Capt. Shayne: Kick This Pig!
Randal Shayne
((Deck 12, Main Engineering, USS Khitomer))
Sparks: Pardon me for sayin' it, but how sure are y'all that someone supposen' to be a trusted person done lied like a pig in mud and stole your ship from under ya...?
Up until that very moment, the thought of treachery had barely even crossed his mind. Of course someone had stolen from him and the fleet, and of course he was fuming about it, but he was already in damage control mode, and what he’d mistaken for a luxury- raging against the evil done against them- might well be the key to cracking the whole case open. Yes… Sparks’ folksy suggestion brought a decidedly unfolksy possibility to the forefront of their considerations. They’d been looking so hard for a clue as to the location of the perpetrators that the question of who the perpetrators actually were didn’t trouble him. Forget the pirates and the scrappers and the Alliance agents who might have enacted this theft; none of them ought to be able to do what had been done. Quietly, with grace and efficiency and order, dozens of Starfleet-approved safeguards had been completely circumvented.
Senak: It is a valid point. But I do not believe the Captain or the Commander to be so reckless in their choice of who to trust.
Shayne stared at the warp core and pointed at Senak, a thought crystalizing in his mind as a compass, a burden and a motivation all in one. It crinkled into form as Sparks drawled like a sentient plate of biscuits and gravy.
Sparks: Well, I had me this cousin, Randy, he was real good at tellin' you one thing out one sidda his face, while doin' something real mean instead. Once time, I was raisin' my goat Daisy for the county fair, and he always came sniffin' round her pen, sayin' he was just bein' all supportive, but come fair time, he done left her pen open so she done wandered away and I missed the judgin', ::face scrunching in anger:: Turns out he had himself his goat named Billy, ::rolling her eyes and tossing up her hands:: Real creative like, naming a billy goat "Billy"...but anyways, he entered 'em and stole my ribbon!!
The captain lacked the strength to even pretend to be interested in Sparks’ goat story; perhaps later he would care, but not at the moment, which led to him slowly raising a finger to gently shush the rambling crewman.
Shayne: I still trust every officer I’ve given command access to. Most are still with us.
Senak: ::Thoughtfully:: I have come to a probable conclusion. The thieves must know perfectly well the Arrow. Or at least, they used to know it. In other words, it seems as if they possibly have been part of the crew at some point.
An ugly warping of hurt and betrayal scarred Shayne’s equilibrium. His mind began running through the possibilities quickly, each looking more guilty than the last, not because of anything they’d done to deserve such scrutiny, but as a byproduct of his paranoia. Maz Rodan? Unlikely, but possible. Quentin? Impossible; he’d have no reason to, and he was still in Starfleet. But then there were his family’s money problems… but Quentin was a good man. He’d never stoop so low. Maria Alvarez? Perpetual pain in Shayne’s rotund ass- an ass made all the redder from every occasion she’d kicked it with her games? He still liked her, but that didn’t change the fact that she was just the sort of irrepressible oddball that the Maquis would want to bring to their side…
Dewitt: Could this be from the Arrow's past?
Shayne glanced at Dewitt, but then the engineer looked back, and a bristling wave of revelation and horror and sheer astonishment sent goosebumps from one end of his body to the other. He didn’t mean Arrow’s past. He meant Arrow’s past…
Sparks: Just guessin', strictly speakin' Sirs. But...it sure sounds like someone who knew about that special override done snatched it from ya. You sir y'all didn't tell nobody else? Like, a backup?
For the first time, Shayne could look each of them- Dewitt, Senak, and Sparks- directly in the eye. He swung his gaze from one to the other, triumphant fury building in his heart.
Shayne: Carpenter.
Like a strained bolt suddenly relieved of pressure, the facts and figures slid into place. Who else could have bypassed restrictions like that but a former Starfleet officer? A Starfleet captain, missing, presumed deceased? A missing, presumed deceased captain who, at one point, had called Arrow her command?
He’d been played.
He’d been played like a puppet.
Dewitt/Senak/Sparks: Responses
Shayne: Arrow’s former captain. Before the ship was found adrift, abandoned. No wonder Starfleet would never tell me what happened! THEY DON’T KNOW! THEY NEVER DID!
By the last word, he was shouting, rage and revelation thrilling him to the bone. For the first time in four years, something in the Isles felt like it was finally making sense.
Senak/Dewitt/Sparks: Response
He felt himself calming down, his body making an executive decision before his heart exploded in his chest. They still had no proof. But it fit the available facts, and it was as good a theory as any they had.
What they needed now were answers about the plan. What was Arrow hijacked to do? Why now? What could be so important that it warranted coming out of hiding for? Whatever it was, the captain smelled the stink of massive tidings. It had an ugly scent. Shayne turned to his engineers.
Shayne: Get us ready for quantum slipstream. We have a ship to catch.
Senak/Dewitt/Sparks: Response
Shayne tapped his commbadge.
Shayne: =/\= Shayne to bridge. Nolen, we’re out of time. Plot your best guess and prepare to kick this pig. =/\=
Hobart: =/\= Response =/\=
Tag/TBC…
Captain Randal Shayne
Commanding Officer
USS Khitomer
NCC 62400
G239202RS0