Behind the scenes

Posted on Thu Dec 5th, 2019 @ 12:43pm by Lieutenant Commander Ariana Monroe-Wayne & Admiral Deela T'Lar & Brigadier General David Hurd Sr
Edited on on Fri Dec 6th, 2019 @ 6:45am

3,781 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: Episode 101 - Peace During War
Location: Somewhere on sb400
Timeline: MD03 0830 hrs

Having observed Hurd, his new bride and his daughter at the chapel, the male figure had returned to his ship to communicate with his superiors. Section 31 had been keeping a wary eye on Hurd for some time, they knew he had a daughter but up until recently they hadn’t had a reason to watch Ariana Monroe.

Opening a secure channel he nodded as he was greeted by an old adversary of Hurd’s. “Interesting news Sir, it seems Hurd has found himself a wife! I watched them getting married.” He fiddled with a ring on his finger, that he'd inadvtantly scratched Ariana with. “I also bumped into his daughter! I’m sending a blood sample test result with my transmission. According to our spy she’s started exhibiting the programmed behaviour, the prisoner got into her head and triggered it, just like you planned.

And unbeknownst to either figure, Hurd, or rather 3 of his FORCON Marines, had been observing this ship and this individual since he had come aboard, and he had no clue he was being watched, none whatsoever.

The figure onscreen looked at the results of the blood sample taken from Ariana. He raised an eyebrow rather like a Vulcan and nodded, "She has the markers, it seems we chose correctly when we selected her mother for the program." He smiled. "Keep an eye on Hurd and his family, we may have to arrange to pull Monroe in for further tests at some point."

Hearing this, the FORCON team leader sent off a very heavily encoded signal to General Hurd, and repositioned his team to a better vantige point. If it became necessary, they would use all due force to take this man into custody and turn him over both to the General, Admiral Bremer, and Admiral T'Lar.

"What about Ignatious Sir?" The man looked at JJ's superior. "He's compromised now."

"He's not compromised." The shadowy figure sounded annoyed. "There's nothing to compromise him and if they do get suspicious then you have authorisation to do whatever is necessary. It's not like the boy knows he's a child of a mother on the same experiment as Monroe's mother. There's nothing he can tell them."

The FORCON leader looked at his two men. After what they had just heard and recorded , their was only one question. "When do we take him and the ship?", The FORCON leader asked. Simultaneously, his two men said, "As soon as he terminates that transmission sir".

Once the transmission terminated the operative headed out of his guest quarters and made for the promenade, where he could watch the comings and goings easily. He'd make his move when he was ordered to do so, for now he was simply there to watch and report.

The 3 FORCON Marines blended in with the crowd, following their targets as he walked. Walking a little faster to spread out around the man in a way to keep from arousing suspicion , they spun in Union, weapons drawn on the man yelling, "HANDS UP, YOU'RE UNDER ARREST, NO FALSE MOVES OR YOU WILL BE STUNNED".

The operative looked suitably surprised but he kept his cool, he had no idea they knew he worked for section 31. Although the organisation always had a backup in place, one would make sure anyone compromised would be taken care of if necessary. She remained in the shadows, if necessary she would take over the plan and ensure that Hurd and his family would be taken care of, one way or another.

As the team leader held the man at phaser point, the two other Marines grabbed him, one on each arm. With his his free hand , the TL hit his combadge and said, "Warrant Officer Xavier to General Hurd and And Admiral T'Lar, we have captured a confirmed Section 31 Operative and impounded his ship, and are force marching him to the Admirals office".

Upon hearing this, Hurd simply said, "On my way".

Deela also heard the message, "Got it. I am on my way now."

The operative had no choice but to accompany the marines, he wouldn't answer any questions or be easily broken. No telepath or empath could read him so he had nothing to worry about, his loyalties to section 31 were unbreakable.

Marching the man into T'Lar's office a few moments later, Xavier and his team forced him into a chair and secured his hands behind him. Taking up positions around the room, they waited for the General and Admiral to arrive.

Meanwhile Hurd had arrived not to long after his Marines. But without the Admiral he was not about to go in the room alone, not with his past history with 31 and knowing what they could do.

T'Lar wasn't too far from her office.

~ Meanwhile ~

Elsewhere the arrest of the man had caused a stir, the news had soon filtered around and Ariana had heard it about it too. There’d been mention of overhearing the arresting guards say something about Section 31, which she knew her father would be called about. Making her way to T’Lar’s office she wasn’t surprised to see her father standing outside. “General” She looked at her father.

