JP- MSNPCs Ulysses Conroy & Shierr - Unstoppable Force, meet Immovable Object.
Patrick Dennett
((Detention Facility, Pirate Installation))
Pirates were loose cannons. She knew something would go wrong. She just didn’t think this was the thing that would go wrong. She was shaken up. It was impossible to be okay with being kidnapped. The Caitian exuded a surprising calm, however. And now she was sitting cross-legged on the floor waiting. She heard the footsteps from a distance away and understood what it meant before they showed up. They were taking their time, though. She wasn’t sure if she was bored waiting, anxious about it, or both.
The closer the steps got, the more it shifted to anxiety. She forced her ears to sit normally on her head and didn’t let it show on her face when he finally appeared, a paler green than most Orions she’d met.
Conroy: ::With an exaggerated sigh:: Oh, Madam Shierr, I’m afraid your government is still being very problematic to deal with.
oO Imagine how we feel about you. Oo
Conroy: I really want you to understand, I have no desire to keep you, personally, here. But they need to learn to keep to their own space and not interfere in business outside their own. I’m sure they’ll eventually come around to see the benefits of leaving us alone, but I’m beginning to think it may take more time than I thought.
He smiled and shrugged.
The words were somewhere between disappointing, terrifying, and relieving. Disappointing that it meant they all had to stay here longer. Terrifying that the more time passed the less patience the pirates would have with any of it. But relieving that her people weren’t so easy to push over in this matter anymore.
Shierr sat quietly for a few seconds and tried to get a read on his face, and considered how she wanted to answer him. Then nodded, almost seeming sympathetic to his words.
Shierr: ::calmly, and with a neutral tone:: I understand. It must be really difficult. Needing to take people like me– like us– to overcompensate for the fact you weren’t prepared for people to want to join together and fight back.
Her accent had the sound of something akin to a purr with the soft roll of her R’s.
Conroy: We were prepared, I just wish it wasn’t necessary. We all could have prospered, but your people just didn’t want to. Now we have to do this.
She stood up and emphatically stretched some of the stiffness out of her 5’2 frame, but didn’t bother to straighten out her clothes, or brush any dirt off of her usually sleek black fur. She was under no impression that she was able to look her best right now, and she wouldn’t try. Not for this man. Not while she and others were being held hostage.
She elected to put her focus into other things instead, like remaining straight-faced when what she really wanted was to get upset, let loose the anger simmering underneath it all on him, and then be with her family back home again.
But she couldn’t. It wasn’t appropriate, and that wasn’t how this worked. That wasn’t how she fought. She’d become part of this as much for her daughters' safety, as she had for the safety of everyone else affected by these criminals, herself included. She’d known there were going to be reactions from the other side. It wouldn’t do people any good to lose her cool when that’s probably what pirates like him were hoping for.
Shierr: Mr…
Conroy: Conroy, Ulysses Conroy.
Shierr: Conroy... ::she tilted her head up and made eye contact:: Can I pick your brain for a moment? ::she wasn’t asking for permission:: What do you really think you’re showing them by doing this?
Ulysses walked over to the guard station and grabbed an extra chair, dragging it, squeaking and squealing over the concrete. He set it down in front of the cell and calmly sat down.
Conroy: Oh any number of things. That we have the ability to take your people when it is beneficial to us, that we have as much right to this space as you do, and that we aren’t just going to abandon our business interests because you all decided to grow a backbone suddenly.
Shierr: Business interests that go against laws in many places.
Conroy: The Cardassians left, there are no laws out here other than the ones we choose. Your world has laws, and I respect that, I’m not necessarily going to follow them with a fervor your law enforcement would prefer, but if they catch me or my people out, so be it. I’ll even give you the authority over your star system, but beyond that, your laws don’t hold any sway. You can fight back, but so can we.
She listened and considered his words. It almost sounded like it wouldn’t be so bad to give it up. It would be a lot simpler. Just let people have what they wanted in The Wilds. It was a place full of problems. Maybe they could stick to their own lanes. But then she thought of all of the groups out there who existed in a state of semi-anarchist chaos. It wasn’t sustainable. Not for the surrounding systems, and for different reasons, not for the crime culture that existed outside of them.
