Posted by Civilian Jessa Novar (Child) in Aimee Rian’s Control Center…When the past doesn’t match the future…or the present

Posted by Civilian Jessa Novar (Child) in Aimee Rian’s Control Center…When the past doesn’t match the future…or the present

Posted by Civilian Jessa Novar (Child) in Aimee Rian’s Control Center…When the past doesn’t match the future…or the present
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻
==============================
Immediately after Rogan’s interview
==============================

=/\=We have a potential problem=/\= a voice commed into the makeshift control center set up on the Atlantis for the team responsible for the observation and removal of the alien guests.

=/\=Understood. Continue=/\= Aimee tapped her badge and grimaced moving to her console.

=/\=Rinker has just left the brig after his interview with the Asset Rogan. There was a situation. The woman bringing the asset his dinner broke her leg. He has ordered cortical scanners to be placed on all the assets.=/\=

=======================================
Immediately before Peter took custody of Celia
=======================================

Aimee sipped at a cup of coffee trying to remain calm as she patched into the comm badge on Celia’s chest. It was not good. The agent had tried to intervene causing a situation. She cursed under her breath at how quickly the best plans were destroyed. She waited and tapped a fingernail on the console listening to the situation play out. The arrival of the new chief of intelligence to the situation made her send a wary look to the XO.

=/\=Or making you their unknowing hostage=/\=Celia’s voice cut through the comm in her chest. She had to give those in charge of the operation eyes in the room. With the arrival of the new CIO, it might be probable that she would be removed from the situation. The team needed a heads up.

Aimee’s face turned to stone as a frown broke her usual neutral expression. “I think we need to start the extraction,” she said to the XO.

The Andorian moved across the room at a slow and methodical pace. Most of his experience was with military teams given his background in the Corps. He was a brilliant tactician and Aimee would rely on his advice in deciding to start the mission or not. He raised a hand and waited. The situation did not look promising. It appeared more dire hearing the child add to the conversation.

=/\=When I am lonely at night she talks to me but she is not sneaking in. She works here=/\= Jessa’s voice came through the comm.

The XO stood behind Aimee and listened to the commentary between Rinker, Ian, Peter, and Jessa with a scowl as deep as Aimee’s. Celia was unable to add much but a few random interjects as she was being subdued. The conversation did not seem to be resolving and the addition of the child’s comments definitely were not helping.

The two stood just listening until Jessa’s comment made them both snap to attention. =/\=She said she can help me get home=/\= Jessa’s voice cut through the sick bay and the control center stunning all parties to different degrees. =/\=You all promised us safe passage and now we are trapped=/\=.

“What the fracking hell is that kid doing? We need to shut her up,” Aimee snapped reaching for the console.

The XO clamped his hand over hers and uttered one word, “wait.” He did not like the idea of placing the life of the mission on a child but Celia Decker was a trained agent. She was their eyes on the ground. Until Celia gave an indication that action was needed the XO was not going to spring the plan into effect which was supposed to be forty-eight hours from now.

=/\=Containment lost=/\= Celia’s voice announced.

“Begin the mission,” the XO said and moved across the room to another console. The teams were in place. They had run the details a million times. It was two days early but that is why everyone had been placed here a month in advance.

Aimee Rian

Tapping a button she connected a call to Jessa praying that no one else was in the room or the kid was smart enough not to say a thing or react if there was.

====================
Jessa’s room in Sickbay
====================

Jessa paced the room running her hands through her hair. She was tense and anxious. So many things were out of her control now. Her heart pounded and she kept one eye on the door to her room half wanting and half worried Ian or Rinker would walk in. The knot in her stomach made her feel nauseous. It was only a few hours ago that she had met Aimee Rian and the XO of the ship. The tall, icy blue-skinned Andorian had raised more questions than to calm her nerves. For the most part, the crew of the Atlantis was tight. Jessa saw how easy the interactions were between Ian and some of the other senior officers with those below them in rank and position. The banter about personal lives and concern for the Captain was the main topic but it did not seem forced or contrived. Seeing the XO was part of Aimee’s group made Jessa question much.

