Unmasking

Posted on Jul 23, 2015 @ 8:07pm by Lieutenant James Barton
Edited on on Jul 23, 2015 @ 8:08pm

Mission: The Lights of Hyperion

Unmasking
(Continued from ‘It’s Always an Option’)



=[/\]=

“Let be be the finale of seem…” – “The Emperor of Ice Cream”, Wallace Stevens

=[/\]=



LOCATION: USS PHOENIX
SCENE: Engineering
SD: 2.150723.


Thytos led the way into engineering, holding the projector for the holographic map which hovered in front of her. Behind her, Barnes thudded heavily, his typical lack of grace in no way improved by the injuries he’d sustained or the numbing pharmacy Kass had pumped into him to keep him going. When they entered, most of the dozen or so people in the room were crowded around Crichton, the Chief Engineer. He was flanked by two female engineers, a redhead in a pair of glasses and a taller brunette who was absentmindedly stroking her abdomen. Near the trio, his crimson tunic conspicuous amidst the olive ones around him, stood Captain Kane. With their matching ashen skin, slack expressions and bags around their eyes, the whole group could serve as an advertisement for an insomnia medication. A few meters away, the Gorn, Chaucer, stood as still and mute as a statue.

“Y’all ain’t talkin’ about me, are ya,” Kass asked with a good-natured flippancy that she didn’t actually feel.

The knot of officers turned towards her. “Anything to report, Major,” Kane asked.

“Not if you’re looking for good news, sir. We didn’t run across any of the rioters on the way here, but we did see some damage along the way.”

Kane grimaced. “How bad was it?”

“Cosmetic, mostly. Nothing too serious. Maintenance hatches torn off, viewscreens cracked in. Looks like most of them are more interested in acting a fool than causing any significant damage.”

The effort the captain was making not to visualize vandals running wild through his ship was visible on his face. His voice was heavy with a disgusted resignation. “Of course. Where are we at with getting through to Embry.”

“Well, sir, that’s where things may be looking up. We’ve got ourselves a plan to shake him out that we’ll be calling the Thytos Initiative if it works.”

Kane’s eyebrow raised. “If it works?”

Kass nodded and even mustered half of a grin. “If it doesn’t, it’s the Barnes Maneuver. Jacen came up with it”

Kane’s eyes cut towards the hulking sheriff of Shantytown, then back to Thytos, and he subtly rotated his torso towards her. “Walk me through it, Major.”

The captain’s meaning was clearly apparent, and within that moment, Barnes felt himself effectively excised from the conversation. Unconsciously taking their cue from the Irishman, the other Phoenix crew turned their attention solidly to the Marine. One pair at a time, he could feel their eyes abandoning him. All except… He cut his eyes in the direction of the Chief Engineer, Crichton, who was staring a hole through him. For just an instant, their eyes met, then Jake hurriedly turned to Kass like the others.

Over the next minute or two, Kass walked them through the plan as Barnes had laid it out for her. She pointed out on the holographic schematic where they could post men to cut power and computer feed to Embry on the Battle Bridge if Kane’s negotiations with Embry went sour.

“Do you have the Marines you need to take those positions,” Kane asked, puzzling over the map. “We’d need to sever all the primary and auxiliary connections.”

“And we’d have to do it nearly instantaneously,” Jake offered.

Kass nodded at him, then answered the Captain’s question. “Most of them. Some of Barnes’ folks can make up the balance.”

Kane grunted and seemed on the verge of objecting, when the air was cut by the sound of a disembodied voice.

[[Are you alright?]] Reflexively, everyone in Engineering glanced around for the source of the voice. It was instantly familiar, but it took a moment to identify it as belonging to Arthur Embry.

[[I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Captain Kane is missing at this time…presumed dead.]] Barnes recognized the measured tones of the neurosurgeon he’d come aboard with. Jos had been designated as Embry’s liaison with Shantytown, and Barnes had been standing by for many of the conversations Arthur’d had with the Andorian. The sheriff’s eyes narrowed as he listened, watching the Phoenix’s crew around him react to the conversation which was obviously being piped in from the bridge.

