Posted by Civilian Kara Nakuto (Engineer (Consultant Researcher - Yellow)) in McHarrie’s Lab - an old friend drops by

Posted by Lieutenant Commander John McHarrie (Medical (Consultant Researcher - Abell)) in McHarrie’s Lab - an old friend drops by

Posted by Civilian Kara Nakuto (Engineer (Consultant Researcher - Yellow)) in McHarrie’s Lab - an old friend drops by
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Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

Nakuto returned the bow and followed McHarrie through the open doorway, then once over the threshold she grabbed him and, in a manner more fitting for a Klingon, pulled the Welshman into a bear hug.

John’s spine cracked in Kara’s grasp as his feet dangled an inch or two off the deck

“It is so good to see you again, John,” she roared. “After watching the footage, I was not sure if…”

There was no call to revisit the memory aloud, the image carved into Kara’s subconscious as indelibly as the experience was surely carved into his. However, she could not resist updating the Viking’s former CMO on the most recent turn of events.

“He came to visit us, on the Viking. To ask Ravenfall for a job.” She snorted out a laugh. “Peter Sigmundsson threw him into the brig. When I left he was still in there, although I am sure he will charm the Captain before long.”

“Junior didn’t tell you about our rouse?” John asked, “Let me guess, Nevin sent him?”

“He did,” Kara confirmed. “And told me that it was Nevin’s wish for me to display trust in Grimshaw. Outwardly to the Captain, at least.” She laughed and shook her head. “I suppose the ARU transferring me here at a moment’s notice dropped not only a hyperspanner, but an entire case of stem bolts, into the works.”

The Viking. McHarrie’s words had landed right on target when he expressed surprise at her leaving. In truth it remained a surprise to her too. But stepping back from her old friend and taking in her surroundings for the first time, Nakuto allowed herself a few moments of wonder at both the technical and the biological marvels around her. It was universes apart from the dilapidated conditions on their former vessel.
“You seem to have landed on your feet here, John,” she complimented both the man and his laboratory. “I am truly happy for you. As for me, I have not earned such gifts. Not yet.”

“Not on my feet, on the end of a puppet string,” John corrected.

She turned to face him once again, her expression instantly recalling her terrified demeanour on the Viking. “They are still out there, John. Ros and Guerin and…they remain trapped wherever that portal took them. I do not even pretend to understand why it let myself and Loki go free but still retained the others. But since my escape I have spent every waking moment studying portals and singularities and parallel dimensions. Which is how I came to be noticed by the ARU.”

• Kara Nakuto (Consultant Researcher)

“What if the portal was not naturally occurring?” John said, “Nevin suspected it was not as random as it seems. That’s why he left. To keep Antos safe.”

“I have considered that,” the half-Klingon admitted. “But whoever or whatever created it, it is yet to release our friends. And for that reason I can not, must not, abandon all hope of their eventual return.”

John led his way to his personal project, “Nevin and I had an exchange of information. The information I required was expensive. Letting Junior go free was part of the deal.”

Nakuto followed, pausing briefly here and there to marvel at the sights and oddities all around her. This new and strange world occupied by the ARU made the Viking feel almost mundane by comparison. It also helped to assuage some of her fears that the things she had encountered on her former vessel had existed only in her overworked, or perhaps even manipulated, mind.

“As you can see Nevin upheld his end of the deal and the information was good. I let Junior go his own way but didn’t ‘fix’ his record yet. I must do that to uphold my end of the deal. I’d been holding off to try and work out exactly why my Dad, Uncle James, and Nevin closed ranks against Junior when they’d all worked and lived so closely.”

John sighed, “Turns out 31 were manipulating Junior and Nevin, the same way the forced me into their ranks.”

-John

“That is what they do,” the half-Klingon spat. “They manipulate. They confuse, they corrupt and then they destroy. I have no love for ‘31, as I am sure you remember.”

In that moment, her mind returned to Peter. The Viking’s towering, Icelandic Intelligence Chief had become her closest confidant on her previous vessel and her deepest regret was that the ARU had not permitted her the time to say goodbye.

