Posted by Civilian Kara Nakuto (Civilian, Former CO) in A lonely terminal - Nakuto makes a call to McHarrie

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Peter Sigmundsson (Chief Intelligence Officer) 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 (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Snip
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻

“He’s a little tied up at the moment,” Grimshaw answered as he tapped on his console, “I’m not going to harm him. Why would I de-value my only bargaining chip? Infact he’s probably safer with me than with you. Why are you heading to The Devil’s Castle?”

Kara opened her mouth to reply before realising that she was devoid of an answer. She had not been party to the discussions on the Viking’s latest mission and, in truth, knew little more than the nebula’s name and relative position on the map. It was a natural instinct to fire a questioning glance at Sigmundsson before she could catch her mistake, the brief focus of her attention offscreen revealing their secret listener. She berated herself silently for the lapse in control but knew that Grimshaw had already caught the clue.

“Oh!” Grimshaw exclaimed after a few more taps on his console but before Kara could answer his question. “Now THAT is interesting. See being an outlaw, my data-stream and intelligence feed is some what more primitive and slower than yours. You will always have that advantage over me, but I just found out which ship you are on. What a small galaxy! Nevin, is that actually you listening in from just off camera?”

-Junior

There was a deafening silence as Peter took the first step forward, standing next to her with crossed arms. Despite her impressive height and musculature, she was practically dwarfed by the Intelligence chief. His lip curled into a dry smile but his eyes remained cold as he stared directly at the man “No such luck Junior” His tone of voice was cold and calculating, much like his expression. Revealing to the man that he knew who he was without telling much else. “We need to speak with Dr McHarrie. It’d be much easier if you gave him to us, I’d rather not waste time on the hunt”

Peter Sigmundsson

Her satisfaction at having the CIO by her side was unmistakeable and Nakuto grinned widely and challengingly at the man on the screen.

“He’s concious. He can hear you,” Junior replied.

“We have not heard from James McHarrie for over a year now,” she informed Grimshaw, her tone suggesting diminishing patience for this cryptic conversation. “What do you want with him? I hope for your sake it is not answers since he seems only capable of speaking in riddles and half-truths.”

Kara Nakuto

“Yes, he taught me well, no? Now supposing you are telling the truth, and I’m not suggesting that I believe you for one minute. You want to speak to John? Is that because Nevin said to?”

Junior paused briefly to let that sink in. “I’d put money that it is because James put him up to it. Nevin almost ended John’s career and set wheels in motion that gave him no choice but to join us. Nevin was there when James cut me loose and marooned me. I think James used Nevin to distract me and it worked. Who would have suspected a shy, junior officer that was a single parent? I didn’t. I love and care for Antos as though he were my own child but James can’t use that against me; Nevin would never allow it.”

Junior leaned back in his chair waiting to see the response of the two in front of him.

“Whether I believe you or not is really not up for discussion here,” Junior said, “If you’re working for James, you’ll pass a message on for me. If you are telling the truth, I’ll give you credit that you’ve done well to track me down. If you can track me, trust me, you’ll be able to track James down and tell him I want my life back.”

-Junior

There was no visual cue as to Peter’s annoyance with this conversation, more like an aura in the way he stood, the way his knuckles tensed and slightly cracked “We wish to speak with John for our own reasons, not at the direction or influenced by any other than ourselves” He said without really knowing but with such conviction as if he were spouting gospel “But let me ask you this, what do you envision your life to be like and how do you think James can grant such boons?”

Peter

The half-Klingon fell into silence as Sigmundsson took control of the conversation, her own thoughts a frantic maelstrom of questions and accusations. It had been Akorem who had suggested she reach out to her former CMO. Had the Bajoran known she would come face to face with Grimshaw instead? Was she, Kara Nakuto, once again being made an unwitting pawn in the nefarious games of the elder McHarries?

Her mind pulled at a memory from a year ago, the arrival of Akorem Nevin on the Viking coinciding almost too neatly with the death of John’s father and his own departure from the ship. She had harboured a deep mistrust of her new XO in those early days, although their joint battling of the forces onboard this vessel had tempered her suspicions in the weeks that followed. Had she been wrong to develop a trust for the man? A fondness, even?

This world that the darkness had spat her out into was not the same as the one she had left behind. She needed to put down anchor at a harbour where she could feel safe. But in this new and unfamiliar universe such a sanctuary remained elusive to her. Not for the first time, the former captain of the USS Viking considered whether she had actually crossed dimensions and landed in a mirror of the world that she had known.

Her attention returning to the screen, Kara once more focussed on the image of the man before them, her expression turning expectant for an answer to the CIO’s question, her own doubts and fears momentarily laid aside.

Kara Nakuto

“My Starfleet career would be nice to have back, but alas even that would probably be even beyond McHarrie’s influence,” Junior said, “I’d settle for some freedom. The crimes that I did not commit be expunged from my record. The crimes I did commit, well, I already served my time and paid the consiquences for those.”

Junior leaned forward. “Thing is, there’s a border just out there,” Junior pointed to indicate out of the window of his small craft at the starfield, “If I can’t reach a deal with McHarrie, then I’m fairly sure that I can buy myself some freedom on the other side, but that would not be so good for Johnny boy.”

“I am not a bad person, but you two REALLY should watch yourselves. Nevin will hang you out to dry. You do know that him and James were…” Junior trailed off and made an obscene gesture with his hands to indicate a sexual act, “… Yeah. That advice is free, do with it what you will. I’ll give you a week to come up with something and then I’m gone.”

-Junior

Peter seemed generally unphased by the man’s vulgarity, having spent a great deal of time with people of the same unscrupulous characters outside of his Starfleet career. He looked at Kara, motioning her to give him a little more time, he wasn’t as close to this as she was making it easier for him to negotiate with the traitor on the other line “No I don’t think so” He spoke slowly and calmly “But we’ll give you five days to surrender the good Doctor unharmed” he smiled again, cruelly, completely without the false bravado of before “After which we can have a good discussion here about your future within the Federation.” His smile faded “You cross that border and I’ll have to find you and that won’t be so good for anyone” He leaned in closer, his voice growing colder with the last few words “You want back, you play ball.”

CIO

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