Insane in the Membrane

Posted on Mon Oct 30th, 2017 @ 4:26am by Fleet Admiral Donatella Figueroa

Mission: S01E02 D-8 With the Devil
Location: USS Musashi | Captain's Quarters

The USS Musashi had been without direct orders for sometime. Minor repairs had been made quite quickly after the 'gentle' nudges from the Klingon battlecruiser commanded by Commander Ke'gak. 'Minor skirmish' and 'gentle nudges' were terms that had been plastered all over Captain Figueroa's mission report from the Zaran star system. Official report that was sent up through the chain of command and would eventually find its way into the hands of the Commander-in Chief of Starfleet Operations as well as the Federation Security Council, and the President of the United Federation of planets. However, by the time it made its way to the oval office on Earth, Fig was damn sure that amendments and modifications would be made to her already highly censored mission report. Starless skies knew what the heck the general public, the citizens of the Federation spread all across the Milkyway would hear. Fig had no intention on listening to that garbage.

Donatella Figueroa was of the mindset of tell the people what they should know, not what you think they ought to know, and do not sugar coat it. Unfortunately or perhaps quite fortunately, she did not have any real say in that matter. So, the general public, the citizens of the Federation that she and others were sworn to protect would never really know the role that the USS Musashi or Captain Donatella Figueroa played in preventing the start of another war with the Klingon Empire. The Federation Government did not want to cause mass panic. They could not afford to lose any more members of the Federation. Of course more and more worlds were joining or applying to join each day, but what the Federation tried to make people overlook were the few worlds who pulled their membership and support.

That damn Klingon PetaQ, Commander Ke'gak nearly brought a war down upon his Empire and the United Federation of Planets. Though the bastard did provide Fig with some rather note worthy intelligence about the current political situation among the Empire that may yet prove to be crucial. Ke'gak seemed to be acting on his own or with ulterior motives that were not congruent with the Klingon Empire nor their Government which Fig had come to understand at least partially, was comprised of a council and a High Chancellor, and that 'Houses' or perhaps some sort of royal families had political stature or pull with the Klingon Government which seemed to be interloped with the military. So very little was known about the Klingons despite having had contact and conflict with them over the years albeit some prefer to cast an eclipsing shadow of 'The Four Years War,' but the wounds of that war was indeed felt by the world hit by the Klingons and the men and women who proudly served Starfleet.

True Peace with the Klingons Fig thought scoffing. I doubt I will live to see the day she thought to herself shaking her head as she sat at her desk. She had put off checking the communiques that had come in the evening and early morning hours prior, but seeing as she was not going to get anywhere near the Bridge without Doctor Hill calling off his guard dogs...the man literally posted security to prevent Fig from breaking his 'Doctor's Orders' of forced leave. What she had thought had been messages from her mother and other family members turned out to be unexpected and rather unwelcomed attempts at communication from her past (albeit her parents did sure enough tried to contact her).

The communiques contained no audio files and were entirely text only. Do you even want to open these? she asked herself seeing that they were definitely from Kel. "Oh Kel, what the hell do you want?" she said aloud before digging into the files and opening them, pulling them up on a portable tablet to read from her sofa. She began opening the files while she walked over to the sofa and sat the tablet down on the coffee table. I need a drink she thought as she detoured to the food and beverage slot in her quarters and ordered herself a cappuccino. The Captain proceeded back towards the table, sat her drink down, swapped the mug out for the tablet and took a seat on the sofa. Kelvan Garth, Inmate of Elba II Rehabilitation Facility was the author and sender.

To her he was simply Kel, her former fiancé. However, deeper than that he was also former Fleet Captain Kelvar Garth turned Ambassador Garth, and at one time Donatella's Commanding Officer. Historically and to the younger generation of Starfleet Officers he was the great and powerful Oz, at least that was how Fig viewed it. Truthfully, he was admired by many young officers due to history giving him the nickname Garth of Izar. Was he a truly remarkable Captain? Yes. Yes, Fig could not discredit him as being anything less than a great starship Captain. His service and performance during the Four Years War, especially at the Battle of Axanar merited history remembering his name and praising him. However, he let that ego get to his head and something inside that man broke. He began to cross lines, lines that should have never been crossed, not by a Starfleet Officer like him and most certainly not by the great Fleet Captain Garth of Izar.

The last time Fig saw Kel was at his Court Martial hearing. Her testimony helped condemn him and win the prosecution their case. However, Fig too little credit for it and tried to distance herself from that JAG case all together. Even with the best Judge Advocate assigned to his defense, Kelvar Garth had no chance of escaping the closing hand of justice. He murdered members of his own crew. It was sickening to even think about. He had sunk into utter madness and paranoia, complete insanity. A few months prior to his hearing, their engagement ended. His defense did the only thing they really could. They went for insanity. It was a smart move. It was the right move.

Donatella continued to read on, further and further. It was like reading the manifesto of a madman. However, he was begging her to come to him, desperately seeking her audience in order to tell her something he described as being catastrophic if ignored...a matter of life and death for the Federation. His rambling included the word KLINGON over and over. Truthfully, she was very skeptical that there was even a shred of merit or sanity to what Kel had to say. But what else can I do? she thought. If there was truly a threat so great to the Federation, why was he trying to tell her. Oh right... "Because you are in a rehabilitation center for the CRIMINALLY INSANE, GARTH!" she shuted as she tossed the tablet aside and grabbed her hot mug of cappuccino.