Justice

Posted on Jul 18, 2014 @ 12:56pm by Captain Michael Turlogh Kane
Edited on on Jul 18, 2014 @ 1:56pm

Mission: http://thefrpg.com/sim/missions/id/9
Location: USS DISCOVERY

"JUSTICE"

(Continued from "The Shatterer of Worlds, Part Two")

**************************************
**************************************

"If we open a quarrel between the past and present, we shall find that we have lost the future."
- Winston Churchill

**************************************
**************************************

Captain's Log, Supplemental - The Century's battle damage is nearly repaired and we should be underway shortly. But with the destruction of the Discovery and the casualties we suffered aboard her, our journey home will begin under the darkest of clouds...

*************************************

Location: USS Century, system K-60
Stardate: [2.14] 0711.0125
Scene: Lucky Thirteen Lounge, Deck 13


Twelve years had passed since Michael Turlogh Kane last set foot in this room. In that life, he had been a Lieutenant and the ship's SecTac, a career-oriented officer climbing his way up through the fleet. It was from this ship that he had received his promotion into the command ranks, from here that he had been recruited to serve as the now-dead Discovery's first officer.

He had forgotten how big Lucky Thirteen was. The crew complement of the Century was just over one thousand personnel, and this was their main recreation hub. It was easily five times the size of Journey's End, the Discovery's rec room, with a large open space for musical performances alongside a sizeable bar and restaurant area. He had come here a lot when off-duty. During its heyday there were always a few hundred people in here at any one time, and he had spent many hours carousing with long-gone shipmates - Selyara, Jon McLean, Haruko Yamaguchi, Daxton Young, Eric Reding, Aren Keel - in this room. If he looked and listened hard enough at a certain angle, in a certain light, he could see a full table, see the smiles and laughter on younger faces, hear the clink of glasses shared in cameraderie.

There was tragedy here, too. There on the concert stage, Kane had fought a duel with a discommoded Klingon warlord named Targon, whose pirates had invaded the Century after luring it into an ambush near.... near where? Kane couldn't remember any more, but he remembered the shame of losing that fight. Targon had battered him to the ground and stabbed him half to death, leaving many scars and several metres of polymer instead of a small intestine.

Now there wasn't much of anything here. The tables had all been turned over, the chairs all lay scattered in heaps, victims of the battle with the Discovery. One of the Discovery's torpedoes had struck amidships three decks below Lucky Thirteen, and the outside hull was all blackened from its ungentle effects. The place was a mess, and would need hours of cleaning up, something that was not a priority right now.

Kane moved forward, taking in the sight of the three former Neo-Essentialists standing by the bar, waiting for him. Two of them were marines, Massimo and Kuenzi, and the other was the Discovery's former chief medical officer, Bonnie Reardon.

"Attention on deck!" said Massimo, and he and Kuenzi stood up straight. Bonnie Reardon turned to face him too, but Kane was not looking for any of them.

"Where is Major Thytos?" he asked gruffly, speaking to none of them in particular.

"We don't know," said Bonnie. "She probably doesn't want to have to be here."

"That makes two of us," said Kane pointedly. "But I have to be here, because I have a job to do. I have to get everyone aboard this clapped-out hulk back home in one piece. For me to do that, I need to know everything you lot know about the Neo-Essentialists. You will tell me everything I need to know, because it will help me save the lives of the rest of your shipmates still aboard the Century, and it will ensure that your shipmates who died aboard the Discovery did not give their lives in vain. Understood?"

"Sir yes sir!" yelled both marines.

Bonnie nodded. "Yes, Captain."

Kane nodded at Massimo. "You first. Let's start by going over what happened after we escaped the Discovery."

Massimo's brow creased. "Well, it was all Major Thytos, sir. Something must have happened to her to make her turn away from Commander Stonn."

"He said something to her," said Kuenzi. "I don't know what it was. Stonn was going to maroon everyone aboard the planet or the Century or something. He was going to kill everyone. Major Thytos led us around the ship, breaking people out of captivity and beaming them aboard the Century. She did the engineers first so that we could maximise our chances of getting the ship operational."

"I see," said Kane. "Tell me about your orders from Admiral Edgerton."

"Didn't know we had any," said Massimo. "I was on the Kearsarge out in the Denorius Belt. Next thing I know, I got plucked from my duty station and sent to Earth. A new team being formed, top secret mission, all that sort of thing. Admiral Edgerton briefed us all personally. He said we were going to be undertaking a task that would shape the future of the Federation itself. We didn't know anything about Neo-Essentialists until Major Thytos's counter-mutiny."

Kuenzi was nodding. "He said that we were answerable only to Major Thytos. He said she had his complete confidence."

"You had no idea you were coming to join the Discovery?"