“We had been exploring a theory, myself and…a friend,” she decided to risk sharing their discussions with McHarrie, although she stopped short at speaking aloud his name, “that the Viking was a pet project of Section 31. A psychological experiment designed to push ordinary officers to their very limits, mentally and physically.” She shrugged. “I do not find it impossible to believe.”

• Kara Nakuto (Consultant Researcher)

“Whilst I can’t rule it out, I’d be intrigued as to the section’s motive for such an experiment,” John said, “It’s not their style,but we know of an external force whose style is exactly that.”

“Say for example that force wanted to also create a sense of paranoia? And had a weapon used creature that is, for all intents and purposes invisible and can be programmed?”

“This critter was ferral and brought down a Starship,” John said, “The more I learn the more I research, the more I find to support Uncle James’ suggestion. Speculatively, Nevin was put there because of his past experience and with his rank & position would have more to see than I, and the Section already knew him and his weaknesses. They needed a more discreet asset onboard…”

John trailed off before cursing in his native language . “An asset like Junior. Someone with no duty shifts or responsibilities to work around. I’m so chuffing gullable!”

-John

Instantly, she recognised the creature. It was the same one that had haunted her dreams for the better part of a year, the same one that she had sent exhausted and overworked security officers to every corner of her former ship in a futile attempt to track down. In the end she had convinced herself that it was a fiction, a myth. And yet here, lain out on McHarrie’s workbench like a highly prized specimen, was a vision of the impish nightmare made real.

“I…” she faltered, one hand reaching out to touch it and drawing away at the last. “I thought…your uncle said…”

She barked out a laugh as coarse as the sands of Vulcan, then collapsed into a nearby chair. “I always knew. But to see it, with my own eyes…dammit John, tell me you have some bloodwine at least!”

• Kara Nakuto (Consultant Researcher)

“No, but I have Romulan Ale,” John replied, “My Uncle’s theory was that the imp from the Semmelweiss had survived and found its way to the Viking. As they breed asexually and I only found one in the debris field it is possible.”

John paused, “My suspicion is a little different. About 6 months before I graduated and joined the Viking, I gather she had an uncomfortablely close encounter with a Reman operative. Suppose that operative’s first task upon boarding was to stash a pre-programmed egg incase they failed their objective?”

-John

The half-Klingon shrugged and reached for a bottle of ale, then settled once more into her chair, drawing her feet up and crossing her ankles in the manner of a small child. Her attention captured by the bottle in her hands, her eyes followed small bubbles as they swam through the ocean of blue, to rush and then pop on the surface. The irony of enjoying a drink made by her one-time captors was not for one second lost on Kara Nakuto. But she reasoned they owed her the gift of strong alcohol after the torment of her formative years.

With another shrug, she used her thumb to prise off the cap and then drank long and silent, a single droplet of blue escaping her lips and forging a river down her chin. Then finally, she lowered the bottle, wiped at her mouth with the back of a hand and fixed those golden-brown eyes on McHarrie.

“That tiny thing,” she gestured with the now half-empty bottle towards the image of the imp, “could cause so much chaos? It seems so harmless.” She unleashed a roar of laughter, jarringly unfamiliar to ears more accustomed to cries, then continued, “But I know what you specialise in, John, I know what you study. There is a reason I stopped short on the threshold of abell. But you have always harboured a warrior’s soul. So if your interest has been caught by this creature then I must presume it to be dangerous indeed?”

• Kara Nakuto (Consultant Researcher)

“The Imp itself is no more dangerous than herd of tribble. Mischievous and a nuisance. But weaponised by neural programming is what makes them dangerous. Programmed with a specific objective along with the required skills and knowledge make a naturally difficult to detect creature well. According to Junior, the Romulans never worked out how to stop the Imps from breeding. Even programmed the biological need to lay and incubate an egg would take precedence over programming.”

John looked at Kara. “Their first hand knowledge is old. Developments could have been made. Imagine if the Borg were to assimilate such a weapon.”

-John