Welcome Aboard Inmate
Posted on Mon Jul 31st, 2017 @ 12:54pm by Lieutenant Commander Jordan Gunning & Lieutenant Commander Izize sh'Ekesariss & Lieutenant (P) Finnley Rothbort
Mission:
The Band (Episode 1)
Location: Detention Centre 45-K, Cestus III
After leaving Dahleya to cash in her bounty with the Federation Marshals, sh'Ekesariss and Gunning immediately made their way to the catchily named 'Detention Centre 45-K' where they had been told their pilot was being held. It wasn't an auspicious start but if he hadn't been arrested, he wouldn't have been available.
The turbolift up to the cells seemed unnecessarily slow. "He's a good pilot."
"I can name ten good pilots we could get and none of them have smuggling convictions," Ize shot back, her voice a little more fractious than she meant. She immediately regretted it and her antennae slowly leaned back, a physical representation of her wish to take back those words, or at least the tone.
"I can name twenty." Gunning side-eyed his XO. "Wait, what are we doing? At the end of the day, Starfleet trains good pilots but it doesn't train innovators. We're going to find ourselves in spots that a lot of Starfleet pilots couldn't manoeuvre their way out of. This guy though? This guy could fly his way out of a locked hangar bay. We just have to give him the right incentive."
[Cells, Detention Centre 45-K]
"And then she was all like, 'how dare you send my ship into a damn asteroid belt to find a jar of god-damn honey!'" Roth's voice went up into a high-pitch mimicry of a woman's voice as he moved his hands in front of one of the lights on the floor of his cell which was out of alignment enough to project his shadow puppets onto the ceiling in the middle of the cell block. "And he was like 'err... but I like my honey!' 'Arrrrgh!'" switching between the deeper voice of a simpleton and his high-pitched mock-woman voice, he made one of his shadow puppets start beating up the other in a fight played out by his hands in front of the light. The other prisoners - and the cell block guard - all laughed at his rather silly performance.
"You! Puppet master!" A voice not unlike the deep voice of Rothbort's simpleton came from beyond the force-field as a security officer beckoned Gunning and his companion to an ante-room across the detention hall. "You've got visitors - move slowly toward the inner field and stop when you're told to stop."
"Yes... master.." Roth replied, in a voice that sounded like a hypnotised automaton. He got up and moved in slow, jerky motions, his arms held out in front of him like some sort of zombie, though he dropped the act when he reached the field, losing interest in that particular game.
"Charming place," Gunning smiled as he passed through the door into the ante-room, "I really must book some vacation time here."
Sarcasm was one of those quintessential human traits that Ize quickly learned to recognise upon first leaving Andor. In her years at Starfleet Intelligence, she'd even learned to develop her own sense of the ironic. "If this is your kind of place," she said as she followed Gunning into the ante-room, "then I know a black site on Ganymede you would love."
"Ooh, black sites are always fun," Roth chimed in. "All the secrets and shadowy figures and.. more secrets."
"Finnley Rothbort?" Gunning asked, vaguely annoyed that he had to go through the process of introducing himself. "My name's Jordan Gunning and this is Izize sh'Ekesariss. We've got a job for you."
Roth grimaced slightly at the use of his full name. "Ugh, please, my name's Roth. I mean who calls themselves Finnley?" He paused as he looked the two officers over. "I don't think the mighty fine Federation has ever offered little old me a job before. Of course I'm kind of freedomly challenged right now, what with the jail cell and all."
"Funny you should mention that," Gunning shot a look to the guard who realised that he'd overstayed his very short welcome and backed out of the room like a bin-raking dog, "I may be in a position to help you with that. I'm Jordan Gunning, this is Izize sh'Ekesariss. We're putting together a rapid response team and we need a pilot that can think on his feet. The money's not great, but given that your alternative's rotting away in some cell eating protein rations I figure you'd be better off rotting away on a starship eating protein rations."
Roth made a show to consider the two options. "You know, the second one does sound more appealing, aside from the rotting part. Don't you have a whole cadre of fleet-type pilots to choose from though? Why are you coming to me? Wait! You haven't gone and set all your other ships on autopilot and done away with the controls have you?"
Gunning took a moment to imagine one of Starfleet's so-called 'best and brightest' trying to get out of a three ship ambush. "To be honest that's not a million miles away from the truth." He lifted a PADD from the table and took his time to fill in some details. He had the power to spring him there and then but figured an extra few hours wouldn't hurt. "Put your thumbprint there. It'll take a while to process your release but as of now you're part of my crew with the Provisional rank of Lieutenant. Put one foot out of line and you're right back here. Welcome aboard, Inmate."
Jordan Gunning, Ize sh'Ekesariss, Finnley Rothbort