"No, sir," said Massimo. "We just followed Major Thytos. She told us that our orders were to travel to the Suvin listening post where we would be awaiting the arrival of an unnamed starship. I assume that was supposed to be the Discovery. We didn't know about the Century's signal, didn't know anything about a computer virus, didn't know that Commander Stonn or any Neo-Essentialists were aboard the Discovery. All we knew is that we were bound to follow Major Thytos's orders whatever the cost. And that's what we did. We didn't need to know anything else, so we didn't ask."

"You're a credit to the highest traditions of the marine corps," said Kane sarcastically. He turned his attention to Bonnie Reardon. "What about you?"

The flame-haired doctor shrugged. "I joined the Neo-Essentialists five years ago. Edgerton was already leading it by then. He had had a successful career as a starship captain, had just been promoted to the Admiralty. I met him once, at a small meeting in New Berlin. He was amazing. I was captivated by his speech, we all were. He talked about how the Federation was weakening badly, how our politicians were unable or unwilling to make the necessary sacrifices to protect it. He convinced me that democracy was a sham designed to keep the political class in power, that those who risked their lives on a daily basis should be in government. He said that civilians couldn't be trusted to see the bigger picture, that Starfleet and the military should take over. I believed him. He told us to wait, that one day we would be called upon to do something to advance that aim. So I just got on with my career, occasionally touching base with others I knew to be in the organisation."

"You'll have to give Starfleet all those names. Every one of them."

"I know." Bonnie swallowed hard. "I was introduced to Stonn six months ago when the Discovery was nearing completion of her refit. He told me that they were planning to recruit you as captain, that something had come up in the Beta Quadrant and they wanted good officers, experienced officers, for the new mission. That's why strings were pulled to get the likes of Crichton and BaShen aboard."

"They're not Neo-Essentialists," said Kane, but a horrible thought quickly flashed through his mind. "Are they?"

"Not to my knowledge," said Bonnie. "But like I said, strings were pulled. Favours were called in. We made sure that the assistant department heads were loyal to us, that all of security was on our side. We were all playing a game, Captain Kane, pretending to obey your orders on a day to day basis, but awaiting the moment that Commander Stonn, our real commanding officer, would give us the green light to take over the ship."

Kane shook his head in amazement. "What would have happened had our mission been a failure?"

"Then nobody would have been any the wiser," shrugged Bonnie. "The Century, and its secrets, would still be orbiting that garden moon. If you had turned the Discovery around and given up, we would be home now and everyone would be alive."

"And none of us would know anything about the Neo-Essentialists or who your leader is."

"That's true," said Bonnie, "but Captain, if I may ask, who do you think you're going to tell? We have no proof, and your word and our testimonies won't cut it. When we get back to Earth, you can't publically accuse the Starfleet Chief of Staff of being what he is. You can't even say it to Admiral Halle, or any of them. Even if you stormed into the President's office and told him, nothing would happen. I told you when you woke up in my sickbay the other day - we're everywhere."

"You leave that to me," Kane said grimly. "I know of someone in government who might be able to help. I'll do what I can to mitigate the consequences of your decisions, but you should know that when we return home, I will be turning all three of you over to Starfleet Security. Until then, we could really use your help to get this ship underway."

Nods and muted agreement all round.

*********************************************

Scene: Bridge


Russ BaShen was sitting in the centre seat, working out the vagaries of the voyage home. Byte was busy testing bridge power network relays. So absorbed in what he was calculating that Jake Crichton's voice made him jump when it suddenly crackled over the intercom.

[[Engineering to bridge.]]

"Bridge here! What's happening, Jake?"

[[Hey, Russ. Captain's not around? Propulsion restored. We can get underway anytime now.]]

"Great!" nodded Russ. "I'll tell the Captain, he's below decks somewhere. You guys busy down there?"

Jake sighed. [[It's crazy. We're trying to figure out a way of deactivating all non-essential decks without losing any distribution efficiency. There are just a hundred of us aboard a ship built for over a thousand people. All this extra space is kind of creepy.]]

"We'll all be home a lot sooner now," said Russ, getting up and moving to the conn. "Getting us underway now. Thanks, Jake."

[[You know where to find me.]]

Russ inputted the course, selected warp six, and touched the activation key. On the main viewer, the starfield blurred, rushed toward him, then settled down into long jagged streaks as the Century broke the light speed barrier. His spine tingled as the inertial dampers kicked in to cope with the incredible speed.

The Century was on its way home.

************************************************

Scene: Security Centre, Deck 4


Kane finally found her in his old stomping grounds. The Security was still the same in appearance - his old office, the outside desks, the cells of the brig, the weapons lockers - but it still felt like he was an invader.

