ILLUMINARRPG: (7-0005) SFI Michael Weston, CMO Quinna Solice

[Al Muir]

Mission: Death in the Shadows

Day 7

Stardate: 2446.02.07


(USS Illuminar - Deck 4 - Sickbay -  SFI Michael Weston, CMO Quinna Solice - 0005)


Michael was beginning to think that he would never get another full night’s sleep.  He had heard that Quinna had woken up and then done some crazy stuff, but he wasn’t really one to listen to gossip.  Although even gossip seemed to follow the 80/20 rule.  80% of the gossip was based on 20% of the truth.  But if she were awake, and nobody had informed him, he’d be losing his touch in gathering information.  He would have thought that at least Quincy would have said something to him, even though he was sure that the ME brother once removed didn’t quite trust him.


He went into the sickbay and  looked around.  Not seeing Quinna he went to one of the nurses.


“I’m here to see Quinna,” he said, as if stating the obvious.


The nurse looked a little put out, rolling her eyes and pointing, “She’s right over the…”


But she wasn’t right over there.  She was nowhere to be seen.  Michael looked at the nurse with narrowing eyes.  “Are you sure?” he asked sarcastically.


“I don’t understand,” the nurse replied.  “She was there just a few minutes ago.  She can’t have left.  We’d have seen her.”


Michael looked at them as though he doubted anything they said.  There was only one place he could imagine she would go.  He walked over to the CMO office and opened the door.  He found Quinna laying on a cot, curled up in a fetal position.  Her breathing was a little ragged, and he could smell the tears.


“I’ve got her,” he said, and entered the room, closing the door behind him.  He moved over to the cot and sat on the edge.  He put a hand on Quinna’s shoulder and called to her, “Quinna, are you all right?  What happened?”


Quinna wiped the tears away.  She looked up and smiled.  "The weight of last week has gotten to me."  Was all she said.   (Power just returned.  Must have been you.  I have magic powers.)

Michael hated when people lied to him.  To be honest, in his business, it happened a lot.  He expected it from the people he generally dealt with.  But when it was somebody he cared about, it really bothered him.  Something new he was learning about himself.


Shaking his head looked at her, chastising, “Don’t lie to me.  Those are not tears of “things are just overwhelming”.  Maybe for others, but not for you.”


"I am not lying.  Let's say the highlight is you.”  Quinna put a hand on face and ran it down his cheek. “I mean I feel like we have known each other for almost a few months but we met just this week.  There was an attack on the captain,the surgery, the death of Ensign Taggard, the coma of Alyl, the mess with Sanchez, the drama with my friends,... My Death… Don’t you think that it might be a little overwhelming, and there is more.”


Michael moved his hand from Quinna’s shoulder to the side of her face. He stroked her cheek as she spoke. “It’s the more I want to hear about.”


“Um, Michael, we need to talk.  I did something and you are not going to like it.  But you have to know because I need your help.”  Quinna said.


“I had a word with your SisBro or brother-in-law, or whatever the relationship between you and Mason are, and he said you did something stupid,”he said, “ but he was a bit dodgy on the details. So spill. Tell me everything.”


“Mason is clueless. But he means well,”  Quinna moved a bit.  “Sanchez took a turn for the worse and so I did what we discussed.  There was no time to wait.  But I talked to Sanchez.  But to make a long story short, He told me things about committing crimes against the federation and there is a whole syndicate of people.  Only one person knows who they are.”


Michael looked at Quinna with disbelief, “You did what?  Whether you had time or not, you put yourself at terrible risk on an experimental procedure, without safeguards?  That wasn’t stupid, that was insane. What were you thinking?”


He could see his words cut her and reeled in his anger. “We already know about this “syndicate”. It’s part of why I’m here. Why I’m in the situation I’m currently in.”  He stood up and paced the floor. “One person knows?”


He turned and looked at her, “Who?  And you better not say it’s you.”


