Interrogating the Lost (Part III)

Posted on Sat Dec 21st, 2024 @ 9:53am by Commodore Samantha York

1,352 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Broken Mirror
Location: Calypso Brig

[CONTINUED FROM PART II]

[INSIDE THE BRIG]

Alex walked down the hall, an intense look on his face and a PADD in his hand. Clearly, he was on a mission. As he reached the two standing outside, he said nothing and continued inside, walking right to the brig officer on duty. "Stand down, Ensign."

"Sir?!" The officer replied slightly confused but did as he was ordered and stood back.

Alex proceeded to tap at the controls, lowering the force field of the cell.

Alex knew what he was doing, even if his methods were not the same as Alora's. For now, she chose to observe. Later, she wanted more details.

Damion entered in time to see the force field going down. "The hell?!" He said, surprised at what was happening, before looking to the brig officer. "Ensign?"

"He ordered me to stand down, Sir. I didn't know he was going to do this." The Ensign replied.

"Stand by, Ensign. If I tell you to shoot him, don't hesitate." Damion replied.

"The prisoner isn't going to do anything crazy, Wolfe." Alex said with a smirk.

"I was talking about shooting you, Knight." Damion countered as he walked over to him. "What the hell are you doing?"

Alex looked over to Damion and said firmly. "I am not going to let a force field come between me and him. We want him to talk? I'll make him talk."

Damion grabbed his arm firmly. "Commander Knight, Starfleet has strict laws against putting your hands on a prisoner. No matter how bad we need the information they may have." As Alex looked down at Damion's hand, Wolfe eased closer and added softly. "I get you're in Intelligence and you've come highly recommended by Max, which only means we have the same mark on our skin, but this is not how we do things here."

Alora frowned at both men. If they didn't knock it off, she would have to step in, and she didn't want to do that. They both knew better--or should.

Alex looked back up to Damion and looked him in the eyes. "I don't know what mark you're talking about, Commander." He replied softly, with a slight smile, before adding aloud. "I don't plan on harming a single hair on his grunt body. I am only here to get him to loosen up." He looked down at Damion's hand again, before looking back up to ask. "Mind letting me go, Commander Wolfe?"

Damion looked at him firmly, before letting go of Alex's arm. Clearly, Alex knew what Damion was talking about when it came to their mark, so there was more to him than he was letting on. Obviously, this man being from the mirror universe or not, working at his own speed and stye which didn't match up with how they did things. This group, more so Commander Knight, might be a problem. Damion would have to reach out to Max to get more on his story.

Alex focused on the prisoner and approached him. "Mister Ross..." He said loudly as he approached the man, walking into the cell, before stopping a few feet away. The man leaned heavily against the wall, clearly scared of what was going to happen. "You said you were just a grunt and a nobody, right?"

Ross looked at him oddly. He wasn't even in the room when he said that. "Yes... How did you-"

Alex tapped on the PADD and held it up to Ross as it replayed the conversation with Bela from earlier. It was clearly recorded from the internal sensors.

Prisoner's Voice: 'I'm... A... Grunt. A nobody. You should have captured someone more important.'

Bela's Voice: 'My name is Bela. What is yours?'

Prisoner's Voice: 'Ethan Ross. And I have nothing for you guys. Honest. All I can tell you is that I was hired to do a job and all I was doing was following orders so I could get paid. I don't know if you know this, but we aren't exactly living in the lap of luxury back home. We're struggling to survive, so I took this job for my family.'

"You have access to the internal sensors?" Damion said as he approached Alex.

"Commodore York granted the Prowler access to your systems in order to help out more efficiently." Alex said as he looked over to Alora with a smile. "My wife told you I would be there." He looked over to Bela and added. "She did say she was being honest didn't she?" He looked back to Damion then back down to the PADD as he tapped on it again. "I've been keeping an eye on this guy since they put him in the cell. My people have been accessing files that we've collected regarding the Lost for quite some time now. We've come across some interesting stuff about this... what was it? Grunt."

Alora raised an eyebrow and looked at Ross. This promised to be interesting. "That does bring up more questions, Ross. You may be a grunt, but you have eyes and ears. Surely you know more than you're supposed to. Now would be a good time to share that information."

"Oh, honey." Alex replied with a smirk as he turned the screen of the PADD to face Ross. "He's not just a Grunt with eyes and ears. Mister Ross is a Grunt with authority."

The PADD showed a video of a man standing around a cargo bay, ordering other people around as they carried crates into a shuttle, as the man looked at his own PADD from time to time. Alex turned the PADD back toward him before tapping on it to bring the image closer. When he turned the screen back around the video was frozen as it moved in closer on the man giving the orders. It was Ross.

"Look familiar?" Alex asked as he placed the PADD on the table and slide it over to Ross. "In case it doesn't, let me remind you. Few months back a Terrain Empire cargo hold, on a planet, was broken into and a number of their equipment was stolen. Weapons. Technology. Food rations and the such. The reason I know this is because the renegade outfit I have connections with, that have been working against the Terrain Empire, had their eyes on this cargo hold and was planning to hit it. When we got there we were surprised to find out it has already been hit and most of the stuff was gone." He leaned over and tapped on the PADD. "This was one of many images we captured from that cargo hold's systems. Those markings on your jacket? They tell me you are not just some grunt, Mister Ross, you are a leader of one of the Lost's many groups that have been scattered throughout most of our universe. Little groups that you plan on using to expand your influence in various sectors."

Ross looked at the PADD, then back to Alex, pushing the PADD back toward him as he replied in a hostile tone. "That's proves nothing! All you got is a video you could have easily manipulated to make it look like me."

"Really?" Alex said with a raised brow as he looked around the room at the others. "Okay then." He added before reaching down to his side and pulling out his phaser.

Alora stared at her husband, wondering what he was thinking, but she was pretty sure he was bluffing.

"Whoa!" Damion said as he approached, putting his hand on Alex's arm. "There is no need for that, Commander Knight."

"Raise your sleeve." Alex said, his eyes locked on Ross.

(To be continued...)

Commander Alexander "Alex" Knight
Commander
The Prowler

Lieutenant Commander Damion Wolfe
Chief Security Officer
USS Calypso

Commander Alora Knight
First Officer
The Prowler

Ethan Ross
One of "The Lost"

Lieutenant Bela Swain
Chief Counselor
USS Calypso

Brig Officer
NPCd by Damion Wolfe

 

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