What Were You Thinking? Part 1

[Cdr Rian Kwai 0]

What Were You Thinking?

Part 1

Joint Log by Commanders Kania Kawalas Ace and Rian Kwai

 

     Why couldn’t they have said ‘I believe you.’ That’s all I wanted to hear.  But no…nothing. Just ‘Don’t worry, we’ll get you off.’ So what if you get me off…that does nothing to tell me you believe in me. How could you possibly think I’m capable of such atrocities? After so many years, don’t you people know me by now?

      For two hours, Rian angrily flicked a playing card into a basket on the floor with every other thought. Confined to quarters, the ailing Trill had nothing better to do than mope, rant and pout.  She slowly stood up from the couch and walked to the door of her quarters. Upon opening the door, she sighed at the pair of security officers standing guard outside her door. When one of them turned to look at her, she shrugged. “Just checking…” then moved far enough back to allow the doors to slide shut again. “Welcome to Kamp Kwai, the only solitary confinement suite in the Federation,” she murmured as she stared at the doors.

      Rian jumped when she heard the chime to her quarters, then winced. “Joined gods, here comes the lecture.” She walked forward and pressed the control panel. Expecting a lecture for the security guards, but seeing Commander Kawalas there instead surprised her.  She solemnly stepped aside to allow Kania entrance.

      “Rian, how are you doing?”

      “I’m still here.”

      Kania wasn’t surprised that Rian seemed upset and angry after being told about the accusations against her. Nonetheless, she was hoping that Rian would make it a bit easier to start the difficult conversation they must have. “I need to talk about what happened on the station Rian.”

      “I know. You want anything?” Rian hooked a thumb in the replicator’s direction.

      “No…I’m fine.” The Bajorian cautiously watched her OPS officer shrug, and shuffle to the replicator anyway.  A glass of water with small cubes of ice materialized, and then Rian returned to her nest on the couch, chewing ice as she walked.  Kania glanced over the living quarters before taking a seat opposite the couch. “Well, why don’t we get started then?” Kania activated the note PADD she carried with her and removed the writing stylus from its slot.

      “Where do you want me to start?”

      “At the beginning Rian. I need to know where you were, what you were doing and who you may have had contact with.”

      “Who, what, when, where and why.” Rian gave another heavy sigh, pressing the palms of her hands into her eyes. For a moment, Kania thought perhaps something was wrong, but Rian exhaled heavily again before she started talking, her hands still in front of her eyes. “I…left the ship shortly after I was dismissed for a shoreleave break, but only after I had changed into civilian clothing. I wasn’t planning on going anywhere that required me to be in uniform, in fact I thought I was going to get a chance to get away from here for a bit. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a ‘Fleet or civilian transport headed in any direction that I really wanted to go.”

      “Where was your combadge?”

      “I had it on at the time. In fact, I had it on most of the time I was on the station. It was only for the brief moment I took it off the front of my jacket and hooked it inside my jacket pocket that it wasn’t visible on my person.”

      “So how did you loose your combadge, Rian?” Kania scribbled notes on the PADD, pausing every now and then to watch Rian’s reactions to the questions.

      Rian lowered her hands from her face, folding them instead in her lap. “Actually, I lost my jacket…with my combadge stuck in the pocket.”

      It was a technicality that Rian seemed insistent that Kania understand.  Kania impatiently asked her again, “Rian…how did you loose your combadge?”

      "I dropped my jacket."

      "Why did you put your combadge into your pocket and where did you loose your jacket?"

      Rian got up and started pacing slowly, "Well, that's going to take a bit to explain. You see...when I couldn't find a transport to anywhere interesting, I decided to go below and check out the freighters. I thought perhaps I might run into someone I knew."

      "Someone you knew?"

      "Yeah, my parents were in the trade. I used to know quite a few people who either worked on or owned a freighter. Just thought I'd go check up on gossip, and if I was lucky, get a ride out to see my lep're...my dad."

      Kania tapped her stylus against the PADD for a moment as she thought through her next line of questioning, "So what happened next?"