“It is not me.  I do know it is an admiral.  Sanchez was supposed to meet him.  And well, that is not the end of what happened.”  Quinna said.  She was feeling a distance between them.


Michael had been pretty sure there was still a leak in the admiralty, it just made sense. But he got a bad feeling when Quinna said there was more.


“Are you really going to make me ask?” Michael said. “Tell me everything.”


“Something in Sanchez’s head entered my head.  And I did something bad.  I attacked Si…  Um I mean Commander Verin.  Well what entered me, attacked Commander Verin, but really there is no difference.  I am guilty of what they said.  I just don’t remember it.”  Quinna confessed.


Michael needed a minute to process what he’d been told “Let me get this straight, when you were connected to Sanchez “something” entered your mind and controlled your actions. Like a piece of Sanchez, his personality?”


“That I am not sure of.  I don’t think so.  I woke up, I turned off Sanchez’s machines so he could die in peace.  I walked out of the room, I felt pain and then I guess that’s when my heart stopped beating.  Next thing I know I am on the floor in Commander Verin’s Quarters.  T’Mur had pinned me down.  Then security grabbed me. And I was beamed into sickbay.”  Quinna stopped for Michael to take that part in.


“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he said, anguish in his voice.  “You keep leaving out these little details like “my heart stopped beating.”  I mean, clearly it’s beating now.  You’re not sure that it was part of Sanchez?  What do you think it was?  You and Verin are friends.  You wouldn’t just attack her.  You must have been under some kind of control.  Why don’t you think it was Sanchez?”


“Sanchez went to the light.  I saw him.  But I can’t be sure.  The others, Verin and T’Mur” gave the name Rito.  Does that mean anything to you?”


Michael stopped pacing, “Rito?  Are you sure?  Rito?  He disappeared  several months ago, at the beginning of my investigation.  Rito Chesney.  He was working on something to do with transferring consciousness into machines.  His “experiments” were deemed to be … unethical, and his funding stopped.  Then he disappeared.  If he was involved then I must assume he found a way to transfer his own consciousness into another living being.  But it would take… a strong telepath to make that transfer.  Unless he found the answer to his mechanical mind reading machine.”


Then he turned his attention back to Quinna, “Are you okay now?”


“I am a bit achy.  I have to take it slow and I have this dull headache, but I can live with it.”


Michael sat back on the edge of the bed and held her chin with his finger tips, “Looks like you’ve got another souvenir around your throat.  Ligature marks.  T’Mur?  They look about her hand size.”


“More than likely.”  Quinna said.  “After what they said, I guess I should consider myself lucky.”  Quinna grabbed Michael’s hand.  “I think Rito is gone, permanently.” Quinna said.  “I need your help.”


Michael pulled Quinna into an embrace, “Of course, I’ll help you.  What do you need?”


Quinna felt relief when he held her.  “I need to find something.  Do you know if they packed up Sanchez’s quarters yet?  I need to find something.  Can you take me there?”


Michael looked at her with a question, “What do you need to find?”


“I am looking for a PADD.  Something that will help me get into the organization.”  Quinna knew with the PADD and the weapon, she would have a better chance of infiltrating her new mission.


Michael stood up shaking his head, “Are you crazy.  You?  Infiltrate the organization.  I love your gumption sweetie, but these people will chew you up and spit you back out… without your bones.  Sekal would never approve of such foolishness.”


“He already has.  And I am doing this.  And only a handful of things would stop me.”  Quinna stated.


For the first time in a long time Weston was speechless.  He felt the inside of his jacket, where he had stored the PADD, thinking of what to say next.


“Why do you need this PADD?”


“It’s my ticket into the belly of the Whale.”  Quinna turned and pulled Michael into a kiss.  Then she pulled her forehead to his and whispered, “I would much rather do this with your help then without it.  I know I can do better with it.  Please help me?”


Michael was quiet for a long time.  He had to wrap his mind around all of this.  “And Sekal is okay with this?” he asked in disbelief.  It didn’t sound logical.  “What about your friends?”