Secretly she had so many reservations about the mission Aimee proposed but the main one was Aimee thinking she could control the Elders. No one from the Federation could control them and Jessa wasn’t sure how much the Elders would rely on her intell. They were on some level a dysfunctional family, yet they were a team and all each other had. She had seen them at their best but also their worst. The incident on Halston had cracked the quad but the Elders at the school and Supreme Commanding General Adar Vyce explained it was just a part of growing up and earning the title Guardian.

Picking up the earphones and the Padd, Ian had given her, Jessa turned on the alien music the people in the Federation listened to. She would have preferred to listen to her own but that was not possible. All she had from her home was her memories of it.

Jessa Novar

Tapping into the internal security feed, Aimee watched Jessa pace the room like a caged animal. Once again she thanked the crew of the Atlantis for its diligence. Mardusk had installed security cameras in the small sickbay room so that even when Jessa was alone, she still had eyes on her. Without hacking into this security feed, Aimee and her team would have no idea if they were beaming her out in front of an audience or not. The bathroom had a lot more privacy but the girl had already showered and caused suspicion. Since the mission was green-lighted to go, the crew would find out sooner rather than later Jessa was no longer in sickbay. They just needed to by a little time.

Tapping a button on her console, opened the private comm to her internal team. =/\=Go for extraction of the asset. Three, two, one.=/\=

Jessa felt the brief sensation of falling as the lights engulfed her in a swirling white mass of lights. She blinked once and was suddenly no longer in sick bay. Dropping the small device that was playing music, she brought up her hands in front of her as if ready to physically push away whoever was in front of her. Jessa’s heart raced and a cold knot filled in her stomach. As if on reflex, she brought her hand up to the comm badge on her chest ready to activate it and call for one of the three names that first sprang to the forefront of her consciousness.

“I would not do that. It tends to take away the secret in a secret mission,” a voice spoke in the deep tones of a male. It only took a second for the blue Andorian to step from the shadows. “I am Commander Garinder’Jen th’Jir the executive officer of the ship and here to help you.” He had not met the child before this and for good reason. As the XO he was a familiar face to all the crew, Starfleet, and civilians. With only a smattering of Andorians on board and Evrilla working on a close basis with the child, he could not risk Jessa announcing she knew him. Now that the mission was greenlighted, it did not matter any longer.

“You are the Captain’s second in command,” Jessa kept her hands up but in a slightly less defensive posture. She looked around the room and saw far more people than she ever had. Aimee was in a seat looking at what could best be described as a portable console along with a rather portly elderly man sitting at a desk in the back corner. The room was dim but not pitch dark with shadows in every corner like it had been the other times. “Who is the grandpa?”

“Grandpa,” Primrose blustered standing up. “I will have you know,”

The XO simply raised a finger commanding the respect and attention Primrose could never attain. It directed Jessa’s attention back to him. The fat, imbecile behind the desk needed almost more attention and guidance than the child and the XO did not have to time to stroke his ego. “That is the Captain of this mission and your savior but we do not have time for that now. Come,” he gestured for Jessa to move closer to Aimee.

Jessa let a stray gaze drift to Primrose before complying with the XO’s request. Even as a child it was clear that the pompous drek behind the desk was in charge of nothing. The instant she saw the screen Aimee presented for her, Jessa’s mouth dropped open. While this Federation’s technology was a hundred years behind that of the Union, they had amazingly advanced holographic technology. She stared at the sick bay bed on the console that showed her form asleep. It looked real enough to stop any casual observation by someone looking into her room.

“Jessa,” the XO’s voice broke through the child’s mesmerizing stare. “We do not have a lot of time and there is a lot of information for you to understand. Look at me.” Snapping his fingers caused the child to focus on him and not the console. “Celia is buying time for,”

“Is she okay,” Jessa instantly cut off the XO as if she had the power to do so. “Where is she?”

