View source for SIM:JP - Cmdr Nicholotti, Lt Orman, Lt Zehn, Lt Sahmson - Endgame

==Writers==
[[Kevin Breeman|Breeman, Kevin]] ([[Kevin Breeman's Sims|view sim archive]]), [[Nicholotti, Kali|Kali Nicholotti]], [[Zehn, Kaedyn|Kaedyn Zehn]], [[Orman, Katy|Katy Orman]]

==Sim==
((Entrance to the Black Tower, Starbase 118))

<nowiki>::</nowiki>The small group of officers marched through the halls and past the Marines
who stood guard by the outer doors of the tower. There were plenty of rumors
about the place, about how it used to operate outside of the normal command
structure, but those days had passed. Starfleet Intelligence, now that the
Federation wasn't in a state of war, operated within the normal chain of
command and under official Starfleet regulations. This was a change that
some higher ranking officers, more accustomed to the freedoms the old Black
Tower organization allowed, both loathed and tried to ignore.::

<nowiki>::</nowiki>That intentional ignorance had nearly caused the destruction of Starbase
118 and the death of every living being aboard.::

<nowiki>::</nowiki>Now it was time to remove the problem. Having been in contact with
Command, Kali had her own orders. Starfleet officers were to adhere to a
higher calling -- one where life of any kind was sacred. Allowing tens of
thousands of people to die was simply unacceptable.::

<nowiki>::</nowiki>Kali had gathered those she trusted and those who would be needed to
enforce the orders she now held in her hand. Together, that group made their
way unquestioned through the near empty halls of the tower toward certain
confrontation.::

((Admiral Murlow's Office, Upper Level, The Black Tower))

<nowiki>::</nowiki>The Captain of Starbase 118 didn't wait for permission to enter. Instead,
she keyed in her override code and entered the office to find the man behind
his desk and a woman, whom she assumed was Jennifer, standing next to him.
Both looked up at her and the team of officers as they entered the room.::

<nowiki>::</nowiki>Without giving them a chance to speak, Kali looked the man in the eye and
spoke with a voice that demanded respect and compliance. It was not loud,
but still quite firm and strong.::

<B>Nicholotti:</B> Admiral Dargon Murlow, Jennifer Azorian, you are hereby ordered
to stand down and resign your commissions by order of Starfleet Command,
stardate 238906.12.

<nowiki>::</nowiki>The looked at her quizzically.::

<B>Murlow:</B> What? ::He paused as the orders seemed to process through his
brain.:: On what grounds?

<B>Nicholotti:</B> On the grounds that you, and you ::she looked to the woman next
to him.:: willfully committed crimes against the United Federation of
Planets and, particularly, this station.

<nowiki>::</nowiki>This seemed to fluster the admiral who rapidly grew angry. It was a calm
anger though, the type that really did worry you if you stopped to think
about it.::

<B>Murlow:</B> What I did was required to keep the Federation and her interests
safe.

<nowiki>::</nowiki>His voice was now a low growl, a tone that Kali matched.::

<B>Nicholotti:</B> What you did was reckless, dangerous, and could have met with
disastrous consequences.

<nowiki>::</nowiki>Presently the woman, Jennifer, looked to Murlow and then back at Kali.
With narrowed eyes, Kali could feel the hate pouring off of her like a
flood.::
<nowiki>::</nowiki>Jennifer wanted to roll her eyes. But she kept that hidden. She felt
calm. She'd done her job and nothing more. Followed orders. Whatever
happened from here was of little consequence. The Federation was safe.
Slowly she began to project anger though, hoping perhaps to instill a bit of
last minute parenting in this child of a first officer.::

<B>Azorian:</B> And what would you have done? Huh? 

<nowiki>::</nowiki>She smiled slightly and continued,::

<B>Azorian:</B> Open up trade negotiations with a few figureheads while what was
left of the Romulan military ran headless through Federation territory, just
so you could sleep at night with a clean conscience? Because hey, at least
you followed the rules, right? You were just the victim. You looked
through a straw at the situation in the Romulan Star Empire and all you saw
was an exploding star and a few billion refugees. You didn't see what they
were doing to their own people. You didn't see them manipulate billions of
subjects, and turn them into true believers in a fake ideology. You didn't
see the build-ups, the mass recruitment efforts, the subtle nods from public
officials endorsing deployments of resources who didn't even know why they
were there because they'd been so misinformed. Christ, you didn't even see
Reikara until we pointed it out to you! You didn't see the big picture, and
you still have no goddam clue what becomes necessary once you do see it.