Kass was uselessly attempting to crack whatever code had been inputted into one of the weapons lockers. The codes of the locks were almost impossible to break - a series of numbers, symbols and colours meant there were literally tens of thousands of possible combinations. Those odds didn't seem to be bothering the marine - she was steadfastly ignoring the buzzing of the lock whenever she entered a wrong code, and was simply resetting her attempts, again and again and again.

"Why do you want access to those, Major?" said Kane.

Kass nearly jumped out of her skin. "Who the fuck! Oh - Captain Kane. I'm sorry, I - it's just that my sensors were all focused on this. I'm not tryin' to get at the phasers to take over the ship or anythin', it's just - well, I didn't know what else to do."

Kane looked around. Whoever his successor had been had completely redesigned the main office, moving his old desk and chair to the other side of the room, out of reach of the small replicator that Kane used to raid for cups of tea and bacon sandwiches.

Kass saw him looking. "Are you alright, Captain? My sensors are showin' elevated - "

Kane looked at her. "I'm a little emotional. Stop invading my privacy."

"I can't help it," said Kass. "It just happens. I can't help anythin', things just happen." She turned back to the locker and started jabbing the keys.

"Stop that," said Kane. "I came to find you. I want to know everything you know about the Neo-Essentialists."

Kass turned around slowly and looked at him with her dead eyes. "You think I'm a Neo-Essentialist?"

Kane folded his arms. "Am I wrong?"

"Yes you're fuckin' wrong!" she yelled suddenly, punching the wall in exasperation. "How could you think that?"

"You helped Stonn take over the ship," said Kane.

"I fuckin' did not!" shouted Kass, breathing heavily. She slumped down at one of the desks.

Kane regarded her curiously. She might be a woman, but there was nothing particularly feminine about Kassandra Thytos. Right now, she was splayed out at the desk that used to be occupied by Ensign Parrarr back when he had been aboard. The lights of her sensor net were blinking like a demented Morse code. She was a different type of Human. Here in the twenty-fifth century, there was a tendency for people to think they were living in some sort of utopia, a society of utter perfection heretofore undreamed of in Human history. No money, no crime, no want, total and complete social justice, nothing to worry about except how to better yourself.

It was all a lie. Without currency, the Federation would never have been able to trade with its neighbours. Crime and corruption still existed, and the base desires of the Human soul had never been eradicated, and they were alive and well the farther you got from the Core Worlds. Living on Earth might well be bliss now compared to any other point in Human history, but life on outlying frontier worlds was still hard, even with phasers, replicators and all this wonderful technology. That was the kind of place that Kassandra hailed from, and no amount of exposure to the genteel ways of the glittering capital planets of the Federation was ever going to change her. She was rough and ready, swore like a sailor and was not interested in those things that people who considered themselves culturally enlightened were.

Least of all being insubordinate, Kane thought as he sat down on the edge of the desk. "Look, I'm not here to fight. We're going to stepping into a minefield once we get back to Earth. Think of this as intel gathering. Why did you fall in with Edgerton and Stonn?"

"It wasn't like that, Captain Kane. I was followin' orders. Believe it or not, I'm a patriot. I believe in the ideals of the United Federation of Planets. Truth, justice, equality, all that shit."

"I believe you. Go on."

"When Edgerton recruited me for this mission, he told me that it was life or death, that I would be protectin' the Federation itself. That's what I thought. My job was to introduce the virus to the Suvin listenin' station, to render the signal so messed up that you wouldn't be able to tell that it was from the Century. Thereafter, I was to support Stonn if he needed to mutiny against you."

Kane frowned. "What did Edgerton tell you to make you think mutiny was justifiable?"

Kass shrugged. "Nobody's sure about you, Captain Kane. That whole thing with the Calnarians has given a kind of dark colourin' to your career. Edgerton for sure didn't know which way you'd jump. He said you'd need watchin'. He was kind've thinkin' that maybe you'd end up joinin' him, I bet. But I ain't no Neo-Essentialist, and I never was. I was just a marine doin' a job."

"I've been hearing that," said Kane wearily.

"Well it's the truth, sure enough," Kass said. "When Stonn executed Lex Calvari in front of my eyes, I didn't know what was goin' on. When he started talkin' about leavin' everyone to die on the Century, I first thought about fightin' back against Stonn."

"What tipped you over the edge?"

Kass looked away into space. At least, that's what Kane thought she was doing. It was hard to tell where she was looking. "When he brought up somethin' I did years ago."

"Tell me about it."

