Posted by Commander Akorem Nevin (Executive Officer) in Ready Room -Nakuto goes in search of Akorem

Posted by Civilian Kara Nakuto (Civilian, Former CO) in Ready Room -Nakuto goes in search of Akorem

Posted by Commander Akorem Nevin (Executive Officer) in Ready Room -Nakuto goes in search of Akorem
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Snip
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻

Kara raised an eyebrow at Nevin’s admission, but made no further comment. Although his revelation concerning their current CO was some cause for concern.
“Medical grounds?” she repeated. “What happened?”

Relaxing back into the worn chair, Kara swallowed the rest of her kanar before continuing, the warmth of the cerulean liquid spreading to her face and enticing a genuine, if somewhat weary, smile across her lips.

“So, how have you been, Commander? How have you all been?”

Kara Nakuto

“Most of us are well. Or As well as this ship allows. Ensign Akaba has been on medical leave, but is due to join us again when we reach starbase,” Nevin replied, “Antos is growing.”

-Akorem

“Antos,” Nakuto smiled warmly. She had met the young boy only once before her disappearance. But his innocence and youthful energy had been like a light in the darkness of this forsaken ship.
“How is your son taking to life on the Viking, Commander? I hope he is not…troubled by…well, you know as well as I the things that lurk around this vessel.”

Kara Nakuto

“He had an encounter with one of the ghosts aboard. It had taken the form of my biological uncle,” Nevin said. He looked down before continuing. He felt embarrased about what had happened and it reminded him of his own childhood when he had been Atos’ age. He felt as though he’d failed as a father, “And some of his ‘less savoury’ appetites.”

Nevin drank his kanar before continuing “I’m sure he’ll get over the experience. He’s too young to fully understand what has happened so it may not hit him till he’s a teenager. I just hope that when he does, he doesn’t blame me.”

-Akorem

Kara nodded. She knew only too well the incident of which the XO spoke. Before swallowing her, the portal had unleashed a tsunami of disturbing and traumatic visions upon the crew, monsters clawing their way out of long-distant pasts to be made wholly evil once more. She shuddered at the recall.

“I am glad that he escaped relatively unscathed from that…incident,” she replied, before adding more softly, “And I am sure he will not blame you. You was a victim too. And you did everything that you could to protect him.”

The half-Klingon rose to her feet and wandered over to the murky picture window, gazing through the gloom to the infinite space beyond. Somewhere out there flew countless other starships, vessels with full and adequate lighting, with functional warp cores and safe holodecks. Vessels where the crew could feel safe and empowered to perform their assigned duties without the ever-present whisperings of death. What a forsaken lot they had been given, this unfortunate crew.

“But our ability to protect is greatly dampened on this ship,” she stated, turning once more to face the Bajoran Commander. “Be sure to keep Antos at arms length always, Nevin. For a light so bright must surely be a beacon for more than just the living on this vessel “

Kara Nakuto

“There is a reason that Section 31 is so interested in the operation of this ship,” Nevin said, “And I dare say that is why this ship has not been moth-balled. What-ever the reason, I strongly suspect it is related to the odd goings on. There’s too many co-incidences.”

Nevin paused, “Until you get a new command, would you mind staying and helping me figure it out? I could really use a friend.”

-Akorem

Her thoughts returned immediately to the McHarries. Days and nights spent scouring every inch of the ship for uninvited guests of the non-humanoid variety. The saboteur had never been identified to her satisfaction. Was he or she or…it still buried somewhere in the bowels of the lower decks? Was the vessel still at risk from its deadly and unhindered subterfuge? Or had its mere existence been nothing more than an illusion? An excuse?

Moving back into her seat, Nakuto set her elbows on the desk’s worn surface and locked eyes with her former second in command.

“Section 31? You think they had a hand in all of this?”

How had she not considered such a possibility before? Even chasing along corridors after James McHarrie’s Reman Imps it had never occurred to her that this entire nightmare could have been crafted by those whom he served. Perhaps by his very own hand?

Occam’s Razor. She had allowed her fear to blind her to that fundamental scientific principle - that, all things being equal, the simplest explanation was usually the correct one. But in truth what was more probable? More tangible? That the vessel was infested with malevolent, supernatural entities? Shadowy, ethereal wraiths from the very depths of Gre’thor itself? Or that this entire nightmare had been constructed by a technologically-advanced, but still undeniably living, group.

