Posted by Civilian Kara Nakuto (Civilian, Former CO) in CIO’s Office
Snip

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Peter Sigmundsson (Chief Intelligence Officer) in CIO’s Office

Posted by Civilian Kara Nakuto (Civilian, Former CO) in CIO’s Office
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

Peter looked down at her and was reminded of their first meeting. A newly fangled Commander and a junior Lieutenant. Still, he’d never felt like he was looking down at her despite his size, she somehow managed to look him directly in the eyes, sometimes even look down on him. The mark of a Commander, but this one had a less than stellar reputation, not unlike his. “Only that you call me Peter” He gently took the bottle and poured into the two glasses “Or Lieutenant Commander. I haven’t been just a Lieutenant for a while now” He smiled slightly amused as he handed her a glass.

Nakuto emitted a roar of laughter, then, reaching for the offered glass, she held it aloft as she declared, “To your promotion then, Lieutenant Commander.“

“Captain, when we first met I was returning after nearly a decade of staying outside Starfleet. Four years later I left service once more until this year. I’ve had a longer Career outside of Starfleet than in. You left for duty, I left my duty.” He raised his glass “So no I don’t have any questions. Only joy at seeing a friend alive that I’d buried.” His smile became more sombre as he thought of one year earlier during his recuperation on Earth when he was informed of his old Captain’s demise.

Peter

Her glass drained, she quickly refilled it to the brim before silently indicating for the CIO to do the same. Swallowing her second draught more slowly, she languished in the task of observing him closely. He had spoken true when he declared his time away from Starfleet to be as notable, and possibly as controversial, as her own. It was one of the many things that had initially drawn her towards him on their former vessel - a shared connection between two black sheep treading career trajectories that found them balancing always on the edge of disgrace but somehow managing to claw themselves back into the light. She had trusted him back then, trusted him with enough conviction to have him lead her security team. And suddenly she felt a most desperate longing to trust him again. But did she dare take the risk?

And in truth, what would be the price if she were wrong? She had already seen everything she had ever worked for stripped away from her. A lifetime of battle and toil torn from her hands in the blink of an eye. If Peter Sigmundsson had truly been placed here by those who wished to destroy her then he would find his arrival had come far too late in the game. For destruction had already been brought by her own hand, more powerful and damning than anything they could have enacted upon her.

In that moment, as the heat from the bloodwine scorched a trail along her throat, she resolved to cast her fears and suspicions aside. Already she was finding herself a stranger amongst a crew who had once been family to her. More than rank and title and position, what Kara Nakuto needed right now was an ally and a friend. Perhaps most fitting that he be one who danced amongst the shadows.

“So, Peter,” she began, relaxing back into her chair and offering him a wide grin to serve as a peace treaty, “what brought you to the Viking? It had often been my own experience that those doomed to serve here had been ordered to do so due to certain…infractions on their record. My own former placement as Captain notwithstanding. So, what did you do to piss off Starfleet sufficiently to end up on this godsforsaken ship?”

Kara Nakuto

Peter smiled at her comment as he took his first drink of the Bloodwine. He’d come to really enjoy stronger alcohol and the sweetness of Bloodwine was always appreciated. With his penchant for drinking Romulan ales and other highly intoxicating drinks, he’d gathered quite the palette for exotic drinks.

“Actually it was quite the opposite.” He sat down on one of the chairs opposite his desk, gesturing Nakuto to do the same “When the Curie was decommissioned I was temporarily reassigned to the Olympic as a junior officer. Hatori and I were trying to make things work” He shrugged “It didn’t work but I was offered Security Chief here on the Viking in ‘87” Now was the best time to tell her everything, a full picture would make things clearer. “It was under your predecessor. I left for personal reasons in ‘89 and started… investigating a disappearance of an old friend” It was difficult for Kara to read him, but in that moment his eyes seemed sad.

He took another sip before continuing “This leads me to a small Criminal organization, the Takro Cartel. I started working my way up the Criminal food chain until I got the right peoples attention. I,m however, also go the attention of Starfleet Intelligence. They noticed what I was doing and offered me their support, raised my security clearance and rank and helped build a solid foundation for a disgruntled former Fleeter. With their support, I was accepted into the group and for over two years I worked my way up to the left hand of the groups’ leader. Long story short I compromised my cover to stop an all-out assault on the Federation by my comrades. This led to the arrest of almost every major player in the Cartel. I spent most of the last year in between a hospital bed and a courtroom as a material witness.” He paused again and looked into his drink.

“After a wealth of commendations and meetings with the higher-ups I was offered a small team of my own and any position on any ship, even XO on some frontier cruiser. But I saw that Captain Ravenfall had requested an Intelligence officer for her crew, No one was going to take it so I jumped at the chance to go back to familiar ground. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as familiar as I’d hoped” He pointed to the dim lights as he took another sip. Much stronger than he anticipated, he was going to need to be more careful “Command’s always had a soft spot for me, War Hero from a good family. They tend to just ignore my decade out of service. I’ve never been a big subscriber of hope but I believe that we might tear the Viking out of its shame and back into the good graces of the fleet” He was getting more sentimental as he grew older. Maybe if he had focused more on his career he’d probably be a Captain by now, definitely a full Commander with a good record. Not Intelligence Officer hiding on the Viking.

