252: Prodigal

By Captain Zanh and Avery Breaux
80405.13
Hours after Entangled

-=Captain's Ready Room, USS Serendipity=-

". . .and so, I'm supposed to make this man my Chief Medical Officer as reward for his actions?" Zanh Liis frowned, arms crossed defiantly as she stared into the face of Jonas Vox over subspace.

[Not as reward. As reassignment. Besides, you had already offered him the position previously I don't know why you're throwing such a fit about this, Liis.]

"Because I offered it to him before I knew he was a criminal!" Zanh exclaimed in disbelief. "And a substance dependant criminal, at that. Don't you think that medical might not be the best place for a recovering addict?"

[The substance he has abused is not a prescription drug.]

"You're splitting hairs, Jonas." Zanh knew she was grasping at straws now.

[I don't have enough hair to split,] he replied, trying to force a smile from her and failing miserably. She was in no mood. He cleared his throat and continued. [You'd rather have he remain Chief Engineer?]

"Hell, no! I'd rather he be busted back to crewman and spend the next year sweeping the floor before anything else," Zanh growled. "That would only be if he's to stay on my ship at all. He belongs in the brig. Or at least, a rehabilitation facility." She glared, fists clenched. "You're asking a lot of me, Jonas."

[Not asking.] He replied simply. [Telling. This is the deal that has been made. You don't have to approve of it, you simply have to live with it.]

This made her even angrier.

"Oh, I'll live with it. My LMH will be watching Breaux like a hawk, and my Research Engineer will be watching the LMH like a hawk to be sure that Breaux's engineering alter-ego doesn't make any modifications to his program to conceal what he is doing in Sickbay."

Vox chose his moment to broach another sore topic- no time like the present, he figured.

[Speaking of your Research Engineer. . .]

"Don't even mention her name to me right now, Jonas, or I swear," Liis exhaled slowly through clenched teeth.

[Don't be too hard on her, Liis. She did the right thing.]

"Huh. I didn't know that going around and above your Commanding Officer was ever the right thing."

[She was trying to protect the ship, and the crew. Including you. She didn't know that O'Sullivan was about to launch an investigation until the last minute, and she didn't know who else may be on the ship and working with Breaux, if anyone. She didn't know what else to do, and after she contacted me, I assured her that she had done the best she could have done.]

"Yeah, well," Zanh was unconvinced. "I beg to differ."

[That's your prerogative. Doesn't change the fact that she did a hell of a job and saved you having a huge mess to clean up yourself. You should thank her. No matter how you currently feel about Lair though, you should remember that she doesn't directly report to you any longer. She works for me now.]

"Shades of Blane's black collar." Zanh grumbled beneath her breath.

[Now, now. Nothing like that at all,] Vox reprimanded her. [ And yes, of course you are still the Captain of the ship upon which she lives and serves and so she will answer to you for many things. But as is the nature of her work, there will be many times that Lair Kellyn will be forced to come to me before bringing her work to you. So to put it bluntly, since I know that is the manner of speech you favor so highly, you'd better get used to it, Zanh Liis.]

"I don't have to like it."

[For the sake of your crew, you sure as hell better try.]

"Anything else, Sir?" Liis was anxious to get this conversation over and done with.

[Yes. I've signed off on Rada Dengar's promotion to Chief Engineer. He's young yet, but he's got the skills and he also has the knowledge of the Alchemy. He'll work closely with Lair on implementing any new technologies, and he'll do a fine job.]

"That," Zanh said, her shoulders finally relaxing slightly, "is one thing we can agree on."

[I'll take it. If there's anything else, you know where to find me.] He prepared to close the channel, and she held up a hand, begging his attention a moment longer. [You've thought of something already?]

"Just tell me this, before I have to ask him myself," Zanh said softly. "Did Salvek know?"

[Know?]

"About his wife's little covert op."

[Not to my knowledge.] Vox replied honestly. [Kellyn didn't tell him why she had to leave the ship, only that she had to go. He didn't conceal anything from you, according to her.]

"Thank you."

[Goodbye, Liis.]

She watched the screen wink out. "Good-bye." She sighed and tapped her badge.

"Zanh to Breaux."

[Yes, Captain?]

"My ready room, Sir, at your earliest convenience."

***

Breaux soon found himself standing in front of the Captain, at attention-not afforded the opportunity to stand 'at ease'.

"Lt. Commander Avery Breaux, I am under direct orders from Admiral Vox to offer you the position of Chief Medical Officer aboard this ship." She rose from her chair and turned away from him, staring out the viewport. "So, I am offering it."

Breaux couldn't help but note how different her tone had been the first time she had offered him a position as medical officer aboard the Serendipity, just a few days before.

"Thank you sir."

"Understand that this was not my first choice of new assignments for you." Zanh said, the disappointment in her voice commensurate to the crimes he'd committed.

Breaux had been in the bureaucracy of Starfleet long enough to know that Vox had shared the details of the deal with the Captain. He couldn't resist the barb, "I'm certain sir-yet, think how helpful this will be to Starfleet." Breaux's attitude had changed since being exposed, he found himself resorting to old self...ever the Maquis.

"Turncoats are rarely as helpful in the end as officers who obey the law to begin with." Zanh opined, unamused by his cockiness.

"I want you to know that I will be watching every step you take. I will be informing the LMH of your. . .situation, and he will be serving as your personal physician, overseeing your recovery and orchestrating your counseling schedule with Ensign Tryst. You may also feel free to avail yourself of additional counseling with our ship's Chaplain, but that is something you will pursue on your own and will not absolve you of your responsibility to make each and every one of your scheduled counseling sessions without missing one. Do you understand me clearly, Mr. Breaux?"

