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A lonely terminal - Nakuto makes a call to McHarrie

Posted Nov. 15, 2018, 10:46 a.m. by Lieutenant Commander Peter Sigmundsson (Chief Intelligence Officer) (Hjortur Ingi)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Matthew ‘Junior’ Grimshaw (Shady Character) in A lonely terminal - Nakuto makes a call to McHarrie

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Peter Sigmundsson (Chief Intelligence Officer) in A lonely terminal - Nakuto makes a call to McHarrie

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Matthew ‘Junior’ Grimshaw (Shady Character) in A lonely terminal - Nakuto makes a call to McHarrie
Posted by… suppressed (6) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Snip
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻

“He’s a little tied up at the moment,” Grimshaw answered as he tapped on his console, “I’m not going to harm him. Why would I de-value my only bargaining chip? Infact he’s probably safer with me than with you. Why are you heading to The Devil’s Castle?”

Kara opened her mouth to reply before realising that she was devoid of an answer. She had not been party to the discussions on the Viking’s latest mission and, in truth, knew little more than the nebula’s name and relative position on the map. It was a natural instinct to fire a questioning glance at Sigmundsson before she could catch her mistake, the brief focus of her attention offscreen revealing their secret listener. She berated herself silently for the lapse in control but knew that Grimshaw had already caught the clue.

“Oh!” Grimshaw exclaimed after a few more taps on his console but before Kara could answer his question. “Now THAT is interesting. See being an outlaw, my data-stream and intelligence feed is some what more primitive and slower than yours. You will always have that advantage over me, but I just found out which ship you are on. What a small galaxy! Nevin, is that actually you listening in from just off camera?”

-Junior

There was a deafening silence as Peter took the first step forward, standing next to her with crossed arms. Despite her impressive height and musculature, she was practically dwarfed by the Intelligence chief. His lip curled into a dry smile but his eyes remained cold as he stared directly at the man “No such luck Junior” His tone of voice was cold and calculating, much like his expression. Revealing to the man that he knew who he was without telling much else. “We need to speak with Dr McHarrie. It’d be much easier if you gave him to us, I’d rather not waste time on the hunt”

Peter Sigmundsson

Her satisfaction at having the CIO by her side was unmistakeable and Nakuto grinned widely and challengingly at the man on the screen.

“He’s concious. He can hear you,” Junior replied.

“We have not heard from James McHarrie for over a year now,” she informed Grimshaw, her tone suggesting diminishing patience for this cryptic conversation. “What do you want with him? I hope for your sake it is not answers since he seems only capable of speaking in riddles and half-truths.”

Kara Nakuto

“Yes, he taught me well, no? Now supposing you are telling the truth, and I’m not suggesting that I believe you for one minute. You want to speak to John? Is that because Nevin said to?”

Junior paused briefly to let that sink in. “I’d put money that it is because James put him up to it. Nevin almost ended John’s career and set wheels in motion that gave him no choice but to join us. Nevin was there when James cut me loose and marooned me. I think James used Nevin to distract me and it worked. Who would have suspected a shy, junior officer that was a single parent? I didn’t. I love and care for Antos as though he were my own child but James can’t use that against me; Nevin would never allow it.”

Junior leaned back in his chair waiting to see the response of the two in front of him.

“Whether I believe you or not is really not up for discussion here,” Junior said, “If you’re working for James, you’ll pass a message on for me. If you are telling the truth, I’ll give you credit that you’ve done well to track me down. If you can track me, trust me, you’ll be able to track James down and tell him I want my life back.”

-Junior

There was no visual cue as to Peter’s annoyance with this conversation, more like an aura in the way he stood, the way his knuckles tensed and slightly cracked “We wish to speak with John for our own reasons, not at the direction or influenced by any other than ourselves” He said without really knowing but with such conviction as if he were spouting gospel “But let me ask you this, what do you envision your life to be like and how do you think James can grant such boons?”

Peter

The half-Klingon fell into silence as Sigmundsson took control of the conversation, her own thoughts a frantic maelstrom of questions and accusations. It had been Akorem who had suggested she reach out to her former CMO. Had the Bajoran known she would come face to face with Grimshaw instead? Was she, Kara Nakuto, once again being made an unwitting pawn in the nefarious games of the elder McHarries?

Her mind pulled at a memory from a year ago, the arrival of Akorem Nevin on the Viking coinciding almost too neatly with the death of John’s father and his own departure from the ship. She had harboured a deep mistrust of her new XO in those early days, although their joint battling of the forces onboard this vessel had tempered her suspicions in the weeks that followed. Had she been wrong to develop a trust for the man? A fondness, even?

This world that the darkness had spat her out into was not the same as the one she had left behind. She needed to put down anchor at a harbour where she could feel safe. But in this new and unfamiliar universe such a sanctuary remained elusive to her. Not for the first time, the former captain of the USS Viking considered whether she had actually crossed dimensions and landed in a mirror of the world that she had known.

Her attention returning to the screen, Kara once more focussed on the image of the man before them, her expression turning expectant for an answer to the CIO’s question, her own doubts and fears momentarily laid aside.

Kara Nakuto

“My Starfleet career would be nice to have back, but alas even that would probably be even beyond McHarrie’s influence,” Junior said, “I’d settle for some freedom. The crimes that I did not commit be expunged from my record. The crimes I did commit, well, I already served my time and paid the consiquences for those.”

Junior leaned forward. “Thing is, there’s a border just out there,” Junior pointed to indicate out of the window of his small craft at the starfield, “If I can’t reach a deal with McHarrie, then I’m fairly sure that I can buy myself some freedom on the other side, but that would not be so good for Johnny boy.”

