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The Thief and the Commander : 12
Chapter 12: Ciphers
Beatriu had left the squad room that evening with Robin holed up and grumbling over a mountain of paperwork in his office. Ehren had been in much the same state over the Yarzfeld database; a broken and archaic record of the history of the lost Yarzfeld galaxy. Restructuring the data was quite the herculean task for one man, and she could tell that Ehren was getting frustrated by the angry look on his face and the way he'd snapped at her when she'd said goodnight. She worried about leaving them alone for only a moment as they seemed both too deep in their work to be much trouble. .She headed down the corridors towards her room and found her interest piqued by a light shining out from one of the computer labs. She opened the door, curious to see who else was staying out late. There certainly was nobody schedule for a night shift in one of the more deserted areas of the building.
She found Rasa staring at a holographic output display looking tired and frazzled.
"What's happening in here?" Beatriu said as she pulled up a seat.
"Uhh..." Rasa stared at the screen for a moment, trying to process whether or not she should even bother to try and hide what she was doing, or if she should just spill everything to Beatriu.
She was too tired to come up with any conclusion, so she just waved her hand at the display and said "Time Signatures".
Beatriu took a closer look at the screen. It looked very familiar to her as she inspected it.
"That's the GU sector isn't it?" she said.
"Uh-huh," Rasa said. She brushed her white hair away from her face and sighed. "I know I'm not supposed to have it. The Vice-Admiral, Ehrenfried..."
"Well, now," Beatriu said with a goodhearted smile. "He hasn't advanced that far in rank yet."
"There's supposed to be a rogue time signature in there somewhere," Rasa said, completely ignoring Beatriu's joke. "Ehrenfried said. Clearly he's insane. I'm about to give up. I've ran it through all the filters we got several times, and it's always the same ones that show up. This is all we got. Time signatures. The rest of the footage in this spot has all been destroyed. No body scans, no thermal imaging, no shit, no nothing."
"You're investigating the assassination." Beatriu realized with some surprised. "I thought that case was shut."
Rasa looked sheepishly down at her hands and shrugged.
"Rasa," Beatriu said, her voice filled with warning. "What aren't you telling me?"
"Look," she said. "Something's not right. There were eyewitnesses to another party in that room. Another party might have been the one to pull the trigger. That's what I hear. I'm just trying to prove one way or another, and there's something there. I can feel it. I just can't find it. It's so frustrating. I'm not good enough."
"Who did you hear this from?" Beatriu said. "What eyewitnesses?"
"The accused," Rasa muttered. "Ehrenfried talked to Feliu, and some guy. I talked to that guy too on the ICD. He sounded like he was telling the truth, and I want to help them, but I can't."
Beatriu took a moment to process the information.
"You're doing this as a favor for Behrendt? He's going against the Vice-Admiral's direct orders and investigating this when the culprit is already behind bars? I don't believe this. I'm going to have to arrest that boy."
"No," Rasa said. "Look, look..." She pointed at the floating display of numbers before her. "There is an anomaly there. I just don't know if it's natural, or what it means."
Beatriu sighed, and was ready to dismiss Rasa out of hand when she glanced at the string of numbers. It triggered something in the back of her mind.
"Did you try multi-filters?" She said as she sat up in her chair and poked at the display, rearranging the numbers.
"No, not yet," Rasa said. "I mean, that's the last resort. Nobody uses that anymore. I've been working on this for over a week, and I haven't gotten far enough to try it. It's all been a lot of trial and error so far."
"Well, your pool of options just got smaller," Beatriu said. "This is a Naturian string."
"A Naturian string?" Rasa peeked at the numbers curiously.
"A primitive cipher for a primitive race," Beatriu said. "Pay attention, this is going to take a while."
***
Ehren couldn't be in love with Robin Grey. It wasn't love. He knew it and tried to convince himself that wasn't how he felt. He knew Robin didn't feel the same. He wasn't even sure it was really the sex that he wanted. Ehren had his doubts, even as he was sprawled out over his desk with his face pressed against the cold metal
He realized his mistake as soon as he felt something colder than Robin's hands brush against his skin as he bent over him in concentration, his teeth biting into Ehren's shoulder to keep his groans in check.
Ehren should have known when Robin had disrobed and the short, barren, gold chain had been returned to his neck. It had only been turned it around so that the ring was hanging behind him.
Ehren thought he might have cared. There might have been a slight chance. He felt like he was wrong about everything in that moment. Robin had taken him out on missions, . He'd been trusted even after screwing up. He'd been treated as a respected colleague instead of the green recruit that he was. Robin still smiled at him as they passed in the hallway. He knew how Ehren took his coffee and had it waiting in the mess hall on every one of their off days. Robin had cared about his opinion when nobody else had, and he'd loved him for it. Ehren loved him despite his best intentions.