<nowiki>::</nowiki>Meeting the fire of this woman's fury with her own, Kali's nostrils
flared.::

<B>Nicholotti:</B> Then your picture is skewed. ::Looking back to the Admiral.::
Perhaps you didn't hear me the first time. I am here to accept your
resignations. Now.

<nowiki>::</nowiki>At this insistence, Murlow stood in an attempt to intimidate her with his
height and size. She could feel the officers behind her brace themselves for
whatever was coming.::

<B>Murlow:</B> I will have your commission for this, Nicholotti!

<nowiki>::</nowiki>He spat her name with a force that matched his growing anger. But in
spite of the man's attempts to force her to back down, Kali stood her ground
with the same calm determination and show of force she had when they'd
arrived.::

<B>Nicholotti:</B> No, Admiral. I will have yours.

<nowiki>::</nowiki>The orders were already in Nicholotti's hands. Starfleet command was
willing to let him and Jennifer resign and fade into the annals of Black
Tower history, but if they chose not to cooperate, she was to force the
issue. There were only two options now: They could resign, or they could
resist, in which case they would be arrested. Kali gestured to Katy.::

<B>Nicholotti:</B> You have five minutes to start drawing up your resignations,
both of you, or Lieutenant Orman will be taking you both to the Brig.

<nowiki>::</nowiki>Katy, who stood just behind the captain in her hazard suit, nodded,
allowing the tiniest flicker of a smile to touch the corner of her mouth.
She would, that touch of expression said, follow such orders with a measure
of enthusiasm.::

<nowiki>::</nowiki>At this, the woman on the other side of the desk sneered.::

<B>Azorian:</B> You're simply the administrator of a starbase. You could be
replaced in a heartbeat.

<nowiki>::</nowiki>Kali snapped back.::

<B>Nicholotti:</B> And you are simply a cancer on the entirety of the Federation
and everything it stands for. ::She glared at them both.:: You put thousands
of people's lives at stake for your little game. Now that game is over.

<nowiki>::</nowiki>Idealists had been at the root of the problem Starfleet had been trying to
solve when they'd deployed Jennifer in the first place all those years ago.
True believers would chase their dreams down to the bottom of hell if they
had to.::

<B>Sahmson:</B> Hi, Jennifer.

<nowiki>::</nowiki>She looked over when she heard the familiar voice. The asset stood there
looking much the same as he had back in San Francisco and then in Burns
Lake. There was an air of uncertainty in his eyes, a need for something he
couldn't name but whose nature Jennifer could place in seconds. Maternal
direction.::

<B>Azorian:</B> Hello, Sahmson.

<B>Sahmson:</B> I was wrong. And so were you.

<nowiki>::</nowiki>His lips seemed to quiver slightly. This was actually difficult for him.
He'd endured every form of interrogation SFI could muster, every type of
psychological manipulation. But the rejection of a mother figure was worse
than all of those. That had been why she'd insisted that exploitation of
family ties be left out of his training. A man as great and talented as
Sahmson was would need to be cursed with an Achilles heel somewhere.::

<nowiki>::</nowiki>Jennifer's face was imposing, the way a huge statue staring down at a
child was imposing. Sahmson could feel brimming within him so many possible
things he might say. 'I'm sorry' 'I quit.' 'I hate you.' 'I hate what
you did to me.' They were all wrong, like so many directions to step off of
a narrow path in the dark, thousands of meters above the ground. So he
chose one.::

<B>Sahmson:</B> Jennifer, I'm not who you think I am.

<B>Azorian:</B> And who do you think you are, Sahmson? Hm? 

<nowiki>::</nowiki>A thin smile crept across her face as she cocked her head.::

<B>Azorian:</B> What are you now? A reformed sinner? A child? An old man?

<nowiki>::</nowiki>Sahmson could feel himself grow cold and ashamed. He breathed a little
harder. Beneath him he could still feel the ground. He was still
Sahmson.::

<B>Sahmson:</B> I'm Sahmson. 

<nowiki>::</nowiki>His voice shook as he saw again the haunting image, someone dialing -- no,
tracing her fingers -- along a labyrinthine shape -- his shape. Her yellow
eyes studied it, trying to find in it hope. The shape was desperation and
it was salvation, all grafted onto Rinanovian flesh, standing erect and
branching through the generations of Rinanov's centuries-old resurrection,
before the lights and the gray skies. Before mother and Sahmson.::

<B>Sahmson:</B> I survived the conquest of my people. 

<nowiki>::</nowiki>He heard himself speaking the words not so much as though they were his
but more like he was observing someone else.::

<B>Sahmson:</B> I lost my mother and now I don't even remember her face anymore.
I cried for her enough. I.... ::his voice quivered.:: died for her
enough. And.. And...

