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Day 14 [1400 hrs.] Impromptu Meeting

[ I.I. Officer Hi'Jak | Aldea Ship Yards] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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Hi'Jak had worked his way into most of the shipyards communication systems, it was technically his job in so far that he was to monitor outgoing and incomming traffic about and around the theurgy, to that extent he had also set up several alerts whenever certain people would leave the ship. For the most part he had waited for one particular alert to go off, but it had stayed dormant for the majority of the visit to Aldea. He had tried more official channels as well, trying to get a meeting with the shifter that had saved his life. Yet every single time he had asked for a meeting between himself and the ships captain it had been rejected.

He didn't know if it was due to interference with security on his side or the side of the Theurgy. If Ives genuinely had no care to see him or if there was a particular blue skinned security chief whom blocked all requests, whatever the reason it was clear that an official meeting was near impossible.

So imagine Jack's surprise when his alert goes off, and for seemingly the first time the ships captain had finally stepped off of the ship. Jack pretty much left his office in a hurry. Taking a few of his notes that he had been keeping in his job. Following Ives life sign was actually pretty easy, and the moment they stepped into a turbolift, Hi'Jak just had the thing stop between floors so he could catch up to it.

When he did, and put the lift at his floor he was still panting slightly, the Klingon Hybrid may have gotten back his third lung but he wasn't exactly in the best shape of his life anymore. A fact he needed to work on, the two years of slow sloppy desk work that had been his signature on 84, along with his depression and poor diet had actually made it so that there was an obvious need to work out and get back into Starfleet shape. When the turbolift reached his floor he was a bit disheveled his hair was messy, and he had to try and downplay his breathing. "Captain Ives, could I speak with you for a moment?" He walked into the turbolift, the doors closed behind him, and once again the lift didn't move. "I promise not to take too much of your time."

Re: Day 14 [1400 hrs.] Impromptu Meeting

Reply #1 –
[ Captain Ives | Aldea Prime Shipyards ] @Masorin
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Heading to the Aldean Office Complex at the top of the shipyards, just fore of the docked Sword, Captain Ives had frowned then the lift came to a stop inside one of the mag lev struts. He had waited for a couple of seconds before he tapped his combadge and queried what the trouble was. He managed to speak with two people before the third told him.

[It seems someone in the Klingon Defence Force entered the command to stop the lift. Reason unknown. We'll override it. Our apologies, Captain. We'll find who did this.]

Jien was just about to call for Security, knowing that any number of people might antagonise him, ranging from Bellerophon survivors to Klingon dissidents who didn't apprechiate Martok's stand on the matter of the Theurgy. Working together, they could try to make an attempt on his life. That was when the green sliding doors opened, and a familiar face appeared, apologising. With his frown turning into a scowl, Jien was silent for a couple of seconds, then he tapped his combadge to answer the speaker.

"Override, officer, and stand by," he said, as he had a feeling that the Imperial Intelligence officer merely had something on his mind. If he had untoward ideas for ambushing him, Jien was also fairly certain he could take care of himself. He opted to not challenge the highly unorthodox means of getting an audience, or point out that he could report this to the man's new superiors. In fact, there was no use pointing out that there was a reason why he'd declined to meet with the man, since he had no illusions about there being anything the man could say to make up for what he'd done.

"You have some cheek to think your time is more valuable than mine, Bekk," he said quietly as the lift started to move again, using the scientist's Klingon rank. The lifts in the mag lev struts were slower than that on a Federation starship, so undoubtedly the former crewmember would have time to say whatever he wanted to, while Jien wouldn't be late for the meeting with the Aldean officials.

Re: Day 14 [1400 hrs.] Impromptu Meeting

Reply #2 –
[ I.I. Officer Hi'Jak | Aldea Ship Yards] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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You ever have an idea you think is a good one only to immediately regret the decisions you have made in your life? Hi'Jak swallowed down a bit of the panic he felt growing in his stomach. It wasn't till he was standing on this lift that he suddenly remembered the last time he spoke with Ives the changeling had zero issues with having him shot like a dog.

