll pass that along to my team. I'll update you as soon as I hear from Commander Bradford. Kirk out."

"Hmm, do you really think there's any danger from the Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, or Orion's?"

Jim opened the shuttle door. It was a beautiful cool day in San Francisco. "It's hard to say, Bones. They're always looking for an edge, for Fleet and the Federation to show vulnerabilities." He looked at the time. "Let's go get some coffee and dessert. It'll probably be a while before we hear from Gavin. I need to comm Spock and Jonathon and update them after I hear from Gavin."

They walked to the officer's mess which was full. They sat in an out of the way table and a waiter came over to take their orders from a daily menu. As Bones said, rank hath its privileges. Their food and dessert choices were plentiful. Jim said genial hellos to several officers but didn't chat. He wanted to eat as quickly as possible in case Gavin commed. The waiter came quickly with their food.

"Good to see you again, Captain Kirk, it's been a while since you were here."

"Thank you, Garcia. Yes it's been a while. Just here for today. Spending time with family this leave."

Their dessert was brought promptly, apple pie for Jim and peach cobbler for Leonard with Jim constantly looking at his comm.

"Jim, relax. It hasn't been that long. I'm sure Gavin and Sonaii want to do this as unobtrusively as possible."

Jim sighed, put away his comm and pushed his empty plate aside. Bones was also finished. "Let's get out of here, Bones. I'll comm Ma and tell her we'll be home this evening." He glanced at Leonard. "Are you excited about seeing Joanna tomorrow? What time do we meet her shuttle?"

"Sure am! It's the nonstop flight from Atlanta, gets in at 4:00 pm. Quick flight from there to Des Moines; she'll be with a shuttle escort. Guess Jocelyn is more relaxed about JoJo traveling alone now."

"Well it is a very short flight. I think Peter should go with us, don't you? Both kids would like that."

Leonard grinned. "They sure would."

"Let me comm Ma, Bones, just to let her know we're back in San Fran, not to wait dinner for us."

He did so, and closed his comm smiling. "Ma will keep our dinner warm," she said. "For us and for Violet and Davy. They're coming this evening."

"Of course she will. Your Ma is one in a million, Jim." He shook his head in obvious admiration.

"She sure is. It's meatloaf," he grinned, "mashed potatoes, sautéed green beans. She said Davy loves meatloaf. Guess we know who rates in Ma's kitchen."

Leonard closed his eyes in bliss. "Oh Lordy, we better get back in time to eat that bounty."

Jim's communicator beeped. "It's Gavin. Kirk here."

"Jim we're in our way to SIS. The arrest went without a hitch. McMillan called her in to his office, and as soon as she came in the door, we arrested her. She's sitting in back of the shuttle, well restrained. We know how strong Andorians are. I sealed her quarters; she bunked alone, since she's an officer. It's a small room, but I want forensics to go through it with a fine tooth comb. We're about to land, Jim. We'll put Zalaa in an interrogation room, so come on in to the office. She won't be able to see or hear you."

"How did she react when you arrested her?" Jim heard Gavin over the comm. "Ensign Zalaa," he said loudly. "Stop hitting your head against the bulkhead or I will sedate you." He lowered his voice. "She's angry, Jim. It was a complete surprise to her when I arrested her. She didn't even fight she was so shocked."

"Jim ask him the position of her antennae? That's important."

"Gavin, did you hear that?"

"Yeah, hold on." There was a moment of silence on the comm. "Sonaii went back to look. He says her antennae are standing straight up, Jim, and they're vibrating, small, tiny, shakes back and forth on her head."

"She's frightened, Gavin." Leonard leaned in to Jim's comm. "She's angry yes, but she's frightened, and that's unusual in an Andorian. They're pretty fearless, tough as nails, it's a matter of honor and pride for them never to show fear. If she's scared, she's vulnerable. Work on that in your interrogation, Gavin. Remember, she's been doin' this for a long time, and she thought she wasn't ever gonna be caught. Now that she's been arrested she doesn't know what to do. Her obsession has been broken, destroyed, smashed to smithereens. It's been her entire reason for liven' for most of her life, the lynch pin of her entire existence. Now that's gone. I don't think you're gonna have any trouble gettin' answers from her."

"Thanks, Leonard. That helps a lot. Okay see you at the office. We're entering earth's orbit. Bradford out."

Jim looked at Bones in admiration. "That was amazing, Bones. Remind me to have you on hand next time we have to interrogate someone on the ship."

"Just doin' my job, Jim. I hope what I said to Gavin will prove useful."

"We're here, Bones. Look down, there's Gavin's shuttle. Let me get down lower, to check if they're inside the building already."

Jim flew in a loop then turned to face Gavin's shuttle. "Pilot and copilots seats are empty, Jim," Leonard reported. "I think we can land now."

