Chapter 27
Epilogue
Stardate 2366.335
Hiro used to love the park adjacent to the Academy. His son, concerned about his melancholy mood over the past months, had practically ordered him to resume his daily walks there. Truth be told, he wished the boy would just leave him alone. The only reason he was here at all was to get Jon to stop bothering him about it. This was the first time he had visited since his meeting eight months earlier with Admiral Lucas. Somehow, the sites and smells were just not the same.
He came across the bench where everything had started and sat down. He did not want to dredge up the old memories, but since he couldn't stop thinking about them anyway, he may as well sit down and relax. Here was where the whole thing had started; and was the beginning of the end for him he reminded himself.
The inquest had concluded a few months earlier. His actions were certainly insubordinate at the very least, and had been unanimously condemned. Someone had to be punished and true to his word, when the operation went tits up, Admiral Lucas Brown had no choice but to place blame squarely on Hiro's shoulders. The review board punished him by retiring him from active duty, allowing him to remain in Starfleet only to teach at the academy. Hiro had implemented the operation knowing this might happen from the start and was at peace with the decision. He would never again hold any command positions, but that was fine with him; he no longer had the stomach for field operations anyway.
That was the story for public consumption anyway; and incidentally, what Hiro was told. The truth was a little more complicated. Hiro had been instrumental in uncovering the alien library on Sha Ka Ree – the greatest archaeological discovery in recorded history, no small accomplishment. Imagine a cave man circa 10,000 BCE suddenly discovering a Library of Alexandria – if said library contained detailed instructions on how to build a jet plane. The library on Beta Virginis 3 was a treasure trove of advanced technology. Over the years Starfleet had run across countless ruins from extinct civilizations, but none had had any advanced technology to speak of. Furthermore, without a frame of reference, a Rosetta stone if you will, Federation scientists had only been able to decipher the writings of a small fraction of said civilizations. This time however, Starfleet had something infinitely superior to a Rosetta stone. They had real time translators in the form of the Ka Ree twins and the rest of their family.
Starfleet therefore had a problem dealing with Hiro. There were those who favored a harsher punishment, one commensurate with a crime that easily fit the definition of treason. Admiral Brown had argued against that, and pointed out reasonably, that a harsher punishment would draw unwanted attention to an ongoing operation, one which had been classified at the highest levels of Starfleet. The real clincher however, came when he had brought the Vulcan twins to address to the assembled leadership of the organization.
Admiral James was old school and politely opened the discussion by directly addressing the twins.
"Ladies, Admiral Brown has informed us you wished to shed some light on Admiral Mifune's role on Beta Virginis 3. We are of course aware of the assistance you have given the inquiry into the ruins on the planet, and all of us here want you to know how much we appreciate your efforts. I must inform you however, that the charges against the Admiral are serious indeed. Regardless of the potential benefits to be accrued from the system, rules were broken and we cannot make exceptions for anyone, even for someone held in as high esteem as Admiral Mifune. Although we make the final decision on his fate, we have never gone against the recommendation of a board of inquiry. I am sure you are aware of all of this, as we have gone over it many times with Admiral Brown here. He insisted however, that you have vital information that we should be aware of. So, what was it you young ladies wish to say to us?"
The twins sat facing five people. Between them, they ran Starfleet. Of those present, Admiral Brown was the only one who had argued for a lighter punishment for Hiro. The twins waited patiently until the Admiral had finished. They displayed virtually no emotion of course, but nevertheless gave the impression of a slight impatience with the whole exercise. When they were sure he was done, they both spoke the same words simultaneously.
"Admiral Mifune wishes to continue to teach at the Academy."
The assembled admirals, save for Lucas, were momentarily flustered. Although they had heard of their peculiar abilities, they had never met the twins before. It was always disconcerting the first time anyone heard them speak in this fashion. Lucas suspected the twins were doing it for that very reason and smiled. Admiral James was the first to break the silence.