"I admit..." he started to speak only to note the scowl on the captain's face. "This isn't exactly the best way to get ahold of you. I've been trying to use the official channels for days."

He had been assuming his asking for an audience had just been getting blocked in transit. But now he was pretty sure that Ives had been the one tossing out his requests for a meeting. A fact that was rather painful and also made it hard to breathe in the tightly compacted space. He felt a bit of sweat run down the back of his neck.

He could just stop the lift and get out appologies and all. He remained standing though he could not exactly hide the fact that he was more than a little afraid of Ives, and that was making it a touch more difficult to deliver the details he had set out to talk about.

More than that he actually needed the captain's help. He decided that he just had to stop shaking and speak as best he could on the facts at hand. He took a deep calming breath even closing his eyes to try and rid his mind of Ives scowl. "There are a few things that I need to talk with you about and I can't trust subspace communication lines. Im pretty sure my movements and messages are being monitored by more than just the I.I. but also those disloyal to the current chancellor. Right now I'm working in a listening post stationed here trying to learn all I can."

"I have also been acting as an intermediary for KDF operations and the Theurgy ever since I helped Commander Martin burn down an illegal cloning facility." He had also assisted in a rescue operation from pirates. Thiugh both incidents were probably reported and something Ives would have known about.

"I've hit a bit of a snag. One of the subspace relays that i use for my post tripped a red alert, and I think might be a legitimate threat to our security. My supervisor has given me a shuttle that I can't fly and told me to deal with it. I need a pilot to investigate further but none of the official channels seem to want me near it." Hi'Jak slowly opened his eyes trying to look a bit more brave. Truth was Ives scared him a lot, but he was also the only commanding officer that jack had any faith in or could bring himself to trust.

Re: Day 14 [1400 hrs.] Impromptu Meeting

Reply #3 –
[ Captain Ives | Aldea Prime Shipyards ] @Masorin
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Standing perfectly still as he did, unblinking as he looked at the Bekk, Jien let the eyes of his former profession in Starfleet Intelligence study clues and demeanour - not taking anything said at face value. To the best of his ability, the former Starfleet officer's behaviour suggested trepidation and regret - perhaps having realised the impertinence of his approach.

"I don't know why you think you may act as an intermediary for KDF operations and the Theurgy. We already have a Liaison Officer for our dealings with the KDF," he said, referring to Zyrao Natauna and her duties to act on behalf of the Theurgy when dealing with official Klingon channels. Perhaps Hi'Jak was maintaining correspondence on lower levels in their dealings with the KDF, and Natauna might be both aware and allowing it for all Ives knew.

"I do know, however, that a threat to the integrity of the KDF's defences and communications equals a threat to the Theurgy. If you have exhausted all means to acquire transportation there, I am sure Lieutenant Veradin can arrange for a shuttle - all of them fitted with sensor scramblers by now. Send him a message and give him my regards."

Jien fell silent then, folding his arms behind his back. He changed... to her female form - still adhering to the Medical recommendations to shift often so that her morphogenic matrix could recover from her captivity.

"Was there anything else?" she asked, her tone the same even though her voice was a tad more feminine - the only common denominator of her forms being her oaken eyes.

Re: Day 14 [1400 hrs.] Impromptu Meeting

Reply #4 –
[ I.I. Officer Hi'Jak | Aldea Ship Yards] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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Jack looked at the ground, and sighed. "I just want to help." He said disheartened by the response he was getting. Sounds like he barely tolerates me, though what was I really expecting here a head pat for doing my job? I mean it would be nice, but it wasn't gonna happen.