"Yes sir."

"One last thing, Doctor," Zanh stressed the last word purposefully. "I would remind you of the solemn oath that you're taking, the one that begins: first do no harm."

Zanh turned back toward him, her eyes engaging his and not letting his gaze wander.

"Yes sir...physician heal thyself and other helpful idioms." Breaux was testing the water. He felt somewhat safe, in that he knew Starfleet wanted certain things from him...not to mention Angela Nolan.

"Actually, and I am certain that you already know this," Zanh responded, her tone telling him he should know better. "that one is not from the Hippocratic Oath but instead from an ancient religious text that your species refers to as the Holy Bible." Zanh replied, walking over to her bookshelf and checking for dust.

She ran a finger across the top shelf and frowned- Dane had been falling down on his after-hours chores again. But then, she remembered, he had been rather busy the past few days.

Breaux concealed his surprise that Zanh had ever heard of the book.

"You might recall that I am," she paused, "for all intents and purposes, married to a man who makes it his purpose in life to understand the religious beliefs of other cultures."

Avery's expression changed, softening a little as he thought of the Vedek.

"Prophecies, proverbs, parables." She turned back toward him and resumed her withering stare. "He shares his knowledge with me, especially if he finds something he's read particularly helpful.

"'Physician heal thyself'. One of the most famous religious figures in the history of your planet uttered those words. But I wonder if you know any of his famous stories. I'm thinking in particular of the one about the Prodigal Son."

Breaux blanched.

"Book of Luke, chapter fifteen as I recall." She was certain he knew the story already- but she was going to repeat it for his benefit, anyway.

"The Prodigal Son went to his father and demanded his share of his future inheritance. He squandered it recklessly, until eventually he was forced to seek work herding animals considered to be unclean by his people. Then, he came to the realization that he'd erred and returned home to his father. His father ran as fast as he could to meet his son upon the road, and he received his son tenderly. Affectionately, despite everything he'd done wrong. What did the son do?"

Breaux listened in silence.

"He asked for work as a hired hand on his father's land. He didn't expect to be restored to the family, and he certainly didn't expect anyone to throw him a party to celebrate his bad judgment. But his father did not make him a hired hand, instead he did, in fact, slaughter a very valuable animal to serve as food at a feast celebrating the son's return.

"Now, the elder son, who had stayed and been loyal to his family all along, felt resentment that his brother received such seemingly preferential treatment. But the father did not see things that way. He considered his wayward son's return a miracle and something worth rejoicing over."

Zanh continued to stare at Breaux, eye to eye. "We have run to meet you on the road to welcome your return, Avery. You would do well to think about your attitude toward the generosity shown you. This admonition comes with a warning I will only speak once."

Her barely controlled anger bubbled just beneath the surface of her words.

"Hear me well when I tell you that if you are ever responsible at any time for the infliction of even the slightest harm upon any member of my crew. . .as sure as there is Hellfire burning in those dark caves on Bajor that I will exact retribution from you with own two hands."

"Glad to see we've all put the war behind us, Sir." Breaux remained at attention, eyes fixed on the Captain's.

She moved away, turning her back to him once again. "Oh, there is indeed a war being fought here, but it's not the one you think." She answered. "And that war will rage on, between us, until you get some sense that your actions were wrong, and begin to rebuild the trust you've shattered.

"How quickly all of this is put behind us, and by us I mean you and I, will depend entirely upon your actions after you leave this room." She cleared her throat and continued. "See Ensign Tryst for your first counseling session right away, and I will arrange an orientation for you in Sickbay with Dr. McKay. Dismissed."

Avery turned to go, but before he got to the door he stopped- she was speaking again, softly.

"For this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found. Luke chapter fifteen, verse thirty-two."

Zanh turned back toward him, and he was surprised to see unshed tears in the corners of her eyes. "Avery," she waited for him to turn, then beckoned him closer with a wave her hand.

Intrigued, he approached.

"Off the record now." She began softly. Breaux nodded.

"You know you never see me with a drink in my hand any stronger than coffee. Have you ever wondered why?"

In fact, he had.

"You also know I used to work correcting timeline errors for Temporal Investigations," she continued, reaching up to twist the chain on her earring.

"Well, there was one timeline that was particularly disastrous, and it took more than one attempt to fix it. The stress wore on me. You see, unlike most TI agents, my engrams have never been completely erasable. Ghosts, shadows, whatever you want to call them, of memories stay with me. Haunt me."

She came around from behind her desk and stood nearer to him. "The strain became so great that eventually, I, like many in my former profession, gave in to the ease of forgetting what I hated to remember through the abuse of alcohol. The habit cost me dearly." She stopped and shook her head.

"Funny thing is, when I made the next jump back and I did manage to correct the line, it erased everything that had happened during the previous attempt. Including my ill-advised drinking career. So, it was as if it had never happened. None of it had ever happened."

She moved away from him, crossed the room and stood before the larger viewport behind the couch. "But I remember what it did to me, to those who mattered to me. To my work. To my soul. I remember as if all of it were still actual history. This is why I will never do it again."

Her tone was softer now than at any previous time during their meeting.

"I know what it means to fight something you think you need so badly. But you're stronger than this. Than any substance." She furtively brushed away the solitary tear that had escaped and run down her cheek.

"You may have been the Prodigal, but you're home now. You're not lost any longer," she whispered. "Remember that."

---------------------------------

-=/\=- Zanh Liis
Commanding Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012

and

LT. Commander Avery Breaux, MD
Chief Medical Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012