"I don't really want to, Captain. I'll tell you the basics. There's a name they got for me in the corps. They call me the Butcher of Balbossa. A mission I was on went awry, and a lot of innocent people died thanks to me. I was so cut up about what I did to them that I swore to myself that I wouldn't take any more lives. I lived up to that promise every day, to myself, to my family, to the corps. But that... that mother-fuckin' Vulcan Stonn forced my hand. He made me kill again. And he did it because Edgerton was usin' me. So now I'm goin' to kill Edgerton, you see if I don't. But I still have morals. I still know right from wrong, but you better believe I know all about justice." She looked Kane's way. "Well, Captain, what do you think of all that?"

Kane was silent for a moment. Eventually, he spoke. "I remember after I had been captured by the Calnarians and made to work in their mines on Byss. Six months of violence, rape, murder. It was about as far from the sanctity of human rights as you can get. But I kept my mouth shut, and my eyes and ears open, so when the Discovery found me I knew exactly what to do and where to go. I walked straight into that mining station's nuclear reactor and set it off. I was so angry at how I'd been treated. I thought - if you bastards want to be barbaric, then I'll give you all the barbarism you can handle. And you know something? They say that revenge doesn't solve anything, that it only eats the person up inside. That's bullshit." He leaned forward conspiratorially. "I haven't lost one single ounce of sleep over pushing that button. That's what the pencil-pushers in Starfleet Command don't get. Out here on the frontier, we sometimes have to play by different rules."

Kass nodded. "I get you, Captain."

"When we get home, the rulebook is going out the window," said Kane. "If we still have a ship when it all dies down, I'm going to ask that you're my marine commander."

"Hell, Captain," said Kass, "if you do that, maybe I'll even accept."

*************************************************

Scene: Crew Quarters, Deck 2


Russ had come down from the bridge for the night. After the events of the day, he was exhausted, but although sleep was seizing his body, he wasn't sure that he would be able to rest. The battle with the Discovery had brought up old emotions in him. He had served on her years ago, before Kane, before any of them. He was there at her beginning, and although it felt awful, it felt somehow right that he should be there for her end.

The turbolift doors hissed open and he stepped into the corridor. Some attempts had been made to convert this deck into sleeping quarters. The senior officers all got their own rooms, thankfully, but Russ still had to activate his PADD to see which one had been allocated to him.

While he was standing there checking it, Bonnie Reardon came around the corner. She seemed surprised to see him at first, but then looked around and sidled up to him.

"Finding a place to lay your head, Lieutenant?" she said quietly.

Russ nodded. "And you, Doctor?"

"Me too. After the shitstorm on the Discovery all I could think about was getting away. You too, I see."

"Uh, sure," said Russ.

"We're lucky we made it," said Bonnie. "I think it's just you and me. We're the only ones that made it."

"Come again?" Russ frowned.

Bonnie's voice dropped to a whisper. "Come on, Lieutenant. Federation First. The only reason I went along with that counter-mutiny was because Thytos would have shot me down otherwise. We'll have to go along with Kane and the others for now, but when we get back to Earth, we'll need to make contact with the Upper Levels, give our reports - "

"What the hell are you talking about?" said Russ, holding the PADD up before him like a shield.

"Don't act coy. That idiot Stonn screwed everything up but our job's not over. We still have to keep our eyes open, still have to play the game - "

"I thought you were one of us!" exclaimed Russ, heart beating faster now. All thoughts of sleep vanished from his mind as he realised what she was saying. "I thought you were on our side!"

"What?" Bonnie frowned, but then seemed to realise something. "Oh, I see. Lieutenant BaShen doesn't want to be one of us any more, is that it?"

"I'm not one of you," said Russ firmly. "Furthermore, I'm going straight to the Captain."

"Now why would you do that?" hissed Bonnie at him. "I remember you at that meeting in New Berlin, looking all confused at the back of the room. You're one of us for sure. I recognised you as soon as you came aboard. I wondered why you didn't try to make contact. I guess now I know." Then he clicked her fingers, and smiled a smile of blades in an alley. "But none of them here know that, do they, Mister BaShen? None of your Starfleet shipmates know that you are, or were, a Neo-Essentialist. Hmm. What do you think would happen if it was me who went straight to the Captain and told him about your political beliefs?"

Russ was too shocked to speak.

Bonnie leaned in close to him. "When we get back to Earth, I'll make sure to inform the Upper Levels that I'm not alone. They'll be overjoyed to welcome back one of our lost sheep." She walked away from him, feigning coyness. "Good night, Lieutenant BaShen. Oh, and don't forget. Federation First."

She left Russ standing there in corridor feeling like his world had collapsed.

*************************************************
*************************************************

NRPG: Moving things along. We're on our way back to Earth now. MOAR POSTS!


Jerome McKee
the Soul of Captain Michael Turlogh Kane
Commanding Officer
USS CENTURY


"He speaks an infinite deal of nothing!"
- Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice", Act 1, Scene 1.117

**************************************************
**************************************************