What more was there to talk about? He had started the conversation by saying there was a lot he wanted to say, and that was true. There was a lot he felt he needed to say to Ives at the moment. He wasn't really sure exactly how to say it though. She was still so imposing, Jack couldn't exactly hide the fact that he was afraid to talk to her. Trepidation heck his biological hand was even shaking so much that he even moved his hand to his mouth so that he could nervously bite his index finger and rest his chin on  his thumb unintentionally obscuring his lower mouth. His mechanical hand stayed calm, he had calibrated it to ignore shakes and shivers it wasn't sensitive enough to pick up any unintended motions. A setting that honestly was pretty useful in the long run.

Chewing on his own finger for a moment he considered how he was going to convey his thoughts. An emotional appeal? that felt like it would fall on deaf ears. "honestly there is but... I still don't understand it." he said softly, deciding that he just needed to speak his piece while he still had Ives's attention. I did lock us both in this lift so I could speak after all.

"I don't get why you didn't just let me die. I've never had anyone who was willing to speak up for me, and I've made... so many mistakes. You spared my life with a word, put your honor on the line for me, and I don't have any way to repay you. I can't... I failed so wildly, so completely, that even now you don't think it was a worthy investment. It's so unexpected to suddenly have anyone speak out for me when it would have been so much simpler to just let me be taken from your ship. I don't deserve what you have done." Jack struggled to find any one place for his eyes to focus on. He was way off script now. He had wanted to keep it professional and now he was struggling not to cry as he spoke.

"Sorry I haven't slept much in the past few weeks." Jack bowed his head as he apologized. Feeling so unkempt after he had flown so far off script. "This is unprofessional, and ugly, but it's been haunting me since I was taken off the ship. I can't move past it."

"You probably don't believe me when I say it, but after starbase 84, I expected the worst of everyone. I was so paranoid, and afraid and You asked me to do one thing; and I messed that up so seriously that an entire ship is now gone. I don't know how to move on from that. All I want to do now is help you and the Theurgy if I can't do that then I feel I have nothing left. But I don't know how I can help anymore when I can't even officially step onto the ship." for the first time in the conversation he dropped his hands from his face. He vocalized what had been haunting him, and his eyes finally met Ives. He was still afraid, his eyes were wide.

"I just..."

"I just want to help the Theurgy even if you will never allow me on board again."

Re: Day 14 [1400 hrs.] Impromptu Meeting

Reply #5 –
[ Captain Ives | Aldea Prime Shipyards ] @Masorin
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While the former crewmember spoke, Jien was silent, merely folding her arms and waiting for the lift to reach its destination or the Bekk to finish talking - whichever came first.

The man spoke of incomprehension towards her acts and regret. He might not use the word, but it was guilt he felt, and it was more than she'd expected. She had thought him relieved to be off the Theurgy and back with the KDF, to whom he'd sworn his allegiance well before he entered the Academy on Earth. It seemed, however, that it was not so simple for him now, when he'd realised his mistakes. The lift was due to arrive at its destination in short, but she did have something to say to him.

"Treason is not just a slur against dissidents. In law, treason is criminal disloyalty, typically to one's people, alliance or fleet. It is a crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sworn leadership. It includes spying and sabotage on the behest of a foreign power - both of which you are guilty. You were discovered to do the former, having been working for Imperial Intelligence before you swore an oath to the Federation and Starfleet. I gave you a second chance. To redeem yourself by getting me into contact with the High Chancellor. This, when you were picked for the mission to the Coreless Moon. There, you sabotaged the mission, put your fellow Starfleet Officers in danger... and I don't believe in third chances."

The lift doors slid open, them having arrived in the Aldean Office Complex, and she turned to leave. Yet she spoke still, thus signalling for him to follow in her wake while she made her way to her meeting. Outside the transparent aluminium viewports, the golden surface of Aldea cast its light upon them whilst Jien walked. "Nor do I take pity in you. Regardless the guilt you feel, or the shame that lingers with you after I've evidently managed to convince you - finally - that the values of the Federation are real. It is against a Captain's principles to hand someone over to their death, even though you were never really a part of my crew to begin with. Believe what you will of it, but the Starfleet I serve hold a higher moral standard than that."

