Posted by Lieutenant Commander Bethany Kovra Gadi (Chief of Security) in Side Sim - Foraging For Facts

Posted by Civilian Micah Pikelsimer (Federation Security Agent) in Side Sim - Foraging For Facts

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Bethany Kovra Gadi (Chief of Security) in Side Sim - Foraging For Facts
Posted by… suppressed (21) by the Post Ghost! 👻
It was late… or was it early? Pikelsimer didn’t really know. The Senior Federation Security Agent had spent… what… hours… in what he hoped and prayed would be the final debrief on the Asimov’s previous mission. The past few weeks had been a non-stop parade of intelligence analysts, bureaucrats, politicians, and high-ranking law enforcement officials… all seemingly hell-bent on trying to blame someone… anyone… for the escape of Elias Balthazar: pirate, smuggler, murderer, kidnapper, extortionist, and now confirmed Augment. Through it all, Pikelsimer’s stance held firm: the crew did their jobs at an exceptional level, endured hardships and stresses far above the norm, and acted in the best intrests of the mission AND the Federation at all times. He was also insistent that there was no way anyone could have anticipated the level of Machiavellian manipulation and planning that Balthazar had put together. When those trying to hang his escape on the Asimov crew tried to use their ‘evidence’ of why it should have been caught, Agent Pikelsimer was always quick to point out that the facts they were using came directly from the intelligence gathered by the crew themselves, so they couldn’t have e known what they just discovered.

The powers that be seemed to finally relent earlier that day, and officially closed the file and inquiry. Pikelsimer had then had to deal with nine months of backlog requests and reports… which he summarily put on an optical disc and took back to the ship.

Seeing Sharah was still dealing with her own agency’s agenda, he decided that drinking alone on their quarters was probably a bad idea. So, retrieving a jar of his homemade moonshine, he walked through the new ship amd to the Lounge, finding a seat in a far back corner and pouring a measure of clear liquid into a glass before staring out the window in silence.

Pikelsimer, FedSec

It had been hell. For the moment the inquiry was paused. Bethany knew it wasn’t over. Not only had she ‘willingly’ taken aid from an augment, Elias Balthazar had escaped her again. And had she even been planning to tell them hr was alive and stuck on some remote outpost?

As if any of that had been of her making or desire. Then…oh then had come the call. Just the memory made her sick. She entered the lounge, wearing shorts with a tank, and covered in a fine sheen of sweat. Sparing on the holodeck was always a decent distraction, while it lasted. She turned after grabbing water from the replicator, spotted the conductor of this orchestra and walked over and spotted the shine. “Brooding or celebrating?”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Pikelsimer looked up and shrugged. “Yes?” he said with a self-depricating smile. “It has been a day, that’s fer damn sure.” He took a breath and then gestured to the seat across from him. “Cop a squat, Commander… if’n ya like.”

Pikelsimer, FedSec

She slipped into the seat across from, “It’s been a year, and it’s not over yet.” She gave him an appraising look. “So, you are here, without escort, and I don’t have a request to detain you until someone more official arrives. I take it you have been absolved as far as ‘they’ are concerned.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Pikelsimer looked at her with a confused expression. “Absolved? Absolved of what? And why the hell would I be under escort or arrest?” and he chuckled. “I didn’t do anythin’ the rest of us weren’t part of. And as of about three hours ago, every member of the crew is no longer under scrutiny. Inquiry is officially closed. And good riddance to the lot of ‘em.” and he slid the glass to Gadi and lifted the jar. “I’ll surely drink to that ” he said and took a drink.

Pikelsimer, FedSec

Bethany took it and drank without a flinch. “So what’s the story with the Tellerite captain. He wasn’t fighting back, he’d surrendered, to hear the accounts, and no matter how much we needed that win, you aren’t the type to kill in cold blood, not an innocent man. So was he guilty of something, a hologram, or was the weapon really a transporter tag?”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Ah… so that’s where the chip on her shoulder comes from. Pikelsimer thought., although his face remained neutral. “No… he wasn’t guilty of anything. No, no hologram. Quite real. No, the weapon is real too. And you really don’t know what ‘kind’ I am, so I’d be careful about making character assessments of folks you don’t take the time to talk to directly.” he said, looking straight at her. “And I dunno why you are just now havin’ a problem with it. Like ya said… it’s been damn near a year.”