"Hey sweetheart", Hurd smiled wanely.

“Scuttlebutt has it that a Section 31 operative was arrested earlier, I’m guessing that’s why you’re here.” She didn’t need him to answer, she could tell from his emotions it was true. “Don’t ask me to leave, you know very well I’m the only one here that can read him.”

Growing irritated Hurd said, " Ariana, I told you once and now I'm telling you again, stay away, these people are dangerous, and if he needs to be broken I will break him untill he spills everything"

"With all due respect, its more dangerous for you here than it is for me. Plus what makes you think Admiral T'Lar will let you in there?" She didn't want to go against her father but if she had to she would. Just then the Admiral arrived.

Deela acknowledge the two, "General, Lieutenant."

"Admiral... May I be of assistance?" Ariana looked at Deela. "You won't be able to read him, but I can."

Cocking his head, an audible snap was heard and then Hurd said, "Guess what, now nobody on this station can read me, or feel my emotions, especially that man in there.

Ariana looked at her father for a few moments, a look of concentration on her face. "Now that's where you're wrong. I can feel and read you." She gave a slight smirk before looking back at T'Lar.

"You are reading false signals off another implant I have", Hurd said, growing silent and his eyes going cold. Inside his mind he could see the man beyond the door crying, spilling everything he knew about 31 after this was all done and over. And unlike the last time he felt nothing but pity for what he was about to go through.

"Really?" Ariana looked at her father giving him a more intense look, before she gave him a look of surprise. "You imagine him spilling everything he knows and yet you feel pity for him?"

All Hurd had to say was "Interesting".

Ariana offered a wry smile before standing at Hurd's side. "Told you so!" She grinned as she looked at him.

"Ariana, I'm sorry, sorry to have drug both you, your mom, my wife and", looking towards the Admiral, "Everyone aboard this station into the middle of this Section 31 crap."

"Dad" Ariana turned toward Hurd. "None of this is your fault! Section 31 must have had things planned concerning my mother, either that or once the two of you met they waited until they knew she was pregnant by you and chose her because of me. You're one hell of a soldier, combine their experiment and your genes!" She grinned. "Get me!" She pulled a funny face trying to lighten the mood a little.

Deela knew what she was about to say would once again infuriate him. She didn't have to read him to know that, "Since I cannot read him then I think you should join us. I believe that whatever happened to you earlier was not a fluke. If you can read him, then you should be in there. But if anytime I or your father think you are in danger, you will be pulled out of my office immediately."

“Yes, Admiral” Ariana nodded and looked at her father before following them both into T’Lar’s office. As they entered she instantly recognised the man sitting in the chair. “You...I’ve met you before.”

The man nodded. “It’s nice to see you again Miss Monroe.” He grinned. “My apologies for bumping into you outside the wedding the other day, I hope the scratch from my ring wasn’t too sore.”

“Not at all” Ariana shook her head, although she couldn’t help but wonder why he’d brought it up.

Hurd just glared at the man, the blood in his veins turning to ice.

Ariana looked at her father and held up her hand to show him the tiny scratch she’d got. “It’s just a tiny scratch, it’s fine. I didn’t even realise it was there until later on in the day.”

The Operative simply smiled and said nothing more. Instead he looked to T’Lar. “Admiral T’Lar, how nice to meet you.” He relaxed back in his seat. “You no doubt have some questions for me, and you...” he looked at Ariana. “Are here to read me!” He grinned. “Trust me, you don’t want to look in here.” He tapped his head. “It’s the stuff of nightmares, once you get in there’s no easy way out until I let you out. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Before either spoke, Hurd did. Standing in front of the man, he said, "Hello Gabe, long time since we last saw each other". Clearing his throat he continued, "I see your still playing for the wrong side, and now your after my family, well, let me tell you, 31 will fall, and I give you this last chance to cooperate before this gets ugly", Hurd finished, the icy glare returning to his face.

"31 fall?" Gabe laughed. "Pipe dreams Hurd, pipe dreams! How can 31 fall when there's a whole new generation of our work?" He turned his gaze toward Ariana then back at Hurd. "It's already been confirmed." He held up the ring. "You remember what this collects don't you? Samples have already been confirmed Hurd, your daughter is one of ours!" He grinned. "It's only a matter of time."