Drawing to a stop at a large junction of different corridors, Jien turned a little bit and looked at him - her scowl having lessened at that point. "The fact that you don't understand my actions when I spared you from death speaks of how little you've come to trust in Federation ideals. Equally, how little you paid attention during the Academy." She raised her chin, addressing his wishes - the ambiguous offer he made to aid her. "If you want to help the mission we're on, I believe there is a subspace relay that needs your assistance, is it not? If you want a modicum of respect from your former peers on the ship, I would suggest you continue doing what you are."

She turned to leave him there, but while not looking at him, she added something. "If there is ought else that we need from the KDF while Thea is repaired, General Chu'vok will contact your handler, and make sure you get the opportunity."

A small favor. A chance to let the man do good, even if redemption was unlikely.

With that, Jien walked away, not looking back.

Re: Day 14 [1400 hrs.] Impromptu Meeting

Reply #6 –
[ I.I. Officer Hi'Jak | Aldea Ship Yards] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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Hi'Jak was honestly kinda surprised that Captain Ives could still call someone treasonous, he supposed he should have seen that coming. There weren't any lies or facts that Jack could dispute or evidence he could bring up to testify against the fact that he had betrayed the Federation several times over. It was at least partly that blue skinned woman's fault she did point a gun at my face. He already knew how that counterargument would go, after all Ives had him shot the last time the two of them spoke about it.

So he was forced to stand, and hear words he knew he didn't want to hear. When the Door opened he had fully expected the words they exchanged so far to be over, and yet Ives had continued to talk a clear indication that he needed to follow for a moment and walk beside her. He did so, and tried to clear his wounded ego, detach his emotional state and actually listen to her as she walked because those words that followed held some clues to him. I could just be reading into this. Hearing only what I want to hear rather than what Ives is actually telling me. I desperately want a chance to fix the wrongs I've done and Ives could just be blowing smoke. Ives did say that they didn't believe in third chances, and Jack would certainly be standing on a third if he ever got a chance to actually work with Ives again.

Ives's actions however told a bit of a different story, While Jack wouldn't say he was being given another chance but there was enough here that he could walk away feeling almost hopeful. Whatever the ideals of Starfleet were that this captain seemed to imagine, ideals he had never encountered in his life, they seemed a lot warmer than the Starfleet he knew. The Starfleet where power was held only by the incompetent or the malicious, the xenophobic, and the sadistic. Ives seemed to have a code of... Honor?

As they stopped Hi'Jak looked Ives in the eyes now, able to at least stop himself from shaking though he still felt... indebted to the captain. "I understand." He felt a swelling of resolve, and at the end as Ives walked away from him their was a moment that almost felt like an... opportunity for him to continue to contribute in some way.

That if The Theurgy required anything more that he would be an option kept in mind.

Ives walked away and the Intelligence officer was left in a rather confused state. Elated, and simultaneously terrified. Desperately wanting them to call upon him in the future, and yet also considering his time with the Theurgy cautiously hoping that he would survive the task given to him.

During my time with that ship I had an eye melted out of my skull, an arm cut off, half my genes spliced and removed, a clone of me was boiled alive in acid. I was shot, punched, cut, smacked, tied up, beaten and imprisoned... Why the hell do I desperately want to go back? The only conclusion he could draw was that he had lost his mind at some point. He was a coward, who had lived a comfortable life as a spy, he finally had his dream post a desk job on a station far away from any danger... and he hated every second of it.

Was it growth that made it so he couldn't go back to being a coward, or was he really trying to be better than the person he had been...

Could he actually redeem himself considering the massive undertaking that would be?

"Well... if that's a possibility I at least feel, a little more confident today than I did yesterday."

~Fin
 
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