Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last conversation you are all fabulous. More rapid Starfleet messages.

Day 251: So, Liz broke a lamp.

October 31, 2260

Starfleet priority message for Captain Kirk-Spock from Cadet Kevin Kirk

Subject: No one's surprised the Hamilton is FUBAR, but here's Desi dressed as Ms. Marvel.

You are so right about the vast number of rapid messages that will be coming from us probably over the next few days, and only a few will include Halloween pictures. Liz doesn't want to abuse your authorization, so she doesn't know about the images I've included. Despite that, you're going to regret that authorization, eventually.

I think you are right employing this strategy, considering that Liz broke a lamp when she was told about what happened. Her mom really liked that lamp. Admiral mommy waited until yesterday to tell us what was happening. I don't even know how the Admiral kept it together for as many days as she did. We had no idea that Sue was missing, even when she hosted a Halloween party for Starfleet toddlers this weekend with the girls there. We uploaded pictures of pumpkin Desi and baby K, which will hopefully get to you in a week. I feel like you need the cuteness. I've uploaded one to this message because again, you need cuteness even though Liz said not to.

We only received your message about 10 minutes after the official briefing. They didn't even know that she was safe on Enterprise, only that Enterprise was mounting a rescue. Apparently, your message got to us the same time the official news got to Starfleet. Or some asshole held the message up. I don't know and I really don't care right now.

You were right, it's better to tell me in this case. Starfleet's kinda messy right now. Liz is panicking less because at least she now knows that her sister is safe on Enterprise. I think it's only because of you and Spock. Liz doesn't trust much of Starfleet right now. She went through at least three rough drafts of her resignation last night.

Ben talked her out of it because if anybody has a right to be pissed off at Starfleet, it's Ben. He was being completely reasonable. He was reasonable after two glasses of wine. We also talked about the importance of being the change you want in the world, and sometimes you need to be part of the system to make changes. How did Sulu get that man to agree to marry him? That seems like a miracle.

I want to know more about what happened, but at the same time, I don't. Promise me you'll investigate what's happening and you will hold the people responsible accountable for what they did.

Do you know why this even happened? Was it jealousy? Was it another Starfleet grand conspiracy. I am getting very sick of these Starfleet conspiracies. I almost lost you to one of them, and I know I don't want to lose my sister-in-law to another one. Just the thought of having to tell baby D that her mom died on a mission would crush me.

Ben and Liz want to know if they should message Sue directly or other people right now? What state is she in physically? What state is she in mentally? Will you tell me the truth or try to sugarcoat it? Ming tried to sugarcoat it. Again, Liz is thankful that you told her the complete truth, although the admiral may be a little pissed off at you. OK, Ming is very pissed off at you.

We're going to hold off on other messages until we hear back from you. We don't want to inundate Sue with a dozen messages when she's not ready.

Xxxxx

Starfleet priority message for cadet Kevin Kirk from Captain Kirk-Spock

subject: I'm aware your future mother-in-law is mad at me.

Although simultaneously grateful that we got her daughter back. It was a weird video conference. Lots of crying and cursing. Which reminds me of mom. Our family life is weird.

I'm not surprised about Liz breaking things. Sulu's wall has dents now. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if someone delayed the message, but it's more likely stupidity. Remember the old saying never blame malice when you can blame it on incompetence. At this point I understand the long-range communication network is held together with duct tape and paper clips. Sometimes literally because Scotty gets creative. I am still waiting for San Francisco to OK sending him to the Hamilton. I'm not going over there because I would have to bring Peter and that kid is going nowhere near that shit. Your future mother-in-law isn't allowed to be directly involved with the Hamilton investigation due to conflict of interest in her not wanting to give the appearance of being another Marcus.

Considering how exhausted Sue was after talking to her mom for a minute, I suggest just sending your message to Sulu. Let him be the intermediary for the moment. Yes, unlimited messaging also extends to Ben. Snookums signed the order himself. We consider it all one big Sulu Kirk family. We are all family by marriage, pending marriage, and/or adoption at this point.

Trust me, we will be finding out who is responsible for this disaster, and they will suffer. On the surface it looks like it's the captain's fault and he's already dead so we shouldn't keep looking or at least that's what some of the higher-ups argued. It's not the first time that an incompetent captain said the wrong thing, got himself held captive for about a week, and then was sent back to his ship dead.

You and I know better than to accept anything at face value in Starfleet, not after the Vengeance incident. We are currently looking at the guy who filled in for her during her maternity leave. We are not saying his name in any communication just in case. Unfortunately, he's back in San Francisco for retraining due to not following Starfleet sexual harassment policies at all, but I heard that the future mother-in-law is bringing in Sulu's sister, the one who is not a wedding planner to be part of the investigation.

On the surface so far, the primary motivation seems to be the captain was getting sent back to San Francisco for a desk job once the Hamilton's current mission is over. It seems like he assumed that Ming was giving the Hamilton to Sue, not realizing that Sue is applying for Yorktown because she wanted to be with the family. So because he was angry about losing his job, he did a shitty job during negotiations and when things went south after a week of being held captive, he sold out the woman that he assumed would be taking his job and ended up with a bullet in the head and heart. That just seems like too obvious of a motive. There's something we're missing. I'll send you as many notes as I can. We're supposed to keep some of this close hold, but that's not going to happen.

Sue is okay. Not well, but okay. She's doing better than when we got her out. The bruises are gone, and she's completely rehydrated. Bones is letting her leave medical soon, mostly because he's tired of Sulu and Gina sleeping in his med bay.

As for how Sue is doing psychologically, I'm simply happy that her old therapist, Dr. Reyes, is now on the ship. That's been a good thing because she doesn't feel like trusting anybody right now. Sulu, Gina, and me are about the only people she will let get close. She's even wary of Bones and Nyota. Now I'm really wondering what the hell happened. We are working on piecing this together.

PS: Oh, did I mention that Gina slapped me for not telling her that we were rescuing Sue. She's a contractor, so it's technically not insubordination. Although we're all just going to pretend it didn't happen.

XXXX

Starfleet priority message for Captain Kirk-Spock from Cadet Kevin Kirk

Subject: Please tell me there are pictures of Gina slapping you.

That surprises no one. I know I have wanted to slap you on more than one occasion, quite recently.

Liz says, don't take things at face value. Because after rereading all her sister's correspondence, the captain seems more stupid than evil. Also, apparently the concept you're thinking of is called Hanlon's Razor. It something along the lines of never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity. Considering what's been happening in Starfleet for the last couple of years, I think we are dealing with people who are just stupid.

Liz might write tomorrow when she's feeling up to it. Right now, she's cuddled up with baby D on the couch eating chocolate-covered pumpkin peeps. Everything is better with peeps. Also send notes with your extra secret encryption. I hope that's already on these rapid messages.