“My friends, you mean the ones that are so ashamed of me that I cannot look them in the face.  How an ‘I’m Sorry’ is not good enough.  They will be happier when I am gone.  But you know what, except for the whole Rito part, I do not regret doing any of it.  Not if it means others will live.”  Quinna said.


Michael sat down shaking his head, “Yeah, but I regret it.  I should never have brought you into this.  I’ll need that weapon.  If we’re gonna be Bonnie and Clyde we’re going to have to make it convincing.”


“Oh… you are not coming.  I am better off convincing my way in solo.  It is more reasonable that Sanchez trusted one person and not two.”  Quinna replied.  “The PADD is my ticket but that weapon is my key.”


“Uhhhh….no,” Michael said.  “You are absolutely kidding me.  These people are not going to believe that you want in.  You are not a credible resource on your own.  Even burned as I am, I can make a convincing argument that it was all part of my cover.  You, my love, you are too clean.  They’ll never come near you unless you kill someone and become a fugitive.  Even then they’d wonder how a cherry like you would have gotten away.”


He pulled Quinna to her feet, “Let me put this in terms you can understand.  Your chances of survival are slim to none.  Your chances are down here.”  He held his down below his waist.  “With me, your chances are here.”  He moved his hand so that it was at his head.  “Again, without me,” he moved his hand down, “and with me,” he moved his hand up high.  “This is not a subject that is open to negotiation.  If you do not agree to my terms, not only will I not help you, I will make sure that there is no possible way that you can get involved in this.  Am I clear?”


“You have been quite clear in what you are saying.  Trust me.  But I cannot see selling this as a duet.  I was the last one with Sanchez.  I am the one he told the secrets to.  How can we make it a we?  Is that your final word on the matter?”


He leaned over and kissed Quinna on the lips, “You let me worry about being the salesman.  Think about what you just told me.  If you are the only one that has Sanchez’s or Riola’s secrets then that makes you a valuable asset, to us.  To them it makes you a liability that will need to be eliminated.  If you tell me what you know, then together we become more difficult to simply erase.  And yes, this IS my final word on the matter.   Otherwise you can go search Sanchez’s quarters on your own.”


Quinna wondered if she was making a deal with the hottie devil.  She knew she could not pull this off without training.  “I know the passcode to the PADD.  And you better not cut me out now.”


Michael laughed, “Are you kidding.  If I die, who will bring me back from the dead.  And for the record, YOU are the only one I trust completely.”


“So where do we begin?”  Quinna said, “Or better yet, where do we continue?”


Michael threw an arm around Quinna’s shoulders, “I have a few things I need to do before we get started.  But I want to instill one rule in you.  No matter what, no matter how crazy it seems, if I tell you to do something, I need to know you will do it.  Can you make me that one promise?”


“I can do that.”


“No matter what.  Say it.”  Michael insisted.


“Umm, it.”  Quinna smiled.


Michael pulled her in closely and kissed her long and hard, “Say it.”


“I promise I will listen to you.  I need you.”


“No matter what.” he urged.


“No matter what.”  She said hoping this would satisfy his conditions.


He nodded and smiled, “Good.  First order, stay here until I come back.  Trust nobody.  Let nobody into your office.  All medical emergencies are for the rest of your team.  Remember, until otherwise notified, you are a target.  I will be back soon.”

“Whatever you say.”  Quinna was a bit confused as to why she was already a target.


“Sir,” Michael added.  “Whatever you say... sir.”


“Don’t push it, Buddy,”  Quinna said.


Michael chuckled, “I was just checking that it was still you.”


“It’s a damn good thing you are cute.”


“It’s kept me alive more than once,” he admitted.  “Oh, and one more thing.”


He pulled her in, turned her and half dipped her.  He brought their lips together for a more passionate kiss.  “You’re pretty damn cute yourself.”


With that, he left Quinna's office.  Quinna watched him leave.  “Michael Weston looks like you got yourself a new partner.”


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(posted by Al Muir and Kris B)

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