The XO fought back the irritated scowl forming on his face. He despised working with amateurs and children were unpredictable. Yes, they tended to be great informants because they were like rats. They moved about with little scrutiny but were notoriously easy to break under a yolk. The sooner Jessa got into the brig and freed her companions, the better. The three Elders were the ones Section 31 wanted anyway. Jessa was just a means to an end, a rat that would create a diversion to free the ones with the real power. Years of experience taught the XO to read his pawns to achieve his goal. “No. She is with Sigmundsson. He will get the information he needs and discard her. This crew is not what they appear. They have no intention of releasing you or your Elders. They sent a Marine contingent over to the ship. Many lives were lost. They have been scavenging the ship for the past two days. It will not get you home. We will.”

Jessa’s legs felt watery. If this was true then why did Rinker and Ian continue to let her believe they were working to get her home? The Beacon of Hope was the only possible way to Vela Astria. If they had destroyed it beyond repair she was stranded here. Worse of all she would not be able to return the Prism to Pellan and save her mother. “You’re lying. They would not have done that.” Her mind instantly revolted desperately wanting the information not to be accurate; however, part of her felt a gnawing in her gut. Neither Ian nor Rinker had come in to see her after the debacle with Rogan and Celia. Maybe it was just a dog and pony show to gain her trust and loyalty. Shaking her head, she forced the mental conversation playing out in her head. “So how do you get me home?” There would be time to confront Ian, Rinker, Kelly, and the rest of the crew about their motives later when she was not so powerless and had the weight of the Galactic Union behind her.

Jessa Novar

“You will soon see for yourself and be able to judge what your misplaced loyalty cost you.” The XO’s voice felt like an omen. It caused Jessa to feel a shiver of dread wash over her body. “We are working with a team. We will use the transporters to get you to your ship to secure whatever you might need to free the Elders from their cells. Once the Elders are free well will again use the transporters to beam all four of you from the brig to an escape vessel. It is what we call a surgical extraction. No one will be hurt but time is of the essence. The longer we wait the more chances we have to be discovered.”

“Okay so then why don’t you just beam the Elders out like you did me? Why do you need me?” The question was logical and made the corners of the XO’s mouth dip into a frown. He had been assured the child was desperate enough for help, she would comply with any order and without question.

“Do you know how many lives are at stake while you stand here and question us,” he thundered drawing his frame into a rigid stance. “Our team members, like Celia, are laying down their lives as you stand here and question us and our motives. We,” he took a step towards Jessa menacingly, “are the ones that have gotten you out of sick bay. We are offering you the chance to see what your so called allies did to your ship. We have secured their comms, internal systems, and sensors so that you can slip in and out without anyone knowing. Do you know how long it took us to set this mission up? Every person but you are accounted for on this ship. Every weapon on the ship is accounted for except for any you brought and I know you did not come that defenseless. That is why you are going to your ship and why it must be you to free your Elders. Anyone leaving their post will cause suspicion. Celia is a good and loyal agent but she is probably already broken. All the members of the team will be taken and murdered for mutiny they were relying on you to do your part.” He let the weight of his words sink in before taking a step toward Aimee. It was time for another tactic.

Leaning down he began to press several buttons on her console. “Guess we are to do this the hard way. Tell the security guard waiting for her in the brig to kill the two men with him and prepare for extraction.”

“No…no send me.” Jessa took a step forward as she took a deep breath. It was then she remembered the reason they came to this backwater place. Looking around the room, she moved to a coffee table and picked up a round glass globe the size of her palm. Shoving in her pocket, she then announced, “I am ready.” Jessa had no idea what answer was right or wrong but the Elders would. It was clear as day that she could never get off the ship without help. This was the first time someone was offering what she had been begging for.

The XO and Aimee found the action odd but it was just a decoration. It served no purpose but to look pretty; however, if it would get the child to comply so be it. “Engage,” he signaled Aimee to beam Jessa over to the alien ship.

Tapping a few buttons on her console, Aimee opened a secure comm line to every agent on the team. “Tick tick boom,” she spoke the three words to start the mission and signal the counters to all synchronize.

As the child disappeared in a swirl of lights, the XO moved to his own console to aid and direct the rest of the members of the team.

Aimee Rian and the counter Insurgent team.