Posted by Lieutenant Commander Bethany Kovra Gadi (Chief of Security) in Side Sim - You Can’t Pick Your Parents… Or Grandparents (Tag Gadi)

Posted by Civilian Elias Balthazar (Misunderstood Sociopath) in Side Sim - You Can’t Pick Your Parents… Or Grandparents (Tag Gadi)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Bethany Kovra Gadi (Chief of Security) in Side Sim - You Can’t Pick Your Parents… Or Grandparents (Tag Gadi)
Posted by… suppressed (35) by the Post Ghost! 👻
The newly upgraded USS Asimov sat docked at Starbase Eleven awaiting the final arrival of the crew. It had been an emotionally draining few weeks since their return and subsequent reintegration into ‘proper’ Star Fleet standings; but after much debriefing and investigation, the crew was back to their original identities and lives.

In the interim, the ship had had only the barest skeleton crew while it had been refitted and the Computer Core reconnected to the Federation and Star Fleet databases. In fact, at the moment, the most senior officer on the ship was the Security Chief. So it was to her office that communication was forwarded. It was marked Confidential and Classified by Star Fleet Intelligence, and was heavily encrypted.

Strangers Calling

Bethany looked at the screen, well here it came. She was expecting a call. She had no anticipation of the outcome, but she had plans of her own brewing. She had promises to keep first though. “Computer Authorization Gadi Alpha Oh Nine Five Zeta Kulesk Nytha.” She set her hand to the bioscanner and then leaned forward for the retinal scanner. The system approved her code and she waited for the connection.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

It took only a fraction of a second to make the connection… odd, to say the least. And it was then a face appeared…

Elias Balthazar.

He smiled broadly at Gadi and said “Well hello! So happy to see you, Bethany. And I’m glad everyone got their lives back. Seriously. You all did an amazing job, and I would have been quite… irritated… if Fleet Intelligence and FedSec didn’t uphold their promises. How are Agent Blue and Agent Piklesimer, by the way? Do tell them I said ‘Hello’, won’t you?”

Balthazar

Elias. The hair on the back of her neck raised and everything seemed more intense as adrenaline surged. “You can tell them yourself when I bring you in.” Bethany didn’t even bother to try and trace the comm signal. It would be pointless, she knew from experience. “Calling to taunt me again for slipping through my fingers? Encourage me to give up on a pointless endeavor?”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Balthazar’s face changed into something Gadi had never seen in it before… not in person, not in vid records… never. It was concern. Genuine concern.

The look was creepy, it made Elias look human. Bethany could not fall in to that trap.

“No, not at all. I really did want to see you and make sure you were alright. And to make sure you recovered. I was really worried about you, Bethany. Truly.” His voice rang true and there was no indication of any kind of deception. The look on his face was almost… paternal.

Balthazar

That was even more creepy. The sincerity in his voice and expression. Her training, her instincts, her gut told her he wasn’t playing at half truths. “Oh I’m sure. I quite well remember you telling me I can’t die until we are done with our game. I certainly wouldn’t be so selfish as to give up, die, and allow you a reason to kill my crew.” It was frightening how easily she slipped in to a place of familiarity and comfort talking to him. It was a process they repeated over and over. “What is our game this time, Elias?” She was sure he was worried, but not because he cared for her. She was his most favorite toy, or pet, at best. One that would turn on him the first chance she got.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Elias shook his head. “No games, Bethany. I give you my word.” he said. He stared her for a long yime and then said something that seemed to resonate with affection and truth.

“Okay,” that was one thing she could bet on. Elias always kept his word. So no game…yet.

“You know you have your grandmother’s eyes. Her smile, too.”

Elias

Bethany actually laughed. “Of course I do. All Betazoids, a 1/4th or more have black eyes. The gene dominates all other species’ alleles. You’re educated, you know that.” Bethany had no idea if she had the woman’s smile. She didn’t remember either of her grandmother’s.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Elias chuckled. “No… not that way. The shape of them. Especially how expressive they are. It has always reminded me so much of her when I see you. You have a lot of her in you, too. Her fire is definitely a part of you.” He exhaled a long, slow breath. “I miss her greatly. I probably always will, I think.” His tone spoke of many things… loss… longing… and more. But foremost was love.