“To what ends would they do such a thing?” she considered the possibilities aloud. “To test us? Is this some kind of psychological experiment to discover how much torment a mind can endure before it breaks? How much of the unexplained a normally rational consciousness will accept when faced with it on a never-ending loop?”

“Section 31 never make a move or expose themselves unless they have no choice,” Nevin said, “They prefer to lurk in the shadows simply pulling the strings. I suspect that they’re as curious about whatever is happening onboard as we are, but unlike us, they will want to weaponise it in order to gain some sort of political advantage. We just want it fixed.”

She sat back in her chair, her mind a dizzying vortex of possibilities. It almost seemed too simple. The things she had seen, had heard; the places she had wandered, trapped for months on end with no glimmer of hope for an escape - something in her gut was beginning to churn with an insistence that this evil was too powerful to have been borne of man. And yet if her years of toil in the Dominion war had taught her anything, it was that humanoids capacity for cruelty was matched only by their imagination.

“As much as you didn’t agree with my thoughts about the previous CMO, I cannot help but think he was assigned here as part of Section 31’s plan, even if he wasn’t aware of it,” Nevin replied.

Rising to her feet once more, Nakuto held out a hand to Akorem, a human gesture of challenge accepted. Contract agreed.

Nevin almost expected a verbal slap-back for what he had just said.

“I will help you get to the bottom of this, Commander,” she declared. “Even if it takes me the rest of my days.”

Kara Nakuto

OOC: Bump for Jim…or had you finished with this thread?

OOC: Thanks for the bump, I thought I’d missed something somewhere :)

IC: “Thanks, Captain,” Nevin said, “McHarrie won’t talk to me. After what he did at the Academy, I recommended he be struck off from the General Medical Council and expelled. But it is possible he will tell you what he knows.”

-Akorem

Kara’s features softened at the mention of her former CMO. John McHarrie had been far from perfect, but then nobody on the Viking could lay claim to a completely untarnished duty record. And she had been fond of the young Welshman.

“He was under a lot of pressure from his family,” she attempted to grasp at an explanation in his absence, “not that it excuses what he did, of course.”

She sighed. “Perhaps you are right. Perhaps McHarrie will be willing, or able, to talk to me. I will contact him.”
Nakuto ran a hand through her long, midnight hair. No requirement just yet to share with Akorem her most pressing concern - that wherever the McHarries were involved, one could never truly be sure of which member of the family they were speaking to.

Sitting back in her chair, the half-Klingon studied the man across from her. It could not have been an easy year for him, with one captain disappearing into thin air without warning and her replacement…well, she had already heard rumours about Ravenfall and her rather…unique lifestyle.

“You’ve done an admirable job, Commander,” she attempted to reassure the Bajoran. “It is often difficult to notice our successes when buried beneath a mountain of chaos. But still the Viking flies. Still her crew endures. That, at least, is something. And it is a great something.”

A wide grin spread across her face, a glimmer of the old Nakuto flashing briefly in the depths of her brown eyes.
“So tell me, Commander, how best might I serve you onboard the ship? Until Starfleet catches up with me and hauls me in for further punishment, where do you think you could use me the most?”

Kara Nakuto

Nevin had not given that much thought to Nakuto’s question. If he were honest, he had not expected her to agree to remain. And now that she had, there was no guarantee that Fleet Command may issue her with new orders.

“Aside from at my side offering counsel?” Nevin responded with a grin to give him a few more moments to think about it.

“You comne from an engineering background, if I recall correctly?” Nevin said, “Perhaps if you were to find out where you’ve been and how you got back, it might help to get the others back.”

“On the whole, I trust your judgement enough to know where you’ll be best.”

-Akorem

“I am somewhat skilled with a hyperspanner, yes,” Nakuto replied, grinning. “I shall talk to Lt Stone, see if he can make use of me. After all,” she added, her eyes scanning the room and pausing on a flickering light, “it appears there is still a long list of maintenance jobs to attend to.”

Rising, she began to move towards the door, pausing briefly to look back over her shoulder and add, “but first, a conversation needs to be held with my former CMO. Let us see what secrets he is willing to reveal on this most twisted state of affairs.”

Kara Nakuto