STF

Meeting the Governor... Again

Posted Aug. 20, 2019, 6:18 p.m. by Lieutenant Commander Nicholas James (Chief Intelligence Officer) (Sage Pennington)

Posted by Civilian Astrid Rousseau (Head of the Judicial System) in Meeting the Governor… Again

Posted by Civilian Michael “One” Halloway (Governor) in Meeting the Governor… Again

Posted by Civilian Astrid Rousseau (Head of the Judicial System) in Meeting the Governor… Again
Posted by… suppressed (18) by the Post Ghost! 👻
On a particularly slow Tuesday afternoon, the Governor and his secretary took lunch at the same time. It only took forged appointment papers to get past the security at the door. It was almost as though Nicholas was being invited in. He carried a briefcase with him. He tossed it onto one of the guest chairs in the lofty office. =31 Override; James Alpha Victor 9782.= he ordered the computer. =Lockdown in place. Section 31 access only.= he went to and opened his briefcase. From it he removed a deadbolt lock. He placed it over the existing lock and set the code, but didn’t lock it yet. He hid himself and his briefcase and waited for the Governor to return.

-Lt Cmdr Nicholas James, CIO

Not long after said events occurred, Michael Halloway and his blonde secretary both arrived at the same time. “Thank you Governor for the lunch, much appreciated,” she said rather daintily.

“Not a problem. I’ll be in my office if you need me.” He then opened the door and took a grand look inside. Of course he had not expected to see anyone in here, but something felt off. He sighed and moved quietly to his desk.

-Governor Michael Halloway

As the door closed, Nicholas slinked over and deadlocked it. “Hello Governor Halloway.”

The hairs on the back of Michael Halloway’s neck raised on end. He heard the slinking of a man in his office before he heard the words come out of his mouth. Halloway’s hearing was extraordinary, due to the borg implants still left in him. He had spun as the man started to say “Hello.”

Nicholas turned and approached the desk. “It has been some time. 11 years? But what do you remember? You are formerly Borg. When you were recovered… Project Aspire. What do you know?”

-Lt Cmdr Nicholas James, CIO

Halloway ignored the man and tapped the controls on his computer. He was assuming the computer had been locked out. Whoever he was, and whenever they were done here, Halloway was sure to give the security staff a firm understanding of what he meant when it came to keep a building secure.

-Governor Michael Halloway

“Governor, you know as well as I do that the computers have been locked down. Besides, don’t you recall inviting me?” He dropped the PaDD with the appointment on it onto the Governor’s desk. It had Halloway’s signature on it as if it had been done by hand. “Not bad, if I do say so myself.”

Michael Halloway had been used to signing PaDDs all day long on different things that needed his signature. How the man had procured it was anyone’s guess. Had one of his staff been in on it? Or had the man found a way to replicate his signature? Either way, he didn’t ask.

=31 Override: Shadow the room.= the computer chimed confirmation and all the blinds drew shut and the windows seemed to black out. Nicholas walked away and looked at the jet black glass. “Something I learned very early in my career was that each person has their own version of leverage. You, intimidation won’t work. It’s loss of control you’re afraid of. A phobia most recovered Borg share. This is my room. Even if you got a distress signal out, by the time security breaks down the door, I’ll have what I want.” He turned to face the Governor. “So, are we going to be civil about this? You’re really the closest thing to family I have, I’d hate for this to turn into a messy interrogation.”

-Lt Cmdr Nicholas James, CIO

Did the man say ‘31 override?’ Who was this man? Regardless of who he was, taking over a Government office was against the law. And Halloway was never one to allow wiggle room. He leaned back against his desk, arms crossed. “We aren’t going anything. Any information you thought you were going to get out of me is now no longer available. Turn over this room, and I may consider putting forth to our Judiciary to give you a lighter sentence. Don’t, and you will see how this may end. And I can assure you, I won’t be on the receiving end of any interrogation.”