Elias

Bethany went eerily still. Had he played games with her grandmother? Tormented and taunted her like he had her? Then a truly disgusting thought occures to her. He was always writing Bethany live notes. Did he pursue all the women in her family? That was gross, even for Elias. “You knew my grandmother. Sure, why not.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Elias looked at her for a long time and then smiled and shook his head. “Still haven’t put it together, have you?” and he chuckled. “Yes. I ‘knew’ your grandmother. For many, many years. We were married on a bright spring day. She wore a beautiful yellow dress that drifted on the breeze across the cliff we stood on.” His eyes unfocused and he stared off into time. “She was one of the most amazing beings I have ever known. And it was a privaledge to be allowed to share her life. We were married for… thirty-seven years. We had four children. Three boys, one girl. The boys we named Cayden, Kian, and Lachlan.” He sighed and then looked at Gadi. “The girl we named Mairin, and she was the pride of all of us.”

Elias

Ice and then fire that tried to make her coffee burn its way back up her throat. NO! NO. NO. Absolutely she was not related to Elias Balthazar. Their name was Horan. She dismissed that though. Of course he would have changed his name several times. “You’re Garrett Horan? My grandfather?” He really expected her to believe that? “Why are you telling me this now?” If he was hoping to desuade her from hunting him with a family tie, he was wrong. Family… all she had was her uncles. They were good kind honest men. They could not come from Elias.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Elias sighed again. “I was… but no more. And never again.” He looked at Bethany with a fierce determination. “The nature of my existence is unique. And it has come to pass several times in my many lives that someone finds out what I am. That leads to a desire to unlock what makes me… me. And the desire for that knowledge makes people do anything they can to try and harness it. Including harming those I care for.” His voice grew cold and outright malevolent. “I will never tolerate such actions.”

Bethany hated that she could sympathize with him now. She had already had a taste of that ‘curiosity’. It wasn’t going to go away. No matter what threats or agreements were made. Bethany knew that.

He took a breath and leaned back slightly. “I learned that some of those individuals had become aware of me. In order to protect my family, I was quite publicly and spectacularly killed: run over by a cargo slider. I was buried, also publicly. I was then retrieved by some trusted associates. Since then, I have watched over my children… and grandchildren. I made sure the Dominion didn’t find you when you and your mother fled. I helped your father escape to meet you…” and his face grew dark. “Although had I anticipated what would come, he would have been sent to the Dominion with a bow on his head.” He paused and reached for something, lifting a glass and taking a drink. “I made the necessary arraigments for you three to travel to Earth through contacts. I made sure your uncles were set up to watch out for you.” His jaw clenched and a tear slid from his eye. “I was at your mother’s funeral.” He took a steadying breath, a version of Elias Bethany had never seen. “I saw what became of your father… his drive to make you something you weren’t. That, I am afraid, is my fault. My genetics made your abilities… unpredictable. Both in power and when they would manifest. Your father had no idea what he was doing.” His jaw clenched again, but he continued. “When I heard what he had done… what he could have done…” and he shook hsis head, “… well, I ensured that would never happen again. As I said… no one harms my family.”

Elias

Bethany just stared at him in silence for a long long moment. “Why didn’t you save her? If she meant so much to you, why didn’t you save her like you saved me? Why did you even bother?”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Elias looked at her, his whole being seeming to fall under a weight more massive than his own existence. “Because I couldn’t. What took your mother was outside of my ability to adress. No matter how much I tried, who I paid, who I threatened… no one had an answer. Believe me… if there had been anything I could have done to have saved her… I would have.”

Elias

His blood was doing crazy things to her, why didn’t he do that for her mother? It didn’t matter anyway. She was gone, and nothing would bring her back. “She cried for you when she died.” She didn’t know why she said that, maybe it was one last thing she could do for her mother. “She adored her father. She,” Bethany didn’t want to wrap her mind around this news, “told me stories about you.” The attitude was gone though out of her though. “Do they know you’re alive? My uncles? Do they know what we are?”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

He shook his head. “No, they don’t know I am alive. Nor do they know the nature of their… ancestry. And they can’t know. If they do, it could get out and they would be in danger.” He looked intently at her and said “Promise me, Bethany. Promise me you will keep this from them. Now is not the time.”

