Truth and Consequences

Posted on Wed Jan 20th, 2021 @ 10:18pm by Lieutenant Kalin Brennan-Griffin PhD & Cailus Griffin
Edited on on Wed Jan 20th, 2021 @ 10:19pm

Mission: The Gauntlet
Location: Starbase 242

Supervisory Special Agent Oshrata Zh'thokress, Starfleet Criminal Investigative Service, walked up to the yeoman working the desk outside of the base commander’s office. What was his name….

“Michael,” Oshrata said. “I believe he is expecting me.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Michael responded. “He is. It’s about the shuttle that came in last night, right?”

“Yes,” the Andorian investigator replied. “I see word has gotten around.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Michael replied. “I would have heard about it faster, but it wasn’t declared a secret, so people weren’t in that much of a rush to spread it.”

Oshrata laughed. “Of course,” she said. “May I enter?”

“Yes, enter already, dammit!” came the voice of Captain Lazar Wolfe, commander of Starbase 242. “Stop hitting on poor Mike out there. His husband doesn’t like it!”

Both Oshrata and Michael stifled a laugh.

“Aye, aye, Captain,” Oshrata said as she walked into Wolfe’s office.

“Sit, Oshrata,” Wolfe said, gesturing to a chair in front of his desk. “So, what do we have?”

Oshrata sat and transmitted the relevant files from her PaDD to Wolfe’s PaDD.

“Lieutenant Commander Cailus Griffin, Chief of Security, USS Pandora,” Oshrata said. “His wife, Lieutenant Kallin Shae Brennan-Griffin, Chief Science Officer, USS Pandora, and their daughter, Aoife, aged 4 arrived here four days ago. Their son Eoin had just been born, on the shuttle they arrived in, not long before they arrived. They were in miserable shape. They’d clearly been in a physical confrontation. Even the little girl had bruising---”

“Are we talking about abuse?” Wolfe asked.

“Clearly,” Oshrata said. “But it’s not clear if it was the parents or someone else. The couple were not reported AWOL and the shuttle they arrived in was, along with a number of weapons from their armory, were never reported as logged out or missing, but they are several weeks away from their designated posting. Unfortunately, the Pandora can’t be reached at the moment to comment. We confined them to Sickbay while they recovered and now we have them in a family living unit, still under guard. I was hoping you’d go with me when we questioned them. If you take the lead, we can start this off as a ‘debriefing’ and then escalate things as the need arises.”

“Alright,” Wolfe said. “Let’s see. I’ll meet you at their quarters in 30 minutes. Bring a couple of Masters-At-Arms and a Corpsman from Labor and Delivery or something, someone who can handle a baby. I don’t want to question Lieutenant Brennan-Griffin with her baby in her arms if I don’t have to.”

“Done,” Oshrata said. “30 minutes.”

---

Thirty minutes later, Wolfe, Oshrata, two MAs, and a Corpsman were outside the temporary quarters the Brennan-Griffins had been assigned to. There were two MAs already stationed outside. They stepped aside for Wolfe, who rang the door chime and waited for a response.

In the family’s temporary quarters, Cailus and Shae found themselves with very little to do. Locked out of the starbase’s main computer and communications, and forbidden from leaving their quarters except to go to Sickbay, Cailus and Shae were instead left to recuperate from the trauma of the past few days and familiarise themselves with their two new children.

With Aoife especially, the experience was proving confusing for her parents. The little one seemed to have her sister’s memories, but Cailus couldn’t quite shake the subtle differences that he perceived in her. As the days passed, he began to grow more and more confused, more uncertain, hating the complexity of it. Shae was still too overwhelmed from everything for him to try discussing it with her, leaving the worry to fester in his gut.

It was while Cailus was spending time with Aoife, reading her a book (and trying in vain not to compare her reactions to when her sister had heard the same story), that the chime rang. Sat on one end of the couch with Aoife on his lap, with Shae lying down the length of it nursing Eoin, Cailus sighed.

“Alright, I’ll get it,” he grumbled, setting the book aside before carefully setting Aoife down on the couch at her mother’s feet. Cailus hobbled over to the door, not overly caring about his food-stained clothes or that Shae was occupied on the couch. Whoever visited their quarters had to know the situation, and if they didn’t like it, to hell with them.

Still, out of sheer habit, Cailus stiffened when he saw the four pips on the collar of the man outside. “Captain,” he said curtly. “Welcome. I take it that you want to come in?”