"Your not getting my family", Hurd said. Looking at Gabe, he continued, "I already have almost enough information to bring your entire organization down and you are gonna give the rest to me, and us", Hurd finished, stomping on Gabe's foot by "accident".

Ariana couldn't help but grin. Gabe had put on a brave face but it had hurt like hell when her father had stamped on his foot, that much she'd picked up on even though Gabe was trying to keep his emotions under lock and key.

"Enough!" She glared at Gabe, "Let's get down to business. I want to know why you are here and who else is with you?" She knew that he wouldn't answer but she thought she'd try.

"My dear Admiral" Gabe relaxed back in his seat. "Have you not been paying attention? I'm here because this is where I've been assigned. As to why..." He looked at Hurd. "General Hurd here has been waging his own private vendetta against those who invested their time in choosing and training him. This isn't something that will be tolerated, so I'm here to simply observe and report back. Nothing more, nothing less!" He grinned. "Oh and I'm quite alone here, there's no one else."

Ariana was standing studying Gabe. "The last part is true, he's alone or if there is anyone else he doesn't know about it. As for the rest, there is a modicum of truth in what he said but he's not telling the whole truth. Not that we didn't know that already!" She looked at her father.

"Oooo good isn't she!?" Gabe grinned. "Want to know more? Why don't you dig deeper and have a look Counsellor! Who knows what you might find."

Sliding the knife out of the sheath on his belt, Hurd said, "Ariana, I'm giving you a direct order to stay out of this, he is trying to bait you, don't give in to it". Turning to the Admiral, Hurd said, "Admiral, their is one way, and way only he is going to tell us what he knows, all of it, and it's not going to be legal, you know this as well I do, it's logical". Turning to Gabe, with ice in his voice, Hurd said, "You really screwed up".

“General...Dad, wait!” Ariana looked at her father. “You’re the one he’s baiting, if you do this you’ll be putting your Starfleet career at risk and that’s just what section 31 will want. You alone without backup! You can’t take down an entire organisation alone and you know it!”

Deela wasn't surprised to see David do such a thing. She expected it, "Ariana is correct. Put the knife back." She looked at Gabe, "You won't be reporting to anyone. I'm sure that they will just send someone else but let them. We will be ready for them."

“”Do you really want to put the knife back Hurd?” Gabe looked at Hurd, giving him a long hard look. “Or would you prefer to have a little fun with it? Maybe you’d like to have some fun with it...” Gabe smiled. “Why don’t you take a little flesh off that pretty little neck there.”

His face going blank, David spun to face his Daughter. In one fluid motion, he grabbed her and pressed the knife firmly to her neck, no emotion in him.

Ariana was surprised when her father suddenly turned his attention to her, his knife pulled and resting firmly against her neck. A small trickle of blood running from the spot where he was holding it. “Dad...listen to me...” Ariana looked at her father. “He’s...in your head. You have to...fight it!”

“You see Admiral.” Gabe smiled. “31 take care of their own, I was just like her.” He motioned to Ariana. “I embraced what I was becoming, it’s a whole lot more fun! All it’d take is to push Hurd harder and I could have him slit her throat, but 31 want her in one piece doesn’t mean she can’t lose a little skin though.”

Deela was frightened when she saw what Hurd was doing to Ariana. That's when she realized that it was Hurd who was in danger of doing something wrong, not Ariana. She raised her voice, "General! Put...the knife...away! Now! That is an order soldier." When Hurd wasn't responding to her voice, Deela reacted quickly and smacked Gabe in the back of his head with her Vulcan strength to make him let go of Hurd's mind.

Gabe reeled from the strike, he hadn’t been expecting that one. His mind let go of Hurd’s leaving Hurd free once more.

Ariana let out a relieved gasp as the knife her father was holding dropped away from her throat, luckily she only had a minor cut but it was bleeding nonetheless. Her hand automatically went to the cut to cover it, she hadn’t been expecting that from Gabe either, she was starting to see what her father meant about Section 31.

Dropping the knife to the deck, Hurd looked at his Daughter, bleeding. Then he looked at the Admiral, and the 3 FORCON Marines in the room. The horror he felt turned to pure rage as he charged Gabe knocking him out of the chair and loose of the restraints. As the other Marines rushed to pull him off, Hurd started slamming his fists into Gabe's face over and over screaming, "NOT MY FAMILY AND NOT THIS BASE!!!"