Jim did, quickly and efficiently, then he and Bones walked to the main entrance. There were always two armed security personnel stationed in front of the large double doors. Both men saluted. "Commander Bradford informed us that you and Dr. McCoy were coming, Captain. He said to tell you that the prisoner is in interrogation room 3, Sir. You and the doctor are to go into the anteroom. As you enter, take a left to the lift, go to the second floor. As you step out of the lift, Room 3 is the third room to your right. Lt. Sonaii is there waiting for you."

They followed directions making their way to the interrogation anteroom. Sonaii was already there, two chairs pulled out for them.

"Gavin hasn't started, Captain." He handed them each an earbud. "He'll be able to hear you through these, and you'll be able to see and hear the interrogation. The room has a one way glass. From the inside of the room it looks like the wall. The prisoner has no idea the window is even there. Oh by the way, Admiral Corrigan will be stopping by."

Gavin came into the interrogation room. "Ensign Zalaa Sh'tyhlath, before we begin this interrogation, I want to inform you that as a Starfleet officer you are entitled to legal representation by a Fleet JAG attorney if you so choose. Do you require an attorney?"

Zalaa looked disdainfully at Gavin. "I require no attorney. My actions were a matter of honor, Andorian family honor."

Jim looked at Bones. I knew it, he telegraphed silently.

Leonard nodded. He too, expected it would be something like that.

"Then affix you thumb print to this waiver and sign it." Gavin thrust a padd at Zalaa and she did so. Gavin then brought out an official interrogation padd. "This will become the record of your official interrogation. This room is also being monitored by a camera and another recording devise. This is for protection of your rights as a Fleet officer.

Zalaa waved a negligible hand at him. "Proceed, Commander."

Gavin spoke the official time and date into the padd and the interrogation began. Jim felt rather than saw Admiral Corrigan take a seat by him. He glanced over and the Admiral nodded.

And so Gavin began asking questions. He started with questions about her past education before she entered the Academy, about her work experience, then he moved on to the sabotage incidents they'd documented when she was very young. Zalaa answered every question readily, taking complete responsibility for each incident and acknowledging each letter she'd written. Gavin asked if she had anyone else help her set the explosives.

"Of course not," she said looking insulted. "I have no need of assistance. I am an expert at many kinds of explosive devices."

Slowly, carefully Gavin led her through each sabotage event; she took responsibility for each one.

"Jim look at her antennas," Bones said. "She's very angry. The antennae are pressed back tight against her skull, that indicates extreme rage. Sonaii let Gavin know that, it's real important," Leonard urged him.

Sonaii spoke softly into Gavin's ear piece. There was an almost imperceptible nod from Gavin.

"Why are you so angry at Starfleet, Ensign Zalaa? Fleet has provided you with an excellent education, an enviable career, and livelihood. Yet you committed treason by destroying several Fleet ships. Why? Why would you betray your oaths like you did?"

Her antennae began lashing back and forth. "She's upset now," Bones said. "Gavin is at the crux of her actions. She'll have to explain herself."

Gavin sat back in his chair, relaxed and attentive. His body language indicating he was ready to hear what Zalaa had to say about her actions.

She glanced at his face, saw the open neutrality in his expression and her antennae drooped.

"She's tired, Sonaii, tell Gavin. She's ready to talk, to explain herself."

Again Gavin gave a faint nod. "Tell me about it, Zalaa. I'd like to hear your story."

She nodded, antennae still drooping. "My father came to Earth from Andor because he heard there was a need for shuttle and hover repair engineers. He was brilliant, but self-taught, too old to enter the Academy. He set up his own repair shop and worked on many private shuttles and hovers. Occasionally, a Fleet one came to him when one of their systems broke down close by. Fleet would pay for the repair. One day a large transport Fleet ship broke down close to our town. The engineer on board could not fix it; he worked for days trying to repair it without results. Rather than send Engineers from the San Francisco space port, Fleet called my father to service it. He went with due haste."

"He would often take me to his work, so I could observe and learn and I was happy to go with him. After checking the shuttle, he saw that the Fleet ship Engineer had disrupted one of the warp conduits, he'd left it open and it got damaged. Being that the conduit was so close to the warp engine, it was a very dangerous situation that he'd created. My father told him so, accused him of incompetence, of endangering the crew and damaging the shuttle. The Engineer was very angry at my father. I heard their argument. My father left his side and went into the shuttle to fix it. I don't know exactly how it happened but the conduit coil exploded killing him instantly." Her antennae drooped down to her forehead in sadness and distress.

"There was an investigation," she continued. "The Fleet Engineer lied, blamed it on my father, that he made an error in his repair. Starfleet agreed with him even though I told them about the argument over the Engineer's carelessness. They thought I was only a child trying to defend my father so I was not believed, and so they found my father at fault. There was no recourse for us, no compensation, no apology, no consequence for the Fleet Engineer. I vowed then that I would avenge my father, and so I have done though it has taken years to do so," she added proudly.

Admiral Corrigan stood. "So now we know why," he said angrily.

"Now we know," Leonard agreed sadly.