“You take it correctly, Commander Griffin,” Wolfe replied. Wolfe was older, quite tall, and had the body of a very physical person. His hair was well on its way to grey with white flecks. He could be quite intimidating when he wanted to be. Right now, he was going for firm, but reasonable. “Don’t make this difficult, Commander. You had to know this conversation was coming. Let me in and let’s get this over with as painlessly as possible.”

“Right,” Cailus replied gruffly. Without further ceremony, he turned around and hobbled back the way he’d come, although when he noticed the armed guards following the starbase CO, he scowled in irritation. Still, glancing down at Shae, he chose not to say anything, instead returning to his seat on the sofa and returning Aoife to his lap.

“Then please, let’s get this over with,” Shae replied softly, pulling up the baby’s blanket to ensure that she was being properly modest in front of a superior officer, though she made no attempt to move from her lounging position.

“Lieutenant,” Wolfe said. “I am truly sorry to have to disturb you at this time, but, like your husband, you also had to know that this was coming.” Wolfe gestured for the Corpsman they’d brought with them to come forward.

“Commander, Lieutenant,” the man said, gently. “My name is Senior Chief Jaxom Xan. I’m an independent duty corpsman in the pediatrics ward, and I’m a grandfather several times over and I spend a lot of time with my grandchildren. This debriefing could get heated, and that could upset the children. Do you think we might be able to convince your daughter to let me read her a story or two in her room while you talk to the Captain and Miss Zh'thokress? And then maybe when the baby is done feeding, I could put him down for a nap?”

Shae’s answer to the man was a low growl, though her expression remained neutral and non-aggressive.

Wolfe, for his part, wasn’t intimidated in the least. When he spoke, his voice remained calm but firm. “I don’t speak growl, Lieutenant, so you’ll have to use your words. Keep in mind when you do that I’m a Captain, and you’re a Lieutenant.”

“I’m quite aware of our ranks, sir, but I will not allow my children to be separated from me ever again,” Shae replied softly.

Cailus’ tone was final. “That’s all there is to it, Captain,” he said simply. With Aoife there, his look was gentler than it might otherwise be, but it was uncompromising all the same. “Aoife has special needs and a particular aversion to those in the medical profession, with all due respect to you, Chief. We will be respectful, Captain, but we will not compromise on this.”

Wolfe nodded. “Okay,” he said. “Then I suggest that you answer my questions honestly, boychik, and without hesitation or equivocation. The minute I think you’re lying to me or Special Agent Zh'thokress, I’ll have you tossed in the brig. Now, let’s begin. I’m Captain Lazar Wolfe. I’m the commander of this station. Supervisory Special Agent Oshrata Zh'thokress here is in charge of our SFCIS detachment. We have quite a few questions for you. Let’s start with the fact that you are not where you should be on the Pandora, and that the shuttle you arrived in, as well as the weapons from Pandora’ armory, were not properly checked out. Then we’ll move on to your physical condition at the time of your arrival and that of your daughter. I don’t believe you did that to her, but someone did. Special Agent Zh’thokress and I would like to know who, and whether it relates in anyway to why you took the shuttle and the weapons and went AWOL. You may begin.”

“There is no need for lies or threats of the brig, we will tell you everything,” Shae said, her tone still gentle and soft. “After the death of our daughter, we received news that she was in fact still alive, and after we were provided with a location we informed our Commanding Officer that we would be leaving to retrieve her. Not wanting to put him in a compromising position since this would be an unauthorized mission, we stole the shuttle, weapons, and medical supplies. We accepted that this would make us AWOL, but not wanting to alert our target, Captain Temple made the choice to not declare us so we could have the element of surprise. After reaching our destination, a facility conducting illegal genetic experimentation on a planet that had been removed from the star charts, we raided the facility and rescued our daughter. During this raid, the Director of this facility beat my husband within an inch of his life, for which I killed him. I set explosives and rigged the generator to overload, destroying the facility, then we sought out the nearest starbase to seek medical attention for our daughter and my husband’s injuries, thus directing us to Starbase 242. While in transit, I went into labor, a pregnancy we were both completely unaware of, and the rest I think you can figure out on your own.”

By the time she was done speaking, little Eoin was done with his meal, so Shae adjusted her shirt and resituated her son to burp him.

Wolfe blinked. “Oookay,” he said. “I was not expecting that. So, let’s just skip past the whole daughter dying but not being dead, and move on to you raided the facility. You raided the facility? All two of you? Three, counting the baby you say you knew nothing about? By the way, don’t take this wrong, but where in the Nine Hells did you hide a baby from yourself? Never mind. I’m getting way off track. Let’s start with who, as in who are… were these people? Do you have any names? Locations? Physical evidence, beyond your injuries? You have to admit your story is fairly fantastic. Can you prove any of it?”