[[What? What were his last whereabouts?]] Embry’s voice leapt into a panic, which frightened Barnes. Embry panicking wouldn’t be good for anyone. The look on Kass’ face suggested she was as confused as Barnes was. The shorter, red head engineer looked mortified while her taller counterpart’s face was twisted in an ugly grimace. Crichton was nodding, almost appreciatively. Only Kane’s face remained unreadable as they continued to eavesdrop.

The next voice was new, feminine, and measured. [[There was an Ameratsu attack in Sickbay…]]

“What are they DOING,” Barnes demanded, but Kass hissed him into silence, as over the intercom, Eve Dalziel explained the sad fate of Captain Michael Kane.

“It’s definitely an out there idea,” Crichton observed.

“Completely,” the redhead in glasses agreed. But Dalziel sounded completely convincing, and Barnes caught the engineer glancing at the Captain, as if to ensure that he was still standing there.

“What happened in Sickbay,” Sylvia asked, but the question went unheeded.

[[Why did you hide the truth from us about these creatures, what did you call them- Ameratsu?]]

“You know, that’s not a terrible question,” growled Barnes. “What exactly are those things capable of?” Seeing Crichton glance to his left, the larger man followed his gaze and finally saw what remained of Savaar, which bubbled a horrifying *galub*, as if in greeting. “Holy Hell…”

“We jes’ figured it out, Jacen. We didn’t know ourselves ‘fore we got down here.”

“Does anyone know what happened in Sickbay,” Warren asked again.

[[Surely we could have helped you with our considerable manpower, Counsellor.]]

Crichton was turning to answer his assistant, the scene in engineering beginning to break down, when Jacen Barnes and Captain Michael Kane locked eyes. [[With all due respect, manpower without discipline would have not been much use.]] The arch in Kane’s eyebrow was almost imperceptible, but wasn’t missed on Barnes.

“This is a bad plan, Captain. You don’t need to outwit Arthur, you just have to talk to him. That’s all he wants.”

“I haven’t decided on a plan of action yet, Mr. Barnes. Please, allow me to-”

Barnes caught Kane’s implication, and ignored it utterly. “Then let her know you haven’t decided! Stop this lie before it goes further!” Some of the engineers working around the periphery of Engineering turned towards them now. Trepidation crept into the air; no one had heard Kane spoken to this way.

“Jacen, you need to back off.” Kass hissed, as Kane’s expression turned stony.

The Captain’s tone was calm, collected, and quite obviously dangerous. “I’m certainly not going to interrupt at this moment, even if I could. Please, calm yourself.”

The former resident of LIMBO was unmoved. “What’s the point of letting this continue? The further along this goes, the further you have to backpedal with Embry.”

“Barnes, listen to me. Just let it go. This ain’t helpin’ no one.” Kass did not want to find herself caught between these two men, yet again.

But Barnes – tired, hungry, ass kicked, bones broken, tear gassed, mind violated, and stunned to Bejesus and back – was past the point of reason. Some part of him was aware, even as he began to build up steam, that he was not only venting his own frustrations, but some of the emotional baggage that Selyara Chen had carried around for years before dumping it in his head. The ghost of her fury with Michael Kane was stirring around in his exhaustion and his pain, urging each to feed on the other and grow. He didn’t have room for her anger and his own, so it was falling out of him, and every word felt as destructive as the drinks had, back when that was his preferred method of undoing himself. It didn’t matter. He didn’t care. Once again, he’d gone too far to stop. “You know, Embry’s a psychopath, granted, but the reason you don’t like him is because he pushes for his own way, regardless of who’s gotten hurt. Don’t you see you’re no better than he is?” Kass, in the middle of opening her mouth to warn Barnes off again, simply took a step backwards. He was beyond her saving now. “He insists on face-to-face meeting, because his ego needs to be stroked by knowing he’s got your ear. But you shunt him off onto the Andorian. Why? Protocol? Because you’re so busy overseeing the hundred souls on board? No. Because it suits your ego. It puts him in his place, so that he doesn’t forget that it’s you in charge, not him.”

“That’s not fair, Jacen,” Thytos cut in, her voice heavy with warning. She considered the burly newcomer a friend, but Kane was part of her *crew.*

The PHOENIX’s captain had a well-earned reputation for his resolve, but he was still a man with limits, and this overgrown thug was close to reaching them. “You know, Barnes. You might be surprised to know that, while I might not be perfect, I don’t particularly give a damn about your impression of me or my ego, doubly so when you’re willing to equate me with someone who’s proven willing to-“

Kane hated to be interrupted. Selyara knew it, and now Barnes did too, so that’s exactly what he did. “And now you’re gonna keep playing this one-up game until you’ve won, even if you get Selyara killed to do it.” He was immensely gratified to see Kane bristle.

