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

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
Snip
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻

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.

The computer remained thankfully silent. Watching. Waiting.

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.

Kara studied the photograph intently. Two young people, so full of promise, so full of hope. She was no stranger to tragedy and to loss and knew only too well how such a breakup must have felt like a bereavement. A flaming bat’leth to the stomach, slicing cleanly and mercilessly through them both. A punishment for daring to find happiness in this blackest of worlds.
“She is beautiful,” she stated. “I am…sorry for your loss, Peter.”

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.

The half-Klingon took the blade, running its steel edge gently through her fingertips. It reminded her of a Klingon d’k tahg, the ritual knife that became the most prized possession of all who owned one. Her own d’k tahg was here, somewhere, on the Viking. With the remainder of her meagre possessions. Or had they, like her reputation, been cast out into the void as soon as she had left?

“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.”

Her eyes closed in an empathic gesture, but in truth Kara could not even begin to imagine the pain and torment he had endured, the crushing desire for revenge that must surely have consumed him in the wake of such a heinous act.
Observing the CTO now with a new perspective, her respect and admiration for his strength was immeasurable. Indeed, Peter Sigmundsson was amongst the bravest and most noble of warriors that she knew. She smiled up at him, a gesture devoid of any joy but borne of a true understanding. A nod of recognition from one warrior to another.

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

Nakuto laughed now, loud and long.
“And that is the only way to deal with this binary monstrosity,” she commended his approach with a tip of her glass.

It felt…good to be back on the Viking. Shadows and voices and malevolent computers be damned, this was her ship, the only place in this vast and unforgiving universe where she had ever truly belonged. And despite…or maybe because of, the hell that Sigmundsson had already endured, Kara Nakuto had a sense that it was where he belonged as well.

“So…how have you found the ship so far?” she asked. “I hope you have been able to settle in without too many…distractions.”

Kara Nakuto

Peter smiled at his old Commander and friend. It was nice to have the support of a friend, especially during times like these “Yes mostly, I’ve been keeping to myself more or less. There was an incident on the bridge during our last mission with a junior Engineer with a certain disdain for strangers and following orders. Most of my old colleagues have already left but some of the old Security Staff remains, it’s how I stay apprised of most of the comings and goings on the ship. Junior officers that remember me fondly.” He took another, larger sip from his Bloodwine “You know since you’re back and all I have a little treat” He put the empty glass down and reached again into his secret compartment and picked a flask of blue liquid “My uncle got a shipload of these during the war when the embargo was lifted. Very hard to get a proper Romulan ale these days.” He leaned down and grabbed two small clear glasses and poured “I find a single glass of chilled Rommie Ale a good cleanser after a glass of Bloodwine”

Peter Sigmundsson

She nodded as she reached for the offered glass. “A rare treat indeed, Peter. Thank you.”

Two battle-weary officers, attempting to wash away years of pain and trauma with the ritual of shared alcohol. She was reminded, in that moment, of the war. As a low ranking member of a Klingon combat team, Kara Nakuto had seen herself deployed amongst the ruins of Cardassia Prime - initially fighting against the native Cardassians but then, in the final days when the Founders delivered their ultimate betrayal, by their side. Back then, she had been little more than cannon fodder for the Jem’Hadar. But amongst the slaughter and the loss of so many of her countrymen, she had been blessed with the ultimate reward, something she had spent her entire life, up to that point, striving to earn - the complete acceptance and respect of the pureblood Klingons.

Swallowing the ale, Kara wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and for a moment savoured the warming sensation of the alcohol in silence. Then suddenly she got to her feet and, facing Sigmundsson she declared, “I am yet to see if my quarters have remained unchanged since my disappearance. I wonder if you would accompany me, Peter?”
Then, almost as an afterthought, she added, “Although if you agree to do so, I would suggest that you arm yourself, perhaps with that shashka there. The last time I was in my quarters it…well, it is not without good reason that I have delayed returning there.”

Kara Nakuto

Peter downed his drink before rising from his seat “By all means lead the way” He put the glass down, closed the bottle and put it and the sword back into the compartment and locked it “I’ve been armed for most every waking moment of my life since the liberation of Betazed. Can’t sleep right without weapons anymore really…” He walked to the door “Although let’s hope that there will be no need.” As the door opened he chuckled “I threw a knife at the wall in the ready room during my first meeting with Captain Ravenfall. Not my best introduction of all time.”

Peter Sigmundsson