Elias

She snorted, “You obviously don’t know me as well as you think you do. I would never risk them.” She stared at that uncomfortably familiar face, “I’d join your syndicate before I would get them get hurt.” Well that put a hitch in that. “They didn’t inherit the El-Aurian genes at all? They didn’t get the empathy or the aging?” It made her sick to need these answers from him. Maybe she would wake up from the nightmare. Maybe it was just a byproduct if her flaring paranoia.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Elias looked at her and said “I don’t believe that it is my place to tell you about them. You will have to ask them yourself.” He lifted the glass and took another drink, the light catching a gold inlay on the glass that looked familiar, but was at angle that it couldn’t be seen clearly. Setting it down, he looked at her intently. “How are you feeling? How much trouble do you have controlling your abilities?” he asked directly (for once).

Elias

Bethany gave him a scathing look, “Ask them about something that you say puts them at risk? And as loathe as I am to say so, I know you aren’t lying, so I’ll just settle for unfulfilled curiosity.” Bethany didn’t give the slight recognition of the inlay any considerarion. He was back with his wealth. It was probably some treasure he’d pirated once. She’d spent endless hours going over every heist, every stolen item. It wasn’t hers, though he stole enough from her, he always returned them. Except the first one. The bracelet her mother gave her… oh that put a sick twist on why he kept it. D@mn!

“I’m alive. Fully recovered, better than I was. I am everything my father ever wanted me to be,” she didn’t even try to hide the bitterness. “So guess I owe you thanks for that.” She had very very little control, she hated it, she was even more a freak than she had been. Aasrel was a good teacher though, and she was stubborn. She’d figure it out, or go crazy. Bethany honestly wasn’t sure she cared anymore.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

The flash now anger was almost palpable, even through the screen. “YOU ARE NOTHING LIKE HIM OR HIS SICK VISION!!!” he almost shouted. His jaw twitched and his breaths came deep and fast. “Never. You will NEVER be what he tried to make you. You will you… and you alone. Never think you are anything less than who you should be.”

Elias

Bethany laughed without humor. The dark look in her eyes was disturbing, “Careful, I might think you care. You’re forgetting the rules of your own game, Elias.” She shrugged, “What was his sick vision?” She sat forward slightly, “He knew didn’t he? Or knew enough to want to control it for himself.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Elias’ eyes sparkled and he said “I told you. I care for my family more than anyone. As for your father? I have no idea what he knew and didn’t know. All I do know is that for what he did to you, he deserved everything he received. Amd more.”

Elias

Bethany shrugged, “We are all someone’s relative. Some are lucky enough to be cared for, some aren’t. Some get justice, some don’t.
There is no great balance scale for the universe. Life simply continues. I learned a long time ago blood does not guarantee family, safety, or comfort. All we have is what we do for ourselves.” God she sounded cynical, but then she always had been, she just hid it.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

“Most blood. But not all blood.” he replied. “There is some in this universe that may not guarantee safety… but it does guarantee family.” and he grinned at her. “Whether you want it or not.” and he laughed.

Elias

“I love my uncles, they are all I have. They made sure I knew I could only count on myself when things got bad. They made sure that I wouldn’t let it happen again. So don’t worry, I won’t be asking for anything.” She leaned back refusing to be drawn into a sense of acceptance and belonging and familial amusement. “So, why now? Why are you telling me this? You want a Christmas card every year or something?”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

“Christmas is a materialistic and commercial travesty of an otherwise noble and beautiful tradition.” Eias said flatly. “And no, I do not expect anything from you. I am telling you now so you know to expect me to be watching out for you. And your uncles. And history would disagree with your theory that they are ‘all you have’. None of you would be here if it wasn’t for me.” He leaned forward and stared unnervingly adamant into the screen. “I do not believe that any of you owe me debt for that. Nor would I ever ask for anything in return…” and he leaned back and smiled at her.

“That’s what fathers and grandfathers are for, after all.”