“I’m not in the habit of having my decisions second-guessed. Least of all by individuals without all the relevant data. So, if you’re done biting the hand that’s fed you-“

“I haven’t eaten a full meal in a day and a half, so maybe you want to try a different cliché, Kane.”

“Guys, this isn’t productive,” Crichton ventured, but he was ignored.

Barnes continued, almost without pause, “But you hit on the core issue there. That’s what it all comes down to, isn’t it? Because for all the he-did-this-so-you-did-that-because-he-did-the-other-thing with you and Arthur, the reason we’re in this situation is that YOUR ego led you to make the SUICIDAL decision to bring on 70 refugees for every able bodied crewman you had!”

They were both near shouting now. “They would have died on LIMBO!”

“And who’s fault was that?!”

“So I should have just left them to die?!”

“YES,” Barnes howled, a keening animal sound, and it seemed that the temperature in the room fell sharply. All other conversation had withered and died. Subtly, each set of eyes moved around the room and caught each other pair. The shame that each of them wore told the tale: they’d all had the thought in the past few days, then forced themselves to pretend they hadn’t. Barnes continued, saying what none of the rest of them would. “You should have left most of them to die, so that you could have at least saved some of them! Because, as it stands, you haven’t saved any of us. We’re all going to die out here! You tried to play savior to way too many people and you fucked it up from the word ‘Go!’”

“You’re out of line, Barnes,” Crichton interjected and the larger man spun to face him.

“Am I? The power draw on replicators to keep seven thousand fed…you knew what it would be, or pretty close. Did you have it to spare when he brought us on board?”

“Don’t answer that, Commander Crichton. You don’t owe him an explanation,” Kane was red-faced.

Crichton held up a placating hand to each of them, “You both just need to calm down.”

Barnes moved his attention to Kass, “What do the protocols say for a group of seven thousand? How many do you need to garrison that effectively?”

Kass looked grieved. “More’n we got. But that’s not-”

Barnes interrupted her. “This is where she tells me AGAIN that you’re not so bad. Even though people are dead. Even though that guy over there is a puddle! Your ship has been torn in half, not metaphorically, but I’m about to hear how it’s not really your fault.” The rapidly darkening look on Kass’ face told him he’d crossed a very serious line with her. He immediately felt regret for playing her against her Captain – it wasn’t fair and it was a blatant slap in the face after she’d worked so hard to keep him in the loop. He didn’t like the feeling, so he focused on his righteous indignation for Kane and his guilt receded. “You know what? Forget it. You all figure out the Arthur problem for yourself. I’m going to meet up with my men and we’ll focus on keeping folks in the safe zone out of harm’s way.”

“Actually, Mr. Barnes, no you won’t. You and your men will return to Cargo Bay One where you will stand down and leave security to our staff.”

Kass’ eyes went wide. “Cap’n! I don’t think-“

Kane held up a hand, stifling her protest. “It was a mistake to humor you, Barnes. Since you were kind enough to give us your explanation for what’s happened in my Cargo Bay, let me tell you how I see it. A large group of frightened, displaced people found themselves under the harmful direction of a handful of well-meaning, but ambitious and utterly unqualified leaders. Instead of allowing trained professionals to carry out their necessary duties and see to the safety of everyone involved, these dangerous individuals, with the misplaced support of certain members of our crew,” he gave Kass an icy glance, “took every opportunity to undermine us. You and Embry made us the boogeymen responsible for every misfortune those people have suffered and you ginned up their anger to the point that they blew! You set them loose in my ship! You set them loose on my CREW! When you should have been helping us, you took every opportunity to cut our throats, so if you want to lay blame for the dead, then check the blood on your own hands, Barnes. But you’ll do it from the Cargo Bay where you’ll be out of our way.”

“Like Hell, I will.”

“This is still my ship!”

“You don’t have a ship anymore, Kane! Don’t you get it?! You lost another one!” He didn’t know exactly what that meant, but the ghost of Selyara in his brain told him it would hurt Kane badly, so he said it.