Peter

OOC: I’m not sure if you’ve met the Viking’s rather…unique central computer. But now seems a good time for it to make a reappearance…hehe!

IC: Nakuto listened without interruption as Sigmundsson recounted his own history. Interesting to her how their chequered pasts had driven them along similar, almost parallel, paths. For Kara Nakuto too was no stranger to entanglements with those who made a living on the wrong side of the law. After the rescue of her family from the shame of captivity on Carraya IV, it had taken Kara and her sister, Mirai, many years to find their true places in an unfamiliar world and, like Peter, had only pledged allegiance to Starfleet when their consciences could no longer justify their deeds elsewhere.

Swallowing another measure of bloodwine, she prepared to share her own eventful tale but her words were frozen on her lips by a familiar but always disconcerting sound…

It began, as it always did, with an explosion of static. For a brief moment the lights in the room dimmed almost to black, as if the power was being drained for other, less altruistic purposes. The static rose to a pitch sufficient to induce pain in the ears of the listeners, before falling away to reveal one lone, malevolent voice.

=^= Former Captain Nakuto =^= the disembodied voice of the Viking’s central computer hissed. =^= My records indicate that you are dead. I must have registered such a verdict in error. Pity. Then again, forced back onto a ship where the only use they have for you is as a passenger, perhaps death would have been a preferable outcome? =^=

Peter had heard rumours, whispers about the Computer Core. Fearful whispers. He’d encountered it only once, inside the Captain’s ready room on his first day. He made the mistake of trying to kill it with a knife. He was going to have to get rid of his instinct to throw knives at everything.

After months of torment from this synthetic menace, Nakuto knew better than to pay any attention to its needling diatribe. So then why was she allowing its words to get under her skin?
Slamming a fist against the desk, she roared up towards the ceiling in reply. “I see they have not torn out your central processor yet. I will have to get to that immediately.”

The response came as another, rolling wave of static. But to those with a tendency for anthropomophism, it sounded for all the world like the computer was laughing.

=^= Easy to see why a mere passenger would gravitate towards the ship’s Chief Intelligence Officer =^= the AI continued, turning its attention now towards Sigmundsson. =^= But what might be in this for you, Lieutenant Commander? She will not be able to help you forget Veronica. Yes, I wonder if Veronica is even aware of how close she came to destruction, had she remained with you? =^=

Kara knew not who Veronica was or what she represented to Peter. But if the computer was using the name against him then it had to invoke some measure of pain or torment deep within.
“Peter,” she commanded, “do not listen to it. It only wishes to unbalance you.”

But how could she demand of others that which, in that moment, she felt incapable of herself?

Kara Nakuto

There was a tensing of the Intelligence officer entire body. His heart rate increased and his blood pressure raised and his eyes narrowed. He was angry, he hadn’t been angry for a while. He didn’t say anything for a good moment. He breathed and calmed down. Then he started laughing, a deep harsh laugh. He took a very slow sip of his wine “It must be very lonely being a Sentient Computer, to have such a vile contemptuous personality and be so ill-informed at the same time” He stood up and walked to the other side of his desk. He pressed a few buttons and a compartment opened. It was not standard issue, that was for certain.

He looked at Kara with a grim smile, a sad smile “I was engaged to be married once, to Veronica. Childhood sweethearts.” He reached into the compartment and grabbed to things. A long cylindrical item covered in cloth and a small photograph. He handed the Photo to his old Captain. In the Picture was a young Peter, probably early twenties, he wasn’t as large in the Photo as he was now and he was smiling. Under his arm was a woman of a similar age. Beautiful, While he wore a Starfleet Academy Uniform she wore simple civilian clothes. “When I returned after the war she was gone, left me a note in our apartment in San Fransisco, Her school was destroyed during the Breen attack on Starfleet Command. That’s why I left the first time” He was clearly sad, but his sadness now was fresh, his rage new, not old.

He carefully uncovered the cloth, revealing a sheathed sword. It was just under Ninety Centimeters long and slightly curved with no Guard. Peter carefully lifted it and drew the sword “This is called a Shashka, it’s an Old Russian sword, made famous by the Cossacks” He held it on either side with a single finger “Expertly decorated Ivory handle with a curved pommel, A fullered blade for lightness and a slight curve so it can be used for both slashing and thrusting.” He carefully handed the blade over to Kara so she could take and examine the well made Saber.

“Veronicas Grandfather owned this, the original had been in the Family for generations. He used this to gut his grandchild in front of me when I tore down his precious Cartel down, punishment for not falling in line” Peter’s lip managed to form a slight smile “Her name won’t unbalance me, Kara, It gives me focus.” He looked up “And since you have access to my files that means you know what I am capable of with focus. So if you want me to Focus on you please continue” He leaned back in his chair “Otherwise shut it.” It had turly managed to make him angry, despite his attempts to calm himself he’d still not managed to fully calm down. Maybe threataning their Computer ‘Overlord’ wasn’t the greatest idea in the world.

Peter Sigmundsson