"I do not doubt that he would young lady… ladies, but his wishes have no bearing on the decision of this panel. If that is all you have to say…"
"And I want him to maintain his current rank."
It was a common misconception that Vulcans had no emotions. This was not true. They did actually have emotions, they just suppressed them. Any of the Admirals who might have thought them emotionless, were disabused of the notion when the twins' note of exasperation crept into their voice.
"With no negative marks of any kind in his permanent file."
It was a rare thing for Admiral James to be interrupted by anyone, let alone two young lieutenants. Lucas had never seen it, and certainly had never heard the Admiral raise his voice. A day of firsts he thought to himself as he suppressed another grin.
"Lieutenants, that is quite enough! I don't know why Lucas thought bringing you here was a good idea, but let me be very clear. Neither Admiral Mifune's, nor your wishes will be considered here. Now, if you have no relevant evidence to share with us, I think we are finished. This is a decision for the Admiralty only. Am I making myself clear?"
His command voice was usually enough to end the most difficult of discussions.
"I understand Admiral. Thank you very much for your consideration," and as if they had practiced it a thousand times, they took out their communication devices, tapped a few buttons, and stood to leave.
Lucas cleared his throat for attention.
"John, if I may?"
The Admiral indicated for him to continue.
"Sahrafel and Ugaya. Please sit back down. This will only take a few minutes."
The sisters again took their seats.
"I was wondering what some of the more recent things are that you have learned from the library."
"There are many."
"One or two of the most significant."
One of the other Admirals interrupted.
"Lucas, we get regular reports from the system. How is this remotely helpful?"
Without looking at him, Lucas responded.
"Indulge me."
The twins continued, still speaking the same words at the same time.
"The ancients had a method of transporting objects over long distances, at least four orders of magnitude greater than Starfleet is currently capable."
That surprised the Admirals. In practical terms, it meant that Starfleet could potentially transport objects across planetary systems, not just to the surface of a planet from orbit as they currently were able to do.
"And why have we not heard of this development?" one of them asked.
"Because I did not have time to write the report before I came here."
"And when can we expect to see that report?" Lucas asked. The twins' answer was matter of fact in its finality.
"Never."
Some of the Admirals were amused at this.
"Are you sure you want to do that? Insubordination is not to be taken lightly," one of them said.
"It is not insubordination."
"And pray tell why not? As an officer in Starfleet, you will be ordered to produce your latest findings."
"I am no longer an officer in Starfleet. I just sent in my resignation and therefore am no longer subject to your orders."
Another Admiral weighed in.
"Certainly that is both of your prerogatives as officers in Starfleet. If that is all you have to tell us, then I move we adjourn this meeting."
Lucas raised his hand placatingly.
"Gentlemen. I know we all have other things we need to be doing right now, but I beg your patience for a few more minutes. He addressed he twins.
"Sisters, how many people can translate the writings on Beta Virginis 3?"
"There are six as far as I am aware."
"Lucas I don't see…"
Lucas ignored him.
"Can you let us know who these people are?"
"Nuhir, Teelis, Avarak, L'Vor, and me."
Lucas addressed the assembled dignitaries.
"Let me point out gentlemen and lady, that the first two are Romulan. Avarak is the twins' mother, and L'Vor her grandmother, currently leader of the high council on Vulcan. It goes without saying that you are not going to want to have the Romulans come back here and help with the translations, even if you could somehow persuade them to do so. I can also assure you that the twins' mother and grandmother will not be making an appearance here either, if these sisters are allowed to leave Starfleet."
"I don't see why that is a problem Lucas. Dr. Livingston has indicated in his reports that he can read the writing. Maybe not as well as these others, but I am sure he and his staff will not have a problem continuing the exploration of the library."
"Admiral Kapore, I am in charge of our project there. The good doctor is very capable in many ways, but he has no clue what those hieroglyphs say."
That got their attention. Lucas went on.