Meanwhile, Halloway kept his ears trained for everything, including the man’s own heart rate.

-Governor Michael Halloway

Nicholas’ heart rate stayed rock steady where it was. Average for a human male at rest. “Are you familiar with the term ‘zugzwang’ Governor? It’s the point in a chess match where the only moves a person can make put them at a disadvantage. I am in control of this room. I can do whatever is necessary. This is a simple matter of finding out whether or not you are going to be a liability. We have the exact same nanoprobes in our blood. The ocular enhancements you were given, I have now. We are both creations of the Borg. Just in different ways. But I have their ruthlessness.” He sat down in one of the guest chairs, very relaxed. “You would like everyone to think you’re still the tough Starfleet Captain, but you’re running away from your Borg history. The only safe place is a bureaucrat’s office on a tiny rock in the middle of nowhere. I am a ghost Governor Halloway, by the time you got me to any jail, I could break out, and disappear like I never existed. There. Is. No. Move. We met. 11 years ago. You were there when they built me. Here’s a classified piece of info for you; you were recovered for parts, not a Starfleet Lt Cmdr. The fact that you’re not dead or still a drone is just a happy side effect. So I’ll ask again. Project Aspire. What do you know?”

-Lt Cmdr Nicholas James, CIO

Governor Halloway silently looked to the ground. A part of his past was showing up again? He had no idea who this man was, or why he had his borg nanoprobes. What had happened when they recovered him on the Nautilus? He sighed, turned and went to sit down at his desk.

Leaning back in his chair he eyed the man before him. “A Governor’s Office is never a safe place. The head of an entire colony. I’m responsible when it comes down to it. You want to know about Project Aspire? Forget it.” he said rather plainly. Time would be key. People would eventually realize something was going on, and would soon see the man disappear.

-Governor Michael Halloway

“Clueless. And playing games. We don’t have time for games Michael. When you were onboard the Nautilus, they took most of the Borg attachments off you, claimed to drain ‘as many nanoprobes as was possible.’ You may not recognise me now, but I was a 21 year old ‘cadet’ aboard that ship. And when you were shipped off, fortunate to have survived, everything they took from you, they used to make me.” Nicholas opened his briefcase and removed a disruptor pistol. “Don’t worry. I’m not planning to shoot you. The technical term is ‘evidence placement.’ It’s up to you whether or not Romulan military disruptors are found on OED V.” He withdrew a PaDD. “And whether the docking clearance for the gun runners can be traced to you. You’re not a fool, Michael. I can exit this room as quietly as I came in. Or I can turn you into a traitor to the Federation. No more games, no more stalling. Everything you remember from the Nautilus. Now.”

-Lt Cmdr Nicholas James, CIO

Halloway sighed. “If you were permitted to know anything about Project Aspire that you don’t already know, you would then know it. The problem here is, you’re fishing for information with threats. Whatever it is that you don’t know, you obviously are not permitted to know. Your request is denied.” Halloway was hardly the man to be pushed or threatened. He was much more susceptible to the gentle ones.

-Governor Michael Halloway

Before the man could speak however, Halloway’s thoughts churned. A 21 year old cadet? Young then at the time. Halloway pulled on his memories searching for the face and perhaps the name.

-Governor Michael Halloway

=/\=Code Black=/\= he whispered into his wrist. Nicholas stood and turned the Governor’s console around. A few commands later it showed a live feed of weapons crates being stacked. “I’m not one for idle threats.” He turned the monitor back around. There’s a question you haven’t asked. An obvious one. Who am I? I’ve been hoping you’d recognise me, but you haven’t. This whole affair is just to measure whether or not you are a liability.” Nicholas nodded to the computer. “Not for long.”

-Lt Cmdr Nicholas James, CIO

Halloway ignored what the man was saying and continued studying his face, his features. A younger man. A man he had seen and one of only a handful of cadets aboard the Nautilus at the time. “Cadet James…” he simply said studying the man’s reactions. The man had his nanoprobes. What was he truly capable of? “That’s who you are,” he said in a realization.