      "I was riding down the lift, and a group of civilians got on the lift dressed in coveralls...the kind you wear when you're working on a ship. I recognized one of them...one of my friends." A faint smile appeared on Rian's lips as she paced. "Ryliek Amhel. Another Trill like me. He's a freighter, owns three ships, captains one of them himself. It's called the Gemmi Crossing. It's still berthed at the station because of the explosion."

      Kania finished scribbling some notes, then glanced at Rian. "This Ryliek....how long have you known him?"

      "Practically all my life. His father and my parents were good friends, even though they competed for business. He's one of my closest friends outside of the Republic."

      "So what happened next?"  

      "We walked to his ship's airlock. Just talked." Rian stopped pacing for a moment, turned to Kania. "I remember....the corridor and the lift....they were hot."

      "Hot?" Kania raised a brow.

      "Yeah...hot. Or at least for me it was hot. My hands got warm and I started sweating. My hands and feet are usually cold, so when they get warm it's...uncomfortable. Even Ryliek commented on it. I took my jacket off and draped it over my arm as we walked. And then we got to his ship's berth...."

      "Then were did you loose your jacket?"

      "At the airlock in front of Ryliek's ship. I dropped it." Rian sat down slowly. "We were standing there talking. He had just entered in his security codes, when the explosion happened. It knocked us off our feet, literally. We fell into the airlock, which immediately locked down. Meanwhile my jacket was on the other side. I could see it, as plain as the stars in the sky, but I couldn't get it because of the station lockdown."

      "Let me make sure I understand this. You got knocked off your feet by the explosion, and accidentally dropped your jacket, with your combadge in it, on the other side." Kania looked up from her notes on her PADD.

      "Yeah." Rian nodded repeatedly. "We immediately reported to the Gemmi's bridge, where I contacted Republic's OPS officer on duty where I was..." her voice trailed off for a moment. "Casper..."

      "Did anyone see you besides Ryliek?"

      "We didn't pass anyone in the corridor. But I did meet one Ryliek's crew members...a human. Hugo I think is his name? I don't know. He was talking so fast and I didn't have a combadge to translate until after he left the bridge..." She fiddled with a pillow nervously.

      "How much time passed between when you reported to Republic and when you returned to duty?"

      "About 20 minutes. I was told to standby and that I would be given further instructions in 20 minutes. When after 30 minutes had passed, and I hadn't heard anything, I contacted the Bridge again. That's when Mr Robinson had me transported directly from freighter to the bridge. I was on duty for.....2 hours, I think, when Blu told all of us still in civilian clothes to go and get changed into uniform. I did, and picked up my spare combadge in the process. After that...well....you saw what happened."

      Kania sighed heavily, scrolling through the large quantity of notes she had taken. "Rian, you're going to have to be ready to answer some serious questions here. We've only scratched the surface of what's going to be asked of you. Like, why were you trying to hide your combadge."

      "I wasn't trying to hide my combadge!"

      "But earlier in sickbay you said you were." Kania gave her a stern look. "And putting it in your pocket means you were trying to conceal it from view."

      Rian look flustered, "Well, not really. I mean....I didn't want too look as intimidating to the freighters. Do you have any idea what they think of 'Fleet officers? I was trying to blend in."

      "Why?"

      "Because...it's difficult to explain."

      "You better be *ready* for an explanation, Rian. And you better be able to explain it to me now."

      "No."

      Kania looked startled for a minute. "What do you mean no?"

      Rian buried her face in her hands again as she tried to gather her thoughts. When she looked up, Kania saw an expression of frustration mixed with exhaustion as the Trill spoke. "No...not until you answer a question of mine. How...how can anyone think I could possible be capable of something like this?"

      "Rian, I'm not saying you had anything to do this...but I need to know what was going through your mind if we're going to come up with a way to explain why *your* combadge was at the scene of one of the bombings."

      "I didn't do it!"

      Kania's voice rose if only to get Rian's attention and bring her back to the line of questioning. "Then what were you thinking!"