As Hurd was dragged off him Gabe sat bloody and beaten on the floor. He’d got what he wanted, to goad his old enemy into a fight based on his emotions. To see how far he’d have to be pushed, deep down inside Gabe knew section 31 would eventually either come for him labelling him as an acceptable loss.

With medical called to deal with Gabe Ariana watched as T’Lar had a private conversation with her father, before her attention turned back to a patched up Gabe as he spoke to her telepathically.

You hate me now don’t you Counsellor? You want to kill me don’t you? You know you can feel it, that anger buried deep inside. Go on now...you know you want to do it...just reach inside my head and concentrate hard enough and Pop!! Blow my mind and I’m all gone! Just like that!

Ariana tried to ignore him, to shut him out but he was starting to wear her down. He was right, she was angry at him for hurting her father, for hurting her. She was no murderer but that didn’t mean she couldn’t shut Gabe up once and for all. All it would take would be to reach into his mind, create a few mental barriers around essential areas and he’d be in a vegetative state for the rest of his life.

Go on Counsellor! You know you want to! Do it...DO IT!!

In a moments anger Ariana reached silently inside Gabe’s mind, Gabe himself guiding her every move as he passed on his knowledge and training to her just as section 31 intended. A few moments later Gabe slid out of his chair into a gibbering wreck on the floor, Ariana none the wiser as to what she’d just done, thanks to Gabe.

“Medic!!” She cautiously moved over by Gabe. “We need to get him to Sickbay! NOW!”

Deela was pissed that this happened on her watch. She should have stopped it and sent them both out of the room. She called for an emergency beam out to sickbay and ordered him to be put in isolation with guards posted. She needed to keep him away from those he could try to control. She watched Gabe disappear. She turned to Ariana, "You are as bad as your father. You both let him goad you into something and involved me as well. I am not letting you near Sickbay."

Ariana looked confused. "But Admiral I...didn't..." She looked towards her father then back at Deela. "Did I?"

Deela pulled out a medkit and fixed her neck. She didn't say a word while she did so. She contemplated what to do now. She looked at her neck and was satisfied with her work. "I don't know what to do right now. But I do know that both you and your father cannot be in the same room with him. As soon as Admiral Bremer gets back, I will be reporting all of this to him. Meanwhile, stay away from him."

"With respect Admiral", Hurd said as he pulled his side arm and went for the door, "I have never disobeyed an order until now, but that man is going to tell us what he knows, or he dies, those are his only two choices, so the way I see it, you can either confine me to quarters or let me do my damn job!!!", Hurd roard back, fury at being held held back In his duties in his voice.

Deela swiftly turned her anger towards David, "Your Job?! Your job?!" She put her hands to her temples and then widened them, making an 'are you crazy' gesture, "Your daughter is sitting here being fixed up for a wound that he made you do! And she just got through getting into Gabe's head, almost doing god knows what to him! And now, you are talking about torturing a man until he tells you what you want to know and if he does not tell you, you are talking about killing him. If confining you to quarters is what I have to do, then so be it. You are confined to your quarters. And if you disobey my orders, I will throw you into the brig myself!" She looked at the other marines, "Escort him to his quarters...NOW!"

Deela then looked at Ariana, "You too are confined to your quarters. You are all dismissed."

Ariana nodded and without a word she exited the room to head for her quarters. She was totally confused as to what had happened but she was going to be in bigger trouble when Bremer got back and heard about it all. She paused long enough for her father to catch up.

Looking at the three Marines walking towards him, General Hurd held up a hand and said, "Stand Fast, no need for the escort, I know how to get there, and will not deviate from orders". He turned to walk out but stopped. Not turning around, Hurd said, "Deela, we have known each other a very long time, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think you are a coward, you are not willing to do what needs to be done to keep this station or the Federation safe from 31, so when something really bad bad happens, or if anyone in family is harmed in any way by them, you are the one I am holding soley responsible". With those words, he turned and walked out the door.

Deela didn't reply to him. She needed to think and sort things out and she couldn't do it with the both of them there. She knew what Hurd wanted to do but she just couldn't sanction it. It was never okay to torture someone to get information from and kill them when they couldn't get it from them. This was one moment that she wished that Admiral Bremer was in charge, not her.

Deela took off for sickbay to see what condition the section 31 guy was doing.

Walking slowly, he saw his Daughter looking at him and said, hatefuly, "What the hell are you looking at?"

Ariana looked at her father in shock and surprise. His tone combined with the way he looked at her struck a painful chord, and she quickly hurried away without another word tears running down her face.

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