-Governor Michael Halloway

“Now Lt Cmdr James. Chief Intelligence Officer, Starfleet Division, OED V. But I have higher authorisations and contacts.” Nicholas returned to his seat. “So. We know each other now. Let’s talk honestly.”

-Lt Cmdr Nicholas James, CIO

“If you know this much and have the capabilities to know so much, then you clearly have no need to know what I know. When I was a captain, Starfleet was never in the business of threatening the livelihoods of civilians in order to obtain information they already have. You want to know if I’m a liability. Rest assured, my secrets and the information given to me while deemed classified, remains and will forever remain that way.” stated Halloway to the apparently new CIO.

“That was the priority.” =/\=Stand down. Pack up.=/\= The fake gun runners reversed course. “Michael, a person can belong to more than one organisation. Perhaps even one you thought didn’t exist.”

There was suddenly a knock at the door.

-Governor Michael Halloway

Nicholas gestured for the Governor to be silent. =Lift shadow= he whispered as he slowly and silently moved to the door. The windows returned to normal. Nicholas entered a code, lifted the lock, and then he and his briefcase disappeared into the shadow of a corner.

While unseen Nicholas’ hand slid down to a hidden type 1 phaser. He set it to stun.

-Lt Cmdr Nicholas James, CIO

The door opened, but not onto a group of security or even one security officer, instead a dark haired woman walked in like a fresh breeze. Astrid, clad today in a well tailored ruby red skirted suit with a kick pleat and a dark blue blouse under the jacket, walked in her matching shoes over to Michael’s desk and tossed her briefcase on the chair in front of it. She was smiling pleasantly and not at all aware of the man hidden within a dark corner or what she might have stepped into.

She turned the Governor as she slipped her hat pin out of her matching hat and set it beside her briefcase. “Governor Halloway. I know I wasn’t expected, but I just finished visiting one of our outlying justice buildings and wanted to give you a report personally.” She was pretty and very obviously French if one could go by the accent. If one was really good, they would discern she was from New France rather than France on Earth. And even though she had obviously made herself comfortable and relaxed, short of taking off her suit jacket, she asked, “Is this a bad time?”

Rousseau, HotJ

Making sure the door was closed, Nicholas reappeared, leaving his briefcase hidden. “Kind of. Call it a Borg nanoprobes family reunion. But do go on Ms Rousseau, the Justice Department is a very important issue.”

-Lt Cmdr Nicholas James, CIO

Astrid turned, noting the unexpected company with a raising of brows and a lowering of her smile. If she had been startled by his sudden appearance, she didn’t show it. Her eyes took in his face, height and details of what he was wearing. She didn’t know who this man was. The idea of continuing with sensitive Justice Department information in front of him without verifying who he was and his need to know was preposterous, though he looked as though he had every right to the information. Cocky? Arrogant? Her eyes narrowed a fraction and then she turned to look at Halloway, dismissing the man’s presence and letting Halloway handle it as he deemed necessary. She served at his pleasure.

Halloway stood up and greeted the woman with a grin. “Its quite alright. Mr. James here was just leaving actually.” He nodded to the CIO and added. “You’re officially dismissed, Commander.”

She returned his open grin with a kind smile returning to her face. She liked the Governor. He was methotical and thorough in his running of OED V. Astrid appreciated an organized mind. She took note of the man’s name and rank, filing it away for later research if she had time and was feeling curious. “Then my timing is perfect. I would hate to be a bother even for a subject as important as the Justice Department.”

He paused giving the man an out, and hoping he would just take it.

-Governor Michael Halloway

Rousseau, HotJ

Nicholas remained exactly where he stood. “Aren’t you forgetting something? About your computers, Governor Halloway?”

-Lt Cmdr Nicholas James, CIO


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