It seemed his words had the intended effect. Kane reacted as if physically struck and his next words were nakedly hateful. It had become a frightening scene. This was a side of Captain Kane that no one had seen, going back to when they’d first left Earth aboard the DISCOVERY. In the months since those heady first days, Kane had been a model of Starfleet professionalism. Regardless of negotiating with Tella Yavin, delivering the heart wrenching news to Dido Arn that her husband wouldn’t be coming home, or ordering the theft of Starfleet’s newest warship from the most heavily patrolled sector in known space, he had always seemed utterly unflappable. Now, he seemed a different man entirely. If the height difference between he and Barnes were less pronounced, they would be bouncing their noses off of one another. Kane’s nostrils were flaring, even as Barnes balled and relaxed his fists with the cadence of a furious heartbeat. Kane roared. “This is a Starfleet vessel and I’m-“

Barnes cut him off. “Is it? Is it really? Because I’m not convinced.” The shouting died immediately, like someone had flipped a switch somewhere, and now engineering was quiet again, but for the low thrum of the warp core. The former Starfleet crew all stood stock still, frozen, as if the wrong move might cause them to shatter. In the heavy near-silence, Barnes began addressing the whole assembly. “The riots you kicked off on LIMBO. The overcrowding. The fact that you’re all so understaffed and so far from Fed space. None of it adds up.” Barnes glanced around, and noticed that Kass was staring at him with pleading eyes. “No one’s said word one about a support vessel, or getting some backup. So where’s your cavalry, Captain Kane? Or are they not coming? Because you’re not what you say you are, are you?”

It was Jake who spoke up. “There’s a lot you don’t understand-“

Kane whipped his head towards his Engineer. “Don’t tell him any-“

“But Captain-“Jake pressed on.

“Stow it, Commander!”

Crichton bristled. “You know, I don’t know that I will…*Mike*.” Kane’s jaw dropped in abject shock. The anger fled from his eyes, replaced by mystification. He’d never been spoken to by Crichton in this way and, truth be told, he wouldn’t ever have expected it. For an instant, his brow furrowed in pleading confusion, and his jaw moved as if he would speak, but he didn’t. His eyes scanned the room, almost as if seeing everyone within it for the first time.

“Jake,” Kass said, and her voice was kind, reassuring, though the expression on her face betrayed that she was surprised as the Captain. “Just keep it together, okay?”

Crichton turned to her, and she couldn’t tell if the tear shining in his eye was born of exhaustion or something else. “Keep it together, Kass? I’m not going crazy, don’t worry, but let’s be real. Nothing is ‘together.’” He fixed Barton with a level stare. “No. We’re not Starfleet. Not anymore. He’s not a Captain. She’s not a Marine. I’m not a Chief Engineer. Not anymore. They took it away from us and we’re killing ourselves trying to get it back and they’re just trying to kill us. And, here we are. Out here in the depths of space, still wearing the uniforms and using the titles because we can’t give it up. It’s not ‘ego’, it’s that we still believe in it too much to quit. Light years from our homes, and our families who are trapped back there where we can’t protect them from a monster wearing Starfleet’s skin. So, no. We’re not Starfleet.” He turned back to Kane and Thytos, and his voice quavered. “And, yeah, we need to be honest about that, at least with ourselves, if we’re ever going to be again.”

Kane’s head had dropped and he said nothing. Cindy Rochemonte had placed a hand on Sylvia Warren’s shoulder, but the taller woman didn’t appear reassured in the slightest. Chaucer gave no sign that he’d even understood what had been said, though, of course, he had. Barnes was glaring in no particular direction and Kass had fixed Crichton with an open mouthed stare. The engineer sighed, and gave her a broken-hearted version of his typical smile. “I think it’s time we all pulled our cards away from our vests and start laying some on the table.”

“It would be a nice change of pace,” Barnes growled.

The smile dropped from Crichton’s face and he spun to face the larger man. “Come off of it, *Barnes*. You don’t have any room to judge us.”

The sheriff’s eyes narrowed, “What do you mean?”

“Since we’re spilling secrets, why don’t you tell them?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Tell them the truth!”

The dynamic had shifted again, and now Kane and Kass were exchanging glances, wondering if the other knew what was going on. “I don’t have anything to-“ Crichton snorted in disgust, then stepped to one of the nearby consoles, quickly accessed a secured file folder, and sent the data to a large viewscreen display. In the middle of speaking, Barnes’ sentence dried, crumbled, and blew away, like a dead leaf in a hot summer wind.