"So it seems to me that the choice is simple." He turned his attention from the Admirals to the twins.
"What would it take sisters, for you to withdraw your resignation and continue to help us understand what's in that library?"
The Admirals did not get to where they were in Starfleet by being stupid. They waited patiently for the twins to answer.
"You will allow Admiral Mifune to continue to teach at the academy as long as he desires. You will maintain the Admiral's current rank and make no negative marks in his permanent file. And you will restore him to active duty whenever he wishes.
This last was new and Lucas unsuccessfully suppressed a guffaw.
"Sorry," he said belatedly at the looks of disapproval from his fellow admirals.
They were not completely happy, but did know where their priorities lie. Admiral James stood.
"Thank you… sisters. We will consider your, uh, proposal."
"Your words are not logical. You either want the writings translated and the library's secrets revealed or you do not. Given the importance of the contents of the library, if you choose to let me resign and not to have them translated, there is a 93% chance you will all be relieved of command within the week. This is what I believe humans call a Hobson's choice. Therefore, there is really nothing to consider. Choose now or I will leave for Vulcan and not come back."
"93% you say?" Lucas couldn't let the chance to take a dig at the other officers get away.
"I endeavor to be precise."
Lucas had never seen his colleagues this unhappy, but bureaucratic as they were, they knew when to beat a strategic retreat. Without the twins, the writings in the modern-day Library of Alexandria were so much gibberish. He almost felt sorry for them as they stood there trying to think of any way out of the problem the twins had set. Lucas could almost hear the gears turning in their heads. Finally, Admiral James gathered his papers up, nodded at Lucas and left the room followed by the others. Lucas and the twins were left in the room by themselves.
And that was that. The proceedings of the hearing were kept secret and no one ever told Hiro what really happened that day. He never found out about the intervention of the Vulcan sisters, nor that his son had encouraged them to speak to the leadership of Starfleet.
At this particular moment, Hiro would not be thinking about that even if he did know. Since Lyret had died in the BV3 system, there was little else he could think of. He kept replaying the battle in his head, especially the technicolor explosion of her ship. What if he had done something different? What if he had ordered Picard to attack the fleet commander's ship before the other ones? His son continually reminded him there was nothing he logically could have done, but he would not be consoled; the hurt was an open wound that continued to be refreshed in his mind. He even got to the point of leaving his personal communicator with his assistant, so he could avoid talking to anyone unless he absolutely had to. So he sat, trying to find a peace he knew would never come again.
Hiro sighed and looked off in the distance. He noticed his assistant practically running toward a group of trees where another bench lay. He was obviously looking for Hiro and for a moment, the Admiral considered getting up and moving further into the trees that were currently partially obscuring him for view. He decided against it, not because he wanted to talk to the boy, but because he just didn't care anymore. It was too late anyway, he had been spotted. The ensign practically sprinted over to him. A part of the Admiral, the older part, wondered what could be so urgent as he had never seen his assistant this agitated.
"Admiral! Urgent message sir!"
"Yes ensign. What is the message?"
"I don't know sir. It's on your terminal. I could not open it."
"Show me."
"I can't sir. It didn't port to your communicator."
"It didn't port to my communicator? That doesn't sound right."
"No sir. That's why I came to find you. I figured it must be something important to not automatically be sent to your comm."
What the devil?! Lucas hadn't bothered him for months, and when he did, it was only to ask how he was doing. Hiro could not imagine the Admiral sending him an encrypted message. Did something happen to his son? Or maybe the twins? He hoped not, he didn't think he could take a loss like that.
He got up and rushed back to his office as fast as his legs could carry him, all the while thinking the worst. At last they reached his office and he walked to his terminal.
"What does it mean sir?", his assistant asked.
Hiro sat down, and looked at the message. A slow smile manifested itself and a tear rolled down his cheek. To his worried assistant he said.
"It means that all will be well ensign."
Hiro looked at the screen again as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. There were three words."
"Hello old friend."