<nowiki>::</nowiki>Jennifer put one hand on her hip and watched the man trying to show off
his newfound freedom.::

<B>Sahmson:</B> I've... already confessed.

<nowiki>::</nowiki>Of course he had. But it was too late for that to matter now.::

<B>Sahmson:</B> You need to resign. And so do I.

<nowiki>::</nowiki>Kaedyn Zehn stood at the back of the small group of officers, he had
received a brief update from Lt Commander Taylor but had not been involved
in the investigation of the two corrupt intelligence officers. As
Nicholotti's new intelligence officer he had a place there but he resolved
to stay quiet and simply observe the remarkable situation of a Starfleet
Admiral being forced to step down.::

<nowiki>::</nowiki>The interaction between the man who had revealed the plot and the woman on
the other side of the desk was short. Some might have even called it sweet.
Yet Kali was busy glaring at the man who was still standing his full height
with an angry scowl on his face. She could see him running through the
options in his mind as the officers behind and beside her did some posturing
of their own. Kali had made sure there would be little trouble should he
decide that resigning was something he didn't want to do, so after a moment
it was no surprise to her when he sank begrudgingly into the chair.::

<nowiki>::</nowiki>Without a word, the Admiral began tapping something into the console on
his desk, and when he was finished, he transferred it to a padd. Kali and
the others in the room remained silent as he did so, even the woman next to
him whose eyes burned into the team that stood waiting to remove the man
from his place of authority.::

<nowiki>::</nowiki>Standing, Murlow walked out from behind the desk, padd in hand. He
approached Kali, still standing his full height in the most intimidating
manner he could muster.::

<B>Murlow:</B> You have no idea what you've done. There are objects in motion that
you have no prayer against. We might have been your last hope, but you've
made sure we are gone.

<nowiki>::</nowiki>He hissed, not so much spoke, the words. Kali did not flinch at his
decidedly serpentine observation. She didn't acknowledge the statement
either as she looked over the padd and then up to the woman still on the
other side of the desk who followed the Admiral in the process of drawing up
her resignation. Soon, Kali had two padds in hand with the required
information on each. It was only then that she smiled at both of the
officers.::

<B>Nicholotti:</B> You will be escorted to the USS Cavalier to return to Earth.
They are already waiting for you.

<nowiki>::</nowiki>That was all there was to say. Kali nodded to Katy and her team and led
the way out of the office and through the Black Tower. It would be the last
time Admiral Murlow would see the place, much less come anywhere near it.
Starfleet Command would see to that.::

<nowiki>::</nowiki>Once the captain and the others had gone from the room, Katy turned
towards two of her people and spoke quietly.::

<B>Orman:</B> Samms, Newman, take Sahmson, follow Taylor. She'll know what to do.

<nowiki>::</nowiki>Or at least Katy hoped she would. It had been awhile since they'd spoken
about it, but the Lt. Commander had seemed to be on board with Katy's
intentions for Sahmson's freedom, and she had the connections to make it
happen. She turned her attention back to the traitorous monsters in front
of her, then spoke to the rest of her people.::

<B>Orman:</B> Scan them for weapons, explosives, chemicals, biologicals, and known
inert precursors to dangerous compounds. Then we escort them. ::She gave a
mocking nod of faux-respect to the former officers.:: We don't want our
guests to get lost along the way. The trip down to the docking bays is a
long one.

<nowiki>::</nowiki>She smiled wickedly as they began to carry out their orders.::

<nowiki>::</nowiki>Sahmson watched as Jennifer broke eye contact with him. She was typing
now, her graceful fingers gently tap-tapping the padd in front of her. Her
face held a look of calm acceptance, like this was the normal course of
things. When she looked up at Sahmson again she did so coldly, as though
studying him. He thought that for a moment he saw her brows raise slightly,
as though she had finally realized something. Both were leaving Starfleet,
Jennifer losing her career, Sahmson abandoning an institution. 

He turned slowly and walked away. They walked together through the corridor
in silence, until he and the others began to hear the footfalls of the
people throughout the Starbase walking in all directions.::

--

Commander Kalianna Nicholotti

Commanding Officer

Starbase 118 / USS Victory

and

Lieutenant Katy Orman

Chief of Security

Starbase 118 / USS Victory

and

Lieutenant Kaedyn Zehn

Intelligence Officer

SB118 / USS Victory

and

PNPC Lt. Sahmson

Former Security Officer

Starbase 118

as simmed by Lt. Commander Kevin Breeman