It was a standard Starfleet service record. The man in the photo was tall, but slender, not nearly the gargantuan frame he currently wore. Instead of the wild beard he’d grown accustomed to, in the photo, he wore only a delicately clipped goatee. Those were the only physical variations, but there were others, even more pronounced. His eyes sparkled brightly, flashing with the confidence and certainty of youth. His smile was somewhere between a grin and a cocky smirk, and it looked like it had once been perfectly natural on his face. But for those minor differences, there was no distinguishing between the officer on the viewscreen and the refugee in their midst. It didn’t even seem that age had touched the features on his face, though the date on the file made clear that the picture was over a decade old. He cut a fine figure in his uniform with the olive tunic.

“What in the blue hell…” Kass whispered, caught between confusion, anger, and horror. For his part, Barnes just stared mute at the ghost on the viewscreen.

“Introducing James Prophecy Barton. Lieutenant Commander,” Crichton intoned. The data was printed there, but the Engineer’s tone suggested he’d committed most of it to memory already. “Executive officer of the training vessel DISCOVERY.” Kane winced as the ship was named. “Flight Control Officer and later Chief Engineer of the USS FARAGUT. Security and Tactical chief of the USS ZEUS and the USS ODYSSEY. Final posting was the Chief Operations Officer of the brand new GATEWAY STATION.” The Starfleet crew exchanged glances, the names of so many familiar postings reminding them of the past. Crichton continued, “Practically John Q. Starfleet…until he joined up with terrorists on Vulcan.” Barnes closed his eyes, and let his chin sag forward. “Presumed dead a short while later…though, obviously not.”

“How did…” Kass’ question died in midair.

“I suspected from the beginning. Something in his eyes, something in the way he carried himself. You must have seen it yourself, but it stuck with me. It was too familiar, but I couldn’t place it. So I checked the transporter records from when we beamed you all off LIMBO. I snuck into the Federation databases and did a search for a biological match. What I found wasn’t a perfect match,” he turned his attention to Barnes, “your gene therapy was pretty extensive. What all did they do to you?”

It sounded like all fight, or at least duplicity, had left Jacen Barnes, or Jim Barton. His voice was flat and defeated. “I don’t even know.”

“Hmm. Well, like I said, no exact match but one that was close enough to catch my eye. The cybernetic lungs – oh yeah, this guy’s got robot airbags in there – were a giveaway and when I actually pulled the file and looked at the photo… Well…” Crichton crossed over and stood directly in front of Barnes. “So, you’re right. We’re not ‘Starfleet’ any more than you are, but the difference is you *chose* to walk away and they ripped it away from us. You took the same oath we did, but here we all are: working 22 hour days and trying to put it all back together again. So, maybe…just maybe, Barnes or Barton or whoever the hell you are, maybe you want to cut us some damn slack.” Barnes looked at him with dewy eyes, then past him at the smiling face of the man he’d used to be. He said nothing.

A moment passed, and then Kassandra Thytos spoke up. “Sir, we’re up against it. If we’re gonna post our men in the tunnels around the Battle Bridge, I need to know. If you need me to escort Jac-Mr. Barnes…Mr. Barton to the Cargo Bay, I can do that, too. But, one way or t’other, we all need to get on one page here. What do you want us to do? … Captain?”

Kane said nothing.

“Captain…?”

=[/\]=



NRPG: Introducing Jim Barton! … Maybe. (When I started, I was sure I’d be readopting the name, but now…)

JEROME AND SHAWN: Thank you guys for your help. (Even if I had to cut my FAVORITE line of Kane’s… *grumble grumble*)



ALIX: I know that Kass was getting cut off a lot in this one. I’ll make it up to you. Next post, Barnes never gets more than half a sentence out. ;)

JUSTIN: I hear we had similar notions on what to do about the Ameratsu. I’ve left it to you, my man.



Now what are we gonna do about this feller in the Battle Bridge? (I know, Susan, I know… “BOOM.” ;) )





Dale I. Rasmussen

~writing for~



James ‘Jacen Barnes’ Barton
Former Sheriff of Shantytown, Current Pain in Kane’s Arse