The more disbelieving Wolfe got, the higher Cailus’’s eyebrows rose. He glanced at Shae in bemusement; one thing they hadn’t actually counted on was that their story might be too insane to be believable.

“Quite frankly, Captain,” he said evenly, looking down at the fox-like girl sitting on his lap, “our priorities were rescuing Aoife, first and foremost. All other concerns were secondary, including our careers in Starfleet, or the possibility of jail. Aoife is now safe, and the people who hurt her, and who hurt countless others, are gone. They no longer pose a threat to our family. As for proof…”

He glanced at Shae, frowning. Suddenly on the other side of the suicide mission, with Aoife and her brother safe and sound, that question seemed much more relevant. Shifting Aoife a little, her head resting against his chest, he pondered how the hell they’d actually get out of this.

“For proof, you need look no further than Aoife herself. Her death certificate complete with autopsy was properly documented by Pandora’s medical team. Her death by aneurysm was witnessed by the Captain’s own daughter as they played at school, and yet here she is. She doesn’t speak much, and she may be too afraid to communicate with you, but ask her yourself where she was,” Shae said.

Cailus, looking supremely uncomfortable, nevertheless shifted Aoife again so that he could look down at her and meet her eyes. “Aoife,” he whispered softly, “I know this is hard. Mama and I are right here, little one. Do you think you can talk to the man?” He glanced up at Wolfe, and the gentle look shifted into an iron glare almost instantaneously before shifting back as he returned his eyes to Aoife. “This is the time to be brave, my girl. You’ve already been so brave, and we love you so much.”

Aoife looked at her Papa warily, then over to her Mama. Shae nodded with a small smile and offered a chirp of encouragement, to which Aoife responded in kind, then she set her azure blue gaze onto the man before them, waiting for a question.

“Ask her your questions, she is ready,” Shae said.

Wolfe nodded. He smiled and turned on the Zeyde (grandfather) charm he used with his grandkids. It worked on them. He hoped it would work here. “Hi, Aoife,” he said. “My name’s Lazar. Could you please tell me about where you’ve been? I’m not going to hurt you or be angry with you no matter what you tell me. Mom and Dad are right here and they’re not going to let me.”


Aoife pursed her little lips together in intense concentration, trying to figure out how to answer his question with her limited vocabulary. There was also the small problem that some of her memories were muddled, with overlap between the lab and the other Aoife’s memories of life on Pandora. Her mouth started to open and close as she attempted to form words, but for a while, her voice simply would not come.

“Scary,” the little girl finally said, her eyes darting about as she continued to search for words “Cold, hurt lots, mean man and… and... Mmmm…” she said, humming in thought, then she raised her frilly little dress to show a surgical scar on her leg. “Papa come, Mama come, warm, safe, no hurt.” Then Aoife lowered her dress and relaxed against her Papa, feeling exhausted from even that little bit of exertion.

Wolfe kept his smile in place and genuine. The little girl wasn’t telling him anything he could really use to prove Cailus and Shae were telling the truth. There was the scar…

And once again Wolfe was proven right. He always believed in surrounding himself with the best people. Chief Xan was discreetly scanning the leg wound from a distance with his medical tricorder. He’d get anything that might have been missed earlier. One of Xan’s jobs was collecting evidence in child abuse cases. He knew what to look for.

“Aoife,” Wolfe said. “You did really well. Just one or two more questions, okay? Do you remember hearing anyone use words that sounded like names? It’s okay if you say them wrong. Miss Zh'thokress over there, her job is figuring things like that out. If she can’t figure it out herself, she’s got lots of friends who can help her. So, did you hear anyone use words that might be names of people or things? Like a machine? Or a ship?”

“Aoife,” the child answered, pointing to herself. “Di-die… die-tator, bad man.”

“I think she may mean Director?” Shae chimed in.

“Yes, bad man, hurt lots,” Aoife confirmed, but offered no other names.

Wolfe looked over at SSA Zh'thokress.

“Assuming the Brennen-Griffins are telling the truth,” the Andorian SFCIS agent said. “Whoever is responsible for this… they were careful. Titles, not names. I’ll get into this, sir.”

“Yes,” Wolfe said. “Yes, you damn well will, Agent.” He turned to Aoife. “Like I said, just a few more questions. Do you remember anyone else the Director was keeping there, keeping there like they kept you there? Any other kids? Or maybe adults?”