Elias

“You might have given me your genetics, that doesn’t mean I have you. Nor do I want you. The only thing I want from you, is for you to turn yourself in, and serve your time for the crimes you committed.” She laughed without humor. “You’ll live long enough to be free again. Maybe you’ll even… well you can be anything you want after. Maybe even the man my mother bragged about.” On the surface it was a low blow, but there was something else behind it. The dying of childhood dreams. After her mother died she has fantasized about having a father like her mother’s. Or maybe even her grandfather wasn’t dead, but would save her. It was alright, Bethany had herself.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Elias smiled, and then laughed. “Oh… if only it was that easy, my dear.” He stopped laughing slowly and then looked at her with an expression of… curiosity. “Honestly, Beth… think about it. Do you honestly believe that if I surrendered myself to face the justice I oh so absolutely deserve… do you believe that I would just be allowed to serve out the decades and then they would just let me go? That I would never be viewed as a threat to their order? Their power? That there is no one in a position of power who wouldn’t use that power to try and unlock what secrets my biology holds?” He leaned forward and looked directly at her. “Do you believe I wouldn’t spend the remainder of my existence cut into teeny tiny pieces under microscopes and in specimen jars? Do you honestly believe your dear Star Fleet and Federation is sooo noble that there is no one who would want create more like me?” He laughed sarcastically. “I tell you what, Granddaughter. If you can tell me that you believe that in all honesty… that you believe with every fiber of your being that there is NO ONE who would use my incarceration as a means to try and duplicate what those bastards did to us so long ago… then I will absolutely believe you and I will tell you were I am and I will wait for you to send the authorities. My promise to you.”

Elias

“I think that’s the first time you’ve lied to me. If you truly were willing to pay for your crimes, you would have stayed on Cantraken Station to do your time. Instead you contrived to escape.” She knew he would try and she’d tried to do what she could to prevent it, and failed again. “Oh it is that easy, Pops. You chose to do it and just do it. It’s like any other life and death decision, among the thousands you’ve made. No, I can’t tell you that you would just serve your time, and as much as you might deserve it, I don’t wish that on anyone. Keep that in mind when they come after me, and they will. Right now it’s a waiting game, but eventually they will want to experiment. They will find out how I’ve been changed and use it. Then I suppose, I’ll get to practice what I preach.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

The look on Balthazar’s face spoke volumes as his voice became flat and firm. “That will never happen. And I have never lied to you, nor will I. If you gave me your word that you truly believed as I said, I would do as I said. Because I trust you, Bethany. To be true to yourself and your ideals. And know this…” His eyes almost glowed with righteousness. “No one… NO ONE will ever force you to go through what we were forced to endure. Never. And your secret is safe. It will not be known. That I guarantee.”

Elias

It was already known, and their loyalty to duty prevented any of them from hiding it. It didn’t matter. She crossed her arms and stared at him. “They forced you.” It wasn’t a question, she could see it on his face. Is that why the augments were so bad? Did it make them crazy and break their minds? “You didn’t know not to do what they had you do at the time, but you’ve had CENTURIES to decide to not be a criminal. Why didn’t you?”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Elias laughed. “Really? That’s how you see it? Oh my dear, dear, naive Bethany… what I’ve had is centuries to learn that I CAN’T be a citizen. They have never left me me alone! Anytime it’s found who and what I am, they come for me!”

Elias

“But you could have gone elsewhere, outside the Federation, changed your name, your identity, chosen NOT to be a criminal, NOT to mass murder people.” He chose to continue the violence.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

“Mass murder?! THEY were trying to kill US! It was self-defense! How is it our fault they created something they feared so much?” Elias asked.

Elias

“You don’t call blowing up a fleet of Romulan ships mass murder? Or an entire army that, yes was evil and had to be stopped from killing several colonies, but you didn’t have to kill them all?” Bethany answered with her own question.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Elias leaned forward and looked at her conspiratorialy. “Have you ever even asked why there was a Fleet of Romulan ships there? And if you don’t destroy an evil when you have the chance, it comes back tenfold. You know that for a fact.”

Elias

“No.” Bethany shook her head. She wasn’t denying the reason the Romulan’s were there, but rather Elias’ reasoning. “That does NOT give us the right to be judge, jury, and executioner.” That was a dangerous path. That’s why dictatorships were so dangerous.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

“Neither. Are. They.” he said emphatically. “But that is exactly how they act with regards to us. So if we can’t be… why are they allowed to be?”

Elias