“I am not a bad person, but you two REALLY should watch yourselves. Nevin will hang you out to dry. You do know that him and James were…” Junior trailed off and made an obscene gesture with his hands to indicate a sexual act, “… Yeah. That advice is free, do with it what you will. I’ll give you a week to come up with something and then I’m gone.”

-Junior

Peter seemed generally unphased by the man’s vulgarity, having spent a great deal of time with people of the same unscrupulous characters outside of his Starfleet career. He looked at Kara, motioning her to give him a little more time, he wasn’t as close to this as she was making it easier for him to negotiate with the traitor on the other line “No I don’t think so” He spoke slowly and calmly “But we’ll give you five days to surrender the good Doctor unharmed” he smiled again, cruelly, completely without the false bravado of before “After which we can have a good discussion here about your future within the Federation.” His smile faded “You cross that border and I’ll have to find you and that won’t be so good for anyone” He leaned in closer, his voice growing colder with the last few words “You want back, you play ball.”

CIO

Kara rolled her eyes at Junior’s vulgar ministrations. She cared not how grown adults chose to spend their time behind closed doors. As long as consent had been given by all involved and that the only ones being hurt were those who had requested such, then the half-Klingon considered it no business of her own. Still, she could not quite suppress a brief burst of laughter as she wondered how Grimshaw might react were he to witness a Klingon mating ritual in all of its violent and passionate glory.

But here, consent had not been given. John McHarrie had not consented to his own kidnap and, gods no, his torture. And until evidence was presented to the contrary, Nakuto refused to consider the Welshman as anything less than a victim in the elder McHarries’ schemes.

At her side, Sigmundsson was delivering a reply in keeping with her own opinions on the matter and again she smiled at the prospect of him chasing Grimshaw down if the fool attempted to flee. There was no single shred of doubt in the half-Klingon’s mind that the CIO possessed the skillset to do so.

Kara Nakuto

“Idle words, Lieutenant,” Junior retorted dismissively, “We both know that YOU cannot openly enter the neutral zone to get within transporter range, let alone pursue me into Romulan space and secondly IF you do actually survive entering The Devil’s Castle then it will certainly take you more than 5 days to get out of there… If you ever do.”

-Junior

Peter faked a surprised look as if he was shocked by the man’s statement. He looked at Kara, the screen then back at Kara then felt up his Collar. After a moment of allowing them to get their own ideas of what he was going to say he finally spoke in a faux-sad voice “Did I forget a pip?” He asked turning away from the screen, raising his head slightly allowing the half-Klingon to look at his two full pips and one hollow in a rather comical fashion, holding his collar with both hands.

His smile returned to its previous cruelness, his eyes narrowing as he stopped the mocking manoeuvre and turned back to the screen “You believe you’ll be the first person I’ve ever extracted from Romulan space.” He crossed his massive arms once more “However, should we perish in the House don’t worry, I’ll have someone tend to you. The Romulans don’t care about defectors, you’re damaged goods Junior, They might even just blow you up for the hell of it” He looked at Kara and took a step back “Now you want to live.” He paused for dramatic effect “Without being a wanted fugitive. That we can help you with.” He paused.

So far the man showed no knowledge of who the two of them were. Now Kara had a reputation, he was aware of that much but he wasn’t sure what it was exactly. However, he was well aware of his own reputation, especially within the intelligence community and those who fought in the Dominion War. “I’m afraid I’ve been very impolite, your instruments might not have given you my name,” He said in a more cordial manner than before “I am Lieutenant Commander Peter Sigmundsson, check my credentials if you want confirmation of what I’ve been promising”

CIO

“Then you have 7 days to get me what I want, or you’ll have to talk to John through our Romulan friends,” Junior replied. There would be something that wouldn’t sit right with Kara about this conversation. Riera Akaba had given John a gift when he left. It was a pendant that when activated would make use of the former drone’s implants and the borg transwarp transporter system to transport John to Riera. If John was in as much danger as Junior was making out, why hadn’t he just activated the pendant leaving Junior high & dry in the Neutral Zone?

-Junior

Peter cocked his head slightly and shrugged. Turning to Kara he smiled softly “I tried. If you want to go ahead. If that fails I’ll just kill him sometime next week” The way he spoke was eerily calm, almost as if he were deciding to go on Vacation. “I’ll make some arrangements if he crosses the Neutral Zone to the Romulan side I’ll have someone keep an eye out. After we’re done here we could catch up with him in a couple of days, It’ll be fun” He gave her a Friendly pat as he stepped back, giving her full reigns of the rest of the conversation.

CIO

“You know, I can’t help but feel like I’m the only one making any concessions in this deal. You do know how a deal works, don’t you?” Junior said addressing Kara, “You want something I have, so you give me something I want, before I give it to you. Here’s another deal I’ll put on the table to show that I’m a man of my word and, despite your friend’s intelligence reports, I am actually trustworthy. I know what lies in wait for you when you cross into Devil’s Castle. What do you think that information’s worth?”

-Junior

Peter spoke up before Kara could “This isn’t a deal, this is coercion, blackmail and threats” He said coldly “You threaten our friend, I threaten you. You say you’ll give him to the Romulans, I say I’ll kill you. This is the hand you played. Right now you’re talking to Starfleet Officers if you’re lucky you’ll get to talk to the Officers next. Otherwise, you get to talk to the things coming after you” He looked at Kara and stepped back once more.

Peter Sigmundsson


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