In The Box

Posted on Sat May 23rd, 2015 @ 2:36pm by Lieutenant Raymond Benson & Lieutenant Commander Gilroy

Mission: Breaking New Ground
Location: Main Brig

* * * Main Brig * * *

Ray was moving at a brisk clip by the time he reached the main detention center. He had a mug of coffee in hand and had lost count of how many not long after Dae and Julisa left his quarters and he’d returned to the office. Which had been interesting, since someone had just left. He smelled a familiar perfume as he stepped into the outer office. Nothing seemed amiss and he’d gotten to work, starting with a lengthy conference with Starfleet Command. Then the information had come in about an attack in Intel and his presence requested in the brig. So here he was and as he moved further in, Gilroy appeared.

“Morning Gil...or whatever the hell time of day it is. Insert the appropriate greeting here.”

"Is it morning?" Gilroy frowned. He'd had a hell of a night, day, period of time longer than both night and day. "I hadn't noticed." He had other things on his mind, such as Kai. He worried about his Frenchie, as Seyla called her.

“I hear ya.” Ray’s tone softened. “How’s Kai doing?”

"She's in good hands," Gilroy deflected the question. "Dr. Crane will notify me if there's a change in her status. " An Intel officer was a first responder and brought Ms. Bond into the brig." He nodded toward the cell.

“Yeah, about Monique. You mind turning your back while I flay her? It’d solve a lot of problems and I’ll swear you had no idea.” Ray’s voice was just on the line, perhaps a joke, perhaps not. “Let’s get to the questioning, shall we? Then I have an admiral to torture...I mean bury...umm….bring in to this fine establishment. Yeah, that’s it.”

Gilroy eyed the Prosecutor then keyed open the cell. "Turning my back won't help, considering all the sensors in here. I understand your colleague, Lt. Bajun, was in Piper Medical last night as well. An injury from her investigation on Betazed. These people have quite a bit to answer for." A muscle jumped along his jawline as he clenched his teeth.

Ray didn’t miss the twitch but he let it go with a nod. “Yeah. Julisa had a rough time on that trip. It was intended to be a dead man’s mission, Gil. Sucks to be a certain party now wouldn’t you say?” He turned as they reached Monique’s cell and smiled when she gave them a venomous look. “You recording this of course?”

"Always in the brig. Protects against too many things for us not to."

“Good, then send me a copy once we are done.” Ray looked back at Monique, his expression grim. “Morning. Monique. I guess now I know who was in the office so early. I knew the perfume was familiar.” She started to speak but he raised his hand to stop her. “This is now official business so we have some questions. First, state your name and rank for the record.”

“Monique Bond, Master Warrant Officer, Judge Advocate General’s Corps.”

“Very good.” Ray’s tone was measured and even. “Now then, since this is being recorded, I cannot demand to know what the fuck my paralegal was doing on an intel deck with a phaser in hand and trying to kill Commander Sakkath and Ensign Sarkozi. I cannot ask if you’ve lost your damn mind, nor can I reach through this force field and rip your throat out. Gil here won’t let me do that, which demonstrates admirable restraint since it’s his woman you shot and sent to sickbay.” He cleared his throat and straightened his jacket. “Now what I can do is ask you some reasonable questions. You give me some reasonable answers and we’ll see where we are then. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that if you cooperate, it’ll be far better for you, especially if you’re working for the one I think you are. You’ve jumped into one ass-deep swamp kid, so anything you give me will drain the water a bit. Are we clear?”

At his words, Monique’s angry expression shifted, panic now showing in her eyes. “Al...right.” She looked at Gil, her expression sad. “For what it’s worth, I didn’t expect to hit Kai. I’m sorry, really. She’s a sweetheart.” She frowned and turned back to Ray.

Fighting back the urge to remove all the oxygen in the cell, Gilroy simply glared at Monique.

“Just who did you think you were going to hit?” Ray asked.

Monique sighed aloud. “Commander Sakkath was the main target. I was ordered to get that box he retrieved from Admiral Hawke’s office. I assumed he would leave the office first.”

Ray glanced ro Gilroy, mostly checking to see how his temper was holding up. “So you had reason to know you’d hit one or the other - the Second Officer or Kai. You should be glad this force field is holding, Monique.” Ray sipped his coffee, his gaze not leaving her. “You said ordered..by who?”

Monique’s expression suddenly closed. “I can’t tell you that.”

“And what were those orders?”

Monique shifted on the bunk in the small cell and looked down at her hands. “To get that box at all costs.”

Gilroy demanded, "What is in that box that could be so important you would willingly shoot someone?"

“I don’t know. All she said was --”

Monique stopped mid-sentence, her mouth hanging open. At her hesitation, Ray pounced. “You might as well tell us. We have a mounting pile of evidence --”

This time it was Ray who was cut off by the beep of Gilroy’s comm badge and an alarm back at the main desk.

"Salt," Gilroy muttered gruffly, referring to a common saying he and Darwin had: when it rains, it pours. Turning away slightly, he tapped his commbadge while Moresi silenced the alarm at the main desk. "Report."

"Weapons fire in Admiral Wegener's quarters, sir," she managed before being interrupted by a voice over the comm: Admiral Cruzado, reporting the same, with the added comment that Admiral Wegener was injured and on his way to Piper Medical.

Gilroy dragged a hand over his face. "Get security there immediately, Moresi. Notify Piper to update us on Wegener's condition asap." He then turned back toward Ray to find the man watching him. "It's been a lovely night."

“No shit,” Ray answered. “Any idea who did the firing?”

"We'll know in a moment," he answered, knowing that security would beam back with the perpetrator.

“Wanna bet on who?” Ray’s smile was a sly one as he turned back to Monique. What about you? Care to bet on who shows up here?”

Monique shook her head. “Who’d be dumb enough to start shooting in the Admiral’s own quarters?”

“Someone who’s likely to take your ass down with them,” Ray answered. Behind them, noise grew as the security team beamed in.

"Ah, and that would be one of the Admirals." Gilroy moved so he could see into the cell Azoulay had been beamed into. "Get the brig doc down here to treat her," he ordered his team.

Monique moved to the front of her cell in order to see better. When Azoulay appeared, she gasped aloud and Ray’s favorite phrase fell from her lips. “Fuck me.”


Hearing that, Ray laughed out loud. “Well, Gil, I think we have a winner. You’ll get what you want out of her now.”

"I want nothing from her. She can rot here," Gilroy said. "Except, again, what was in the box?"

“We’ll have to speak to Admiral Hawke to find that out I’m thinking.” He nodded to Monique. “She was just a dumb messenger. We’ll get her out of your hair once the paperwork is done, but given all that’s happened, it will take a while.” He turned away from Monique and he and Gilroy moved towards Azoulay cell. Ray pointed to the admiral with his coffee mug. “This, my friend, is going to be fun.”

"Huh. Said like an attorney," Gilroy neither agreed nor disagreed.

*******
Lt. Gilroy

Lt. Ray Benson