Aoife shook her little head and pointed to herself. “Lonely.”

“I know, sweetie,” Wolfe said. “I know. Whatever happened to you… it shouldn’t have happened. But it’s over now, and you’re safe. No one on this base is going to hurt you and if anyone tries, they’ll have to answer to me.”


Aoife offered a meek smile, then snuggled into her Papa’s chest for comfort, her eyes drooping as she yawned.

“Skipper,” Xan chimed in. “I scanned both mother and daughter. I wanted to confirm that they were related. They’re a match, sir. An exact match, with only a few irregularities.”

“Well that’s,” Wolfe said. “Wait, an exact match? As in a…”

“Yes, sir,” Xan said. “I mean, I’m a corpsman not an MD or a geneticist, but…”

“Yeah, I get it,” Wolfe said. He turned to Shae. “You’re a biologist. Can I assume you understand what Xan is saying?”

“Absolutely, sir,” Shae replied calmly. “In the strictly biological sense, she is my clone, not my daughter, but I carried her and gave birth to her, so in my heart she will always be my child. Actually, our child, as she was adopted when my mate and I married; or he adopted the other child that died, I have no idea what that means legally for this child, but nothing can change what’s in our hearts,” she explained carefully. “And if you were at all curious, her brother was conceived in the conventional way with my mate,” she added for a touch of humor. Were she not so pale from her earlier brush with death, her cheeks would be flushed with color for daring to be so bold.

Cailus harrumphed, shaking his head in exasperation at Shae’s teasing. “Explaining this when the kids get older is going to a mess,” he grumbled, looking down at Aoife with fond bewilderment as he hugged the girl close. “We’re going to need a flow-chart. Multiple flow-charts.”

Shae nodded. “Complicated even further by the fact that somehow, and we’ve no idea how this is even possible, the child we rescued has memories from the child that died; she knew we were Mama and Papa even though she should have no idea who either of us were. I believe engramatic grafts were found during one of her checkups, but we have no idea how those memories were obtained, or just how far those memories extend.”

“Huh,” Wolfe said. “Well, first of all, Lieutenant, I cannot even begin to explain how disinterested I am in your sex life. Mine keeps me plenty busy. Next, do we know if Aoife here is a clone of the other Aoife or if she’s another clone of you? Again, you’re a biologist, Lieutenant. You should understand my question. I hope so, because I’d rather not go into details in the present company.”

Shae sighed; this question would require more details than she had originally been prepared to give, but it was not completely unexpected. “When I was once a ‘guest’ at a similar facility, it was discovered that my genetics did not allow for modern cloning techniques. They had to go back to old school methods, and even then it required significant genetic modification to create a viable, stable embryo. I was used as a gestational surrogate after multiple failures with human surrogates. What this means is that the child I bore had none of the markers of modern cloning techniques. We didn't think to look for those markers with the other Aoife because at the time we had no reason to believe that she wasn't the real deal, but those markers as well as the ‘manufacturing’ flaws that contributed to her death were discovered during her autopsy. And while we were confined to Sickbay, I had the staff check for modern cloning markers and she has none; this child is the true Aoife.”

“Alright then,” Wolfe said. “Okay. For the record, I’m inclined to believe you, but we have to do our due diligence. So, attention to orders: Barring objections from Agent Zh'thokress, we’ll keep you in custody here until we can contact the Pandora and confirm at least some of what you’ve told us. You’ll be under house arrest, but I’ll have Security arrange to escort you around the station so you don’t have to spend the whole time cooped up in here, and so you can attend whatever therapies you need to attend. We’ll arrange for you to meet with one of the JAG lawyers assigned to the base and they’ll make sure all the eyes are dotted and the tees crossed as far as Aoife’s identity and status and your custody of her. You don’t want that to bite you in the ass later. They’ll also look at your situation regarding the AWOL and theft charges, and anything else they feel they need to get into regarding all of this, again, mostly so all of this gets resolved and put behind you and none of it comes back to bite you. You will both see a Counselor here on our station while we wait. That’s not a suggestion, it’s an order. You’ve been through an ordeal, a very violent, very traumatic ordeal, and you will take care of your mental and emotional health, even if I need to have you escorted to each session in shackles. If you have objections, make them known to me now.”

As the captain explained what would happen in a very official tone, the reality of the situation finally, belatedly hit Cailus. He sank slightly into the couch, the propriety of rank forgotten. The message was clear: he, Shae and the children would be taken care of, but they were nevertheless prisoners. Criminals, although no charges had been filed.