No, Ehren could waste all the time he wanted loving everything about him, but he knew in that moment that Robin could never love him back. He was reminded of it, a small, burning discomfort, pressed between his shoulder blades, with every thrust; a stolen ring, and the promise of love from the thief that had taken Robin's heart long before he had ever entered the picture.
Ehren had to get away from him then. He pushed himself up from his prone position on the desk despite how tired he was as soon as the Robin had spent himself. He glanced at his station; a mess of ruined and rumpled paperwork, spattered with sweat and come. How humiliating would it be if anybody found it in such a disarray once morning rolled around? He couldn't be with Robin in that moment though. The Commander sat upon his chair, looking satisfied while watching him as he struggled to pull his uniform back on. Ehren didn't think about morning then. He just had to get away.
"Thank you, Sir," he muttered as he carefully concentrated on the final buttons of his shirt. He refused to meet Robin's eyes, because he wasn't going to let Robin know how angry he felt for being used. He turned to head back towards his room when Robin finally called his name. The final straw crumbled into dust as soon as the word was out of his mouth.
"Ehren?"
"It's Ehrenfried for the last fucking time!" He whirled around to face Robin. "If you're going to fuck me, you should, at the very fucking least, have the courtesy to use the name I go by!"
"You're upset?" Robin said.
"Of course I am!" He vaguely wondered what had happened to his brilliant plan for keeping his feelings a secret. There was something about Robin that pushed every one of his buttons though. He just couldn't help but push back.
"I thought you wanted this too. This week has been..." he murmured. He stood up and approached Ehren, having the audacity to look hurt. "I thought we worked this out the other night. Why are you angry?"
"Why?" Ehren closed the gap between them.
He was exhausted and irate and running on pure adrenaline. When he reached Robin and grabbed the thin chain around his neck, he yanked it so hard that the clasp broke and the ring came free, clenched in his hand. He slammed it against Robin's chest with all the strength his Earthian body possessed.
"I am absolutely not your replacement fuck, especially not when it comes to this asshole," Ehren growled at him.
Ehren left then, and ignored Robin as he called after him. It only enraged him further as he still insisted on calling him by the diminutive of his name as if the words he had just spoken had gone straight through one ear and out the other. As he strode angrily down the hallway, he made the decision once and for all. He would be putting in a transfer request by the time morning arrived.
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Beatriu had left the squad room that evening with Robin holed up and grumbling over a mountain of paperwork in his office. Ehren had been in much the same state over the Yarzfeld database; a broken and archaic record of the history of the lost Yarzfeld galaxy. Restructuring the data was quite the herculean task for one man, and she could tell that Ehren was getting frustrated by the angry look on his face and the way he'd snapped at her when she'd said goodnight. She worried about leaving them alone for only a moment as they seemed both too deep in their work to be much trouble. .She headed down the corridors towards her room and found her interest piqued by a light shining out from one of the computer labs. She opened the door, curious to see who else was staying out late. There certainly was nobody schedule for a night shift in one of the more deserted areas of the building.
She found Rasa staring at a holographic output display looking tired and frazzled.
"What's happening in here?" Beatriu said as she pulled up a seat.
"Uhh..." Rasa stared at the screen for a moment, trying to process whether or not she should even bother to try and hide what she was doing, or if she should just spill everything to Beatriu.
She was too tired to come up with any conclusion, so she just waved her hand at the display and said "Time Signatures".
Beatriu took a closer look at the screen. It looked very familiar to her as she inspected it.
"That's the GU sector isn't it?" she said.
"Uh-huh," Rasa said. She brushed her white hair away from her face and sighed. "I know I'm not supposed to have it. The Vice-Admiral, Ehrenfried..."
"Well, now," Beatriu said with a goodhearted smile. "He hasn't advanced that far in rank yet."
"There's supposed to be a rogue time signature in there somewhere," Rasa said, completely ignoring Beatriu's joke. "Ehrenfried said. Clearly he's insane. I'm about to give up. I've ran it through all the filters we got several times, and it's always the same ones that show up. This is all we got. Time signatures. The rest of the footage in this spot has all been destroyed. No body scans, no thermal imaging, no shit, no nothing."
"You're investigating the assassination." Beatriu realized with some surprised. "I thought that case was shut."
Rasa looked sheepishly down at her hands and shrugged.
"Rasa," Beatriu said, her voice filled with warning. "What aren't you telling me?"
"Look," she said. "Something's not right. There were eyewitnesses to another party in that room. Another party might have been the one to pull the trigger. That's what I hear. I'm just trying to prove one way or another, and there's something there. I can feel it. I just can't find it. It's so frustrating. I'm not good enough."
