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

Posted by Civilian Kara Nakuto (Civilian, Former CO) 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 (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Snip
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

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

“I want proof of life,” Kara stated plainly. “I want to see and to speak to John McHarrie and to know that he is alive and unharmed. Only then might you be approaching a position where we can talk about deals.”

So far, Grimshaw had not offered one single damn thing that interested her. Even information on the nebula carried little weight with the Viking’s former captain when the life of a friend hung in the balance. Junior might view himself as a victim to James McHarrie’s scheming, but to Kara he was a thug, plain and simple. And if he had dared to hurt John then she would not need Sigmundsson to track him down and squeeze the final breath from his lungs with her own two hands. She might still be a Starfleet officer, as Peter had stated, but without a duty position she considered herself momentarily excused from the moral boundaries of the Federation. The rules would be hers to not only bend but to shatter into a million tiny pieces.

“Show me John, Mr Grimshaw,” she repeated. “Now.”

Kara Nakuto

“I’ll show you proof of life, but he’s not speaking to you,” Junior said. He swilled his console so the camera pointed towards the rear of the cabin. John could be seen wearing a black Section 31 uniform on a seat at the rear. There was a gag tied across his mouth and his arms were behind his back, although no bindings were visible on them. His feet were bound together, but a closer inspection of the bindings would suggest that John could escape if he so desired.

“Blink twice for the camera, ” came Junior’s voice from now outside of camera shot.

John complied with Junior’s request and it was clearly visible before Junior returned the console to its original position.

“Like I said. Unharmed and functional, he secures my freedom on either side of the border. Why would I harm my only bargaining chip? “

-Junior

Peter resisted the urge to make a facial expression and laugh. Where they being made fun of. It was like amateur hour, well maybe he was just used to a better class of criminal than Junior appeared to be. He only looked at Kara, asking for guidance on what to do next. Although he had acted as if he was totally involved he was only doing so for the sake of her. He had no horse in this race beyond helping his friend. “Well?”

Peter Sigmundsson

“Tell me Mr Sigmundson, do you believe in co-incidences?” Junior asked rhetorrically, “You see I don’t. In OUR line of work you learn not to. Me, Nevin, James, the Viking, her reputation, her system problems, her current destination and what those of us who’ve ‘dabbled’ in S31 believe to be there?”

John’s voice could be heard making an incoherrantly muffled shout through the gag.

“Penny just dropped? Thank you for the confirmation. You know them and they’re been taken for a ride too?” Junior asked looking in the direction of where John was held. v and Junior turned back to his console and smiled for the first time in the conversation.

“Oh he knows and he doesn’t want you to know,” Junior said. The smile faded from his face in the momentary pause. “See, because I’m not a bad person that puts me in a difficult place. Do I take a chance and hope that we come to a deal for the information I hold, or do I simply tell you what’s there and the evil you are about to unknowlingly unleash on the quadrant?”

Junior stopped to wait for Kara’s reaction. He was suspicious of Peter and hadn’t ruled out the possibility that as an Intelligence Officer, he already had knowledge of what was rumoured to be inside the nebula that they were bound for. Both Peter and Kara would be able to tell from Junior’s body language that he was troubled by the decision he had to make. For the first time since communication was established, he appeared agitated and nervious. A complete contrast to the confident and abrassive man that he had been so far.

-Junior

Kara stared silently at the image on the viewscreen before her, her features resisting every pull and demand of her turbulent emotions in determination to mask her current thoughts. This was not real. This scene before her nothing more than a contorted and disfigured chapter in a play that felt impossible to comprehend until the final act.

She risked a glance up at the man by her side. If she were succeeding in keeping her true feelings buried in that moment, then Peter Sigmundsson was a true master of the art. His face remained as stoic and unreadable as she prayed her own appeared. And yet deep in the core of her being, the sickening plummet of her entire life unravelling was beginning to take form.

She had not been able to see the pendant. Did John remain in possession of that most precious of gifts from his former lover? Or had it, like so many other things, fallen into the clutches of Section 31? Reira. He had appeared on the Viking briefly at the turn of her own homecoming. But since that one, tangled conversation, the former drone had disappeared into the ether. Had he even been real? Or merely another haunting borne of her desperate emotions?

“I…I saw Reira, John,” she announced, every atom within her straining to detect his response in the hope that a reaction could offer confirmation that the man shackled before her eyes was truly who Grimshaw claimed him to be. “He…he is well. As well as can be expected, under the circumstances.”

Kara Nakuto

There was an audible but incoferrant “MMMM,” from John.

“I agree,” Junior said looking in John’s direction before turning back to his screen, “The Akaba drone would do well to stay away from this. He has his own issues caused by relatives that are S31. I think telling him his boyfriend is S31 might just tip him over the edge, No?”

“If he’s returned there, that’s another coincidence. Far too many of those now?” Junior looked troubled and in deep thought. He was clearly waying something up.

“I swore an oath to Starfleet and to protect the Federation, I have never broken that oath, despite why I was imprisoned. I could not live with myself if I did nothing knowing the hell you are about to unleash.”

He began tapping on his console and Kara’s console would indicate it was recieving a file. The data stream could be tracked to a much more precise location than the comm stream - the rogue had just knowingly given up his exact position.

“That file if they know it came from me, will get me killed on both sides of this border,” he said, “You want John, you have until either S31 or the Tal Shiar finds me and blow us to bits.”

The transfer complete confirmation appeared on Kara’s console.

“Now if you will excuse me, I have to find a new hidey-hole. You know how to contact me when you’re ready to pick us up. Enjoy your imp hunt,” Junior said before terminating the transmission.

-Junior

OOC: I have no idea what our GM has instore for us - I’m sure that the contents of the file (if you decide to open it) will fuel some IC tension and possible mistrust between our characters.

-Jim

Peter was admittedly surprised by the man’s sudden change in attitude and his decision to reveal his location. He looked to his side at Kara. The sight of the doctor tied up seemed to worry her a great deal. He gently put a large hand on her shoulder and squeezed “We might not be able to go after him until after our mission, Kara.” He spoke in half-whispers “But I can have a few friends check those coordinates, make sure that his trail is covered until we can go after them. We’ll get your friend back. trust me”

Peter