#8 Something Happened On the Way to Earth Pt.1

Posted on Wed May 24th, 2023 @ 6:39pm by Lieutenant JG Jamie T. Kirk/AKA: "Jim" & Lieutenant JG Ainkara "Kara" {Meji}

Mission: Character Development
Location: Intel runabout
Timeline: current

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The runabout had been moving along at a steady warp four since they had left the USS Amandora after picking up Jamie Kirk and Ainkara. Ainkara currently sat up front, in the tactical seat behind the co-pilot's seat. She casually tapped keys and checked status readouts as she also read up on her science and engineering disciplines. The two Intel officers were in the two driver seats, chatting back and forth, while Kirk had decided to go lay down in the aft section of the craft.

"Gotta make a head call, Sam." The co-pilot got up and gave his companion a slap to the shoulder as he went between the seats and back, nodding pleasantly at Ainkara as he passed her. The door to the aft section slid open and closed and the man disappeared from view.

The pilot turned his chair slightly getting a better angle to not have to twist his neck so much to talk to his guest. ""What's your focus, Cadet?"

Ainkara heard the voice, but so in-depth was her reading she did not catch the words. Looking up she tilted her head. "Pardon me, Sir. I was reading when you spoke. What's my focus?"

"Yeah," he responded. "Your focus. What are you going to the Academy for, in other words."

"Oh. Of course." Not wanting to be rude Ainkara shut down her PADD after marking her page and laying it on her lap as she rejoined the conversation. "I am a Science officer. Well, trying to be. But, I also understand and find engineering agreeable. The disciplines within both fields tend to overlap."

The guy gave a nod and grin. "That they do. The name's Lieutenant Samuel Burke, Cadet. I go by Sam."

"Glad to make your aquaintance, Sam." Ainkara could swear she heard something thump against the bulkhead wall behind her seat, but Sam did not seem to notice. "I'm Ainkara."

"The other fella is David Baxter. He goes by Dave." He spun his chair a little bit more, looking back at the door that led to the aft section. "He had to use the head. Maybe he's putting together some sandwiches, or something."

"I hope he washed his hands," said Ainkara, deadpan.

Sam gave a chuckle. "I hope so, too."

The door slid open and Kirk charged in, phaser pistol at the ready. When Sam stood up to confront he got a shot to the upper chest that flung him back into his chair, his upper chest, right shoulder now smoldering from the shot. "I don't want to kill you and you don't want to be dead," said Kirk, to both of them, the phaser waving back and forth between them. "If you think you're fast enough, try it. Provide the excuse, please."

Ainkara very slowly placed her lap of PADDs on the deck, keeping her hands where they could be seen. "What of the other officer? Did you kill him?"

"Had to," said Kirk, without any remorse. "He wouldn't quit so I had to take drastic measures." There were several bruises forming on Kirk's face from where she had grappled with the man in the back.

"With us being under duress, may I apply medical treatment to Lieutenant Burke?" Asked Ainkara.

Kirk kept her eyes neutral, to watch them both in a single angle. "Burke, you unlock all controls and you live. If not, I start shooting places far from the heart and work my way up. If you die before I get what I want, you suffered for nothing because I will figure it out, anyway."

Sam raised his left hand slowly, spinning the chair slightly as he turned his left side to the console. He tapped a few keys, input a vocal order, then did a retinal scan. Three more key presses and he leaned back again, wincing in pain. "It's done. All yours, Kirk."

"Good call," said Kirk. "Come on, you two, on your feet." She moved around so as not to be easily attacked without getting off at least one shot, herding the two into the back. There they saw Baxter, lying against a bulkhead, a large pool of blood staining the carpet as he had a steak knife jutting forth from his throat. After making Ainkara secure Sam, Jamie then had Ainkara shackle herself to the bunk bed. Keeping out of reach, Kirk jammed the phaser into her belt and began to move around casually.

"They'll never stop hunting you, now. You know that, right?" Burke was speaking to Kirk.

"Space is a big place. It's why we call it SPACE. There's lots of it. Anyone can disappear if they want it bad enough." Kirk gave him a glare.

Ainkara, for her part, leaned back against the bulkhead next to the foot of the bunk she was shackled to. She had her eyes closed, looking like just another Vulcanoid in meditation. However, that was her ruse. Accessing the Core the way Master Ro had taught her, her senses becoming sharper and clearer, Ainkara sent tendrils of the strange power into the hand cuff she wore. She did not dare use her internal eye device, as it may get spotted and end her real quick. Instead, relying on the Core, she allowed the energy field to roll over, through, and around the shackle, sensing where it all came together and came apart. She had never practiced using the Core on something this finite, but now was as good a time as any to get her skills up. Sam would begin too suffer infection and radiation poisoning if he was not treated soon. If he died then Kirk would die. Ainkara would spare no pain and she would make sure that Kirk suffered as much as he before she succumbed.

As of now it was a waiting game to see what Kirk had in mind, and how best to thwart those plans.

TBC...

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