Taking a Hard Left - Part Two

Posted on Thu Nov 26th, 2020 @ 4:01am by Captain Torilla Yamaguchi

1,145 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 108 – Tragedies, Fortunes, and an Endgame
Location: Various Locations - Starbase 400
Timeline: Set right after Part One

Gabriel went over to the replicator as he fought to control his emotions. Part of him wanted to pick up the coffee table and use it as a giant club and another part wanted to walk out of his mothers quarters. "Captain." he addressed Alex. "I cannot read minds... I'm a telekinetic... Not a telepath..."

"Gabe. I can hear you thinking about it..." Torilla commented quietly.

"That I need a good nights sleep... something that's been all too rare and precious these days..." he answered. "Or a good, stiff drink..."

Torilla paused, this was a side of Gabriel that she had never known existed. "Where have you been for the last year or so Gabe... The girls and I have been out of our minds with worry... Elizabeth wrote you off... I'm pretty sure that Rachael isn't much better off..."

"Because I... I dropped off the grid..." Gabe answered

"I'm still your mother, why didn't you come to me..." Torilla paused as she realized just what she had said. Gabe glared angrily at his mother. "Why?" he whispered. "You ask me why!" he added, much louder.

Alex wasn't sure what was taking place before her eyes. The room was filled with anger. Alex unfolded her arms and sat back down again while she calmed herself. She wasn't prepared for what may happen here but it wasn't going to be pretty.

Gabe sighed as he regarded his mother. "I decided to walk from Starfleet... Then I decided that the Arabs were right... My enemies enemy is my friend... So I decided to see what the Typhon Pact were up to... So I decided to join their ranks... They'd let anyone join. Pirates, scum... Hell, even half-trained animals if the cash was right..." he paused. "I was looking for whatever leftover ordinance from the Starbase magazines that I could use... I was content with causing some casual mayhem... "

"Your still a weapons and tactics man. Gabe... Did you even bother to consider what they would do to you if they caught you.?" Torilla asked.

"Yes... Which was why I was prepared to detonate Four Hundred's reactors... Make this place go up like a supernova... It was the first thing I arranged upon arrival and it was also the first thing I disabled when the Federation relief force retook this place..." he turned to Alex. "I was able to use a fractal encryption lockout on the magazines. Using a one thousand twenty-four digit passcode..." he smiled. "A little something Savannah made for me."

"You used her little computer hack program..." Torila asked gently. "I had no idea... Why?"

Gabriel sat down as he let out a soft sigh. "The simple truth... I lied... I learned to lie... I played the part of a beaten man, resigned to the sanctuary of his work... I made myself indispensable... and all the while... I laid the groundwork of my revenge... They took something from me which was most precious... I would deny them victory..."

Torilla regarded her son. "But you took such a chance..." she answered quietly. "Why couldn't you let us know where you were?"

"I couldn't chance it being intercepted," Gabe answered. "I needed the cover to be real and my reasons had to be real too... The Pact had this Starbase... and I was prepared to take whatever measures needed to deny them their prize... But I am not Elizabeth... I'm not the telepath she is..." Gabe sighed softly. "During the retreat from the Starbase... I had my chance to wipe them out... All those Typhon Pact animals... all fleeing in terror... It was so palpable then even I felt it..."

"Who did you kill Gabe...?" Torilla asked of her son.

"A couple of Breen happened to catch me in the act... I pulled down a piece of conduit onto them both and smashed them flat... What's worse... I enjoyed it... That's when I realized what I had become..."

Alex felt bad for Gabe as she had him pegged all wrong. Her demeanour changed very quickly. She probably should've stayed out of the conversation but she needed to know the answer, "What Gabe? What have you become."

Gabe regarded the stranger. "I'm a monster," he answered quietly. "There was a time when I wouldn't hurt a fly..." he commented. "Then Typhon Pact forces showed what they were capable of... They showed me what savagery was... and I killed those three Breen... A fourth saw me doing it... and him... I caught him and I needed to silence him... Except... This one I enjoyed..." as he looked at his mother. "When I was finished... That... was when I realized the monster I had become."

"You did what you had to do," Torilla answered quietly.

Gabe regarded his mother as his eyes suddenly turned white. Torilla blinked. "Gabe-Gaah..." she paused as Gabe shared the memory of what he had done.

Yamaguchi blinked. "I understand..." she said quietly. "I don't know what I would have done if your father had been the one who had fallen... I've never faced anything like this..."

"I know..." Gabe answered. "Now... I am lost... I've no idea of what to do..."

Alex didn't have an answer but she knew where he was coming from. She had killed a lot of people while she was a security officer. Sometimes it was needed to survive. Kill or be killed as the saying went. She had never enjoyed it though. Alex could only do one thing, "I'm sorry Gabe. I had you pegged wrong."

Gabe regarded Alex in silence for a moment. "You had me pegged as a psychopath who was willing to commit genocide... You were only half wrong... As I had considered it... Hell. I was even planning it..." as he looked down at his hands, which looked clean but his mind's eye said otherwise. "It's not them, I hate Captain... I hate what I've become... Because of them."

"War does horrible things, Gabe... Would you come back to Starfleet?"

"I... I don't know..." Gabe started. "How do you go on?"

"How do you pick up the threads of an old life?" Torilla asked. "When some wounds go too deep... You've been reading Tolkien again..."

"He's not wrong..." Gabe answered.

"I don't know anything about this Tolkien person but you need to make peace with what you've done before you can move on. And you need to forgive yourself. It'll be hard but not impossible." Alex worried that the wounds are too deep.

Gabe paused as Torilla nodded. "She's right Gabe... War sometimes asks us to do what must be done, regardless if we like it or not..." she explained. "But for now, you'll remain here with me... I'll take you down to the infirmary and get you looked at... then you can stay with me... I wouldn't mind the company..."

"Thanks, mom..." Gabe answered quietly.

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