Pikelsimer, FedSec

Bethany’s eyes danced. “Chip on your shoulder much? I’ve never had anyone bow up at me over a compliment. Then again maybe it offends you for me to see you as one of the good guys?” She shrugged and took another drink. “I don’t really care. Sometimes extreme measures happen. Call it professional curiosity. Chock it up to my affection for your wife. I mean, hell, I doubt with all your experience, the idea of me helping you makes you laugh. But I promised her I would do my damnedest to make sure she went home to her family. That includes you. Glad you’re not under fire for it.” She stood, “See ya ‘round.” She headed towards the door.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

“His name was Bgreth Hset.” Pikelsimer said as she stood up. He took a drink and looked at the chair she just left. “If you wanna know the rest, sit down and shut up.”

Pikelsimer, FedSec

She looked at him a moment, her eyes reflecting far more experience and understanding than someone of her age should have. She sat, leaned back in the chair, and waited.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

“He was a Marine, about twenty years ago. A good one. When he retired, he went to work for his brother in his freighter service.” He took a drink and looked out the window. “His wife died about ten years back. Had a son, but they had some kinda fallin’ out right after his mom died and hadn’t spoken since. About… oh… twelve months ago… he wasn’t was diagnosed with some kinda Tellerite disease. No cure. Fatal. Apparently a real shifty way to go. Me and Blue were putting the plan together to go after the bastards that kidnapped him and cut out his eyes when I got the call from Hset. Me and Blue, we’d been tryin’ ta figure out how not to kill anybody but still make the stuff we’d pull look legit. A zero body count would make the Syndicate suspicious. Hset told me that he was gonna end it early, not deal with the crap coming. He’d earned a decent ending. But I gave him a way to go out and serve one last time.” He turned and looked at Bethany.

“I’d absolutely kill an innocent person if it meant saving thousands.” Pikelsimer said flatly. “I’d kill a friend, if that’s what it took. So think on that the next time you decide that I am being an egotistical prick for no reason.” He reached forward, grabbed the glass, filled it, and drank it. “There is always a reason.” and he turned and looked out the window.

Pikelsimer

She poured a glass, “To Hset,” and she knocked it back. It was sarcasm or a lack of what to do. It was genuine respect. “You know, you’ve been walkin’ around this ship for months, letting people hate you, be the scape goat, the focus of their frustration and anger. I get it, they needed it and it rolls off like water. But I have never not once thought you an egotistical prick. Arrogant, sure.” She shrugged, “I don’t know why you think I’m judging you, but I’m not.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

“Good. I’d hate to have done all this for someone who thought I was a d!<k.” He reached into his pocket and pulled an isolinear chip out of his pocket. “My report. Classified, of course. But I figure you’d wanna see the bit about how, since you had experience with him and he was low-key obsessed, you volunteered to be bait to try and lure Blathazar out. How we faked the transfusion and you being sick. It didn’t work, but we gave it a try.” He slid the chip across the table. “Your medical record shows your baseline has always been as it is now. Only you and your hairdresser will know.”

Pikelsimer, FedSec

A look crossed her eyes. Someone who was living in hell. She could imagine ways to lure him out now. Well before, now that she knew what she did, he would never fall for it. She picked up the chip. “Thanks. I’ll catch him eventually. I always do. Next time, I won’t bother arresting him.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Micah smiled. “I am sure you’ll try, that’s for damn sure.” He took a drink. “At least now you won’t have folks breathin’ down your neck. Can’t run an off-the-books investigation while people are staring at you, right?”

Pikelsimer

“I always catch him, just takes awhile,” she barked a bitter laugh. “Off the books? You really think our government is going to agree to his little deal? Not likely. It might be classified and quiet, but it will happen.” She took another sip from her glass. “I was just starting to be able to sleep night. Then there he is - alive. And they said I was paranoid.” She took another drink.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Micah looked at her and said “Our government doesn’t get a say in it. And regardless, they already did. As long as he doesn’t negatively impact the Federation or it’s intrests, they are not going to invest assets into his capture. That’s from the Federation Security Council itself.”

Micah

Bethany absolutely did not believe it. That might be the official line to cover their necks when Elias sought retribution for hunting him. They would also find a way to say something he was doing negatively impacted Federation interests. It was a matter of time. Maybe, just maybe if he was still just a notorious criminal they would, but not now. Now they would gunt him for what their predecessors made him. To cover up the monster they made and make him disappear. Bethany felt angry over it and then she was angry at herself for feeling that way.

“I think somewhere in my family’s and your family’s past, they shared ideas on how best to make shine.” She took another swallow.

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

“I’d have to sample your family’s wares before I could make an educated guess at that.” Pikelsimer said. He stared at her a minute, his metal hand wrapped around the jar. “So… how you holdin’ up after all this?” he asked. His voice carried a tone of symparhy… and understanding.