Shierr: How long until you expect more? More things to do business with that you don’t have now? More things to take? More people? More cultures? More lives? If you have no limits, neither does your ego. It ends up a dangerous problem for everyone else. It already is. That’s not something that can just be allowed to happen without consequence.
Now came the question Conroy considered the most important question. He asked it of nearly everyone, business, government, individuals. When under stress, this question was what gave him the most insight into who he was working for.
Conroy: But what are you willing to do? Where is the line you won’t cross?
It felt a little like she was being baited into an answer that was meant to sound unsavory. But it was a fair question all the same.
Shierr: If you’re looking for me to say that I’m willing, or we’re willing, to do things “no matter the cost”, then you’ll be disappointed.
Conroy: I don’t expect that at all. Everyone has a line, even myself. I have found, however, that many people delude themself as to where their line is and then over commit to an endeavor.
Shierr: There is a lot that we would do. Some people more than others. I’m not the only piece of this. But where we are currently, we value life and people. I would hope that the uncrossable line would be ruling with an unchanging, iron fist. We are not trying to be the next Cardassian Empire. Or end up in a state of similar lawlessness to you. We know we can’t take everything down completely. There will never be enough to make it obsolete. But we are willing to fight for these things in our own way. Get a semblance of balance, and a handle on the biggest parts. Let people feel like it’s not so hopeless to be here.
Conroy: Be careful, hope can be as dangerous as despair. And we are not without laws, or I suppose rules is a better term.
Shierr: My turn again. And this one is more personal curiosity than anything else. It’s been on my mind. Why take me? Us. I’m not as high up as some in all of this, many of us aren’t. Not yet. So I’m curious if it was random, or if there’s something specific that drove you to pick who you did?
Ulysses rocked back in the chair, balancing on the back legs of the seat while he thought.
Conroy: Honestly, you were targets of opportunity and symbolism. The longer your government lets you languish the easier it is to see for your people that no government is truly looking out for anyone but the elite. You were on your way back from a diplomatic meeting. In the end, I suppose it was mostly symbolism. I’m half expecting that your government won’t pay your ransom out of pure stubbornness. But that will set a precedent that it considers its diplomats expendable, which will make it hard to hire more diplomats.
Shierr: I take it you’ll just kill us if you don’t get paid?
Conroy: Don’t worry, killing you has very little upside. If they don’t pay we’ll find use for you somehow. They pay the ransom, you go home. They don’t pay, we figure out a new plan.
“Find use for you” was not a pleasant phrase to hear in most circumstances, and even less in this one. For the first time in this conversation, she couldn’t quite keep the frown off her face.
Shierr: How can they trust you to keep your word? It would be just as easy to get paid and then kill us.
Conroy: My word is good, but in this case, it’s completely self-interest and business. If they pay and I kill you anyway, I can absolutely never take another hostage and expect payment. No, if they pay, I have to assure you get home safely.
There was a morbid thought about if it wouldn’t be better suited for the worst thing to happen. It was overpowered by her desire to go home, see her family, and move forward, and her desire to know the people with her could have the same. She could handle this. They’d been lucky enough thus far to be dealing with a lack of intense physical violence. She’d handle that, too, if she had to. But she’d count the small wins for the moment.
Shierr: Let’s hope they handle it soon. Then we can all go back to doing what we were doing before.
And she would go back to what she’d been doing if she made it through. She had even more reason now.
Conroy: In this we can agree. If they were as reasonable as you this would have been handled far sooner.
Shierr: Well then, I suppose I’ll be seeing you around, Conroy. It’s not like I have much of a choice.
oO Unfortunately. Oo
Conroy: I’ll have them send down some more food. We’ll get this taken care of and get you all home as soon as your government comes to its senses.
Ulysses dragged the chair back to the guard station and gave one last nod to the prisoners before heading back out to the Market and eventually his office. For all of the holonovels written about space pirates, none of them seemed to mention just how much administration there really was.
END
—
MSNPC Shierr
Diplomat and hostage
Simmed by:
Lieutenant JG Dekas
Engineering
USS Juneau
J239802D12
&
MSNPC Leader Ulysses Conroy
"Pirate" Leader
as posted by
Lieutenant Commander Kalia Qinn
Executive Officer
USS Juneau, NX-99801
E239410DH0