The irony of it all wasn’t lost on him. Oh so long ago, in the brig of the Tornado, he had coldly talked down to Shae in similar circumstances, but with far less compassion. He had gloated over her forthcoming loss of rank and imprisonment, a cruel tactic to crush her hope and get her to talk. At the time, with Harriet and Victoire long dead, Starfleet and the uniform had been all that Cailus had left. Now, that timid woman he’d interrogated in the brig, a criminal, had made him like her, drawn him in. They were both criminals now, both looking forward to potentially losing their careers.

Cailus glanced down at Aoife, sheltering in his arms, then at Shae lying on the couch, beautiful even with her stained clothes and exhausted visage. Eoin was held against her breast, the baby seeming to settle down for a nap after feeding, his tiny tail curling in. Then his eyes flicked over to the guards, standing a discreet sentry behind their captain as he talked, professional and disciplined in their uniforms.

Cailus had known the price for their actions, and he had paid it gladly. It was a choice he should’ve made ninety years ago. Nevertheless, seeing fellow Starfleet and knowing that he might soon become an outsider to them, Cailus felt a pang that he hadn’t expected.

“Understood, Captain,” he said finally after Wolfe finished, looking up at the older man. “And for what it’s worth, thank you for your hospitality. Your medical staff saved my wife and son. That is no small thing, sir.”

Wolfe smiled. “Relax, Commander,” he said. “If Pandora confirms your report, I’ll relax your confinement even more. Just rest and take care of yourselves.” He turned to Aoife. “As for you, young one… have you ever had real ice cream? Not the replicated stuff. I mean real came from a bovine dairy animal of some kind ice cream?”

Lazar wasn’t really expecting much of an answer from the traumatized little girl. She didn’t talk much, less than he expected from a four year old. Then again, he was a stranger. Either way, he figured her mother or father would chime in for her, help her to understand what was being said to her.

Aoife didn’t understand all that extra stuff about replicators and bovine dairies, but she understood what ice cream was and began to chirp excitedly, her little tail wiggling in an attempt to wag.

“I take it you won’t need a translation to understand that reaction,” Shae said with a warm smile, clearly amused.

“No I will not,” Wolfe said. “Well, there’s a place here, the owner brings in the ingredients to make homemade ice cream, including milk and fruit and chocolate and caramel and nuts and just about every other thing you can think of, stored in stasis containers so they stay fresh for a long time. That means he serves the real thing. When your parents are feeling up to it, young lady, we’ll all go there and have some.” He turned to Cailus and Shae. “If that’s alright with you, of course.”

“We’ll have to see, you may have to bring it to us,” Shae said sadly. “Cailus would never admit to it, but his knee does give him trouble getting around, and because I insist on nursing our son, it’s slowing my recovery, so I’m still quite weak, I can’t handle any jaunt further than a trip to and from the infirmary for our check ups. But as soon as things improve for us, we would love a nice stroll.”

“Of course,” Lazar said. “And if Aoife gets impatient, I certainly will bring it to you. In fact, I might do that anyway. I’ll see what my schedule is like. I’m going to have to get back to work, but I’ll look in on you as time permits. In the meantime, if you need anything, and I mean anything at all, contact my office.” He turned to the Andorian SFCIS agent. “Oshrata, I seem to have monopolized the whole debrief. We’re good?”

Oshrata nodded. “We’re good,” she said. “I’ll start the ball rolling with JAG and they’ll straighten out the legal issues while I verify as many of the details you’ve given us as I can. I’ll be in touch if there are any issues.”

“Captain Temple also told us to reach out to Admiral Milne at Carnwennan station,” Shae added. “Perhaps Milne can help speed things along?”

“Alright then,” Lazar said with a nod. “We’ll leave you to your rest and recuperation. While I wish we’d met under better circumstances, it’s still been a pleasure to meet you.”


“Likewise, Captain Wolfe,” Shae replied with a gentle smile. “It’s such a relief to get this out into the open, to be free of secrets and fear; you’ve no idea what it was like to live under their shadow. Now, even if things do not go well with the JAG, I am free, and it is the most wonderful feeling.”

“Yes, it certainly is,” Cailus said, looking at Shae with a small but unmistakable smile before glancing back up at Wolfe and Oshrata. “Have a good day, Captain.” As Wolfe turned away, however, Cailus grunted subtly, catching the eye of the guards and pointedly looking to the corners, where they should’ve been in the first place rather than the sub-optimal positions they’d chosen. One of the guards looked irritated and ignored him, but the other, more senior, acknowledged the reminder with a curt nod before following Wolfe out.