"Who did you hear this from?" Beatriu said. "What eyewitnesses?"
"The accused," Rasa muttered. "Ehrenfried talked to Feliu, and some guy. I talked to that guy too on the ICD. He sounded like he was telling the truth, and I want to help them, but I can't."
Beatriu took a moment to process the information.
"You're doing this as a favor for Behrendt? He's going against the Vice-Admiral's direct orders and investigating this when the culprit is already behind bars? I don't believe this. I'm going to have to arrest that boy."
"No," Rasa said. "Look, look..." She pointed at the floating display of numbers before her. "There is an anomaly there. I just don't know if it's natural, or what it means."
Beatriu sighed, and was ready to dismiss Rasa out of hand when she glanced at the string of numbers. It triggered something in the back of her mind.
"Did you try multi-filters?" She said as she sat up in her chair and poked at the display, rearranging the numbers.
"No, not yet," Rasa said. "I mean, that's the last resort. Nobody uses that anymore. I've been working on this for over a week, and I haven't gotten far enough to try it. It's all been a lot of trial and error so far."
"Well, your pool of options just got smaller," Beatriu said. "This is a Naturian string."
"A Naturian string?" Rasa peeked at the numbers curiously.
"A primitive cipher for a primitive race," Beatriu said. "Pay attention, this is going to take a while."
***
Ehren couldn't be in love with Robin Grey. It wasn't love. He knew it and tried to convince himself that wasn't how he felt. He knew Robin didn't feel the same. He wasn't even sure it was really the sex that he wanted. Ehren had his doubts, even as he was sprawled out over his desk with his face pressed against the cold metal
He realized his mistake as soon as he felt something colder than Robin's hands brush against his skin as he bent over him in concentration, his teeth biting into Ehren's shoulder to keep his groans in check.
Ehren should have known when Robin had disrobed and the short, barren, gold chain had been returned to his neck. It had only been turned it around so that the ring was hanging behind him.
Ehren thought he might have cared. There might have been a slight chance. He felt like he was wrong about everything in that moment. Robin had taken him out on missions, . He'd been trusted even after screwing up. He'd been treated as a respected colleague instead of the green recruit that he was. Robin still smiled at him as they passed in the hallway. He knew how Ehren took his coffee and had it waiting in the mess hall on every one of their off days. Robin had cared about his opinion when nobody else had, and he'd loved him for it. Ehren loved him despite his best intentions.
No, Ehren could waste all the time he wanted loving everything about him, but he knew in that moment that Robin could never love him back. He was reminded of it, a small, burning discomfort, pressed between his shoulder blades, with every thrust; a stolen ring, and the promise of love from the thief that had taken Robin's heart long before he had ever entered the picture.
Ehren had to get away from him then. He pushed himself up from his prone position on the desk despite how tired he was as soon as the Robin had spent himself. He glanced at his station; a mess of ruined and rumpled paperwork, spattered with sweat and come. How humiliating would it be if anybody found it in such a disarray once morning rolled around? He couldn't be with Robin in that moment though. The Commander sat upon his chair, looking satisfied while watching him as he struggled to pull his uniform back on. Ehren didn't think about morning then. He just had to get away.
"Thank you, Sir," he muttered as he carefully concentrated on the final buttons of his shirt. He refused to meet Robin's eyes, because he wasn't going to let Robin know how angry he felt for being used. He turned to head back towards his room when Robin finally called his name. The final straw crumbled into dust as soon as the word was out of his mouth.
"Ehren?"
"It's Ehrenfried for the last fucking time!" He whirled around to face Robin. "If you're going to fuck me, you should, at the very fucking least, have the courtesy to use the name I go by!"
"You're upset?" Robin said.
"Of course I am!" He vaguely wondered what had happened to his brilliant plan for keeping his feelings a secret. There was something about Robin that pushed every one of his buttons though. He just couldn't help but push back.
"I thought you wanted this too. This week has been..." he murmured. He stood up and approached Ehren, having the audacity to look hurt. "I thought we worked this out the other night. Why are you angry?"
"Why?" Ehren closed the gap between them.
He was exhausted and irate and running on pure adrenaline. When he reached Robin and grabbed the thin chain around his neck, he yanked it so hard that the clasp broke and the ring came free, clenched in his hand. He slammed it against Robin's chest with all the strength his Earthian body possessed.
"I am absolutely not your replacement fuck, especially not when it comes to this asshole," Ehren growled at him.
Ehren left then, and ignored Robin as he called after him. It only enraged him further as he still insisted on calling him by the diminutive of his name as if the words he had just spoken had gone straight through one ear and out the other. As he strode angrily down the hallway, he made the decision once and for all. He would be putting in a transfer request by the time morning arrived.
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