Pikelsimer

“I’ll try to get you some if I ever get there again.” That seemed reckless. Bethany lifted the glass but put it down before drinking. She stared at him. “I think I’d rather still be sick or dead. But I’m not, so I just keep going. Can’t change it. We’re all back, cleared, and people will return to their lives and their families. They have shiny new medals to ease their minds. We had a minimum of casualties and the ship physically survived. What more can a security Chief ask for.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Micah chuckled. “Well, I wouldn’t say selling the original ship and upgrading it to this modern marvel is exactly surviving… but it’ll do, thats for sure.” He looked at her a moment and then said “You didn’t answer my question, though. How are you holding up? Lotta changes in the past few months… natural to feel a bit adrift.”

Pikelsimer

“No, I didn’t,” she raised a brow over the glass. The shine burned from her tongue all the way into her stomach. “Like I said, I think I’d rather still be sick or dead.” She leaned back and propped a foot on the adjacent chair. “I quite concretely have a monster running around inside my veins, He is the reason I’m breathing and my heart is beating. There isn’t a psychological term for how I feel. It’ll probably be a brand new diagnosis.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

Micah considered her for a long time in silence, slowly leaning his chair back so it was on two legs and his back was leaned against the bulkhead. “Ya know… of anyone in the entire galaxy outside ‘a the man himself… you and me are probably the most knowledgeable of ‘ol E.B. than anyone else. You ‘cause you know his mentality and personality.... me ‘cause I know about his kind.” He took a sip and looked out the window. “Most everybody I know has a chip on their shoulders about… his kinda folks. And they have done a lot of bad in this galaxy, no doubt.” He looked away from the window for a second and said “But you know… if I’da had done to me what they had done to them; I dunno but if I couldn’t maybe see a bit of the why they did it.” He took another drink, the rapped his flesh knuckles on his metal arm. “You know how I got this?” he asked.

Micah

Bethany chuckled darkly. She knew things about ‘ol E.B.’ now that the man across from her never would. And d@mn her, she’d never tell. That was the thing though, she did have a slight idea of how Elias felt about what happened to him. She’d heard it and seen it in him, that last conversation. The crap of it was, he did do good. A lot of good, but he always went back.

“You can never truly feel a person’s motivations until you’ve lived what they have.” You could sympathize a bit, maybe even figure out the reason, but you never knew if you would make the same decisions until you were in their place. She shook her head at his question, “Not a clue.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gadi, COS

“Got it in the Corps.” he began. “Was with Force Recon. We got word there was some kinda Cardassian slave-mine operating out somewhere. ‘Cept when we get there, turns out to be some sorta Dominion-holdout communications setup. So we are told to go shut it down. We go in, all quiet and shit, and we shut it down.” His jaw tightened up. “But somebody tipped ‘em off that we were there. Soon as that relay goes kaput, we get jumped… hard. Cardassian Gray Guards and Obsidian Order. Bastards swarmed us. Took out all of us but four. Us four they turn over to this Order zealot guy… and maaaan does he not like us, let me tell you. We get strapped in chairs and on tables and this guy starts in on us for like… I don’t even remember… two or three days straight. More pain that I have ever felt ever. But I got a plan, see. This jackwad carried his security fob on his belt. And that is the little thingy that would open our restraints. So everytime he started to go on one’a my team, I’d start jawin’ at him about his mom and how much fun we had and blah blah blah blah… anything to keep his attention on me. And it worked! He got too close one time in just the right way and I got that fob in my hand. So ‘ol putty-face goes to fetch some more gizmos to use on us, and while he’s gone, I get me and the other three out of the restraints.” He tilted the chair forward with a thunk and leaned forward.

“Now here’s the thing. We coulda scooted right outta there. Got out of the facility, sent a distress call to the orbital support and got the hell outta Dodge. But I didn’t wanna. That mother&#<ker took somethin’ from me… my free will. And I hated him for it with a burning sun of hatred. So insted of doing the smart thing… the right thing… I told my guys to hide and I waited behind the door. And when that sunofabitch came through the door I beat his ass, locked him the chair he had me in…” Micah took a breath. “… And used every go$$amn tool that piece of s#!t had to kill him. Then we left. Of course, in the time it took me to kill that bastard the facility was on alert, so we had to fight our way out. But we did… with yours truly taking a Cardassian disruptor bolt in my bicep and leaving most of my arm in smoking little pieces on the floor.” He shook his head and chuckled, leaning back. “My point bein’… sometimes people have crap happen to ‘em that ain’t right. And that crap can make ‘em do out nasty things… stupid things too… all just for some kinda payback. Some futile attempt to regain the control they had taken from them. Now, I ain’t excusing him from what he’s done… far from it. I’m just saying that sometimes folks aren’t monsters in their blood… sometimes those monsters are made.”

Micah